Wolf Prey (Wolf Cove Book 3)

by Nina West

  Crap. “Just a minute!” Despite Henry’s rationale, I can’t go in there wearing a different dress. There is just no good explanation for that. So I scurry up the stairs and into my room to throw on my pajamas as fast as I can.

  I head back down and pour myself a glass of water. With great reluctance and trepidation, I take a deep breath and enter the den as if nothing’s wrong. I head straight for Daddy, settled into his hospital bed. “I’m going to sleep.”

  “Not before we have a little talk,” Mama demands behind me.

  I can feel the daggers boring into my back. “About what?” I ask casually.

  “You know exactly what about.”

  I heave a sigh, peering down at Daddy, who looks exhausted. He’s given me and Henry his blessing, I remind myself. So at least I’m only gravely disappointing one of my parents.

  He reaches out to take my hand and squeeze it. “Good night, Abigail. Thank you for the lovely welcome home party.”

  “I’m just so glad you’re home.” I smile and lean down to lay a kiss on his forehead.

  “Don’t let her get to you,” he whispers, then gives me a secretive wink.

  If only it were that easy. Mama has a way of getting under your skin and staying there.

  “Why don’t you let her get some sleep, Bernadette. She’s been worked to the bone these last few weeks.”

  “You wouldn’t be sayin’ that if you saw what I just did, out by that man’s truck,” she retorts. “I will not allow that kind of behavior under my roof!”

  “All he did was kiss me!” I avert my guilty gaze, because what happened outside the barn was definitely more than that.

  “Don’t you raise your voice to me, Abigail Margaret Mitchell. What if Jed had seen that?”

  This time, my cheeks do flare with heat. I wish that’s all he’d seen. And honestly, despite Daddy’s kind words, I can’t see him being too supportive if Jed blabs.

  I finally turn to face her. “Jed and I are not getting back together, Mama. You need to accept that.”

  She scowls. “You say that now, but when that man stops comin’ by, like he will, you are gonna be upset that you didn’t treat Jed better.”

  “Who says Henry’s going to stop coming by?”

  “Oh, come now. You’re my daughter and I love you, you know that. So I’m only telling you this to help you avoid more pain. You are not the kind of girl that is going to keep that man interested for long.”

  Again, she doesn’t guard her words, delivering them like a knife plunged deep into my insecurities. The ones that have plagued me since I first met him and have caused so many problems.

  But I won’t let her poison my thoughts. “Maybe I am.”

  “Don’t even say that. The kind of woman he would need….” She cringes. “Well, I won’t utter those kinds of words in front of your father, but let’s just say she’s not the moral kind.”

  Is she the kind who just let him fuck her on a bale of hay outside your equipment barn?

  I drop my gaze. I still can’t believe I did that, but Henry has a way of making me forget my inhibitions.

  “It’s time to start remembering your responsibilities to your family and this farm.”

  Anger flares inside me. “Everything I’ve been doing for the past three weeks is for this family and the farm! I quit my summer job, I’ve deferred college… what more do you want?”

  “It’s not about what I want. Look at your father! He’s not getting any younger. He’s started thinking about retiring.”

  “No, I haven’t,” my dad grumbles.

  She ignores him. “But he can’t until we know the farm will keep going and we can pay our bills. Do you want us livin’ on the street in our old age?”

  I fight the urge to roll my eyes. “That’s not going to happen.”

  “What do you think we’re gonna do, just sell the farm? Four generations of Mitchells have farmed here. Four. That’s history. You don’t just turn your nose up at that. You and Jed need to sort things out and settle down. Take over the farm just like we planned all along.”

  I’d love to tell her that was her plan all along, not mine, but that wouldn’t be completely true. I’d thought that’s what I wanted, too. Until I saw what else there was out in the world. “Things have changed, Mama.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means I don’t think this is the life for me.”

  She snorts. “What on earth are you talking about? Of course it is!”

  I heave a breath to keep from yelling. “No… it isn’t. Why won’t you listen to me?”

