His Other Wife by Deborah Bradford Read Free Book Online

such a great gift for Seth. Such a confirmation for him that you both do love him. He wrote an excellent paper about
     it.”
    Hilary’s stomach took a dive. “But we’re not —”
    “It says so much about your family, that you as a couple would put aside your differences for him.”
    There had been times since the divorce when Hilary had known Seth to lie. Occasionally she had challenged him on it. Other
     times, she had let it go, deciding it wasn’t worth a confrontation. Seth had been through so much stress, after all. And when
     he’d fudged the truth a bit, it had always been a tactic to get more freedom, which was normal for a kid, wasn’t it? Saying
     he’d spent the night one place when she’d found he’d really been at another.
    But was this what Seth had been telling everyone he was getting as a graduation gift? Her and Eric together on a trip? Hilary
     wasn’t usually at a loss for words, but she felt like her tongue had been skewered.
    When Hilary closed her eyes, she could still see the tears pooling in Seth’s eyes as he’d asked her why she and his dad couldn’t
     stay together anymore. She could still see the dark confusion in Seth’s face those first months as he’d condemned himself
     for his parents’ mistakes.
    And wasn’t that what Hilary had done, too, as she’d moved through the stages of pain and guilt? Had she noticed Eric spending
     more hours at the office but chosen not to speak? Had she ignored her intuition? Hoped things would fix themselves?
    In the reeling aftermath of the divorce, how easily she’d condemned herself for her husband’s mistakes! But six years had
     passed and she’d gained perspective. Her friends, especially Gina, had bolstered her by pointing out that the blame for the
     divorce lay almost entirely on Eric. Hilary wasn’t the one who’d an affair! She didn’t decide to marry someone else. She didn’t decide she didn’t love her husband anymore.
    She launched herself into full lecture mode. Don’t go there, Hilary , she reminded herself. Don’t walk down a road already traveled . But the flowers in her arms suddenly smelled so sweet, so wrong, that she wanted to give them away. Every direction she
     turned today, she second-guessed herself again. “Has Seth told anyone else about this?” she asked her son’s teacher.
    “As far as I know, he only mentioned it in the essay. A trip down the Grand Canyon in a raft. It sounds like such fun.” Patty
     Winkler smiled her admiration. “I hope you don’t mind that I shared it with a few others at the school. I told him I’d wring
     his neck if he didn’t keep a journal. What an experience!”
    Hilary stood speechless. Had Seth thought this was a fiction project or something? If she told the teacher it wasn’t true,
     then she’d be telling her that Seth was a liar. And the three of them had already gone through so many levels of sadness and
     anger and guilt, they’d made so many apologies to one another, nothing was black and white anymore; they balanced on an edge,
     living in the shades of gray of survival that the teacher might not understand.
    “I’m going to miss having him as a student,” Mrs. Winkler said. “Seth’s a great kid.”
    Hilary handed the teacher the vase of flowers she’d just purchased. Really, she sort of shoved them against the woman’s blouse
     buttons so she had no choice but to grab them before they fell.
    “Oh no,” Patty said. “I couldn’t, Hilary. Weren’t these for you? They’re so pretty. ”
    “Thank you for saying that. That my son is a great kid,” Hilary said. “I think so, too. Please. Enjoy the flowers.”
    Hilary left Patty Winkler standing in the middle of the shop, hugging the vase. When she stepped outside she could smell rain.
     The clouds moved across the sky as the wind whipped up, seeming to chase her.
    Of course, she would always be able to trust Seth.
    Yet Hilary knew firsthand how quickly a relationship between two people could