Chapter 5
"I have no idea." he answered, but his voice was hoarse and he knew immediately that she didn't believe him. Well, he guessed he wouldn't have believed himself either. Especially because deep down he somehow already knew what this was, no matter if he wanted to admit it to himself or not. Must've been all this crazy talk about some strange people from the past creeping around poisoning animals that had him jump to conclusions like that.
Still it hurt to watch her eyes narrow, to see suspicion creep into her gaze which had been so open and gentle just moments ago. And the feeling of loss that came over him as he felt her distance herself from him was something Dave really didn't want to think about. Because if he spent too much time doing that he knew it could shake the very foundations of his life. And that was something he wasn't all that keen on.
Especially considering that his life was supposed to be damn near-perfect right now. As close to perfect as it could get, actually. He was doing a job he loved, he had great friends and he was just about to leave the home of the woman he loved who had recently agreed to marry him. Alright, so they had had a quarrel. Well, that happened to the best of them... Nothing a few nice words couldn't fix.
And yet he stood there, looking down at the redhead in front of him and felt as if the ground was pulled away from right under his feet as she took a few steps back and fixed him with a look that clearly said "I'm not trusting you anymore." And suddenly he got angry. Did she really think he had it in himself to kill an animal? He, the vet, for crying out loud? Did she think that was the kind of person he was?
Hurt coursed through his veins for a moment before it was quickly drowned out by another feeling. Anger. Pure, unadulterated anger. Who did she think she was in the first place? It was her past, her old stories that always kept coming up again, complicating everybody's lifes. And if she really thought he was capable of something like this, then why had she let him into her life in the first place. Let him think she valued him as a friend when in reality it was so easy to shatter her trust in him. And so he lashed out without even trying to stop himself, not once considering that maybe her reaction wasn't exactly due to what he suspected.
"Don't you dare to look at me like that, Stevie. I didn't poison the Alpacas. I'm a vet, for Christ's sake. But you know what, I wouldn't be surprised if it had been one of your mysterious friends from the past. Or hell, I wouldn't even be surprised if it had been you, yourself. All this talk about some dangerous stranger creeping around and trying to get to you. Wanna know what I think? I think you made it up, I think you just can't stand the thought that other people are happy. And now you're trying to frame me to spoil that happiness for us."
The moment the words were out he realised he'd gone too far. He saw disbelief flashing across her eyes, then understanding, then hurt. Then she dropped her gaze and he couldn't see her eyes anymore. Without a word she turned around and walked away, leaving him only with the image of red hair gleaming in the morning sun and the soft, yet cold sound of almost inaudible words.
"I should've know it. I should've known he'd manage to make you turn from me as well. I should've known that you're no different."
And as he stood there, frozen in place, watching her leave, he distantly wondered why this felt so much worse than the argument he'd had with Tess earlier. He didn't know whether it was because of the guilt he felt over his stupid words or because of the way she had looked so utterly alone walking away from him, her sad, final words hanging in the crisp morning air. He only knew that nothing Tess had said or done had ever made his heart ache nearly half as much as it ached now, as he stood there, watching the sun rise over Drover's hills, all the while contemplating just how things could've gotten so out of hand.