Nicholas Sparks - Safe Haven

He moved on, walking in the heat among the fat people, looking for skinny Erin and the man who touched her breasts at night. With every step, he thought about the Glock.

The swings, spinning clockwise, were a big hit with the kids. They’d ridden them twice in the morning, and after the Ferris wheel Kristen and Josh begged to ride them once more. There were only a few tickets left and Alex agreed, explaining that after this last ride they would have to go home. He wanted to have time to shower and eat and maybe relax before he had to drive to Raleigh.

Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t stop thinking about Katie’s earlier suggestive remark. She seemed to sense the direction of his thoughts, because he’d caught her staring at him a number of times, a provocative smile playing at the corner of her lips.

Now she stood beside him, smiling up at the kids. He scooted closer, slipping his arm around her, and felt her lean into him. He said nothing, for there was no need for words, and she said nothing, either. Instead, she tilted her head, resting it against his shoulder, and Alex was struck by the notion that there was nothing better in the world.

Erin wasn’t at the tilt-a-whirl or the maze of mirrors or the haunted house. He watched from the ticket line, trying to blend in, wanting to see her before she spotted him. He had the advantage because he knew she was here and she didn’t know about him, but sometimes people got lucky and strange things happened. He flashed on the memory of Karen Feldman and the day she revealed Erin’s secret.

He wished he hadn’t left his vodka in the car. There didn’t seem to be anywhere to buy more, not a bar in sight. He hadn’t even seen a booth selling beer, which he didn’t like but would have bought if he had no other choice. The smell of food made him nauseated and hungry at the same time and he could feel the sweat plastering his shirt to his back and armpits.

He walked by the games of chance, run by con artists. Waste of money because the games were rigged, but morons packed around them. He searched faces. No Erin.

He wandered toward the other rides. There were kids in bumper cars, people fidgeting in the line. Beyond that were the swings, and he started in that direction. He circumvented a cluster of people, straining for a better view.

* * *

The swings had begun to slow, but Kristen and Josh were still grinning with excitement. Alex was right about needing to call it a day; the heat had drained Katie and it would be nice to be able to cool off for a while. If there was one bad thing about the cottage — well, there was actually more than one bad thing, she supposed — it was that it didn’t have air-conditioning. She’d gotten used to keeping the windows open at night, but it didn’t help much.

The ride came to a stop and Josh unhooked the chain and jumped down. It took Kristen a little longer before she could manage it, but a moment later, the two children were scrambling back toward Katie and their dad.

Kevin saw the swings come to a stop and a bunch of kids jump down from their seats, but that wasn’t where he focused his attention. Instead, he concentrated on the adults who were crowding the perimeter of the ride.

He kept walking, his eyes moving from one woman to the next. Blond or brunette, it didn’t matter. He watched for Erin’s lean figure. From his angle, he couldn’t see the faces of the people directly in front of him, so he changed directions. In a few seconds, once the kids reached the exit, everyone would scatter again.

He walked quickly. A family stood in front of him, holding tickets, debating where to go next, arguing in confusion. Idiots. He skirted them, straining to see faces near the swings.

No skinny women, except for one. A short-haired brunette, standing next to a man with gray hair, his arm around her waist.

She was unmistakable. Same long legs, same face, same sinewy arms.

Erin.

Alex and Katie held hands as they walked toward Ivan’s with the kids. They’d stored their bicycles near the back door, Katie’s regular spot. On the way out, Alex bought some water for Josh and Kristen before they started toward home.

“Good day, guys?” Alex asked, bending over to unlock the bikes.

“Great day, Daddy,” Kristen answered, her face red with the heat.

Josh wiped his mouth on his arm. “Can we come back tomorrow?”

“Maybe,” Alex fudged.

“Please? I want to ride the swing again.”

Finished with the locks, Alex slung the chains over his shoulder. “We’ll see,” he said.

An overhang in the back of the restaurant provided some shade, but it was still warm. After seeing how crowded it had been as she’d walked past the windows, Katie was glad she’d taken the day off, even if she had to work a double shift tomorrow and Monday. It was worth it. It had been a good day, and she’d get to relax and watch a movie with the kids while Alex was away tonight. And then later, when he got back…

“What?” Alex said.

“Nothing.”

“You were staring at me like you were going to eat me up.”

“Just drifting off there for a second,” she said with a wink. “I think the heat kind of got to me.”

“Uh-huh.” He nodded. “If I didn’t know better…”

“I’d like to remind you that there are some young ears tuning in right now, so I’d watch what you say.” She kissed him before patting him lightly on the chest.

Neither of them noticed the man in the baseball hat and sunglasses watching them from the deck of the neighboring restaurant.

Kevin felt dizzy as he watched Erin and the gray-haired man kiss, seeing the way Erin flirted with him. He saw her lean down and smile at the little girl. Watched as she tousled the hair of the little boy. Noticed the gray-haired man pat her on her butt when the children’s attention was elsewhere. And Erin — his wife — was playing along. Liking it. Encouraging it. Cheating on him with her new family, as if Kevin and their marriage had never existed at all.

They got on their bikes and started pedaling, heading around the side of the building, away from Kevin. Erin rode beside the gray-haired man. She was wearing shorts and sandals, showing skin, looking sexy for someone else.

Kevin followed them. Her hair was blond and long and flowing… but then he blinked, and it was short and brown again. Pretending she wasn’t Erin and riding bikes with her new family and kissing another man and smiling and smiling, without a care in the world. It wasn’t real, he told himself. It was nothing but a dream. A nightmare. Docked boats wobbled in their slips as they passed.

He rounded the corner. They were riding and he was on foot, but they were moving slowly to allow the little girl to keep up. He was closing the distance and he was near enough to hear Erin laugh, sounding happy. He reached for the Glock in his waistband and pulled it out, then slid it beneath his shirt, keeping it pressed against his skin. He took off the baseball hat and used it to hide the gun from the people around him.

His thoughts ricocheted like pachinko balls, bouncing fast, left and right, downward, downward. Erin lying and cheating and plotting and scheming. Running away to find a lover. Talking and laughing behind his back. Whispering to the gray-haired man, saying dirty things, the man’s hands on her breasts, her breaths coming hard. Pretending she wasn’t married, ignoring all he’d done for her and the sacrifices he’d made and that he had to scrape the blood from his shoes and that Coffey and Ramirez were always gossiping about him and there were flies buzzing on the burgers because she’d run away and he’d had to go to the barbecue alone and she couldn’t tell Bill the captain that he wasn’t just one of the guys.