Forks, Book Two Page 2

  “Amber we already discussed this.” She rolled her eyes in exasperation.

  Did we? I didn’t think so. “Fine, all right.” I started toward the stairs. “Where are we eating?”

  “Where else,” she said coming to stand in the doorway. She ran her hands nervously down the sides of her conservative black dress slacks and red sweater twinset. She was even wearing her pearls. “Bella Italia.”

  “I should have guessed,” I mumbled dejectedly and stepped up on the stair.

  “What was that?” She crossed her arms and lifted her brow.

  “Yummy!” I faked my exuberance as I climbed the stairs to my room to get changed.

  The ride to Port Angeles was interesting to say the least. Ken drove his squad car and Mom rode shotgun while I was shoved in the back seat behind the bulletproof glass partition.

  I felt like a criminal.

  I couldn’t even hear what they were saying. Ken kept glancing in the rearview mirror, smiling, and even gave me an encouraging thumbs up. I slumped further down in the seat and stared out the window at my own reflection since it was too dark to see anything else.

  When the lights to Port Angeles came into view, surprisingly my stomach grumbled. At least I would get to eat something. Ken backed up into a handicapped space right in front. I groaned and slumped further down in the seat, hoping, no, praying, that no one would see me get out of the back of the car. Unfortunately, I wasn’t that lucky.

  Ken opened the door for Mom and then opened my door. As I stepped out, just about everyone in the restaurant was looking out the big glass window right at me.

  Great.

  I shoved my hands in my pockets and stepped behind Mom who was waving excitedly to someone inside the restaurant.

  “How was that, kiddo?” Ken reached forward and ruffled my hair.

  I batted his hand away. “It was interesting.”

  He frowned and pulled his hand back. “You didn’t like riding in the back?” He tugged on his jacket. “I thought you’d get a kick out of it.” His brows creased more.

  I felt another pang of guilt. Between him and Mom, I was getting used to feeling bad for something. “Nah, it was fine.” I smoothed my hand down over my hair.

  “Don’t get to do that too much do you?” Ken beamed.

  “Nope.” I forced a smile. “You got me there.”

  “Just you wait,” he said happily, and zipped up his leather bomber jacket. “If you play your cards right, on the ride home I’ll even switch on the lights and siren for you, too.”

  Oh, God, NO! NO! “Great.” I gulped and my stomach dropped down to my feet. Maybe I would get lucky and get food poisoning. That way I could lay down in the backseat while I puked, or even better, maybe I would get carried off in an ambulance. At least no one could see me except for the EMT’s. I was shooting for food poisoning.

  Bella Italia was surprisingly crowded for a Monday night and it made me wonder if it was always like this cuz the food was so good or if there was something going on. By the look of the happy patrons it was the former and unfortunately, food poisoning didn’t look like a viable option at this rate. We were ushered into a room in the back and sat at a big round table with a little reserved t-pee in the center. I took off my jacket and handed it off to Mom before she freaked.

  “How do I look?” She fluffed her hair.

  “You look great, Mom.”

  “I do, don’t I.”

  I tensed. There it was again—I wasn’t sure if she was asking me a question or making a statement. “‘Yes, you do,” I said just to be on the safe side.

  Two booster seats were shoved up to the table. Great, just what I needed, little kids. Humphrey, my Dad’s kid had sucked all the happy kid stuff from me since he was such a brat. Maybe I would get lucky and the kids would be too little to talk. I could totally deal with bubble-blowing-gurgling babies.

  “This is nice, isn’t it?” Mom, said, as she lifted a cloth napkin and set it in her lap.

  “Yeah, it’s great.”

  “Doesn’t it smell delicious?” She inhaled deeply and wiggled in her seat like an excited kid.

  “Yeah,” I said honestly because it really did.

  Ken ambled up to the table with drinks from the bar, handed off a glass of wine for Mom, and then placed a drink in front of me with three little cherries bobbing in the top. “I got you a Shirley Temple, with extra cherries.” He beamed.

  “Gee, thanks.” Begrudgingly I smiled a little, albeit a forced one. I wasn’t ten.

