The Next Wife by Kaira Rouda (speld decodable readers txt) 📕

Lance embraces me. “God, Kate, I’m so very sorry.”

I lead him into the living room. I’m in shock, I know. I also know I need to tell Ashlyn. John’s death is news. Our company just went public.

Lance drops into a chair in the family room. “We’re in trouble. The IPO. John.”

I ignore Lance for the moment. I open my laptop and scroll to the news. And there it is. EventCo CEO dead at age fifty. Apparent heart attack. News travels fast. Bad news, faster. Tragic news, the fastest. We need to get in front of it. Stay in front of it. We cannot allow this tragedy to ruin the company. It won’t.

I take a deep breath. “I’ll be right back. I need to tell Ashlyn.”

I climb the stairs slowly, thoughts racing through my mind. I need to bring John home. I need to be the one in charge of his body, of his proper burial. We’d had it planned, morbidly I suppose, for years. And now, it’s my role as the mother of his only child, as the wife—his first wife, with whom he spent twenty-three years.

I say a silent prayer as I reach the top of the stairs. Don’t worry, John. I’ll handle everything. You’ve done enough. Rest in peace.

I knock on Ashlyn’s bedroom door, knowing after I walk across the threshold, John’s death will be real. And things will never be the same.

“Mom, what’s wrong? Are you crying? You never cry.”

“Oh, darling.” I fold her into my arms. This will be the hardest moment in her young life. I take a deep breath. “Your father has died.”

“Mom? What? No!” I hold her tight. I’ll help her through this. She’ll need me more than ever. The company will need me more than ever.

I kiss the top of my daughter’s head as she sobs. “Shhh, Ashlyn. I’m here. I’m so sorry. It’s going to be all right.” As I say those words, I resolve to make them true.

My daughter is shaking. “Dad missed us.”

“I’m not sure of that, honey, but I’m here. I’m always here for you. We have each other,” I murmur, knowing it’s not enough in her mind, but it will have to be from now on. Was John’s plan to attempt to reconcile? Maybe so, but it doesn’t matter now.

The house phone begins ringing downstairs, and I hear Lance answer in the hallway.

“No comment. Please respect the family’s privacy.” I hear the phone drop back onto the cradle. The media wants a comment from me about John’s death. I wasn’t there, what can I add? We’ll need to prepare an official statement.

Ashlyn leans against me, sobbing. “Have you talked to Tish? Was she there, with him? Did he suffer?”

A gruesome image of John dying burst into my imagination: bug eyes, foaming mouth, choking sounds. Accompanied by the vision of Tish standing over him. I shake my head. “I don’t know, honey. I don’t have any details, but I’ll get them. I will find out what happened. I promise.”

CHAPTER 15

ASHLYN

I fall into my mom’s arms. I can’t stop shaking. This isn’t happening. My dad and I talked last night. My mom is wrong. She must be. It doesn’t make sense. My heart beats so fast I think it might break.

“I talked to Dad last night. He was so sad. He said he was coming home to us.”

“What do you mean? What exactly did he say?” Mom asks me.

“He was slurring his words. But he said he wanted to come home, he didn’t feel good. And then she came out on the deck and made him hang up,” I say, fighting to talk through my tears. “I hate her. I hate what she’s done to our family. I hate what she did to Dad.”

Mom pulls me tighter. “Yes, she’s horrible. But Dad’s an adult. He made his choice, honey.”

“He made a bad choice,” I say. There is a dark and angry pit growing in the bottom of my stomach. “What are we going to do now?”

Mom pulls away. “What do you mean? We’ll be fine. We have been fine ever since your dad left us. Don’t worry about a thing. I will handle everything.”

“OK,” I answer. I know Mom is in charge, she always has been. I guess I meant what will I do without my dad? He was the one in charge of fun. He used to be the one who could make me laugh. Since Tish came along, all he did was grow more and more distant. And now, he’s gone. A sob shakes me to the core as my mom holds me tight.

“Listen, honey, come with me. We need to make arrangements. Lance is waiting,” Mom says. “Doing something for your dad will help you feel better.”

“No, hugging Dad right now would make me feel better. I need a minute alone.” Mom nods and kisses the top of my head.

“We’ll always miss your dad, of course, but we will get through this together.”

We have already been missing my dad. Now, I guess we always will. I can’t stop the tears as they spill from my eyes. My phone lights up. Texts pour in from college and high school friends. My dad’s death is big news in Grandville and beyond. It’s crazy to think that tragedy gets more attention than good news. I mean, not one of my friends texted about the IPO. But I guess that’s true of people in general. They only see what they want to see, even when the truth is right in front of them.

I ignore all the texts, grab my teddy bear, and curl up in bed. My dad shouldn’t have left home. We were all happy once, just the three of us. It seems so long ago that he and I were allowed to be alone together, to laugh together.

I knew they weren’t happy together anymore. I saw it. He told me. But I never imagined this could happen, that