The Wife Read Online Free PDF Page A

face that night told me so much. The surprise and guilt on his face were undeniable. I once thought Jamie was the most brave and loyal person to ever walk the earth. He proved me wrong back then, and I shouldn’t expect anything more than disappointment from him now. Just thinking of him conjures a feeling of betrayal that pricks my heart, reminding me that there’s still a crack in the hole he left. When I met Mike, he swept me off my feet, and slowly replaced the pain that soaked my heart when Jamie broke every promise he ever made me.
    The day after the party, I told Mike right away that C.J. Fox was actually Jamie McCullen. I hadn’t wanted to keep secrets like I thought he kept from me. Although Mike knows what Jamie meant to me in my past, and more importantly, what he did to me, he wasn’t fazed one bit about the possibility of me working on the design of his restaurants. He only hoped that our past relationship would mean more opportunities to help him expand to other locations. Rather than feeling grateful that my husband was so trusting of me and my integrity, I have to admit to feeling a little hurt that he wasn’t the least bit jealous or threatened by Jamie. Didn’t he think that someone like Jamie could still have feelings for someone like me? No, to Mike, I was merely “the wife.”
    Just then, Mike knocks on the door and enters. He looks me up and down like he used to instead of looking right through me as he has done so often lately.
    “Damn, woman, I don’t think I can let you out of the house looking like this.” He comes right for me, pulls me up against his muscular frame and kisses the side of my neck, making me swoon with hope. “I’ll be home late again tonight, but text me after your meeting. I want to hear how it goes. I’m sure you’ll knock them off their socks like you always do.”
    I try not to worry when Mike is overly affectionate before his late nights out. Before therapy, I would always assume he’s trying to hide his infidelity, but now, I have to make the decision to trust him if we are going to make this work. I can’t let my avalanche of insecure emotions continue to build a wall of doubt between us.
    I smile up at him and kiss him softly on his lips, trying to hide my worry. “It may be late. The kids are staying at Rita’s tonight and I’m going out with Lee for a few drinks afterwards.”
    Lee has always lived in California, but we met in our junior year at NYU and have been best friends ever since. Rita went to high school with Lee and has become one of my closest friends since moving to California. Rita always asks to have the boys over to play with her son, who’s always looking for a playdate. I knew Mike would be out late, so when she asked to keep the boys over night, I accepted Lee’s invitation out for a girl’s night. I thought I’d probably need a drink with my best friend after being around Jamie again, so I decided to take Rita up on her offer and let the kids have some fun with Rita’s son, although I wish she’d be able to join us too. The three of us were like the three amigos, and they were the only two people I trusted with my feelings about Mike.
    He pulls away and kisses my forehead before he grabs his tie off the bed, walking toward the door. “That’s a great idea. Tell Rita to remind Pete our tee time is eight tomorrow morning. I had to move it up because C.J. needed to push our meeting to tomorrow.”
    I try not to let Jamie’s new name make me cringe. It seems fitting he’s changed his name because I would have never thought the Jamie I knew would have said and done the things he did to me. The Jamie I once knew would have never walked away without looking back. Not after what we shared together. Not after I sacrificed everything for him. Maybe C.J. would. It sounded like the name of a deceitful narcissist.

    I walk through the doors of my gym, looking for Lee and Rita, who always come to the Tuesday morning class with me. After I