Paradise Valley (Virgin River #7)(96)

Brie heard the car door outside and lifted Ness into her swing, getting it started. She went to the door before they could enter and opened it for Abby and Cameron. Ross put down his notebook and stood expectantly. “Hi, folks,” Brie said, holding open the door.

And then she came inside, Cameron close on her heels.

“Whoa! Abby!” Ross nearly shouted. He hit himself in the chest and wobbled a little on his feet, his eyes wide and shocked. “God!” Then he shot a look at Brie. “Why didn’t you tell me she was pregnant? I mean, pregnant!”

“It wasn’t my place to tell you. It’s certainly not pertinent to your business.”

He walked toward her and reached for her. “Good God, come over and sit down.”

She pulled away from him. Cameron was at her back, his hands on her upper arms. “You’d better leave Abby to me,” Cameron said calmly, firmly.

“Oh man,” Ross said, running a nervous hand over the top of his head. “Sorry, man.” Then he stuck out a hand, careful not to get too close. “Ross Crawford,” he said.

Cameron gave a curt nod over Abby’s shoulder rather than shaking hands. “Dr. Michaels,” he said.

“You’re her doctor?” Ross asked.

“My fiancé,” Abby said.

“Whoa,” Ross laughed. “Okay, this is just a surprise, that’s all. If you don’t mind me saying so, you could use a little more than a fiancé there, Abby.”

“I mind,” she said. “Now, what’s so important, Ross?”

“Gimme a second,” he said, looking at her. “I’m sorry, but you’re awful pregnant, Abby. Kind of distracted me.”

“Well get a hold of yourself and get down to business. This is pretty inconvenient.”

“Yeah, I guess it is. Sorry. Um, can we sit?” he asked, swinging a hand toward the sofa and chair. He stepped out of the way. “Go ahead, you two. Gee.”

Once they were all seated, Ross just stared at Abby. Cameron put an arm around her shoulders and said, “Can we please move along? I might have patients waiting back at the clinic.”

“Huh? Oh, sorry, Doc. Abby, I didn’t know what was happening to you with that whole divorce thing. I was high.”

“Weren’t they your lawyers, Mr. Crawford?” Cameron asked tensely.

“Yeah, sort of. Listen, I’m here to make amends, but it’s dicey. I have to do this without making excuses, so I’ll try. I went back on the road after we got married and after only about a week I started using. I met a woman at a party of some kind and gave her a job as an assistant band manager. The other guys said she was trouble and wouldn’t have anything to do with her, but I had started sleeping with her, so I ignored them and let her take care of some of my stuff. She got herself some credit cards. I didn’t even remember about them until your lawyer told me. They were supposed to be for business expenses, but I didn’t pay any attention. She played go-between with my lawyer and I signed anything she put in front of me. Hell, I think she was the one who contacted the lawyer, I was too toasted to do that. I’ve been either high or in treatment for the last year and a half. My last incarceration was for six months in Mexico. It wasn’t until I talked to your lawyer here that I found out you got soaked for all her charges. I never saw those cards either.”

“Weren’t you sober long enough to look at the paperwork you signed?” Abby asked.

He shook his head. “Nah, I was messed up. Sometimes I was in worse shape in treatment than when I was using and playing guitar. But—I’d been out of the last treatment center a couple of months when the letter came from Ms. Valenzuela saying you’d paid off the credit-card debt and didn’t want any more alimony. My brain was working pretty well by then, so I called your lawyer here. I was finally cleaned up enough to look into it. Abby, I’m sorry—I would never have asked you to pay any of my bills. I wouldn’t have stuck you with her bills, for sure. Your lawyer shouldn’t have allowed it.”

She scooted forward as much as she could. “Ross, I had one lawyer, the best one I could afford after I took all the equity money out of my town house and cashed in my 401k, but you had four lawyers. Four, Ross. By the end of it, I felt lucky to get out of the whole mess as cheaply as I did.”

“Aw, Abby, those were just back-up thugs from his office—I didn’t hire ’em. Man, you must hate me so much.”

“Yeah, that’s the bottom line,” she said, folding her hands over her belly.

He grinned at her. “I’m sorry—this is not funny. But you look so cute. Really big. You ready to give birth or something?”

“You have no idea,” she said. “Are we done here?”

“Almost. Okay, so the woman, the assistant manager, her name was Autumn, she got fired a long time ago. The boys picked out a new treatment center and said that was it—if I committed for six months of treatment and stayed clean for a year, they’d consider giving me another chance in the band. Otherwise, that was it for me. They told Autumn to hit the road, and I went into treatment for the third time.” He shook his head. “I wish I could find someone to blame for the drugs, but the truth is, it was all me. I thought I was such hot shit when the band picked me up and the first time I saw that white powder, I plowed into it so fast…. And man, I loved the stuff. I’ve been mostly high for over ten years. I hate what it did to my life, but I did love the stuff. Made me feel invincible…. Until it didn’t anymore…. I’m learning to like being level and not so destructive. But sometimes it’s powerful hard.”