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Erik Walters's Toyota was burgundy with black upholstery. The plate number didn't match that of E. Wheelan. Otherwise Christina's ex-husband was, to A
Christina, though clearly uncomfortable around him, fetched and carried, hovered and scraped like a Total Woman. A
A
Sit! A
Nine o'clock: an hour past Alison's bedtime. Finally Christina left the table to tuck her daughter in. Alison's pajamas were laid out on Christina's bed. Erik's one suitcase was in the child's room. All of the dolls, moved to the dresser, stared glassy-eyed at the bed the intruder had deprived them of. A
"Chrissy tells me you're a ranger," Erik said in his pleasant educated voice.
"Law Enforcement," A
"Is your husband a ranger as well?"
"I'm a widow," A
"I'm sorry."
Some repressed emotion had shown in his light-colored eyes just before he lowered them to his coffee cup. Disappointment? A
"What brings you to this part of the country?" she asked.
"Business. Brown and Coldwell has a prospective client in El Paso-Gu
"Do you have any other children?" A
"I plan to," he said a little too determinedly.
"I know adoption is all the rage," A
"Do you have children?" The question was abrupt, aggressive. Erik was begi
"No," A
"Abortion!"
A
"That'd be a shame," he said quietly after nearly a minute had elapsed.
A
"Criminals ought to be sterilized," he said with sudden vehemence. "Thieves and perverts breed thieves and perverts."
Perverts held no interest for A
Erik laughed. "I see Chrissy didn't tell you. Good old Mommy is a crook. She wrote nearly ten thousand dollars in bad checks signed in my name. That phony Mado
Christina walked into the ensuing silence. The apologetic half-smile that she wore constantly in Erik's company flickered unsteadily at the hostility in the room.
"Is the coffee okay, Erik?" she asked anxiously.
"It's fine, Chrissy," he said. His tone implied: "for the best effort of a fool."
Christina took his cup away.
A
"Ally asked if you would read her a bedtime story," Christina said while she busied herself at the sink. "Could you?"
Without a word, Erik got up and walked into the dark hallway toward the bedrooms.
There was a sharp crack, the sound of broken glass falling. Christina had smashed his coffee cup against the side of the stainless-steel sink.
"Walk me home?" A
Clouds obscured the stars to the west and lightning flickered formlessly, too distant to be more than a vague and sudden glow. Christina sucked air noisily into her lungs. "God! Erik seems to take up all the oxygen in a room, doesn't he?"
"I can see why you left him. He sucks the life out of you."
"I suppose he told you about the checks?" Christina said.
It saddened A
"He did try to get Ally on the lesbian angle, too. I just left out the forgery part. I didn't mean to lie to you."
"I know," A
As they approached A
"What happened to Zach?" Christina asked. Then quickly added: "You needn't tell me, if you don't want to."
"I don't mind," A
Christina was quiet for a while but she shifted closer and A
"No. Maybe it's why I drink."
"A little wine is good for the soul."
"A lot is better."