Promise Canyon (Virgin River #13)(91)

Before they checked into the treatment center, Aiden confronted him one last time. "You want off this shit and a new start?" Aiden asked him.

"How? I can't sleep three hours in a row. My body hurts so bad it's unimaginable! You got any ideas that aren't going to kill me?"

"I know you aren't going to believe this for a good three weeks, but the answer is in getting off narcs and on the right meds. There will still be some pain, but most of what you've been feeling lately is your body's response to the absence of drugs. It's gonna get better, I promise."

"Have you told them all? Are they all on their way?"

"No. After you're settled in I'll call everyone and explain. That's the first they'll even know where you are. All you have to do is select who you want to take calls from while you're in treatment." Aiden shrugged. "You can say no one--you won't be punished. You'll have to talk to them eventually, but if you want to wait until you're better, that's reasonable."

"I don't want to do this," Colin said.

"Who would? It's gonna be a big step, a hard step. You won't believe this now, but you're lucky--you haven't been on drugs half your life. In a few weeks you'll feel like a new man--"

"A new man full of broken bones, titanium rods and screws?"

"I have you set up," Aiden said. "I know--you think you're the first guy to have a bad accident, take a lot of painkillers and wind up in treatment, but guess what? They've seen you before. You're going to treat the addiction and the rehab at the same time and you are going to get better. All you have to do is go with the program."

"The Army isn't covering it, so who is? You?"

"It's me today, but after I make a few phone calls..."

"I don't want to be into all of you for this!" he railed. "I'll pay you back! I don't want you guys doing this!"

"Whatever floats your boat," Aiden said. "How about we sort that out after you're discharged? Right now you have two choices--this place or jail. What's your pleasure?" And then he smiled.

"Arrggghhh," Colin growled.

"Just get in there, will you?" Aiden said. "I'm so ready for you to be someone else's problem!"

"And I'm so ready to be the hell away from you," Colin said, as though he'd completely forgotten who had the Valium that had made the trip bearable.

Aiden's first phone call was to Erin. "He's in," he said. "I hope they have really good locks on the doors. He's real unstable."

"You think he'll stay?" Erin asked.

"We're not going to know the end of that story till the end of that story," Aiden replied.

For the third time in as many months, a row of pickup trucks and a bunch of men gathered along the road into Virgin River. Clay Tahoma and Lilly Yazhi were riding horses from the Jensen Clinic along the road for several miles when they spotted the road construction site.

It had been a few weeks since the earthquake and what little damage it had done had been repaired. Also, the damage to Lilly's love affair with Clay. It turned out he was right--talking when they were soft, pliable, vulnerable and grateful seemed to work wonders for a relationship. In the time since that earthquake, they'd spent a lot of time with Nate and Annie--some of it mending their fences and some of it just enjoying couple time. Lilly was so relieved to be working at the clinic and spending what time she could spare with the horses and the most important people in her life.

There was a lot of noisy activity along the side of the road. Lilly was astride Blue but Clay rode one of the calmer Jensen horses. They approached the construction site slowly and cautiously, making sure their mounts weren't overwhelmed by the people, the noise, the confusion.

Clay was the first to dismount, leading his horse toward the men. Jack Sheridan was standing at the rear of the group of men. He turned and greeted Clay with a handshake. "Hey, haven't seen you around in a while. I hope that doesn't mean damage from the earthquake."

"No--everything was fine at the clinic. How about at the bar?"

"Some broken glass, but nothing too serious."

"What's going on here?" Lilly asked.

"Well," he said, rubbing a hand along the back of his neck. "This seems to be a weak spot in the road--not only weak, but on a curve with a drop-off. We've had more than one vehicle hit this soft shoulder and slide down the hill. Even had a school bus go down--fulla kids. Me and Preacher have written the county and highway department a bunch of times asking for some reinforcement and guardrails, but we always get denied." He shrugged. "We're a real small, unincorporated town without much traffic. We're pretty low on the priority list right now, during a recession."

Clay lifted his chin at all the action. "So what's this?" he asked.

"Well, remember that old woman who died--the one we had that estate sale for? She left a trust for the town. There's been a lot of disagreement about what to do with it, but she was always about taking care of the town. Seemed like it made sense for us to do it ourselves before someone gets killed on this curve." Jack Sheridan grinned. "We like 'em smiling when they come into our town."

"How'd you get all this heavy equipment?" Clay asked.