  Ken pulled out a chair and sat beside Mom. He reached forward, grabbed a breadstick from the silver cup in the center of the table, and began munching on it.

  “How much longer,” I complained. I was suddenly starving.

  “Ow.” Mom kicked me from under the table. I rubbed my leg. “I’ll just eat one of these,” I said and grabbed a breadstick. It wasn’t warm or anything. It was hard like the ones you get from the store in a box, but it was better than nothing. I nibbled on it while Mom and Ken conversed about who knew what. I wasn’t really paying attention.

  The heat from all the bodies in the room and the dim light was making me sleepy. I took a sip of my “Shirley Temple” and was surprised to find it actually tasted pretty good. I stabbed the cherries with the little swizzle stick, trying to drown them. The place had a nice ambiance at night. White linen cloths covered the tables and a small candle with a vase of red carnations dotted each top, along with silver cups that held breadsticks.

  Ken brushed the breadcrumbs off his sweater. “To us,” he said and lifted his glass.

  “To us,” Mom said, making googly eyes at him and tapped her glass against his, which made a clinking sound. It was really sweet but it was uncomfortable to watch. I wasn’t sure why I even needed to be here.

  Ken took a long pull from his drink and Mom gulped down half her glass of wine. I hoped his family got here soon since I was pretty sure she had been drinking before we even left the house. And who knew what Ken was drinking. I could tell by the color his drink had a bit more kick to it. I suddenly wished I could have what he was having.

  Mom leaned forward and played kissy face with Ken. I inwardly groaned and shoved another breadstick in my mouth. With little interest, I watched some people seated behind a lattice partition with fake leafy vines intertwined. A girl with big pillowy lips leaned forward and said something to whomever she was with. Absently, I pushed out my lips, wishing mine looked that good. A hand reached out across the table and grabbed hold of hers. By the size, I knew it was a guy’s hand….with long fingers, like a piano player or musician…my stomach dropped like I had a lead weight inside and my heart sped up.

  “Tracy, Steven,” Ken said loudly, welcoming his family to the table as he shoved his chair back and stood up.

  I couldn’t turn my head away like I knew I should. Without looking obvious, I leaned forward, trying to see…to get a better view. The girl reminded me of Sandy, she was Clarke’s sister who also worked at Thriftway. Per Kirk, she was seeing Viktor or Vincent before she supposedly disappeared. I looked again but all I could see was the overly abundant foliage on the lattice that blocked my view of the other table.

  It couldn’t be her though….could it?

  “Look alive, Amber,” Mom hissed in my ear and squeezed my arm a little too hard.

  Rubbing my sore arm, I reluctantly turned around. My heart was pounding a mile a minute. I remembered what Kirk said about Sandy—that she was seeing one of the Roth’s. Could that hand belong to Viktor? It certainly looked like his hand. Just thinking about it made me feel sick—even though I didn’t have any right to feel that way. I tried to look again. Mom jerked my arm so hard I had to stand up.

  Suddenly all I could see was a tan raincoat. I looked up into the smiling gray eyes of the man I had seen in Thriftway—the pervert. “Sh—t!”

  “Amber,” Mom warned.

  “Sorry,” I mumbled and dropped my gaze to the table.

  “Mommy,” whined a litt
le girl with dark curls as she bounced in place. I recognized her as well. It was the little candy grabber, Suzie, with Ken’s apparent sister, her mother, who was the woman from Thriftway, too. She put two blonde twin boys in the booster seats as Ken lifted Suzie up and sat her in the other chair. He limped around the table and said something to his sister, who was giving me a strange look as he pointed towards me. I knew Ken was talking to me but for the life of me I couldn’t understand what he was saying. I forced a smile and nodded my head. “Nice to meet you,” I muttered stupidly and sat back down.

  Luckily a waiter showed up and saved me from having to say anything else. The waiter took the drink orders and everyone settled around the table. I couldn’t stop thinking about the hand I’d seen. “I’ve got to use the bathroom,” I whispered to Mom and tried to stand.

  “Not now,” she mumbled out of the side of her mouth as she forced a smile in the direction of Ken’s sister.

