“There was no ‘aha’ moment. We floated along, drifting really, for years. He kept telling me about all his grand plans, and I believed him ... right up until I realized I no longer believed him. He liked to say things like that to make himself feel better. Saying he was going to do something was as good as doing it, in his book.”
I felt I needed to move the story along a bit. “Were drugs involved?”
She shook her head. “Well, at least not at first. The drugs didn’t become an issue until later. He was working at The Home Depot at the time.”
“That’s a far cry from owning his own business,” I said.
“We were happy for a time. He got the job after I learned I was pregnant with Jessica. That also wasn’t planned. As a nurse, I probably should’ve been more diligent — but we were both thrilled with the news.
“When Jessica was born, Cal was really happy,” she continued. “We were already seeing cracks in the marriage, but they were the sort neither of us would admit. I think, at the time, we both assumed a child would fix things. But adding a baby to the mix never fixes a relationship.”
“Still, Cal loved her. I loved her. Despite that, we drifted apart. Eventually we were two people sharing a house, and while I still loved him, I wasn’t in love with him. I don’t know if that makes sense.”
“You were friends instead of lovers,” I surmised, thinking of Jake.
“Except we had nothing in common. We didn’t even like the same television shows. I wanted to talk to him, suggest counseling, but he was going out to the bar every night. He became more belligerent when I questioned him about where he was spending his time.”
“How old was Jessica when things started unraveling?”
“She was about five. I don’t want you to think Cal wasn’t a good father to her. He was an excellent father. He absolutely loved everything about her.”
“The marriage was over though,” I prodded.
“It was. I met another nurse at the hospital, and we started talking. His marriage was disintegrating too. We didn’t have a physical affair, but we had an emotional one. We both decided to leave our spouses. When I sat Cal down to tell him, I got a good look at him.
“I don’t know how I’d missed it,” she continued. “He was strung out ... and then some. He was sweaty, his pupils were dilated. He refused to tell me what he was on. He wasn’t even that upset when I told him I’d met someone.
“I agreed to stay with him for a bit longer because he needed rehab. He said he would go, and I believed him. My insurance would cover for it, and I really wanted him to get the help he needed.”
“I take it he didn’t go,” I said.
“He did – for one day. When he left, I told him he couldn’t see Jessica unless he was clean. He got really angry but didn’t put up much of a fight.”
I waited for her to continue. When she didn’t, I held out my hands. “And that’s it? Why are you still married if that’s how your relationship ended?”
“It was a series of things. The man I worked with found out his wife was pregnant. He decided to stay with her because of the baby. It was a crushing blow, but I understood. At the time, I saw no reason to divorce Cal. I was still hopeful he would come to his senses.
“Over the years, he’d drop in occasionally to see Jessica. She was always so upset when he left, always wanted to do something for him. I couldn’t cut him loose,” she continued. “After a time, I just didn’t think about it any longer. He lived his life and I lived mine. They didn’t overlap. We filed our taxes separately, filed for legal separation but no divorce. And that was that.”
It was hard to fathom purposely living one’s life that way, but it wasn’t for me to judge. “Were you aware that he was supervising a halfway house in Detroit?”
Ruth hesitated and then nodded. “Jessica found him. He’d gone three years without stopping in to visit. She tracked him down. When she visited, he seemed surprised. He swore up and down it had only been a few weeks.”
“He was still using.” I thought back to the man I’d met. He didn’t strike me as strung out. He was more contained than that. “Were you aware he was selling drugs?”
She nodded. “He never confided in me of course, but it was obvious. I’m not an idiot. Jessica is an adult, but I asked her to be careful around her father. She had to make up her own mind about him. I couldn’t keep them apart.”
“And did she? Find out, I mean.”
“She wasn’t thrilled with how he was living, but she couldn’t turn her back on him. She visited once a month, like clockwork. She didn’t stay long, but made sure he had a good meal and talked to him about her life. She’s always been the sweetest thing.”
“I can vouch for that,” Sabrina said solemnly.
I pushed my agitation with the intern out of my mind. She had some explaining to do herself. That was for another time. “Were you aware of any of your husband’s associates?”
“No. I didn’t want to know those people. I had no interest in setting one foot in that world. In fact, in recent months I’d been exploring divorcing him without Cal’s consent. I didn’t want to go down there and see how he was living. I just wanted it to be over.”
“Well, now you don’t have to worry about that,” Sabrina said. “He’s dead. All your problems are solved.”
I shot her a quelling look before drawing Ruth’s attention back to me. “Were you familiar with a man named Beau Burton?”
Ruth furrowed her brow. “The name sounds familiar.”
“He was arrested some time back for
