The Bastard Takes a Wife Read Online Free PDF

‘skanky’ any
more.”
    “That’s one small blessing, ” Adele replied.
She stopped at the bar where the caterer had left a pile of
unopened cartons, filled with every nameable alcoholic beverage.
“Now, where did that boy put the Moet? If that’s not chilled to
perfection, it tastes like cat’s piss.”
    I laughed, thinking that sometimes Adele
could do with some language lessons. She and Paige were more alike
than she cared to admit.
     
    *****
    By seven-thirty that evening the outdoor area
was teeming with people. The carefully placed fairy lights twinkled
around the garden and the pool was lit up with floating candles.
Strings of white ball shaped lanterns marked the perimetre of the
garden. In the marquee down on the lawn, the circus performers were
serving hors d'oeuvres of smoked salmon, caviar and oysters along
with bite sized sausage rolls and party pies. Adele had almost
given birth to kittens when I asked to have them included on the
menu. Apparently, things wrapped in pastry were only for people who
didn’t care about their reputation. I knew twenty or so boys who
were attending the party that didn’t give a fig for reputation and
as I watched them from the window in Paige’s room, they were
emptying those particular trays faster than they could appear from
the kitchen.
    “Time to meet and greet,” I said, taking
Paige’s hand.
    “Where’s Sam? We can’t go without him.”
    “He’s getting changed. He should be ready in
a minute.”
    “Will he be wearing his clown suit? Clowns
are fun at parties.”
    I smiled down at her and we headed for the
door. “Let’s hope not. There’s enough clowns at this party already.
Let’s go see, shall we?”
    We headed out the door and along the corridor
to the guest room. Sam was coming towards us, looking very handsome
in a pair of charcoal trousers and a crisp white open neck shirt.
His dark hair was gleaming under the hall light and I was reminded
of the first time I went out with him ~ the day at the rugby club
when he told me he wanted to kiss me. A surge of warmth enveloped
me and I greeted him with a huge smile.
    “You scrub up okay.”
    “You don’t look too bad either,” he replied,
as he stepped forward and put his lips to mine. Then his head
tilted to the small person beside me. “And Miss Paige, you can’t
possibly get any prettier. I think I’ll have to keep an eye on you.
The boys are going to be chasing you down the street before
long.”
    “I don’t care what they do. I have ‘Bieber
Fever’.”
    “Oh?”
    “Paige went to see Justin Bieber last night,”
I explained.
    “And he was good I take it?”
    Paige’s face was filled with the type of
unrequited adoration I used to feel for houses by the beach.
“Freakin’ awesome. But don’t tell Mummy. She hates it when I say
that.”
    Sam locked my arm through his and took
Paige’s hand in his other. “Right. Well let’s get this party
started. I’ve got my two best girls… Time for action.”
     
    *****
    Outside by the pool, Sam and I wandered hand
in hand through the crowd greeting our guests and thanking them for
coming. We stopped to talk to Johnny and Mel, who had arrived
together, much to our surprise.
    “Don’t go reading anything into this,” Johnny
warned us. “We were at a Law Society lunch and thought it’d be
easier than getting two taxis.”
    “Besides, I had to save the degenerate
bastard from making a fool of himself,” Mel added. “He was about to
invite the Hon. Maria Jankovich to be his bloody date. God help me,
I’d rather slit my fucking wrists than have to listen to her spew
her ‘green’ policies at us all night.”
    “She’s a very intelligent woman, Mel.”
    “She’s a fucking idiot and we both know it.
And she looks like a horse. You were only after a shag. ”
    Sam and I grinned at each other and left them
to it. Nothing had changed.
    We skirted the edges of the paved area and
stopped to receive last minute instructions from Angus. He