  She stares at me as if I’ve just told her I’m about to burn the house down. And then she shakes her head. “Mark my words, whatever has gotten into you is gonna move out quickly enough. I knew you going to Alaska was a bad idea. But we allowed you to go so you could—”

  “You didn’t allow me to go. This is my life, not yours, and I was going, regardless,” I snap.

  Mama’s mouth drops open. “See, Roger? See what’s happened to our sweet daughter because of that man? You try to reason with her. I give up.”

  Daddy heaves a sigh. “Abigail, why don’t you get some sleep. It’s late and you have to be up early.”

  This is the last thing he needs to be dealing with. I take his dismissal as my excuse to leave, muttering a, “Good night,” as I march out the door.

  Behind me, Mama is still talking. “That man is not steppin’ foot on this property again.”

  “This is Mitchell land. My land. He is welcome here anytime.”

  “That’s your head injury talking. Didn’t we both agree to let me make the decisions around here until you’re thinkin’ straight again?”

  “Good God, woman! I don’t have a bloody head injury! How many doctors need to confirm that to get it through your thick skull?”

  I hear Mama gasp. “Well, you’re clearly not yourself!”

  “Good night!” I hear the lamp click.

  I scurry up the stairs, not wanting to deal with Mama anymore.

  I’m not sure what time it is exactly when I fall asleep, but it’s well after two. Late enough for Henry to message to say that he’s landed safely.

  But he doesn’t.

  Chapter Six

  Jed frowns as a truck turns into our driveway. “I thought he was gone,” he mutters, more to himself, as he lifts a bushel of tomatoes onto the trailer we’ll be taking to the market. He’s barely spoken to me all morning, only wiping his scowl off when Mama pokes her head out the door to see if we need a drink.

  I ignore him now, my heart beats wildly in my chest as I watch the silver truck approach. I did get a text from Henry this morning, just to say that he’d arrived late and that he’d be tied up for most of the next two days.

  So I know it’s not him, but still I can’t help but wish it was.

  A car soon turns in to follow the truck up the driveway and now my frown matches Jed’s.

  We watch as a middle-aged man in jeans and a button-down steps out of the shiny silver Dodge Ram. It looks like it was just driven off the lot. “Is there an Abbi Mitchell here?”

  I raise my hand.

  He smiles and ambles over, pulling out the clipboard that’s tucked under his arm. “Would you mind just signing here, here, and here.”

  “Uh… and what am I signing for?”

  “Your new vehicle.”

  “My new….” The green Toyota pulls up behind the truck but the driver remains where he is, busy talking on his phone. “What?”

  “Yeah. Paid for in cash this morning. I’ll tell ya, I need a fairy godmother like that. Even if he was a bit demanding.” He chuckles, tapping on the paperwork.

  I scribble my name down without really thinking. Henry bought me a new truck?

  “Keys are in the console. Do you need me to walk you through it?”

  “No, I’ll figure it out.”

  “Well, then. Enjoy. She’s a beaut. Limited edition, fully loaded.” With that he climbs into the pass
enger seat of the car. The Toyota turns and is gone in seconds.

  The gravel crunches behind me. “Are you kidding me, Abigail? He treated you like a whore and you’re going to accept that? That’s, like, a sixty-thousand-dollar truck!”

  My mouth drops open and I turn to face him dead-on for the first time this morning.

  He does a lightning quick glance at my chest, and I instinctively cross my arms, knowing what he’s probably picturing. I can’t help but be embarrassed by what he saw. I wish I could be as cavalier about it as Henry is. “Henry has never treated me like that.”

  Jed purses his lips tight. “He doesn’t even have enough respect for you to rent a hotel room. I would never do that to you, out behind the barn where anyone could walk in.”

  “We used to make out in that barn all the time.” Hiding in the loft, amongst the hay.

  “Well… that’s different. And I found buttons, too. Scattered all over the ground. What did he do, tear apart the dress my mother made for you like some kind of animal?”

  I bite my tongue. Yes, actually, he did. And I liked it. “Stop sulking, Jed. You have no right. You broke up with me, remember?”

