The Almost Wives Club: Kate Read Online Free PDF Page A

anything but her own thoughts. Or, the words of a man she’d only known for a couple of hours. Before he’d begged her not to marry Ted, he’d also said, “You should talk to him.”
    And, of course, the man who’d eaten her fiancé’s roast beef and drunk his wine was perfectly right. He could see what she couldn’t. Or didn’t want to see.
    She loved Ted. They had all the makings of a wonderful future, but right now she felt unappreciated, not listened to, pushed aside in favor of his work. Confused about everything from the dress to the prenup to the honeymoon. Had anyone really consulted her about any of this? How had she ended up with a dress she didn’t like, a honeymoon she didn’t especially want, and a marriage where you had to sign a prenup before you could sign a marriage license?
    Perhaps she didn’t need to challenge Ted. All she really needed was to talk to him. About anything. How had his meeting gone? Was the problem resolved? She twisted her ring around on her finger. He’d seemed distant tonight, testy. What if he was so busy at work that he wanted to postpone the wedding?
    Maybe what they both needed was a little more time?
    Or maybe all she needed was to spend the night with him. They’d fallen away from each other with the pressure of family expectation and wedding plans. When had it stopped being about the two of them planning a future together?
    She leaned forward impulsively, “I’ve changed my mind.” And instead of her apartment, she gave the address of Ted’s family complex in Malibu. He was staying in the pool house until after the wedding when they’d go on honeymoon. When they returned, they’d live in her apartment and start house hunting.
    The cab dropped her off outside the compound and she used her key to open the smaller man-sized gate set into the imposing wrought iron gates. A path led around the edge of the property and wound around to the pool house. It was a convenient way to avoid exposure to the main house and she’d come this way to visit Ted a few times, though more often he stayed at her apartment so they felt less like teenagers sneaking around.
    As she approached the familiar dwelling, with the pool lit up like a blue topaz against the darker greenery, she began to relax. Ted would wrap his strong arms around her, they’d talk quietly for a while, maybe laugh about how he’d dumped her in the restaurant. She’d make him promise never to do anything like that again.
    Perhaps she’d tell him about the stranger who ate his prime rib. But even as the thought appeared she knew she wouldn’t tell Ted about Nick. What was the point? She wasn’t trying to make him feel guilty for leaving her, or to make him jealous. Even less did she want to hear that the future Mrs. Carnarvon should have given the guy a pointed heave ho.
    No. Nothing had happened. She’d keep her mouth shut.
    As she crept closer, she heard voices and paused. The TV? But Ted only watched the news and business reports. This was more like a conversation. Several voices.
    She paused. It was nearly eleven. Had the meeting gone badly? Was a strategy session still going on?
    She didn’t want to interrupt Ted if he had business colleagues over, but she also didn’t want to face another expensive and long cab ride if she could avoid it. She crept around to the front of the pool house, where a large picture window offered great views of the pool from the inside of the pool house, and a great view inside the lit living quarters from outside.
    She knew she couldn’t be seen out here. Not if she stayed to the side where the privet hedge had been recently barbered for the wedding.
    To her surprise, she saw Ted’s parents were sitting in the living area of the pool house, both dressed as though they’d been out for the evening and had recently returned. They were holding crystal tumblers of what looked like scotch. Ted stood behind the bar and poured more scotch into another glass.
    She only had a view