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

know my mom has been manipulating things behind the scenes, like expediting the death certificate. But Mom was flirting with Dad before he died, even though she’s told me she’d never welcome him back home. Did she hate Tish so much she simply wanted to sabotage their relationship? Is that what this is all about? Mom lured Dad back to her, but she didn’t want him.

Who am I to judge, though? I’ve been torturing Tish with the apps, and I’ve been snooping around in her past. She told me to leave her alone, and she’d do likewise. But I kept pushing her, and that’s when she lashed out, almost running me over and sabotaging my car. She fought fire with fire.

So, what was I doing when I pushed Tish down the stairs? Was that the result of all the fire, or was I protecting my mom? What was I thinking? I search my memory and the moment is gone, only the feeling of danger and that my mom was going to be hurt. I remember my heart pounding in my chest, a rushing sound in my ears. I’d waited in the shadows on the side of Tish’s yard until my mom arrived. When she got out of the car, I ran around the back of the house, ducking under the kitchen windows. That’s when I saw it: the pitcher of margaritas just like the one in the photo my dad sent me his last night alive.

I knew I had to save my mom.

I’d climbed the trellis, muscle memory kicking in from all of my high school escape antics. I pushed open the unlocked window and slipped inside my bedroom. When I tiptoed across the room and opened the door to the hall, I heard women’s voices from downstairs.

I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I knew it was my mom and Tish. I crept to the top of the stairs and from there could see the white couch where they sat. Tish’s back was to me. I couldn’t see my mom. They kept talking and then Tish signed something, and before I knew it, they were coming toward the stairs.

My heart raced as I ran back to my room and hid in the space behind my open bedroom door.

Why were they coming upstairs? Did they know I was here? No, that was impossible. I remember feeling angry with both of them. How could they be laughing and chatting after everything that has happened? When my dad is gone forever and Tish killed him.

So when I saw Tish at the top of the stairs, decked out in all the jewelry my dad could buy her, I felt a rage like I’ve never felt before. Something inside me ignited as I ran down the hall and gave the monster a shove.

Does this mean that now I’m one, too?

CHAPTER 66

KATE

Two weeks later

Chief Briggs came over in person to let me know that investigators found a thermos filled with the poisoned margaritas hidden in the garage, likely ready to serve to me if our meeting went awry. As if I’d fall for that.

“Cherry pits are a deadly way to deliver a fatal dose of cyanide,” he explained, sitting across from me in my living room. “Six small pits ground up can kill an adult. The bitter taste easily concealed by a strong margarita mix. Undetectable once ingested, and undetectable in an autopsy after just a few hours, cyanide causes a person’s body to shut down, organ by organ. In John’s case, his heart stopped.”

I remember the bowl of cherries sitting on her cocktail table as a chill runs down my spine. “Poor John. He must have suffered so much. I wonder if she watched him die,” I say, taking a deep breath. “No matter how you look at it, John’s dead.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am, about all of this,” Briggs says. “We don’t have proof she flooded Ashlyn’s car, but it’s likely.”

“It is,” I say. “Tish’s quest for money and her need to destroy everyone who was in her way still makes me furious.”

“Our experts think she suffers from some form of sociopathy. She had a tough childhood, with abuse, and had run away as a teenager. It’s sad, what she went through, but it’s no justification for what she put you through or what she did to John. You’re lucky you weren’t another one of her victims the night she invited you over. You should have called me.” His face flushes.

He has been so helpful. “Thank you for everything.”

He stands and walks to the front door. “I’m glad things turned out, ma’am. Please let me know if you need anything else.”

“You know, I could do dinner this week?” I say. “And, please call me Kate.”

He stops in the doorway. “Sounds great. Tomorrow night? I’ll pick you up at seven?”

“Perfect,” I say before he leaves with a big grin.

“He has a crush on you,” Ashlyn says, walking into the living room with Seth close by her side. “You should go on a date with him. He always flirts with you.”

“I am. Tomorrow night,” I say. I also thought it was a great idea.

“Mom, I’m so happy for you,” Ashlyn says.

“Hey, Mrs. Nelson. We’re going to grab dinner. Want us to bring you back anything?” Seth asks. The two of them have been inseparable since the night Tish fell. And I’m glad. Ashlyn seems to be doing well with it all, but time will tell. I’ll watch her, get her help if she needs it. She could always talk to Dr. Ray. I don’t need her anymore.

Thankfully, Tish remains in a coma.

“No, I’m all set. Don’t be out too late. You both have class in the morning,” I say. Ashlyn’s decided to finish her senior year at Ohio State. She’ll also keep her internship with Jennifer.

“Yes, Mom. We know. Love you,” she says as they depart.

I walk down the hall to my home office to put the finishing touches on the Forever product launch