The Secret Wife by Susan Mallery Read Free Book Online Page A

September. So where do you want it?”
    Even as he asked the question, a second deliveryman had already raised the truck’s rear door. Several children had heard the truck and they dashed forward, wanting to see what was inside.
    Cole returned his attention to the delivery sheet. There was a phone number on top. “Don’t unload anything,” he said firmly. “I’m going to call your office and find out what’s going on. There must be some kind of mistake.”
    The truck driver shrugged. “Go ahead, but there’s no mistake. We don’t get many deliveries to an orphanage, if you know what I mean. I wouldn’t confuse you with like a hospital or something. Besides, who else wants playground equipment?”
    “It’s not that I don’t want it,” Cole began, then shook his head. There was no point in explaining it to the driver. “Just wait. I’ll be right back.”
    He jogged toward the administration building. Millie and Elissa were coming down the steps.
    “What’s going on?” Millie asked.
    “Someone’s trying to make a delivery. You didn’t order any sports equipment, did you?”
    “No. I couldn’t. It’s not in the budget. Even if it was, you would have to authorize that kind of purchase.” She glanced at the truck. “A mystery. How wonderful. Come on, Elissa, let’s see what this mystery looks like.”
    Cole allowed his gaze to settle on his wife. She glanced at him and gave a quick smile before Millie took her hand and pulled her along. He paused long enough to watch their progress, hating the fact that sometimes just being around Elissa was enough to make him feel that his world could be made right.
    “Stick to what’s important,” he told himself, and stepped into the administration building. Unlike Millie, he didn’t like mysteries and he was determined to get to the bottom of this one.
    Fifteen minutes later he hung up the phone and admitted defeat. The order for the playground equipment had been received by mail, along with a cashier’s check for the total amount, including shipping. The donor wished to remain anonymous, and the company would not give out the name.
    He turned to glance out his office window and saw that his wishes had been ignored. Instead of leaving everything on the truck, the delivery guys had unloaded several boxes and were setting up what looked like a complicated jungle gym near a grove of trees.
    As he watched, the children began opening packages. There were basketballs, soccer balls, baseballs, bats and mitts, goalposts, nets and hoops. Where the hell had it come from?
    His gaze settled on Millie, who tossed a softball to Gina. Her husband was a successful executive in a Fortune 500 company. They regularly made large donations to several charitable institutions, including his. But she didn’t give anonymously. As she put it, her husband enjoyed giving, but he wanted the tax deduction, too.
    Elissa joined the duo. Elissa? He remembered their conversation from last week, when she’d told Millie about being on the television show. She’d been a child star. Could she be the donor?
    He shook his head. She hadn’t had any money when they’d gotten married. If there had been a fortune from that show, it was long gone. He might have complaints about her leaving, but she’d never been selfish or secretive. She wouldn’t have kept that kind of information from him. So she couldn’t be the one.
    As he walked outside, he tried to figure out who had sent the equipment. Millie saw him approaching and waved him over.
    “Isn’t this wonderful?” she asked. “I know it’s not as practical as a new restaurant-size stove, but the children love it.”
    “Any ideas about who sent it all?” he asked.
    Millie frowned. In her designer silk summer dress and stylish low-heeled sandals, she looked as if she were attending a ladies’ luncheon. Yet she threw a mean curveball during batting practice, and didn’t mind sitting with sick kids, or helping anywhere she was needed. He