  “But…”

  “Amber, I’m warning you…”

  “Fine,” I exhaled and sat back in my chair. Little Suzie was eyeing me from across the table. I gave her a small smile. She smiled back, revealing two really pointy teeth. A shiver of unease slid over me and I jerked my gaze away from her. I turned around and Steven was giving me a curious look. My skin prickled. I was finding it hard to take a breath. Every time I tried to see through the partition, Steven moved and blocked my view. It was as if he was doing it on purpose. Another shiver of unease slid over me. I didn’t know why, but he gave me the creeps. Not having any alternative, I leaned forward and grabbed another breadstick.

  “Mommy…me want a breadstick,” Suzie screeched and pounded her chubby fists on the table.

  I felt like throwing mine at her, just so she would shut up.

  The Dad, Steven, started talking Football with Ken, thank God! And luckily, Tracy, Ken’s sister, was trying to engage Mom in some discussion about books. Easing back, I tried to slip from my chair but as soon as I moved big mouth Suzie beat on the table and caught me.

  “Where you going?” she asked in a small voice. She couldn’t have been over five years old but her eyes looked much older, like she had seen things, things I couldn’t even imagine. As soon as I thought that, I felt stupid. She was just a kid, after all.

  “Nowhere,” I muttered and sat forward.

  “You a funny girl.” She threw her head back and giggled. The sound reminded me of a crazy kids laugh from a horror movie and not surprisingly it had a similar effect—it scared the crap out of me.

  Two hours later, everyone was putting on their coats and getting ready to leave while Ken paid the bill. Finally, I was free to take a look behind the partition. Acting nonchalant, I walked over and looked on the other side, but the table was now empty.

  three

  Thankfully, Ken must have forgotten about the lights and siren thing and I got to sit in the back of the car in blessed silence for the ride home. Once inside the house, I made a beeline for the stairs.

  “Amber,” Mom called.

  I stopped in mid-step, halfway up the stairs. “Yeah,” I called over my shoulder.

  “Haven’t you forgotten something?”

  Dangit! What now? I turned around and gave her a questioning look.

  She pursed her lips and tilted her head toward Ken. He had his head down, looking at his phone. “Oh right. Thanks, Ken. Dinner was great.”

  Ken looked up at me and smiled. “I’m glad you liked it.” He put his phone away in his pocket. “What did you think of Suzie?” His eyes lit up. “She’s a real cutie isn’t she?”

  “Oh, yeah, she is,” I agreed. A real pain in the butt is what I wanted to say, but didn’t.

  “What did you think of dinner?”

  “Um, it was really good.” What did he want? An award or something? It was just dinner.

  “I’m glad you liked it.” He stood there not saying anything.

  I exaggerated a yawn and stretched my arms. “I really need to get some shut eye. School and all,” I said lamely.

  “Oh right. Well goodnight. Sleep tight.”

  “Yep, thanks. Goodnight.” I ran up the stairs before either of them could stop me.

  Shutting my door quickly, I locked it and leaned against the wood. “What the heck was that about?”

  I shook my head and walked across my room. I was going to take a shower but decided against it. I didn’t want to chance running into Ken in the bathroom, again. A chill hung in my room and I shivered. Once again, my window was open. I frowned and crossed over to it. Reaching up, I grabbed the window and froze.

  Someone was standing on my balcony.

  I wasn’t sure what to do. Scream for Ken or run from my room…surprisingly I did neither. Instead, stupidity reared its ugly head and I pushed my window open wider. Cold air slapped me in the face. The shadowed form stepped into the light and my breath caught.

  “Why didn’t you answer my call?”

  “Vincent?” I couldn’t believe he was on my balcony.

  “That’s my name.” He smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes.

  “How—what are you doing here?” I finally found my voice and was surprised at how calm I sounded.

  “I climbed your tree.”

  “With what…your good looks?” That sounded so lame, I couldn’t believe I even said it.

  “I knew it.” He laughed a little.

  “What?”

  “You do think I’m good-looking.” He turned more fully towards me.

  I frowned at the spindly looking tree by my balcony. The limbs were at least ten feet off the ground.

