Moonlight Road (Virgin River #11)(72)

She took a deep breath. She put the stapled sheaf of papers on the leather ottoman and picked up her coffee cup. “We have an attorney in the firm named Ronald Preston. We call him Arnie Becker after that divorce shyster on the old series L.A. Law. He’s completely within the law as far as anyone can tell, but the deals he manages to pull off are pretty amazing…and incredibly good for his clients. Here’s me—giving you the benefit of the doubt. I wouldn’t want someone like Ron handling my divorce unless I was divorcing a completely unscrupulous, greedy, horrible, dangerous person who was trying to get me before I got him. Ron’s in Chico, but he has a fairly far-reaching clientele. And a full stable of assistants, secretaries and investigators.”

After a moment of silence he said, “Thank you.”

“Well, if you’re being completely honest with me, you’re welcome. If you’re not telling me the whole truth, I’m sure I won’t be able to go any further with you.”

“I swear, Erin. It’s all true. Especially the part about loving you.”

Erin didn’t want to obsess about how Aiden was handling the complications in his life, but it was impossible to blank out her mind. After giving him Ron Preston’s name, phone number and directions to her law office in Chico, he said he’d call, but feared this whole effort would take up a lot of time he’d rather be spending with her. She told him the time would be well spent. She was sure she wouldn’t ever be able to change her feelings about him, but she did think it would be in her best interest if he tidied up his personal life before they got any more serious.

The larger question was—if this didn’t turn out well, could she ever forget him? For all the lack of romantic intrigue in her life, she’d never had her heart broken. Oh, there’d been disappointments. That seemed inevitable. But in the grand scheme of things, they were very small. There had been a man who suggested they weren’t very compatible, that there wasn’t true chemistry. She’d actually agreed, but was sorry they weren’t going to give it more than a couple of dates to figure out. There was another whose ex-fiancée returned to the picture when they’d barely started dating. Yet another found her far too unavailable with her demanding legal practice and family responsibilities—he was looking for a woman who’d be there first for him.

These were not broken hearts but mere pinches. Minor letdowns. Besides, she’d known she’d been settling for less than her heart’s desire with each one. They hadn’t set her blood on fire, made her weak in the knees, caused her to lose control. She had long wondered if she was too fussy or just plain impossible to please.

Then came Aiden. He’d taught her how to have fun, how to enjoy the real companionship of two people who seemed perfectly suited. Then he’d taught her how to crave intimacy, something she’d pretty much been able to do without. Doing without it now, doing without him, would be very hard. She missed him so much in just a day.

He’d called twice. He’d been to an appointment with Ron in Chico; Ron had collected what Aiden described as a very large retainer for the job. Once back in Virgin River, Luke and Shelby were just bringing the new baby home, and his family had once again amassed. “Tomorrow,” he said to her. “Nothing will keep me from you tomorrow.”

A couple of days and she was aching for him. She’d never felt quite so vulnerable. Not quite a week since the Fourth of July and already she was hurting for him. He had definitely burrowed under her skin and—

She heard a car and for a second her heart leaped. She realized that if it was Aiden she would be hard-pressed to even ask him if he’d resolved anything. She’d probably throw herself at him and smother him with kisses.

It was not Aiden. It was a young woman in a very fancy car—a model Erin had actually looked at once. A classy and expensive pale blue Lexus—a fully loaded hybrid. That might be a hundred-thousand-dollar car. And the woman—very young, beautiful and tiny, but with enviable curves, stepped out and closed the door.

Erin stood in the cabin doorway. The woman smiled as she came closer. “You must be Erin,” she said almost shyly.

“That’s right,” Erin said, and her gut began to twist because she had an ill feeling about who this might be.

“I hope you’ll forgive this intrusion,” she said. “This isn’t something I ever thought I’d do. My name is Annalee Riordan and I’ve come here to ask you to give me back my husband.”

That slight twist turned into a terrible clamp around her insides; she nearly doubled over with the pain. She called upon many years of practice at never letting anyone see her sweat. “I don’t have your husband,” she said.

“You’re not the woman involved with Aiden?” she asked, looking very surprised. “Oh, I’m so sorry—you must think I’m an idiot. I thought it was you. I apologize. I’ll go now.” And she turned away.

“Why are you here? What is it you think I can do for you?”

She turned back and flipped her beautiful, thick blond hair over one shoulder. She shook her head dismally. “So, you are the one. Well, I’m not even sure. Tell him you’re no longer interested in him, maybe? Tell him to give his marriage another chance? I mean, we made a lot of mistakes, me and Aiden—and I take responsibility for at least half the problems—but shouldn’t we try to work it out, since there was some complication with the paperwork and we’re not actually divorced? I took it as a sign. Maybe now, older and wiser, we can do better…”