  He purses his lips. “If you’re going to carry on with him like that, I’m going back to Chicago.” He says it like a threat, a smug expression on his face as if he’s holding something over me.

  “Go ahead. I never asked you to stay.”

  “No, but your mother did.”

  I roll my eyes, but I believe him. That’s exactly something she’d do.

  “You’re not stupid, Abigail. Don’t you see what he’s doing? He’s buying you. He’ll throw money at you, here and there. Then, every few weeks, when it’s convenient for him, he’ll come through to use you, and then he’ll leave.”

  “Convenient for him?” I start to laugh. “You think coming here is convenient for him?”

  “Until he’s gotten what he wants, yeah. And when it’s too much, when you’re no longer this sweet little farm girl… you’ll never see him again. He’s not even faithful to you, I promise you that.”

  First Mama, now Jed. They just keep attacking my weak points. I won’t let them. “Your promises don’t hold a lot of water, Jed.”

  He throws his hands in the air. “Oh, come on! I made a mistake, but I’m here now. When did you become so cruel?”

  I burst out in laughter. “When will you learn to take ownership for your fuckups?”

  He winces. “Really classy. I can see he brings out the best in you.”

  “No, Jed. You just bring out the worst in me.” We’re going to stand here, throwing words back and forth, saying the same things over and over. I’m done. “Do whatever you want to do, stay here or go back to Chicago. I don’t care.” I spin on my heels and march over to my new truck, taking deep breaths to try to calm myself down. No one has the ability to make my blood boil like Jed.

  The dealer wasn’t kidding, I note, sitting behind the wheel. It has all the bells and whistles—leather seats, push start, alarm system, navigation screen, power roof window.

  And it’s a stick.

  Shaking my head, I pull my phone out.

  Are you crazy?

  Henry responds almost immediately, like he was waiting for my text.

  Me? No. Crazy people drive around with duct tape on their bumpers.

  I roll my eyes.

  You can’t just buy me a new truck.

  I can do whatever I want.

  My old truck works fine.

  It’s a hazard on the road. What if you hurt an innocent bystander when that bumper finally falls off?

  Then you could have bought me a new bumper.

  It’s only a matter of time before you’re left stranded on an old dirt road in the middle of the night.

  I don’t go out in the middle of the night.

  I don’t have time to argue with you, Abigail. Take the damn truck.

  I roll my eyes. I can hear the serious tone in his message, and the fact that he’s used my full name means he is serious.

  This is too extravagant.

  Then you won’t like what you see in your bank account.

  I glare at my screen. Last night he said there was an accounting error and Belinda would be depositing the difference.

  Can’t talk now. Heading into a lunch meeting. Enjoy the truck, buy your father a new roof for his barn, and hire help so fuckface can go back to Chicago.

  It’s followed by a winky face.

  “What have you done, Henry?” I mutter, opening my bank account app on my phone to see how much has been deposited.

  My mouth drops open at the digits.

  “Abigail!” Mama comes stomping down the stairs, glaring at me. “Whose truck are you sitting in?” She’s already figured it out. That’s why she’s so mad.

  I need to message Henry back. No, I need to call him and tell him that he can’t be depositing money into my account, that he needs to take it back. Accounting error, my ass. This is ten times what I made for the entire summer!

  But first, I have to deal with Mama.

  “Abigail, don’t you ignore me!”

  “It’s hers, apparently,” Jed answers for me.

  I shoot him a glare.

  “What do you mean, it’s hers? This is a brand-new truck! We don’t have money for a new truck. Did that man buy it for you?”

  I let my head fall back against the nice, contoured headrest. This is going to be a nightmare.

  “Oh, no. Absolutely not. You are not accepting these kinds of gifts from him.”

  I just said as much to Henry, but now that Mama is telling me what I can and can’t do, I’m suddenly much less interested in returning it. “What am I supposed to do?”

  “Take it back.”

  “I can’t. It’s already been driven off the lot.” I don’t know a ton about cars but I know the value drops significantly as soon as a brand-new car has been driven off the dealership lot.

