The Bird Eater by Ania Ahlborn

Author:Ania Ahlborn [Ahlborn, Ania]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Tags: ScreamQueen
ISBN: 9781477817605
Google: 5XcNnwEACAAJ
Amazon: 1477817603
Publisher: 47North
Published: 2014-04-01T05:00:00+00:00

Aaron struggled with the sticky lock of the front door—grocery bags in hand—and when the door finally swung wide, Cheri stepped in behind him. He left her in the living room as she spun around, her gaze drawing across the walls, taking in the house she had visited a million times in her youth. It was little more than a shadow of its former self: dusty, the colors dulled by years of neglect, but it still looked miraculously the same. The furniture stood in the same spots, though the place was missing small details that made a house feel like home—books and trinkets, candles and plants. She assumed that the interior had been in too bad a shape to keep everything, though she noticed that he did manage to salvage the framed photos and the glass candlesticks she remembered well.

She eventually found her way to the kitchen, shaking her head with a faint smile. “It almost looks the same,” she said. “Just a little bit of paint and maybe some new wallpaper and it’ll be perfect.” It felt like they should have been up in his room, listening to her Cure CDs on a loop, accidentally brushing hands while he explained Gin Rummy rules and tossed back SweeTarts. But Aaron was avoiding her gaze as he put the groceries away. Apprehension coiled up her throat. Maybe this was wrong. Just because Aaron had haunted her into adulthood didn’t mean he felt the same way about her. For all she knew, he had forgotten about her completely until they ran into each other again. She was expecting too much. But he looked so forlorn, so sad-eyed and weighed-down, so beautiful with those ink swirls twining across his arms.

Cheri slid up to the counter and pulled a box of pasta from Aaron’s grasp, the fingers of her free hand circling the wrist of his left arm. He tensed as she slid a fingertip up his scar.

“Will you tell me about this?” She tapped the puckered flesh of a healed wound beneath the image of a small golden owl, the groceries momentarily abandoned.

“You first,” he said.

Her pulse hitched when he took a half step back.

“Me first what?”

“Tell me why you’re here.”

“What do you mean, why I’m here? You didn’t expect me to come see the house?”

“You know what I mean,” he said, and she grimaced at his reply. What did he expect her to say?

“Are you asking about me and Miles?” she asked, reluctant to meet his gaze. When he didn’t reply, she continued as best she could. “You think every married couple is thrilled to be together? Get married,” she told him. “Then you’ll know.”

Looking up, she took note of his posture. He was white-knuckling the edge of the kitchen counter as though letting it go would send him falling into the depths of despair. His jaw was set; she could see the muscles of his neck tense and relax, the tendons standing out like ribbons beneath his flesh.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

He

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