Page 40 of Hide My Heart
TWENTY-TWO
Nate
I scan the radio fornews. Internet is spotty up here, and I don’t have a good signal on my phone.
“We can’t let Darlene know where we are,” Amber says to me. She’s been pacing in front of the fireplace nonstop. “We have to assume Hunter’s coming up after us.”
“I’ll call my mom and tell her the truth. She won’t tell Darlene a thing.”
“It might be too late.” Amber wrings her hands. “She doesn’t know Darlene’s the enemy.”
“Let me find out.” I ring my mother.
“Where the heck are you? Taking off in the storm. And why is Sharon answering your phone? Has she gone AWOL? Is Beck safe?”
“I have something important to tell you,” I pause, waiting for her to quiet down.
When she’s finally in a listening mood, I spill the entire story, in between her interruptions and curses.
“You’re telling me Sharon is Amber, and Beck is not your son?” she summarizes in anguished huffs. “After I told the entire town?”
“Please, we need you to keep pretending Beck is mine. The guy who fathered the baby wants to kill him. He doesn’t want children.”
This leads to another tirade about the monster Amber took up with, and how shocked she is that such a good girl like Amber would sink so low. She’s always liked Amber, she says, but now, she doesn’t know what to think.
Plus, she’s pissed that Amber made me lie.
“I’m sorry, Mom,” I try to placate her. “It was a crappy thing for me to do to you, but it worked. Darlene thinks Beck is mine, and she’s been hooking up with Hunter. I need you to go over to the motel and ask her who’s staying there.”
“Darlene took off this morning without telling me,” Mom says. “The housekeeper said she got a phone call and up and left.”
“Did anyone at the Bluebird see her?” I glance at the clock, knowing it’s the busy lunch hour.
“I’ll find out. You’ve dumped a load on me, young man. But I won’t tell a soul he’s not yours. I only hope Hunter’s too dumb to figure out times and dates. If he connects Sharon and Amber, then he’ll know it’s impossible for Beck to be yours.”
“Unless he thinks Beck is a newborn instead of three months old. Maybe he can’t tell.”
“Hope so, I got to go, but I’ll let you know if I hear anything. After the lunch rush, I’ll check the registry at the Redbird.”
“Who’s watching it right now?”
“Lisa’s helping out. Although everyone’s stuck with this ice storm. The temperature rose just enough for big chunks of ice to slide off the roof. But a hard freeze is slated for this evening along with wet snow to add to the mix. It’s too slippery to go anywhere.”
“Unless you’re wearing cleats and spikes,” I add. “Luckily, I have my ice boots in the trunk.”
“You keep Beck and Amber safe. I’m guessing you’re at Joe’s. He has enough food to stock a fallout shelter.”
“We have enough wood and gas for the generator.”
I’m feeling more confident after I hang up, but Amber is still nervous and skittish.
“I know Hunter’s out there. I just know it. He’s too ornery to die, and I don’t want him to be dead. I just want him to leave us alone.”
“Darlene’s gone.” I grab Amber by the shoulders and rub them, trying to calm her down. “But she can’t get anywhere. The roads are iced up. Everything is closed.”
“She can’t go anywhere, but Hunter can. He has snowshoes and cross-country skis. He checks his traps no matter what’s going on with the weather. He cracks through frozen ponds for the beavers and otters, and he has cleats and ice picks for ice.”
“He might be superman, but he doesn’t know where we are. You barely found it yourself,” I point out. “Now, relax, and let’s try and enjoy ourselves. Do some reading or get some rest. I’ll monitor the forecast and keep Hunter’s phone on in case Darlene texts again.”
