Luxury Model Wife by Adele Downs Read Free Book Online

flow had ebbed, the women munched thick chicken-salad sandwiches behind rows of glass jewelry counters filled with estate sale rings, watches, earrings and other small valuables. Victoria hadn’t had a lunch partner since her days at the department store; she enjoyed Beverly’s company.
    “When you said you were buying time, what did you mean?” Beverly shifted her weight on a stool and then met Victoria’s eyes. “Will you tell me?”
    Beverly had a warm and open personality and approached others with the same forthrightness she offered. It had been a long time since Victoria confided in anyone and it would feel good to talk to another woman. It couldn’t hurt to give honest answers. She hadn’t had many friends in her life.
    “I’m going to answer your question with a question.” Victoria laid her sandwich on a napkin on the countertop and turned her attention back to Beverly. “What would you do if, tonight, without warning, your husband died?”
    She held up her hand to stop Beverly from blurting an automatic response. “Think about that before you answer.” She waited, giving Beverly time to consider.
    Fear seeped into the other woman’s eyes and she took a big bite of her chicken salad and chewed, seemingly lost in thought.
    Victoria continued. “I have no illusions about myself. I was a simple working-class woman when I married James.”
    Beverly’s expression registered shock as she took another nibble.
    Victoria laughed. “Did you think I was born into Chester County society?”
    Beverly swallowed and nodded. “Your speech is polished and you wear designer clothes even when you’re unpacking storage crates or eating a sandwich. It never occurred to me you were anything but upper crust.”
    “I guess you can make a silk purse from a sow’s ear if you work hard enough.” Victoria shook her head. “Though I never fooled anyone in James’s inner circle. The truth is, I have no family to speak of and no place to go now that James is gone. I need to sell my house, because it’s ridiculous to live in a mansion alone—but I’m paralyzed by fear. I have no idea what to do with my life. I have no idea where I fit.”
    Victoria sipped bottled iced tea to steady herself. Beverly waited with the same patience she’d shown when listening. Empathy radiated from her like a soft ocean breeze, lulling Victoria into a sense of security about sharing her story.
    She set down the bottle and continued. “I paid my way through college by working a string of grubby waitress jobs and living with even grubbier roommates. After graduation, I landed a management trainee position in the cosmetics department of a major department store. After I got the job I found out where my mother was living in Ohio and got in touch with her. It had been years since we’d spoken.”
    “I bet she was happy to hear from you.”
    Victoria left out the fact that her mother had abandoned her as a teen, and was grateful Bev didn’t ask for details about the estrangement. “She was. I missed my mother, as crappy a parent as she’d been. I guess we never stop needing our mothers, do we?”
    “I never have. I see my mom every week and we text almost every day. Don’t know what I’d do without her.”
    A phantom ice pick struck Victoria’s chest. She wished with every fiber of her being she could have a relationship like that with her mother. “You’re lucky to have that connection. When I got the job as a management trainee, I wanted my mother to be proud of me. I guess I thought if that happened she’d love me enough to stay in touch.”
    “And did she?”
    Victoria mustered a smile. “As far as my mother was concerned, a management job was as good as becoming President of the United States. She cleaned houses when she could find work—when she was sober. Mom never imagined her only child would actually finish high school, let alone college.”
    “Did contacting her end your estrangement?”
    Not the way Victoria had hoped.