Leaning in close, he brushed her lips with his own. “I’m going to spend the rest of my life proving to you how important you are to me.”
Letting her go, Tristan walked over to the far cabinet above the sink. He moved some of the cleaning products out of the way and grabbed the bottle of whisky. Opening the cap he poured the expensive liquor down the sink.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“You don’t think I see the vicious circle you’ve got yourself locked inside? One drink will lead to two.” He placed the bottle in the recycle trash can then went to the fridge. Taking out the bottle of red liquor Zoe had told him about, he emptied that one down the sink.
While Vicki had been shouting from the kitchen her friend had voiced her concerns to him. His woman wasn’t going to be an alcoholic, not on his shift. He’d do everything to stop her from slipping down that spiral.
Vicki was going to get his undivided attention.
“And two drinks will lead to three. I remember a time when you didn’t even have beer in this house. You saw what alcohol did to your customers at the bar. I’m not letting you fall down, Vicki. We both lost a baby, and I accept your need to lose yourself, but something has changed now.”
“What is that?” she asked. Her arms were folded around her body. To Tristan the position looked like she was trying to ward off some kind of pain.
“You’ve got me. We’ll get through this together. All your pain and suffering will come to me.”
“You’re invading, Tristan.”
“No, I’m taking over and controlling the situation, which is what I should have done months ago. I’ve let it go. You don’t eat, and from the looks of it you barely sleep. All that is going to change.”
He finished pouring the alcohol down the sink then pulled the keys from his pocket. “Come on, we’ve got to go out.”
“Why? Where are we going?” she asked.
“Shopping. You need some food in this place.” He didn’t wait for an answer. Taking her hand he pulled her outside. The town was busy with market day. He didn’t take her to the market. He pulled her toward his car parked outside of the station. He saw Stefan’s bike was parked alongside Kevin’s truck. The two men must be trying to woo the woman inside. “I feel sorry for Marla. Poor woman doesn’t stand a chance against those two.”
Vicki mumbled in agreement. Opening the passenger door to the car he waited for her to climb inside before going around to his side.
“Where are we going? There’s a supermarket several doors down from the mechanic shop,” Vicki said.
“I know. I don’t feel like listening to everyone talk about Kate. I know she’s still in town, but the less I see of her the better,” he said.
“What happened?” Vicki asked.
“What should have happened a long time ago. My eyes were opened to the real woman Kate is. She’s used to getting her own way. Being married to me and off getting what she wanted was fine while it was on her own shift. Now, she’s turned nasty. You might start to hear some crap about me if she decides to stay in town.”
Tristan knew Kate better than his wife realised. He wasn’t going to let her bring him down no matter how much she wanted to.
****
Buckling up her seatbelt, Vicki listened to everything Tristan had to say. Her hands were shaking from the small amount of alcohol she’d drunk. She was ashamed because what Tristan said was the truth.
Up until recently she never touched the stuff. Watching the way people changed scared her. Alcohol scared her, and yet she’d started to drink in order to numb the pain inside.
Watching him pour the contents of the two bottles was enough for her to realise she needed to change. Two bottles were two more than she’d ever owned. The fact she’d poured whisky into her coffee was even more shameful to her.
Pushing the few strands of hair off her face she looked out of the window at the passing scenery.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“To a quieter place to buy some groceries.” Tristan didn’t elaborate, and she wasn’t in the mood to know more.
“Do you really think Kate will cause you problems?” Vicki asked. From the way he described the other woman, Kate sounded like a person to avoid conflict.
“She’s a lawyer. Losing anything is not something she’s comfortable with,” Tristan said. “I’m prepared for everything. She may even hit out at you and our age difference.”
“Why would she try? You know her secret about the pain thing.”
“Yeah, I do. She also knows I wouldn’t out her unless I had to. If I out her then I’d be blacklisted. The people in our scene would see me as a snitch. It’s complicated.”