Back Talk Read Online Free PDF Page A

home for Philip?”
    “That would be nice. He would take it as a peace offering,”
    Gerald said.
    “A sign that I no longer harbor any ill will for stealing my husband.”
    “Anne …”
    She gazed into his dark blue eyes. She couldn’t honestly say that she didn’t feel pain when she looked at him. They had been the perfect couple and everyone thought theirs was a marriage that would last. They had similar interests. So she thought for five years. They had agreed children were not really imminent in their plans. They both liked to travel; they enjoyed their careers and hobbies. It seemed they were madly in love. And then one day Gerald came home and told her he was in love with another man.
    If anything can make a woman feel inadequate it’s being replaced by someone you have no hope of competing with. Phil had a penis and she didn’t. It was hopeless. She kept hoping one day she would find humor in this. That day had yet to arrive. “Gerald, what went wrong?”
    “It’s not you. It’s not anything you did. It was me.”
    21
    All content of this eBook is copyrighted.

    “No, it was Philip.” Anne poured herself another glass of wine.
    “It would’ve happened sooner or later. I came to invite you to a barbeque,” he said, pointedly changing the subject.
    “So I can hang out with a bunch of gay people. I’m sure I’ll find a date that way. No, thanks.”
    “You never know,” Gerald said, finishing his glass of wine. “I worry about you, Anne. I want you to be happy.”
    “I’m fine. Besides, I’m supposed to have dinner with my parents tonight.”
    “Oh, goody.”
    Anne laughed. “Don’t you miss those family dinners where my father keeps quiet while my mother meddles in your business. She still thinks I drove you to this.”
    “I know. I’m sorry. I should call her.”
    “No, don’t. The longer you stay away the closer she’ll get to letting it go.”
    “All right. I should go.”
    “Tell Phil hello for me.”
    “I will. He feels bad, you know.” Gerald didn’t meet her gaze.
    Instead, he went and picked a single yellow rose.
    “I’m sure he does,” Anne said. Like, everytime he holds you in his arms. She tried to imagine Philip falling down on his knees in penance to a righteous God and begging forgiveness for stealing her husband. Sure he does, Anne thought wryly. They had been divorced a little over a year and still she felt the loss and cursed the day Philip walked into their lives.
    22
    All content of this eBook is copyrighted.

Chapter Three
    It took Natalie three days to find out that Hilton had slept with another woman. Hilton was soaking in the bath in the big house and listening to a tape of Anne’s radio program on her portable player. She had to resort to using the first-floor bathroom because the third-floor tub was no longer useable. The white porcelain handle had come off while she was rinsing out the tub so unless she wanted a cold bath it was time to pick another bathroom. She was thinking about the show. She’d be acting in the capacity of an official observer all week. The Web site needed visuals. Hilton was spoiled from listening to Anne and watching her. Having seen Anne’s facial expressions as she took calls and made commentary would be priceless video footage. Her chair-spinning and paper-tapping gave the conversations more pluck. It was difficult now just to listen to the show.
    Tomorrow she’d go in early and set up a Web cam to test out her idea. If she could stream the program, the Web site would be a 23
    All content of this eBook is copyrighted.

    new hotspot for her listeners and certainly fulfill all of Anne’s expectations for redesigning her site.
    Amid this revelry of how to please the new boss, Nat burst into the bathroom. Her face was flushed and Hilton could tell she was fit to be tied. She had a pretty good idea why. Word had obviously gotten out. Not that she was hiding the fact that she’d also spent most of Saturday night in the arms of