  “Amber, I used a ladder,” he said as if he was reading my thoughts.

  “Where did you get a ladder?” I gave him a look filled with a hefty amount of disbelief.

  “I brought my own.”

  “Yeah right,” I scoffed. “What did you do, carry it on your back?”

  “Yeah,” he laughed again. “Something like that.”

  I noticed he avoided answering my question. “You can’t be here,” I said, trying to keep my voice low.

  “Why not?” His brows creased.

  “Um, it’s late and …” I didn’t have an answer—at least not a good one.

  “I needed to talk to you and you haven’t answered my calls.” He seemed mad.

  “I couldn’t. I was at dinner,” I lied.

  “Before you left for dinner…” He gave me a look like he knew I was lying.

  “Were you in my woods?” I blurted stupidly.

  “Nah.” He gave me a strange look. “I just got here a few minutes ago.”

  “Fine,” I conceded even though I wasn’t too sure I believed him. “What’s so important?”

  “I just needed to talk to you.” He shrugged.

  “What about?” I wasn’t sure why I asked. I really didn’t want to know. Shivering, I wrapped my arms around my stomach.

  “You want me to come inside, so we can talk?” He took a step closer.

  “No.” I shook my head and took a reflexive step back. “Mom might hear you,” I said quickly. “I think she’s got bat hearing,” I said to cover.

  “She’s not the only one.”

  I did a double take. “What did you say?”

  “I said she’s not the only one.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I demanded, feeling a surge of irritation.

  “Whoa, Tiger.” He held up his hands. “I was only kidding.”

  I felt like a jerk. “Just give me a sec and I’ll come out.” I walked over to my closet and grabbed my dad’s heavy sweater I stole from the Goodwill box and pulled it over my head. My Kermit the frog hat was on the hook from a trip to Disney World last year. Not caring, I pulled it on and walked out of my closet.

  Vincent had his back turned when I reached the window. Taking a breath, I climbed out onto my balcony. The little beach chair I had sat in when Viktor went M.I.A. was still there with the umbrella attached.

  He turned and smiled. “Nice
hat.”

  “Not really, but it’s warm.”

  “No. Really. I like it. The green suits you.”

  “Yeah, funny.” I pulled my sleeves over my hands. It was even colder out now. A bone-chilling dampness hung in the air from all the rain. “Aren’t you cold,” I asked, shivering again.

  “Nah. See.” Before I could stop him, he grabbed my hands in his warm ones. It felt good—the warmth. He stared down at me. We were really close to each other but it wasn’t like before. I began to feel strangely unsettled. I tugged my hands away and pulled my sweater back over my fingers.

  “What did you need to talk to me about?” I hadn’t seen him since the day in my field after the incident with Jason. Well, that wasn’t true. I also saw him on a regular basis in my dreams. No matter how my dream started, somehow Vincent made his way into them, which started to freak me out. My dreams, that is, not him….well, maybe him too, I amended. Taking a breath, I held it….waiting….

  “Amber, I…” His expression seemed pained like he was going to tell me something…bad.

  I expelled my breath and backed up a step. “Maybe we should talk later,” I heard myself saying. I lifted my hand to my ear. “I think I hear Ken.” That, of course, was a giant lie. I didn’t hear anything but my own heart raging out of control.

  “Amber, Amber, Amber…” He shook his head back and forth. “What am I going to do with you?”

  “Ah… let me just…check…” I didn’t finish. I jumped over the ledge of my window and ran across my room. In record time, I had my door unlocked and opened. I poked my head out. “What?” I faked called, keeping my voice low. “Be right there.”

  I turned back around half expecting him to be standing in my room but he wasn’t. I ran back across to the window and poked my head out. “Vincent, I got to …” I didn’t finish my sentence because I didn’t need to. He was already gone.

  four

  It took me a long time to get to sleep; frankly, when my alarm went off, I was surprised that I had fallen asleep at all. After Vincent’s speedy exit last night, I locked my window and shut my curtains. When I climbed in bed, I stared at my phone for a really long time, waiting for the inevitable ring but it never came—Vincent never called.