Crossing Oceans by Gina Holmes Read Free Book Online

remained anchored. When he opened his eyes, panic stopped my heart. He smiled as though seeing me after all this time was the most natural thing in the world. A warm smile. Familiar and kind. And then his eyes grew large and he sat up suddenly, the smile replaced by alarm.
    We were still for a moment, taking each other in—David on his hammock in his beautiful garden, surrounded by flowers, birds, and sweet fragrances, and me, an intruder, sneaking into his yard, hiding an ax, sharpened and ready. His life would come crashing to the ground with one swing of my blade.
    David’s gaze moved from me to the back of his house. In the window, a dark-haired woman watched us. David stared at her.
    She stared at me.

Chapter Six
    The woman in the window disappeared. David turned to me, panicked and pale. “Jenny, what are you doing here?”
    “We need to talk.”
    “You couldn’t have called?”
    “This isn’t the kind of thing you say over the phone.”
    “You know I’m married?” He held his left hand up. The gold band on his finger glistened in the sunlight. “Five years now.”
    Jealousy bit hard as I regurgitated a smile. “Wow, that’s great.” A gust of wind scattered the carpet of white blooms and whipped my hair into my eyes. Hurriedly, I pushed it away, wishing I could’ve taken a moment to pull my hair back and myself together.
    “David?” a woman called meekly from the back door. This was not the Lindsey I’d imagined with wavy blonde locks and an hourglass figure. This Lindsey wore her shiny black hair in a blunt cut that would have looked more at home in Manhattan. Her fawn eyes jetted between David and me as she approached.
    Her long khaki shorts ended where knobby knees began. In an evening dress, her pasty skin might have appeared luminous, but in naked daylight it just looked like she needed a tan.
    By anyone’s standards, I was more attractive, but that thought brought no satisfaction. What it did bring was painful curiosity. What virtue did she possess that made her lovable when I was not?
    David seemed to quickly compose himself as he stood, leaving the chains on the hammock jingling. “Lindsey, this is Genevieve Lucas. Jenny, this is my wife.”
    She turned in my direction, studying me. After a moment, recognition washed over her, punctuated by an exclamation. “Your prom date!”
    When my eyes met David’s, he looked back to his wife. “That’s right, sweetie.”
    Sweetie was a name he’d often called me, but for her it dripped with honey. She held out her hand.
    I gave it a weak shake. “It’s nice to meet you.”
    “You should see the scrapbook I made David with his high school memories. I gave it to him for his birthday. Your prom picture’s in it.” Her gaze traveled over my body so quickly, if I’d blinked, I’d have missed it. “You looked so pretty in that green dress. So pretty, I almost—” she made air quotes—“ accidentally lost the photo.”
    David shifted from one leg to another. Red mottled his cheeks and neck. “What brings you here, Genevieve?”
    Taking in a deep breath, I motioned to the glass-and-iron table on the brick patio. “Can we all sit?”
    “Is this about your mother again?” He crossed his arms. “Your dad really needs to move on.”
    The cockiness that made his father so loathed in my household shone from David’s eyes like candles I wanted to blow out in the worst way. I felt my nostrils flare. “Would you be able to move on if you thought someone’s negligence caused your wife’s death?”
    Lindsey fingered a button on her blouse, rubbing it absently as a child might do to the satin edge of a blanket. “What’s she talking about, David?”
    He glared at me as he spoke to her. “My father supposedly—”
    “Not supposedly ,” I interjected.
    “According to Genevieve’s dad, my father misdiagnosed her mother. He wasn’t even her doctor.” He said it as though the accusation were as insignificant as a fly he could just wave