Hunger of the Wolf (13 page)

“I’m so glad you could make it
, honey
.
I’ve made my special lasagne just for
you
,
and I’m sure you’re going to love the dessert.
It’s my own secret recipe.
Did you find what you wanted in town today?” Before she could reply Bob cut in.

“You won’t believe who was paying her a visit when I drove up there to get her.”

She guessed immediately.
“Not
Jesse
Davidson
?
Are you okay
,
honey? At
least you have your gun now so
you can
look after yourself if you have to
.
”

“She’s more than okay. The two of them were having a very nice little tete-e-tete. I could hardly believe my eyes.”
Sharon’s face
hardened
,
and Amber felt like a naughty child who had been caught doing something very wicke
d
. Just the other night she had been lying in their guest room i
magining how nice it would have been to grow up with
parents like
Sharon
and Bob
,
but now she was having second thoughts.
It was a shock for her
to come face to face with
such
outright bigotry.

“Seems she had a chat with one of the Injins in town today and now she knows all there is to know about
Jesse
Davidson
.
Because he used to work as a teacher or something he must be completely innocent
,
she says
.
”

“That’s rubbish. You can’t believe a damn thing those Injins say. They all protect each other and stick together no matter what. He’s made it very clear he thinks he’s one of them. Haven’t you see the way they live
i
n Louis St
? They’re not civilized folk like us
,
and they can’t be trusted.”

The atmosphere became even icier after that
,
and Amber was tempted to just walk out on them. She was
only
prevented by the fact that she had no way of getting home and she hadn’t even remembered to bring her cell phone. Although they all made
an effort to talk about something else
,
the conversation was stilted and it was the most uncomfortable dinner she had ever endured.

They bundled her out the door right after the main course and Bob didn’t speak to her for the entire trip home. She didn’t think her night could get any worse until they rounded the corner to the cabin and the headlights shone on
Chris
’s car in the driveway. The drama of the day
had
helped her forget his impending visit
,
but now she was faced with the prospect of sp
ending the night alone with him and she was not looking forward to it. She would almost have preferred to be alone.
He had
just arrived because he was standing next to
the car with a bag in his hand
,
smoking a cigarette.

“Looks like you have another gentleman caller,” said Bob giving her a pointed look.

“It’s
Chris
,
the owner of the cabin and my best friend’s husband.”

“Really?
Here on his own is he?
” The suggestive tone in his voice infuriated her
,
and she slammed the door as she got out without saying goodbye. She was in a foul mood when
Chris
stepped forward to kiss her on the cheek
,
and she had to stop herself from flinching away.

Hi,
Amber. Are you okay, you seem a bit upset?”

“I’m fine. How was your trip?” She wasn’t up to explaining anything to him at the moment
,
and his next words filled her with relief.

“It was okay
,
but I’m pretty tired. I don’t think I’m going to be much company tonight. I hope you don’t mind me dropping in like this
,
but I’m sick of motel rooms and I
really
needed some fresh air.”

“Of course I don’t mind, it’s your cabin.
I’m pretty tired myself.”
As they walked up the stairs Amber noticed her book was gone and
Jesse
had left one of his in
its place for her to read. W
ith a smile she picked it up. Once inside she and
Chris
chatted for a while bef
ore lapsing into a comfortable
silence.
Chris
was the same as he’d always been
,
and
there was no weird tension
between them. It helped to convince her that the inci
dent on holidays had been a one-
off thing
,
fuelled by alcohol
,
and that it meant nothing
.

She was too keyed up
after her dinner with the Crows
to go to bed straight away so she decided to do some wo
rk on her book
before turning in.
Chris
sat
on the lounge leafing
through
paperwork
and sipping some wine he’d brought with him. She didn’t think much of it when he polished off the first bottle
,
but when he quickly began working his way through the second she became alarmed.

“You’re drinking an awful lot tonight
,
Chris
. Don’t forget you have to get up early and drive tomorrow.”

“You sound exactly like
Kat. That’s all she ever s
eems to say to me these days. ‘
Chris
you’re drinking too much,
Chris
you need to cut back on the drinking.’
  He mimicked Kat’s voice. “She’s
like a broken record.”

“Maybe she has a point. It’s not good for you.”

He turned around suddenly in the
chair
,
causing her to jump. When he spok
e his voice was thick
and slurred
.
“
Yeah
,
well maybe I’m drinking so much because I hate my life. How would you like being stuck in a job you can’t stand, spending all your time on the road driving from one town to the next, having to suck up to people who treat you like dirt? ”

“Have you talked to Kat about this? If you’re so unhappy there are other jobs you can do.”

