Bad Wolf by Nele Neuhaus Read Free Book Online Page B

loved his profession. Anytime he could not save a human life, he regarded it as a personal defeat. It was the contradictory nature of his personality that slowly but surely had cast its spell over Emma: on one side the sympathetic humanitarian and on the other the worrywart doubter who could sound almost cynical. Sometimes he sank into a deep melancholy that bordered on depression, but he could also be witty, charming, and downright entertaining. Besides, he was probably the best-looking man she had ever met.
    Emma’s colleague had given her a warning when she admitted that she’d fallen in love with Florian. “Keep away from him if you don’t want to make yourself unhappy,” she’d said. “He lugs the problems of the whole world around with him.” Then she added mockingly that maybe he was exactly the right man for someone like Emma, with her need to help everyone. Emma had immediately suppressed the doubt that these words aroused in her. She would always have to share Florian with his job and his patients, but what was left over for her was enough. Her heart overflowed with tenderness when she saw him sitting there. The curly dark hair, the shadow on his cheeks and chin, the warm dark eyes, the sensitive mouth, the tender skin on his throat.
    “Hello,” she said softly. He gave a start and turned to stare at her, then slammed his laptop shut.
    “Good God, Emmi! Do you have to sneak up on me like that?” he blurted out.
    “Sorry.” She flicked on the ceiling light. The halogen lamp bathed the kitchen in a gleaming white glow. “I didn’t mean to.”
    “Louisa’s been whining all evening,” he said, getting up. “She didn’t want to eat, said she had a stomachache. Then I read her a couple of stories, and finally she fell asleep.”
    He took Emma in his arms and kissed her on the cheek.
    “How was the reunion? Did you have fun?” he asked, placing a hand on her stomach. He hadn’t done that in a long time. Just a little more than five weeks and this pregnancy, which had not had the most fortuitous start, would be over. Florian hadn’t wanted a second child—and she actually hadn’t, either, but somehow it had happened.
    “Yes, it was really interesting to see everybody after such a long time. In some ways, they’ve hardly changed at all.” Emma smiled. “And I met my best friend from those days. I haven’t seen her since we graduated.”
    “That sounds great.” Florian smiled, too, then cast a glance at the kitchen clock above the doorway. “Is it okay if I go over to Ralf’s for a beer?”
    “Of course. You deserve it after an evening of putting up with Louisa.”
    “I won’t be late.” He kissed her again on the cheek, then put on his loafers, which were standing next to the door. “See you in a while.”
    “Okay, see you. Have fun.”
    The door closed behind him, and the light went on in the stairwell. Emma heaved a sigh. The first few weeks after he got back from Haiti, Florian had acted strange, but now he seemed more like himself. Emma was familiar with his dark phases, when he acted cold and introverted. They usually passed after a couple of days, but this time it had taken a lot longer. Even though it was his idea to stay in Falkenstein until the baby was born, it had to feel odd for him to be suddenly back in Germany, living in his parents’ house—the house he had fled almost twenty-five years ago.
    Emma opened the fridge, got out a bottle of mineral water, and poured herself a glass. Then she sat down at the kitchen table. After all the years of their gypsy lifestyle, which had taken them to the most remote places on earth, she found the idea of finally settling in and putting down roots very tempting. Next year, Louisa would be going to school, and that would be the end of living in some camp somewhere. Florian was an excellent surgeon, and any clinic in Germany should be glad to take him on. Besides, at forty-six he was no spring chicken. Most of his bosses, as he had