The Skeleton House by Katherine Allum

Author:Katherine Allum
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fremantle Press
Published: 2024-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

He was gone for work on Monday, but his hunting gear was in a pile on the chair in our bedroom. Under his jacket, there it was: plastic, glass, little dials – this cost seven hundred dollars? This is why I was counting grains of rice? I stuffed it back under his jacket, fuming.

That evening Kyle told me to skip book club. He needed to catch up on the house and couldn’t babysit.

No way. He chose to go hunting all weekend – it was fair that I had a few hours to myself. He said if he’d shot a deer, we would feast on venison for months, therefore his hunting was serving the family. I reminded him that he did not shoot a deer and he pushed me into book club in the first place – and sorry, it’s not babysitting when it’s your own kids. Grow up and do some parenting. And for the record, I hate venison. I told you this before we got married.

His jaw clenched. He went into the bathroom and flicked the shower curtain over the doorway.

“Not the same as shutting a door, is it?” I said.

I heard the shower.

“Let’s put that at the top of our to-do list, honey.”

With the light to his back, I could see his silhouette through the curtain. He silently flipped me off. I was satisfied that I got to him.

Arno lay in the hallway. No matter how many blankets I set out for him, he chose the tile. He didn’t move but his eyes watched me. I picked up the rangefinder.

“Arno. Come here, buddy.” I crouched and patted my thigh.

He trotted up to me and licked under my chin.

“I’ve got a toy for you.”

He sniffed, analyzing a hundred scents, of woodlands and no deer and his stupid Neanderthal owner.

“Go on, that’s a good boy.”

He licked it and looked at me, perplexed, and for the first time I understood the curse of the smart dog.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.