His Other Wife Read Online Free PDF Page B

she could remember, this had been Hilary’s mothering credo: If you feed them, they will come.
    She walked in carrying the first of three loads of grocery sacks, filled with Doritos and enough mega-bags of potato chips
     to squelch the hunger of a small military brigade. She’d bought a case of brownie mix at Costco, along with massive jars of
     bean dip and peanut butter and a six-pack of squeeze cheese.
    Hilary had learned that boys weren’t like the tentative, polite girls who visited. Girls opened the refrigerator and made
     a careful study. Oh, Lauren’s mom keeps that same kind of juice; oh, I’ve never tried that salad dressing. Oh, you’ve got croutons. Boys opened the refrigerator door and just started unloading. They moved through like flocks of starlings, devouring
     everything in their path. They would be happy for a while watching television or wrestling with each other or playing Xbox,
     and then they would move to the next location where they could find food. Yes, all this time, and Hilary knew she’d been buying
     love. But she happened to think it was well worth it.
    After stowing the groceries, she headed to the living room. The boys had roosted around the television, howling with laughter
     as they alternately fast-forwarded and rewound the digital video on Charlie’s camera, their dirt-encrusted socks propped on
     a coffee table that still needed polishing. Armed with an oily rag, Hilary moved three pairs of feet out of the way. Of course I can handle Pamela , she thought as she started to dust. With each swirl of the rag, It’s my choice if I let her ruin Seth’s graduation. With each stroke of polish, Of course I won’t let that happen!
    Hilary realized, as she glanced around the room at the boys, that she wasn’t sure that Seth was even here. When she heard the car pull into the driveway, adrenaline shot through her. Okay. Maybe she wasn’t as composed as she intended
     to be. She felt about as ready to have this flurry of Eric’s family descend as she was to have a colonoscopy. She checked
     her watch.
    Thank goodness. This must be Seth showing up in his ancient Plymouth Horizon. That car was ready to fall apart, and she didn’t know where
     he’d been. She’d give anything to have another two hours, time to clean, time to run to the florist, too, to buy a bouquet
     for the guest room where her mother would be staying.
    Hilary had just enough time to check her face in the hall mirror before Seth hit the screen door, all six-foot-one of him.
     He plowed past her into the kitchen, throwing open the refrigerator door. He raked through the deli drawer for something to
     eat.
    Every time he rounded a corner and Hilary looked up at him, she almost didn’t recognize him. He was always bigger than she
     remembered.
    She reached over his head for the mayo. “I’ll make you a sandwich.”
    “No time for that. We’re still working on the senior video.” He spoke all this into the nethermost regions of the fridge.
    Ever since this year started, it seemed like Seth had never stayed in place long enough for her to get a handle on him. In
     some societies he would already be considered a man. She couldn’t understand some things going on inside him. She’d never
     been intended to understand them; they were man things, things she hoped he shared with Eric whenever father and son had a visit together. Hilary felt like her heart was
     always running to keep up with him, always disconnected.
    Seth found the ham and ripped the package open, folding an incredible number of slices into his mouth all at once. “This video’s
     going to be good. They’re playing the pass I caught in the Kennedy game.”
    “Wow. You should be honored.”
    “Yep.” A beat of silence before Seth asked, “When’re Dad and Pam getting here? Have you talked to them today?”
    Hilary nodded, hoping her expression divulged nothing. “They should be at the airport by now. Their flight was due about thirty
     minutes