Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 93270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Devy paid and left without scheduling her next appointment. Her mind was elsewhere, with no direction. She got behind the wheel of her car and chided herself for thinking the video was about her husband. Chad wouldn’t cheat. He wouldn’t ruin the life they had built together. Yet something deep down inside told her he had. For the life of her, she couldn’t understand why. She’d never had a reason not to trust him. At least none she could recall.
Never in her life had she thought about spying on Chad until now. She drove to his office and around the parking lot, looking for his car. It wasn’t there, despite it being lunchtime. He’d told her he never left for lunch; why would he need to leave when they had a fully functioning cafeteria on-site? Those had been his words to her ever since he’d started his job there. And she’d believed him. She had no reason not to.
Devy drove around again, this time much more slowly, looking at the bumper of each gray car to find the Proud parent sticker Maren had put on her father’s car.
But she couldn’t find it. Chad wasn’t at work.
Devorah pulled over and called his office. His phone rang through to voicemail. She hung up and pressed his name on her contacts. Voicemail. She closed her eyes and rested her head against the steering wheel as tears of frustration welled in her eyes, tipping over the rims and falling down her face. That was when she saw the shiny pink of her toes and noticed she hadn’t bothered to put her shoes on, and she didn’t know where they were.
As if on autopilot, she drove to Ester’s house. They had plans later, and it was very unlike Devy to show up early, yet she was going to do just that. The entire drive, she told herself the video her best friend had posted wasn’t about her. Ester had other friends, people Devy didn’t hang out with, especially the ladies from Ester’s fiction book club. Their form of reading consisted of drinking bottles of wine and spreading town gossip. Devy liked to stay away from the rumor mill. The less she knew, the better. She never wanted to be caught in the middle of something.
Devy turned onto Ester’s street. Maren and Rita often cut through the neighbors’ yards to get to each other’s homes. Thankfully, the neighbors never seemed to care that the girls had worn a path in their yards. Their safety was far more important than some missing grass.
Ester’s car was in the driveway, but not in her usual spot. It was off to the side, as if she’d needed to get in and out of her garage. Devy parked and chided herself for looking at anything and everything possible to make it seem plausible her husband was there.
He wasn’t.
Chad wouldn’t do this to Devy. To Maren. To their family.
Devorah parked and got out of her car, barefoot. She walked across the grass until she reached the walkway, then went up the two concrete steps to the front door. Her hand was poised to knock. She hadn’t knocked on Ester’s door in years. Devy set her hand on the handle, pressed the lever, and pushed the door open.
Inside, the house was quiet and empty. She turned toward the hall and paused. The moans were undeniable. Ester was with someone.
Someone who hadn’t parked out front or in her driveway.
Against her better judgment, Devy crept down the hall. The moans grew louder, the squeaking of the bed the telltale sign of people having sex. She knew better than to turn the doorknob but couldn’t stop herself. Not now.
From what she could remember, Ester had an ebony four-poster bed. She’d spent lavishly on curtains, duvets, and sheets. The finest thread counts. According to her, this was her sanctuary and where she wanted to feel the sexiest at all times. Devy had tried the same at home, finding the rich colors and fabrics to bring her bedroom to life. The problem was, she bored easily with colors and wanted to change them often. Bright colors in the spring and summer and soft dark colors in the winter. Chad never cared. “Whatever makes you happy” was all he’d ever said.
Devy stepped into the room. Ester and whoever she was with kept going. At first, she told herself it wasn’t her husband. The bare back, strong arms, and toned legs visible to her prying eyes weren’t those of the man she’d vowed to love until death did they part.
She watched as her husband, the man she’d loved since high school—he the star quarterback of their small high school and she the head cheerleader—turned and looked over his shoulder at her while he was balls deep in her best friend.
Her stomach rolled, and she fought back the urge to lose its contents on the white Persian rug Ester loved so much. Yet she couldn’t look away, even though every voice in her head told her to run, to run and never look back.