Four Wives Read Online Free PDF Page A

competition. And Daniel had wanted to rub elbows with her the moment they’d bought into Hunting Ridge.
    In spite of her disdain for her husband’s fixation, Janie had’as always’ complied, serving dutifully on the board and befriending Gayle. Not that it had been an unpleasant task. Gayle was warm, genuine, and among the few on the board who actually cared about helping the young girls the clinic served. Now, seven years later, they were firmly embedded in each other’s worlds within the Hunting Ridge mainstream’husbands who worked on Wall Street and wives who stayed home to care for the children and manage the help. They crossed paths at school functions, the nail salon, restaurants, and high-end boutiques. They were on the same social calendars, and belonged to the same club. And all of this made Daniel feel like a player.
    “Can you set up a dinner?”
    “Not at the meeting. It’s too rude. I’ll have to call her. Maybe in a few days.”
    “I don’t know. You could invite the Rice woman as well. I know they live in town, but it might be fun to know a celebrity.”
    Daniel was still skimming the paper as he spoke, giving his wife an opportunity to roll her eyes. What was this, rush week at the frat house? Aside from bragging rights, which Daniel exercised frequently, knowing someone in the Haywood family hadn’t changed their lives in the slightest.
    “She goes by Welsh. And Marie Passeti will be there as well.”
    “Ahhh. Then you’d better call Gayle in a few days.”
    Exactly,
Janie thought to herself. God forbid they should waste their time on the Passetis’townies who weren’t celebrities.
    Daniel checked his watch, then turned and walked to the oval table where his children sat, watching TV and spooning up cereal. “See you guys later. Be good.” His oldest son held up his hand for a high five. “See ya, champ.”
    Janie waited until he was at the door leading to the garage.
    “Hold on!” she said. Daniel stopped, then watched as his wife scurried to the basket on the floor beside him. She reached into the basket for the remote, then pushed the button. Daniel nodded as he heard the garage door pulling open.
    “You have to keep it
in
the car, Janie.”
    “I know, I know.” It wasn’t the first time she’d had to leave her Mercedes in the driveway, and Daniel always came close to clipping it when she did.
    “Just be careful backing up.”
    He smiled again. “I won’t be too late.”
    “See you tonight.”
    And that was it. Daniel, along with his coffee, his briefcase, and his social-climbing plans, was gone for the day. Janie didn’t wait for his car to pull out before closing the door. She didn’t wave good-bye, completing the fagade of normalcy. She looked at her kids, lost in their little worlds. Oblivious.
    “Five more minutes, then it’s upstairs to get dressed.”
    No one listened, and this made Janie smile. Her world hadn’t collapsed around her. Her children weren’t ruined, her husband wasn’t heartbroken. She still had the keys to the house, the car. And whatever was churning inside her had, for the moment, been contained.

SIX

PAUL FROM THE KITCHEN
    T ROY WAS GONE BEFORE Gayle woke, catching the five-fifty train that would get him to the office before the market opened. She rolled onto her back and pulled the covers up to her chin. It was still now, calm. A diffused light from the morning sun entered the room through delicate sheer curtains, the clock ticked back and forth on her night table. And though she could still smell his cologne in the air, her husband was gone. She closed her eyes and stretched her arms wide across the entire bed. She had made it through the night, and now it was her room, her house, for the rest of the day.
    She climbed out of the bed, then methodically smoothed the covers, tucking in the sheet and, finally, draping the spread on top. With the bed made, she walked to the balcony doors and slid them open, letting in the fresh spring air.