The Bride Experiment Read Online Free PDF Page A

“Everything is a go. You just make sure you are packed and ready to go.”
    â€œI’ll be home late tonight. I’ll probably be up half the night trying to put Debra’s weave in. She gets on my nerves. She is so hard to please, but her money is still green, and right about now, I can’t turn it down.” Raquel sheepishly looked down at her shoes, and then said really quickly, “Especially since I just spent fifteen hundred dollars on our custom-made aisle runner.”
    â€œNo! Raquel, I thought we agreed not to spend any more money on this wedding. You know we have to live afterward.”
    â€œI know, boo, but I couldn’t help it. When you see it, you will understand. It is hand painted with our monogram. The same monogram that is on our cake, our wedding and reception programs, and embroidered on my dress. And besides, that’s why I’m taking on additional clients. I’m not going to tap into our savings.”
    James made a mental note to withdraw all the money from their accounts on the morning of the wedding. He and Raquel decided to combine accounts when they purchased their home three years ago.
    James remembered Joan. “Um . . . well, I’ll be working tonight too. Frank called and asked if I would help him guard the all-white party they’re having at Club Jazzy tonight.”
    Raquel looked concerned. James knew what to say. “Baby, don’t worry. We can’t afford to miss out on this easy money. Since I’m a constable, they are paying me two hundred an hour to stand around and pretend to patrol something.”
    â€œAll right, just don’t get yourself in trouble with those young girls.”
    â€œOf course not, baby.” James walked Raquel to her car, kissed her on the lips and watched her drive away.
    With Raquel out of sight, he pulled out his cell phone and started to dial Joan’s phone number. Before the call went through, he hung up the phone. Joan could wait. He needed to make sure his plan to destroy Raquel was foolproof. James walked back inside the church.

Chapter 5
    Pecan-crusted tilapia always made Joan feel like a chef. She pulled the fish out of the oven and plated it with wild rice and a balsamic vinegar glaze, like she was preparing to present it at a five-star restaurant. She then poured herself a glass of champagne before taking her seat at the table. It was celebration time, because Tisha had moved out of her condo and into her own apartment. She loved Tisha like a sister, but living with her was starting to be too much.
    Just one more month, and she feared she would have stopped liking her altogether. Everything that came out of Tisha’s mouth was a Bible verse. She was always walking around with a ton of scripture cards, ready to hit somebody over the head with one of them.
    Joan hated to have to pretend in front of Tisha, since she thought Joan was some sort of super Christian. When Joan joined the Singles Ministry at church, Tisha followed her. When Joan started going to Bible Study each week, so did Tisha. When Joan started taking a Bible class at a local Christian school, Tisha signed up the following semester. And now that Joan was regularly teaching at the women’s meeting at church, Tisha arrived early and stayed late. She always told Joan she was the best Bible teacher she had ever heard. The compliments were sincere and constant.
    Joan enjoyed these compliments, but she just wished Tisha could turn it off sometimes. She missed having a best friend she could be herself with, and she was starting to feel like a stranger in her own home. Every once in a while, Joan wanted to watch a soap opera, crime drama, or have a glass of wine with dinner, but she knew she would have to explain herself to Tisha, so she didn’t bother. Tisha didn’t believe Christians should watch anything with murder, sex, or violence.
    She would not have understood how Joan could teach a Sunday School lesson, pray