The Ex Files Read Online Free PDF Page A

then did the same to the ones in the living room.
    As she climbed the stairs, the seventeen hundred square feet of silence screamed at her, but she ignored the quiet and kept the veneer of cheer.
    In the guest bathroom, her smile dimmed a bit when she opened the medicine cabinet. There weren’t as many bottles as she thought. But she gathered the three prescriptions and then strolled toward her bedroom.
    Inside the master bathroom, she lined up the bottles on the counter before she opened the cabinet. In here, her wide smile returned. As she placed these five bottles next to the other three, she wondered why she and Reed had kept these prescriptions long after their headaches and toothaches and muscle aches were gone.
    “The Lord works in mysterious ways,” she said to herself.
    She leaned against the wall, folded her arms, and stared at the bottles lined side by side like soldiers.
    This was enough for what she had to do.
    She wondered if Reed had taken this same care when he planned his death. Knowing her husband, he’d probably spent weeks organizing it all. She closed her eyes and once again imagined his last moments. The gun to his temple. The way he’d probably looked at his watch and counted the seconds. The way she hoped he’d said good-bye to her. Then, hello to God.
    “No,” she screamed, and opened her eyes.
    Sadness stared back at her from the mirror and she forced the ends of her lips to turn upward. There was no need for sorrow. All she needed to do was embrace the joy that came from knowing that—as soon as she got the word from God—she and Reed would be together again, married forever.

Chapter Five
    S HERIDAN
    Relief swept through Sheridan as the phone shrilled. She glanced at the clock—it was barely seven. She reached for the telephone but pulled her hand back when she squinted at the caller ID.
    She lay back, waiting until she was sure the message had been left. Then she called her voice mail.
    “Sheridan, this is Pastor Ford. Sorry to call so early, but I was on my way to The Woman’s Place. I wanted to meet with you briefly this afternoon, but if not today, then definitely first thing Monday. Give me a call as soon as you can. Love you.”
    Sheridan wasn’t returning that call—at least not today. She stayed away from Pastor Ford the morning, the day, the night…after. After what she and Brock had done yesterday.
    The thought of him brought back her misery. She’d been up the entire night, spending the hours staring at the telephone, wondering why it wouldn’t ring. Wondering even more why she wasn’t dialing.
    Now she still couldn’t believe he hadn’t called. Yes, he’d left angry. But they’d argued before—actually, a lot lately. Yet he always called. And he had postponed his cross-country trip to make sure she wouldn’t be alone.
    She tossed the covers onto the floor. She needed to do something about this.
    Thirty minutes after she jumped from her bed, she was showered and dressed. She reached for her keys and paused as her glance rested on the program that sat tucked in the corner of her dresser mirror. Her father’s face, wide with a smile, stared back at her. His photo warmed her; it was the words above his picture that made her body cold—Homegoing Celebration for Cameron Collins.
    She closed her eyes—it was there inside where she could hear his voice, feel his kisses, reach out and touch his love. Grief began its swell, but with a shake of her head, she demanded that sorrow stay away. She tucked her keys in her hand, dashed out the door.
    Backing out of her driveway, she realized she had no destination in mind. Her car wandered with her thoughts. She wondered what she’d be doing now if she hadn’t driven Brock away yesterday. They would have still been together—of that she was sure. They wouldn’t have made love again—they never did it twice. But he would have stayed and held her through the night. Then, this morning, she would have awakened with a smile