The Wives of Beverly Row 1: Lust Has a New Address Read Online Free PDF Page A

imagined it would be the talk of the party after she left. She also imagined that she’d just blown her chances of ever having a social life with these people but she didn’t care. If this was the way they treated women then she didn’t want to have anything to do with them.
    “Jesus Christ,” Jake said again. “What a bitch!”
    Ariel was already halfway through the kitchen. Becky and Zola were both running after her.
    “Mom,” Becky called, “what was all that about?”
    Ariel turned and faced Zola. There was a moment of silence when neither woman knew that to say. Then Ariel spoke.
    “I’m really sorry I created such a scene and I’m really sorry I spoiled your party.”
    Zola said nothing. She just stared at Ariel as if she was the strangest person she’d ever seen. Ariel looked at her for a second longer.
    “I’ll have Becky come over with the bathing suits tomorrow.”
    Zola still said nothing, she just looked at Ariel and Ariel honestly didn’t know if Zola was going to cry or scream at her. She just wanted to get out of there. She felt bad for Zola. She knew that creating a scene like that might have been the worst thing she possibly could have done. Interfering in other people’s marriages was not something Ariel made a habit of and she knew that Jake might take it out on Zola. She prayed she hadn’t made things worse for her. Zola was the one who had to live with Jake.
    As she hurried down the driveway, Becky chasing after her, Zola standing at the door watching them leave, tears began to fall down her face. She wanted to scream. She wanted to punch somebody. She wanted to punch Jake Medeiros and every other man who thought he could push women around.

VII
    Z OLA STOOD AT HER KITCHEN window and looked out. She was looking at Ariel’s house. Two days had passed since the pool party and it seemed to Zola that Ariel had spent all that time in her garden. She’d planted hollyhock, California lilac, baby blue eyes and so many poppies that her backyard was beginning to resemble a meadow from a Monet painting.
    “Honey, have you seen my cufflinks?”
    Jake was getting ready for some big meeting at work. He was trying to get funding to grow his business and a group of investors from Silicon Valley had flown down to hear him pitch. He was nervous.
    “They’re by the sauna. You left them there the other night.”
    “Run up and grab them for me, will you?”
    Zola did as she was told.
    “I just hope they like the idea,” he said as she came back down the stairs. “There’s a lot of potential for an app like this. There’s nothing like it on the market. Imagine the possibilities.”
    “It’s a great idea, honey,” Zola said.
    “It could revolutionize marriages.”
    Zola nodded. Jake was standing by the counter. She gave him his cufflinks and helped him close them. Then she filled his travel mug with fresh coffee and kissed him on the cheek.
    “You’re the most successful developer in the city,” she said.
    “These guys from San Francisco, though, they’re playing at a different level.”
    Zola smiled and nodded and watched Jake leave. She knew that she should care more about Jake’s business ventures, they were what supported her and her lifestyle, but it seemed like every month there was a new deal that he was all stressed about. He really wasn’t as confident and cocky as he pretended. That’s what made him act out the way he did. And that was also why he was so angry with Ariel for the way she’d called him out at the party. He’d gone on and on about it after she’d left. Zola thought he might even go over to Ariel’s house and start a fight with her. She was relieved he hadn’t.
    She poured herself a cup of coffee and looked out the window some more. Ariel had really done a nice job with the garden. Zola smiled to herself. Good for her, she thought.
    She crossed the kitchen and got a cast-iron skillet from beneath the stove. She poured half a cup of coarse cane sugar onto the