Forgotten Fears Read Online Free PDF Page A

fault.”
    The words left a bitter aftertaste, because, in his heart of hearts, he didn’t believe them.
    She pulled away from the hug and looked him in the eye, probably for the first time in recent memory, and for a split second, there was no anger.
    “Make sure you let me know as soon as they arrive and fix the power. Okay?” She said, blinking and reverting to staring at her feet.
    “I will, I’ll just feel better knowing the two of you are safe,” He repeated. “You can’t stay here with Tyler when we have no power.”
    “I’ll go pack a few things. Keep an eye on Tyler for me.”
    She left the room, and as much as he hated himself for it, he felt better without her there. It was as if the heavy atmosphere was attached to her somehow, and whenever she left the room, she took it with her. He walked down the hall to the edge of the sitting room door and watched Tyler playing in his seat cushion fort without a care in the world. He was overcome with such a feeling of unease, he almost decided there and then to forget the house and go with them. He remembered Angeline’s mother, for want of a better word was a miserable old trout, who had looked down on him ever since the affair as if he were the only guilty party, and her daughter couldn’t possibly have done anything wrong. He decided he would rather take his chances in the dark than spend an evening with the in-laws.
    “Come on champ,” He said as he picked Tyler up. “You are going to visit miserable old grandma for a few hours.”
    His son chattered and laughed as Billy looked out of the window. The sun was already lowering in the sky, turning its blue hue to a yellowish orange. In a few hours, it would be fully dark.
     
    ~III~
     
    Tyler was chatting away to himself in his safety seat in the back of the Ford Explorer as Billy helped load the bags into the car.
    “Jesus, it's only one night you know,” He muttered as he loaded the last of the bags.
    “Well, I don’t know what I might need for Tyler. He’s still a little bit snotty.”
    “Nice,” Billy said as he closed the car door.
    They stood and looked at each other, and it was hard to ignore the awkwardness that lingered between them. The wind ruffled Angeline’s hair, and Billy felt a flicker of the physical attraction which had once been so intense between them was now non-existent. She caught his eye and smiled as she tucked the wayward hair behind her ear.
    “What is it?” She asked.
    There was so much he wanted to say. He wanted to hold her, to protect her, shake her, scream at her. He wanted to wish away everything that both of them had done to taint their marriage, but the words wouldn’t project passed his throat, and instead he coughed.
    “Nothing, it’s nothing,” He said.
    “Do you have everything you need?”
    “Yeah, beer in the fridge, and plenty of food. Don’t worry, I’m sure this will all be fixed soon.”
    She stepped forward and hugged him, and he held her, feeling that gnawing sense of dread which was becoming harder and harder to ignore. It was the same as when you could taste the energy in the air before a storm came, and as he cast his eye towards the heavens to the deep bruise coloured thunderheads, he thought a storm was a very real possibility.
    “You should get moving,” He said, holding her at arm’s length. “Looks like the weather is about to turn.”
    Angeline looked up to those same purple thunderheads, and for a second, Billy was sure he could see the same uncertainty in her that he felt.
    “Go on, get a move on,” He said, forcing himself to smile as he opened the car door for her.
    “I’ll call you when we get there,” She said as she climbed behind the wheel.
    “I don’t have much charge on my phone, so I’ll make sure I don’t use it until I hear from you.”
    She nodded, and he wanted to tell her he loved her until he thought of her writhing underneath that fat old man at the Christmas party, and the words wouldn’t