Читать книгу Trouble in Abundance - Arlette Lees - Страница 5

CHAPTER 1

When the lights of town vanish from the rear view mirror and he turns onto the two lane highway headed away from their usual destination, the picture-pretty girl in the passenger seat has the feeling something isn’t quite right. He’s been awfully quiet since she got in the car, no longer the carefree, outgoing guy he was a few short months ago. With every mile she feels the gulf widen between them. The woods are deep and dark on both sides of the road, the moon cut into puzzle pieces by the twisted branches of trees.

In the beginning they were carefree lovers meeting in secret, every sense tuned to a fever pitch. Music was more moving than before, colors brighter, flowers more fragrant. It was like nothing could come between them. That’s the way love is supposed to be, isn’t it? Then came a shift, a subtle cooling, like when the summer goes and your tan fades and the last of the sun slips through a crack in the season.

“Is something wrong?” A stupid question, but she asks it anyway.

“What could possibly be wrong?” he says, with a tight smile that isn’t much of a smile at all. The earth wobbles slightly on its axis and she feels an uncomfortable twist in the pit of her stomach. It’s as if she’s climbed into the car with a stranger.

“You’re going the wrong way? We’re going to the cabin, remember?”

“We can’t,” he says. “The old bat in 5 told my dad that someone’s been using the place.”

“But, she doesn’t know it’s us… does she?”

“I don’t know, but we’re pushing our luck. Dad’s no idiot.”

She sits quietly watching the dark trees blur by. “That leaves the motel in Weyauwega. No one will recognize us there.”

“Not tonight.”

“Then where are we going?”

His head whips toward her. “Would you shut up! Can’t you see how annoying you are?” The muscles in his jaw flex and a pulse throbs in his temple. “Just stop talking,” he says, more quietly. “I’m driving to settle my nerves.”

She’s stunned into silence, but only for a moment.

“If you didn’t want to see me you should have cancelled,” she says. “I could be studying for class instead of wasting my time.”

“I am cancelling. After tonight I won’t be seeing you anymore.”

“You don’t mean you’re dumping me?” Her big, blue eyes study his face in the semi-darkness of the car.

He snorts a laugh. “You had no problem dumping Cody.”

“How can you say that? I left him for you.”

“I guess what goes around comes around. Besides, you knew this relationship had a limited shelf life. If you pretended it was anything more than a fling you’re delusional.”

She unconsciously touches her mid-section. The gesture doesn’t go unnoticed. “You can’t turn your back on me now.”

“Oh, I heard the rumor.”

She gasps. “That’s impossible!”

“Is it? If you think so, you have something to learn about small towns.”

“You came on to me, remember? You’re in this as deep as I am.”

“Not quite.”

“You think I’m going to let you walk away like nothing happened?”

“Oh, something happened all right.” He takes in her soft tangle of golden hair, those long toned legs and slender torso. “What healthy male wouldn’t want some of that?”

“You took advantage of me,” she says. “You’re a fraud.”

“What, you’re going to play the martyr now? Don’t try to tell me this was your first rodeo. From what I’ve heard, you’re quite the little cowgirl.”

“You made promises. You lied to me.”

He gives her an icy glance. “Guys lie to get girls in the sack and girls pretend to believe them. Besides, you got what I got in equal measure and came back for more. I never said I loved you. Not once. I couldn’t resist you. There’s a big difference.”

There’s a break in the trees and moonlight flashes across the hood of the car. His teeth clench, the skin pulled tight across his cheekbones. Gloves peek from his jacket pocket, but in the dim light from the dash they don’t look at all like his pigskin driving gloves. The forest thickens and the moon goes into hiding.

“There’s no sense driving in this direction if we’re not going anyplace. You’re just wasting gas,” she says. “I want to go back.”

“There is no going back.” The finality in his tone frightens her. He steps on the gas and launches the car deeper into the night.

“If you don’t take me back to town I’m telling my father when I get home and I’m going to see Sheriff Brooker in the morning. I don’t allow people to treat me like this.” When the car hits 60 it begins to vibrate. “Slow down. You’re scaring me.”

He pushes the vehicle further over the speed limit, his eyes riveted on the road ahead.

