Night Fires Read Online Free Page B

quickly, he rushed to the bathroom and rather inelegantly dropped me beside the toilet, the fat on my arse providing little in the way of cushioning.
    He stood by me as I vomited into the bowl, my groans as loud as my retches. The room filled with the smell of whisky and I grimaced. “You should go,” I managed through my heaves.
    He remained stoic as he continued to watch me spew. I was positive he was enjoying my suffering.
    “Finished?” he asked when I leaned back. I nodded glumly.
    He filled a cup with water and handed it to me along with my toothbrush, loaded and equipped with paste. Again, he watched me, studying me as I brushed my teeth, my cheeks heating with shame as he glared at me.
    When I’d finished, he scooped me up and walked back into the bedroom. This time, instead of just dropping me, he held onto me as he pulled back the duvet then slipped me gently under it and pulled off my pumps.
    “Do you need a bucket?”
    I shook my head slowly, still mortified by my behaviour and his care. He nodded then turned and opened the door.
    “Carter,” I whispered making him stop and turn back. “What time is it?”
    “Two.”
    “In the morning?”
    He nodded again. I nodded back. As he tried to leave, again, I called his name once more. “Did your fire go out?”
    He swallowed but answered me with a firm nod.
    I nodded back. “Did she come?”
    The air around me seemed to disappear when he froze. His eyes narrowed on me as his Adam’s apple bobbed in distress. He appeared to grow in size. However, I was drunk, my tact now in the drain with my stomach. “Did she? Did she come back for you, Carter?”
    Just when I thought he was either going to beat me up or combust on the spot, he slowly shook his head. Securing my gaze, his clear eyes fixing on my bloodshot ones, his lips parted and he sighed. “No, Alice. She did not.”
    I nodded sadly. “They never come for me either.” Then I turned over and drifted off to sleep.

Morning, Billy.
    Good Lord, my damn head is pounding. Too much alcohol. You should be grateful you never found the temptation of oblivion . . . I’m talking about whiskey and Guinness, BTW. Do you have Guinness up there? If you do, don’t touch the stuff!! It’s evil!!
    I’ve made some great friends already and everyone has welcomed me. Well, apart from one guy. I feel for him though. I can’t help comparing him to myself. He lost his wife last year and she was pregnant with their child.
    It just makes me wonder. Mum always used to tell us that there was a God, and that he was looking down on us. Yet, lately, I struggle to accept that. What kind of superior being would allow his ‘children’ to suffer like this?
    I miss you so much, kid. All of you. Something I’ve wanted to ask you for a while …. Do you watch me? I know, stupid question. Yet, sometimes, especially on my beach, I look up and I swear I can feel you, smell you even. I can hear the whisper of Josh’s laughter and the scent of Mum’s perfume. I know. It’s just my imagination keeping me sane, but sadly, I like that it does. It holds you near.
    Anyway, I have to get to work. Give everyone big squeezes, and I love you all. Forever.

    Swilling down the rest of my coffee, I grumbled at the pounding in my head as I pulled on my pumps. I mentally made a note to chastise Janie. It was all her fault.
    Locking the door behind me, I made my way down the rickety stone steps. Reaching the bottom, I stopped and frowned as I turned back. “Eh?”
    The path was clear. All the weeds and brambles had been uprooted, the way through now completely clear. In fact, the whole front of the house had been tidied, the ivy remaining but cut back so the small pink buds still adorned the white walls.
    Scratching my head I wondered if Carlos had been round, but it had only been four hours since I’d fallen into bed, and I doubted he would have worked through the night. Trying to figure it out, I gave up by the time I reached the café, my