“Is that right? Have you seen the state the e
conomy’s
in at the moment
,
sweetheart
?
Maybe in the world of self-help you can afford to walk away from a job you don’t like, but for the rest of us
there’s nothing else out there
. Who is going to pay the mortgage and the bills? Who is going to put food on the table?
Kat’s job pays
a pittance and she refuses to
even
think about getting another one. Who would r
epresent all the poor people if Kat w
asn’t there to save the world? She could be making four times as much in corporate
law but she won’t hear of it. I
t’s a joke.

“We both know how strong
ly
Kat feels about her work.
I’m sure things will pick up. You just have to grin and bear it for now and make plans to move into another job when the time is right.”

Chris
leaned his
head back against the
back of the
chair and laughed bitterly. “When the time is right
,
she says. Meanwhile I have no life, no
time for myself, no
nothi
ng, and for what? A woman I’ve
never really loved.”

Amber almost fell off her chair. “I really think you’ve had too much to drink
,
Chris
,
and it’s time to go to bed.”

“Does that shock you so much
,
Amber
,
to know that I’ve never really loved Kat
?”

“This is a conversation you need to be having with your wife
,
not me. She’s my best friend and it’s very inappropriate for you to be telling me these things.”

“But don’t you see
, you’re one of the reasons I’m so unhappy. It’s you I want, not Kat. It’s always been you.” Amber felt as if she had been plunged into a nightmare that she couldn’t wake up from.

“You’re being ridiculous
,
Chris
. You love Kat and anyone who has seen the two of you together knows that. You just can’t fake that kind of emotion.”

He waved his hand in the air to dismiss her words. “Maybe I did love her a little at the beginning
,
but from the moment I first laid eyes on you
,
Amber
,
it was you I
really
wanted. You were already taken
,
though
,
and Kat was available. Being around her meant I could be close to you
,
and we did have fun at first. Somehow things just moved to
o
fast
,
and now here I am married to her and stuck i
n this life I despise. Meanwhile
,
you’re single again.
”

And you will soon have half of Dominic’s money. He didn’t say the words out loud
,
but Amber knew that’s what he was thinking.
She stood up to go to bed and put an end to the conversation, but he also got to his feet and lurched
towards her with his arms held out.

“Please say you feel the same way I do and that we can
finally
be together. Make me the happiest man in the world.”

Amber stumbled backwards into a lamp
and knocked it over
in her haste to get away from him.
It smashed on the ground.

“For God’s sake
,
Chris
,
pull yourself together. This has nothing to do with me. You’ve just become fixated on me because you’re so unhappy with your life at the moment.
Y
ou’ve created this little fairy
tale in your head that has nothing to do with reality. You weren’t one bit interested in me when we first met, you only had eyes for Kat. Believe me
,
a woman knows these things. Now that times are tough you’re trying to find a way out
,
and you think that being with me will solve all your problems but
it would only make things
much worse. You need to go home and talk to your wife and sort out what you want to do. Just leave me the hell out of it.”

“That’s one of the reasons I love you
,
Amber, you’re so smart. We were meant to be together
,
and I know you feel the same way. You’re
just trying to be loyal to Kat.
” He kept coming tow
ards her with his arms outstretched
. T
o her horror
,
Amber found she was backed up against the wall and
she
had nowhere to go. Before she could do anything
Chris
had crushed her in an embrace
as his lips sought hers. He kissed her sloppily all over her face as she desperately tried to push him away
.

He truly seeme
d to believe that if he kept
mauling her she would be overcome with passion for him and give in to her desires. The thought filled h
er with fury
,
and
it gave her the strength to push him away and slap
him h
ard
across the face. The noise rang out loudly through the room
,
and it seemed to snap
Chris
bac
k to his senses. He stepped away
from her and shook his head
as if to clear it, blinking
rapidly.

“My G
od
,
Amber, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I haven’t been myself lately.”

“That’s for sure,” she yelled, trying to control the trembling in her legs. He moved to lay a comforting hand on her shoulder
,
and she swatted it away. Never in her life had she been so afraid of someone she knew and trusted. It was heartbreaking. “You’ve got some serious issues to deal with
,
Chris
. I’m going up to
the
bedroom now
,
and I want you to be
gone first thing in the morning
. If you try anything
else
I’ll call the police.”
She hoped he did not realize that she was bluffing because the last time she checked
her phone
there was no reception.