She suddenly rips the gloves from his pocket and feels the surgical rubber between her fingers. With a shrill cry she explodes and lands a barrage of adrenaline-fueled blows to his head. He cringes from the surprising power of her fists. She jerks the steering wheel and sets the car zigzagging recklessly across the center line. An oncoming driver leans on the horn and swerves to avoid a head on collision. He slams her back against the seat with a stiff forearm, steps on the brake and struggles to regain control of the car.

“Stop the car! Stop the goddamn car!” she says, yanking the door handle.

The door flies open, the wind nearly tearing it from its hinges. They skid to a stop on the gravel shoulder and teeter on the edge of the ditch. By the time he clears the driver’s seat the girl is running along the road with strong athletic strides, her shrieks and sobs swallowed by the wind that sweeps the isolated woods. There’s no time to think. He wrestles the gloves on his hands and pounds down the highway after her.

* * * *

Cody Kipke lies awake in the garden cottage behind the main house. It has a bed, a small bath, a couple wicker chairs and a space heater, every amenity a high school senior could hope for. It’s past midnight, wind thrashing the treetops and a shower of leaves spinning across the roof. His cell phone rings and he rolls over with a sleepy moan.

“Sterling?” he says.

“No, it’s me, Madison.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t sound so enthusiastic.”

“Do you know what time it is?”

“I had to wait until my parents were asleep,” she says.

“Why? What’s going on?” He sits up and swings his legs over the side of the bed, his face reflected in the window across from him. This features are chiseled and classic, his blonde hair stylishly short on the sides and long on top like a California surfer.

“Have you heard from Sterling?” she asks. He yawns and flips his hair off his forehead.

“No. You?”

“Nothing. It’s freaking me out.”

“What do you expect?” he says. “You acted like a nut case the other night.”

“She had it coming. You know she did.”

“Did it ever occur to you that you might be wrong about her? I don’t see Eddie as being her type at all.”

“Think about it. She kicked you to the curb at the same time Eddie left me.”

“Alright, so we’re rid of her. I don’t know what else to tell you.”

“I’m afraid it’s more complicated than that. On Wednesday she asked if it would be okay to tell her parents she was staying with me for a few days. I only said yes because I thought we might be friends again like we used to be. Now she’s taken off and refuses to answer her cell phone.”

“After Thursday night, what do you expect? You got physical. You stepped over the line.”

“She gave as good as she got.” Madison touches the scratches on her face. “She hasn’t been in class and if her parents come looking for her I don’t know what to tell them. Do you have any idea where she’s gone?”

“In case you’ve forgotten, she’s my ex-girlfriend. She doesn’t provide me with her daily itinerary.” He knows more than he’s telling, but this isn’t the time to share it. Wind rattles the cottage window and rose vines scrape the shingle siding. “Let’s sit on it a day or two and see what happens. If her parents show up, tell the truth.”

Once Madison is off the line, Cody lies back with his arms behind his head and stares at the ceiling. When Sterling broke up with him he didn’t hear from her again… until last week. Now their lives are entangled in a way he never anticipated.

“I’m pregnant,” she said, getting right to the point. There was a moment’s disorientation before he found his voice.

“How did that happen?”

“What kind of question is that?”

“You always took precautions.”

“I know, but it happened anyway.”

“You’re not implying it’s mine?” he says. “I haven’t seen you in months.”

“You make it sound like it was back in the Ice Age. I’m saying it could be you. There’s a fifty-fifty chance.”

“Okay. Have you seen a doctor? I mean, do you know for sure?”

“No, but all the obvious signs are there.”

“Before you go off the deep end, get one of those over-the-counter test kits?”

“Are you crazy? If I do, it’ll be all over town.”

“Then go to the clinic in Appleton and get it done right. No one knows you there.”

“If I test positive I’ll need money to get right again and I can’t go to my parents. It would ruin their good opinion of me.”

“Is that what this is about? Money? You’re the one who left me, remember, and now you want me to ride to your rescue like the cavalry? Shouldn’t you be asking the person you left me for, the other Mr. Fifty Percent?”

“I can’t. He doesn’t know.”

“Don’t you think it’s time he does?”

“You don’t understand. I can’t talk to him the way I can…could…talk to you. Please help me. If you lend me the money I promise I’ll pay it back.”

“I know all about your promises, Sterling.”

“I know and I’m sorry for the way I treated you. You must think I’m terrible.”

“You are terrible,” he says. “Let me know what they say at the clinic and we’ll talk again. You have to realize I’m not the same gullible guy I was before you came along.”