“I wouldn’t have been scared away, in fact I love horror.”
“Really?” He looked sceptical. “You’re an author of self-help books promoting love, light and positive vibes. How could you enjoy horror?” She caught a vaguely disparaging tone in his voice and her hackles stirred. She hated it when people disrespected her profession.
“Okay, just because I write self-help books it doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy other genres as well. I’m sure you read other books besides horror.”
“True, but self-help and horror seem to be polar opposites. Self-help is about being positive while horror explores people’s worst fear and nightmares, which isn’t very conducive to positive thinking, you have to admit.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. Horror is actually very beneficial to a healthy state of mind because it allows people to explore their darkest fears and desires in a safe way. Self-help is not about pretending the world is perfect or ignoring your dark side, but understanding yourself as thoroughly as possible. Knowledge is power, as they say.” Jesse looked thoughtful, and Amber couldn’t help comparing his reaction to being told he was wrong to Dominic’s. The few occasions she had dared to challenge her husband had ended in a row with him sulking for hours. Eventually she had backed down just to restore peace.
“I’ve never really thought about it like that before, but it does make sense. I’ve got to admit I’ve never had a high opinion of self-help and usually avoid that part of the bookstore.”
“Have you ever read any books in the genre? Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”
A strange look passed across his face and Amber wondered what she had said to offend him, but then he laughed. “I might as well admit this now. After I met you I googled you and found some of your books so I brought one.”
“Which one was that?”
“Treat ‘Em Mean”.
“No.” Amber hid her face in her hands. “I wish you had read any one but that one.”
“So that’s not a typical example of your work then?”
“Far from it. It was the very first book I ever wrote, and I basically had no say in it at all. My publisher insisted that there was a big market for a book targeted at insecure men who found it hard to attract women. The message was that you need to behave arrogantly and treat women like sex objects in order to pull chicks. I’m so ashamed of it.”
“I’m very relieved to hear that because it was pretty disturbing, and none of the techniques worked by the way.”
He gave her a sly wink and the penny dropped. “So that’s why you were behaving so strangely when I ran into you the other day at your cabin. You were following my advice. That’s hilarious!”
“Guilty.” They both laughed.
“My God I thought you were a real jerk. Please don’t judge me on that book alone. I’ll give you another one right now to take home. Come up to the cabin.” They walked up the path leading to the front steps, and Jesse stopped when he got to the porch.
“I hope you don’t mind that I left your shawl out here. I was walking with Shadow yesterday and we came across it stuck in a bush. I bought it over just after dinner last night, but I could hear you talking on the phone inside so I just left it on the chair.”
“Thank you. I thought it must have been you, and I was a little worried you were lurking around my house at night.” He laughed and she was glad he thought she was joking. She decided not to tell him about her strange experience in the woods.
Amber offered him some tea, and all her plans to get back to work flew out the window as they chatted amiably for the next few hours on the porch. The more they talked the more they discovered they had in common. They had both majored in English at college and had a love of nineteenth century literature. Despite their similarities they also disagreed on a lot, and it kept the conversation lively and interesting. Eventually they got around to talking about the ugly rumours that had turned Jesse into a virtual recluse.
“You really shouldn’t let those people drive you away. The kids in town really miss you.”
Jesse shifted uncomfortably in his chair, and for the first time the conversation became strained. “I have a lot of work to do now, and I just don’t have time.” Amber was very confused by his reaction. He’d just finished telling her how much he missed teaching and working with kids, and now he was coming up with lame excuses for not going to town. She also noticed he was avoiding her eye, but she did not have any more time to find out what was going on with him because a car could be heard approaching along the driveway.
Amber glanced at her watch. “Is it that late already? I lost track of time. That’s Bob picking me up for dinner.”
Jesse gave her an incredulous look. “You’re not seriously still hanging out with those people after all the lies they told you about me? I thought you were on my side.”
Amber shrugged helplessly. “It’s not a matter of taking sides. Despite everything I think Bob and Sharon are good people who really believe they are telling the truth, and I’m not just going to cut them off. There’s also another reason I’m having dinner with them tonight, but I don’t have time to tell you about it right now. I have to go.”
“Suit yourself.” Jesse walked down the stairs. “Thanks for the tea.” He was clearly upset but there was nothing she could do about it. He walked past the truck without even bothering to look at Bob, and Amber realised he had left the book she had given him sitting on the porch table. She decided to leave it there in case he remembered and came back for it. She went inside and gathered her bag and jacket together before quickly running a brush through her hair and hurrying out the door to Bob’s truck.
Chapter 8
After greeting her coldly Bob was silent as he drove through the woods, and when she looked at him his expression was stony. He clearly was not happy to see Jesse at the cabin, and she wondered exactly how she was going to explain his presence without directly calling him and Sharon liars. The last time they had spoken she was frightened out of her wits, and just that morning she had been to see Sharon about buying a gun. She could understand why he must feel a little confused. When it was obvious he was not going to say anything more she broke the silence.
“You’re probably wondering why Jesse was at the cabin this afternoon.”
“The thought did cross my mind. You two looked mighty cosy sitting out there on the porch sipping tea together. If you want my opinion, you’re crazy for letting that boy anywhere near you knowing what you know about him.”
“Well, actually I got a bit lost in town today when I was looking for the pawn shop and I got talking to a man who told me a few things about Jesse. I started to think that maybe the rumours about him are just stories. I know you and Sharon are only trying to protect me, but it seems like things are a bit more complicated than you realize.”
“Injin fellow was it?”
“Yes. His name was Tom. He told me the reason why Jesse was in town the night Tehya Gordon disappeared was because he was attending a party for a teenager he helped. He is a qualified teacher and youth worker and that’s why he hangs out with the kids a lot. It all seems quite innocent, and this man is Tehya’s uncle, so he of all people would have no reason to protect him if there was any truth in the stories.” She had expected Bob to be shocked, or at the very least surprised, to learn these things about Jesse, but his expression didn’t change at all. It wasn’t until they pulled into his driveway and he had turned off the engine that he finally looked at her.
“We don’t generally speak to the Injinns in this town, no matter who they might think they are. We have our ways and they have theirs, and the two don’t mix. It’s better if we keep to ourselves because that way there’s no trouble. People like you think you can come here and shake things up, but you don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s a fine line we walk, and no one here wants that to be messed with.”
Amber couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “I’m not trying to shake anything up. All I’m saying is
that you shouldn’t jump to conclusions about someone and accuse them of being involved in the abduction of a young girl without any real proof. Just because he doesn’t share your views it doesn’t make him guilty of whatever you want to accuse him of. That’s ridiculous.” Bob did not bother to reply and she followed him into the house where Sharon was waiting. She couldn’t believe the turn the conversation had taken, and she began to dread the night ahead. Sharon embraced her warmly and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“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 wicked. Just the other night she had been lying in their guest room imagining 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 in 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 spending 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. With a smile she picked it up. Once inside she and Chris chatted for a while before 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 incident 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 work 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 seems 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 spoke 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 economy’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 represent all the poor people if Kat wasn’t there to save the world? She could be making four times as much in corporate law but she won’t hear of it. It’s a joke.
“We both know how strongly 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 nothing, 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 too fast, and now here I am married to her and stuck in 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.
“F
or 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. You’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 towards her with his arms outstretched. To 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 seemed 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 her with fury, and it gave her the strength to push him away and slap him hard across the face. The noise rang out loudly through the room, and it seemed to snap Chris back to his senses. He stepped away from her and shook his head as if to clear it, blinking rapidly.
“My God, 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.
Hunger of the Wolf Page 6
