Moonlight Road (Virgin River #11)(56)

“Ready and so not ready,” he said.

Aiden chuckled and looked at Art. “And good morning, Art. How are you feeling this morning?”

Art took a drink of his diet soda and said, “I want to get married with Netta.”

Luke instantly lost all the color in his face and groaned. Shelby, however, just ran a hand over her big belly. “I don’t think so, Art,” she said. “You shouldn’t get married now. We need your help around here—especially with the baby coming. Besides, it’s hard to be married to someone who lives in Fortuna if you don’t drive a car.”

“Oh,” he said. Then he turned to Luke. “Should I drive a car?”

“No!” Luke said harshly, clearly in a panic.

“We’ll drive you wherever you need to go, Art,” Shelby said more calmly. “Don’t worry about that.”

“Okay,” he said. “You’ll drive me to Netta’s house?”

“Of course,” she said, smiling. “I’d be happy to. In fact, I’ll call Ellen and ask if Netta can come to the Fourth of July picnic in town. Would you like that?”

He smiled. “That would be good.”

“Consider it done,” Shelby said. “It will be fun to get to know her.”

Aiden chuckled and sat down on the porch steps. “Art, why don’t you go see if the fish are biting.”

“I’m on my break,” he said. Art was very careful of rules and routine. He liked following instructions, especially Luke’s.

“It’s okay,” Luke said. “Go ahead if you feel like it.”

“I feel like it,” Art said with a smile. And he hefted himself up and lumbered off, stopping at the front of his cabin to grab his rod and reel.

When he was out of earshot, Aiden said, “Try not to worry so much, Luke. I think Art’s pretty happy to be talking to Netta again. Ellen suggested we all just keep an eye on them and see how the renewed relationship is shaping up, make sure they’re not headed for trouble or anything. But she also said there was no indication from Netta’s behavior that she had a real active libido. Maybe this is something Netta mentioned to Art—Art’s been talking to her on the phone, right?”

Luke nodded. “I have to punch in the numbers for him. They don’t seem to talk that much, but they like being on the phone.”

“Well, don’t worry. Maybe you should ask to drop in to Ellen’s support group a few times. Pick up some very important information—stuff that people just don’t know. Things I didn’t know, and I thought I was up on some of this stuff.”

“Like what?” Luke asked.

“Well—here’s something. I know I told you Netta’s on birth control as a precaution, but not because she might accidentally have sex with some boyfriend like Art. It helps with PMS, for one thing. And to protect her from pregnancy in a worst-case scenario. Like sexual abuse—rape. There are predators out there who look for vulnerable women like Netta and her roommates.”

“Oh, God!” Luke nearly roared, standing up fast as a shot. “You gotta be kidding me!”

“I had a similar reaction, but I managed not to stand up and shout about it. Made me think about things. It’s a very dark, very tragic reality. Netta, by all accounts, is very eager to please—what’s she going to do if a bunch of high school boys tell her to meet them after school? And—it’s illegal to sterilize a mentally challenged woman…To get her an abortion would be a legal nightmare and impossible without her consent, which someone like Netta wouldn’t be able to give. To let her give birth to a ra**st’s baby could be an even worse trauma. Her caretakers are taking the only precautions they can to keep her safe in a dangerous world. I’m sure there are a million more things to understand.”

Luke’s face was actually red. “Aiden, if I ever came face-to-face with a man who would sexually molest a mentally challenged woman, I don’t know if I could keep from—”

Aiden stood, as well. “I understand completely. Listen, you’ve done a great job with Art and he’s content, anyone can see that,” Aiden said. “But I think you and Shelby would benefit from getting to know Ellen and Bo and maybe, down the road when there’s time, you should try out that support group.”

“Yeah,” Luke said. “Yeah…”

“Try not to worry too much, Luke. Art’s not going to marry Netta. And it’s good he has a friend.”

“I might have been a little tense lately—Mom being around, Art wanting to marry someone, Shelby ready to have a baby…”

“Ya think?” Shelby asked with a smile. “I’ll call Ellen and offer to pick up Netta for the picnic, if Netta wants to come. It’ll be fun.”

“I should do it, baby,” Luke said. “You’re too pregnant.”

“To drive a car?” Aiden and Shelby asked at the same time.

Aiden turned and went to his cabin, chuckling as he went. He flipped on his laptop, signed on to his e-mail account and found an e-mail from someone he didn’t recognize. He opened it and read, Aiden—I have to talk to you. It’s urgent. It’s more than urgent. It’s about our divorce. Call me at once. Here is my cell number. Annalee

He sat down and typed, No. Go away. Pretend I’m dead.