  “And you can drive it right back. Jed will follow you to the dealer and bring you home.”

  My hands curl around the steering wheel. This is his gift to me, not her.

  “Jed, go and grab the keys to Abigail’s truck. They should be on the ring by the door.”

  He starts heading inside.

  “You can’t tell me what to do. You don’t own this truck. I do.”

  Her hands settle on her hips. “And I can only imagine the kinds of things he will expect from you in exchange.” I feel Jed’s knowing gaze on me but I ignore it, watching Mama’s nostrils flare instead, my own anger ready to boil over. “I want that thing off my property right this instant, you hear me?”

  “No problem!” I hit the engine button and it comes to life with a quiet but powerful rumble that only a brand-new truck can manage. Throwing it into first gear, I pop the clutch and take off down the driveway with a roar, checking my rearview mirror once to see through a cloud of dust, Mama and Jed standing side by side, shocked looks on both their faces.

  ~ ~ ~

  Lucy Hornback punches the buttons on the old-school cash register. Her father, Lloyd, who owns the feed mill, doesn’t believe in computerizing the store. He only brought in debit and credit machines five years ago, and he makes you spend at least twenty-five dollars before he allows you to use it.

  “Can you just add it to our tab? I’ll come settle it tomorrow. Silly me, I forgot my wallet at home.” In my mad rush to get away from Mama.

  “Of course.” She furrows her thick, dark brows as she scribbles down the amount in her book. I can’t help but imagine how Katie would react to those caterpillars. “So, I heard you got a new truck?”

  Two hours. That’s how long it’s been since I left Mama and Jed in a cloud of dust. People are already talking about it. I’ve done a few laps around town, just getting used to it and trying to cool my temper. Plenty of people saw me, so it’s quite possible that someone casually mentioned it to Lucy while stopping in to pick up feed. Or maybe it was someone from the dealership, talking
too loudly in the coffee shop about the truck that was bought and paid for in cash and driven out to the Mitchell farm.

  “Just got it today.”

  “Jed called, wanting to know if you’d been by yet. He told me,” she says, confirming her source without me needing to ask. She rounds the corner to peer out the window. “Wow! That’s, like, brand new.”

  “Yup.”

  “You didn’t make that much money in Alaska, did you?” There’s a curious glint in her eye. “Did your boss buy you that?”

  I guess Jed didn’t tell her that part. I can’t see him wanting people talking about how rich my new boyfriend is. He wants them talking about how he’s staying back from college to help us, and how it’s only a matter of time before the two of us get back together.

  I’ve known Lucy since grade school. Maybe that’s why she thinks it’s appropriate to outright ask me. Whatever I tell her will make its way around town, that’s for sure. Do I want everyone talking about this? I’m sure most people will assume that’s how I got it anyway, but will they judge me for it?

  Will everyone assume he’s buying me, like Jed and Mama seem to believe?

  Thank God Lloyd appears from the back just then, scratching his hard belly and adjusting his baseball cap. “Abigail Mitchell. How are you doin’? How’s Roger? I hear he came home yesterday.”

  “He did. He’s on the mend.” Every time I come in here, without fail, Lloyd asks about Daddy. They’ve known each other since they were in diapers. When Lloyd’s wife—Lucy’s mother—died three years ago from cancer, me and Daddy helped run the feed store for a few days to give them time to grieve.

  “You in for chicken pellets again?”

  “Four bags.”

  He fishes his work gloves out of his back pocket. “Pull around back and I’ll toss them in for you.”

  “Great, thanks.” They’re heavy bags and, while I can manage, I’d prefer the help. “See you later, Lucy.”

  “For sure!”

  I duck out before she can continue her interrogation.

  ~ ~ ~

  “Why can’t she just let me live my life?” I quietly complain over a slice of peach cobbler. It’s three o’clock in the afternoon and the Pearl is dead save for a man in the corner by the window, reading his newspaper. It’ll pick up again in an hour when people come in to take advantage of the two-for-one dinner discount while they gossip.