Shadow Creek by Joy Fielding Read Free Book Online Page B

of the sofa.
    “I like what you’ve done with the room,” Jennifer offered, taking a sip of her tea and allowing her gaze to flit aimlessly about, careful to avoid looking directly at Val.
    “I’m so glad you approve,” Val said before she could stop herself. Then, “Sorry. That just slipped out.”
    “It’s all right. I don’t blame you for hating me.”
    “I don’t hate you.” Val was surprised to realize this was true.
    “We honestly never meant to hurt you,” Jennifer offered weakly, focusing her attention on the multicolored swirls of the silk and wool rug that covered the hardwood floor.
    “It just never occurred to you that having sex with my husband in my very own bed, which I’ve also replaced, by the way, might hurt my feelings,” Val stated, not about to let Jennifer off the hook with something as mundane as a simple apology, especially one as blatantly insincere as this one.
    Maybe she really
did
hate her.
    Jennifer’s gaze shifted guiltily to her lap. She sipped at her tea, said nothing.
    “Sorry,” Val said again, thinking that one insincere apology deserved another. “This is awkward enough. I shouldn’t have said that.”
    “No, you’re right. What we did was thoughtless.”
    It was Val’s turn to fall silent. “Okay, then,” she said after a pause of several seconds. “Moving right along … Those might not be the best shoes for hiking.” She pointed toward Jennifer’s feet.
    Jennifer laughed, perhaps a bit too loudly. “Oh, I have runningshoes in my suitcase. And Evan bought me a pair of hiking boots.” She stopped, cleared her throat, took another sip of iced tea.
    Val flinched at the sound of her husband’s name on the other woman’s lips. “Is this your first trip to the Adirondacks?”
    “Believe it or not, it is, yes.”
    “Oh, I believe it.”
    “I’ve never really been into hiking. Or any sports, for that matter. Except for tennis. I’m pretty good at tennis.”
    Val nodded. What was Evan doing with this girl? she wondered. He hated tennis. It was the one sport he couldn’t abide. “Tennis is for cowards,” he used to say.
    “Evan was never much of a tennis player,” Val said now. “He’s more into extreme sports.”
    “Tell me about it,” Jennifer said with a laugh, clearly relieved they’d found something to agree on. “He scares the hell out of me sometimes. The risks he takes. Bungee jumping, mountain climbing, helicopter skiing. Well … you know.”
    “Yes, I do.”
    “You like those things, too, I understand.”
    “Yes, I do,” Val said again. Or, at least, I
did
, she added silently.
    “I just can’t imagine jumping out of a helicopter and skiing down the side of a mountain.”
    Is she joking? Val wondered. “Well, you don’t actually jump out of the helicopter with your skis on,” she clarified.
    “You don’t?”
    “No. The helicopter drops you off at the top of the mountain, and then you ski down.”
    “Oh, that’s great. I’m so relieved,” Jennifer said, without a trace of self-consciousness. “I mean, it’s still scary, but not quite so bad. Obviously I’m not a skier.”
    “Obviously.”
    “I don’t like being cold.”
    “Perfectly reasonable.”
    “I don’t like anything where I’m not in control of my feet.”
    Val immediately pictured Jennifer’s feet squirming high above her husband’s head.
    “I broke my wrist twice ice-skating when I was a kid,” Jennifer babbled nervously. “Roller-skating is just as bad. I dislocated my shoulder the first time I tried it. And just the thought of water-skiing makes me a nervous wreck. I’m not much of a swimmer.”
    Again Val pictured Jennifer tumbling over a rock formation and falling into Shadow Creek.
    Going down once … twice … “It sounds like you should stick to tennis,” she said before Jennifer could take her final bow.
    “I think you’re right. And Evan’s been taking lessons.”
    “He has?”
    “He’s picked it up very quickly.”
    “He