The Secret Wife Read Online Free PDF

Elissa working hard, he found her sitting on the floor surrounded by boxes of photographs and three young girls.
    They didn’t notice him at first. Gina, the orphanage’s ten-year-old resident genius, knelt next to Elissa, intently watching as Elissa braided Tiffany’s hair. Shanna stood behind them, peering over Elissa’s shoulder. As usual, the barely eight-year-old motormouth couldn’t stop talking.
    “How’d you learn how to do that?” Shanna asked, then reached up and touched her own bright red braid. “Could I learn? Can we learn to do our own? Maybe you could teach us and we could do each other before school. I like my braid. Do you like yours, Tiffany?”
    Tiffany tried to turn to see what Elissa was doing. Elissa laughed. “Hold still. I can’t braid if you’re moving around.”
    “But I’m still not sure I understand how to do this.”
    “We’ll practice for as long as it takes,” Elissa told her.
    Shanna leaned forward, resting one hand on Elissa’s shoulder. The trust inherent in that gesture made Cole’s gut tighten. Elissa had been at the orphanage only a few days, yet she’d already made a home for herself with the children. He supposed he should be pleased she fit in so easily. It was better for everyone. Yet he hated the fact that they liked and trusted her. Why couldn’t they see what he saw? That she would leave them as easily as she’d left him? That none of this mattered to her? It was just an act, and as soon as he figured out what she wanted, he was going to throw her out of the orphanage and his life.
    But not today. Today it was enough to stand in the doorway and watch her laugh and smile with the children.
    In her summer dress, with her long blond hair spilling around her shoulders and the three girls gazing adoringly at her, she looked like a model in a photo shoot. The four of them were a study in contrasts. Elissa fair and blond, Shanna with her freckles and red hair, and the other two girls adding the exotic elements. Tiffany’s Eurasian and African-American heritage gave her a beauty seldom seen. No one knew about Gina’s parents, but Cole figured she had a combination of Anglo and Asian features.
    Four different females who looked so right together. It couldn’t be chance. As he’d first thought—a photo shoot. But these kids hadn’t been paid to act as if they liked her. They were doing it because their feelings were genuine. Weren’t children supposed to be good judges of character?
    Not in this case.
    He leaned against the door frame and folded his arms over his chest. Gina was the first to glance up and notice him. Her shy smile broadened. She jumped up and ran to him. He picked her up and held her close.
    “Hi, angel face,” he said as she buried her face in the crook of his neck.
    “Cole!” Tiffany tried to turn toward him, and giggled when she couldn’t. “Look. Elissa’s braiding our hair. Isn’t it cool?”
    “Very nice.”
    “I like my braid,” Shanna said. “It’s pretty. We’re all gonna learn to braid like that, then we can do our hair every morning.”
    “Sounds like a great plan,” he said, noticing Elissa offered him a tight smile and nothing else. He turned his attention to the child in his arms.
    “What’s new?” he asked softly.
    “I want to learn French,” Gina whispered.
    He knew better than to laugh. “Why?”
    “My teacher played a CD today that had some French words in it and I thought they were pretty.”
    “Did you ask her about learning another language?” Gina already spoke Spanish fluently.
    Nod. “There’s some cassettes I can listen to, and maybe she can find a tutor.” She raised her head and stared intently at him. “I told her I didn’t have any money.”
    Familiar frustration assaulted him. The budget at the orphanage had been stretched past the point of breaking. This was the price he paid for autonomy. There was never enough cash.
    He shifted the slight weight in his arms. Gina might be two years