The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen Read Free Book Online Page A

very nice to me in my time of need. But I already ate. That's what you wanted, right? You eat the sandwich. You know you want to. Get me another one tomorrow."
    Josey eyed the bag. That would be selfish, wouldn't it? She admitted that she wanted the sandwich, but she'd gotten it for Della Lee. That wasn't the same as getting it for herself. She couldn't eat it. Could she? "Are you sure?"
    "Positive," Della Lee said with a devilish smile. "Go on, eat. And tell me about seeing Adam. Tell me what everyone said. The more I know, the better I can help you."
    Josey sighed and opened the bag.

    When Chloe heard the knock that evening, she muted the television with the remote and took the book that had appeared beside her and stuffed it under the couch cushions.
    When she stood, Finding Forgiveness had appeared on the couch again.
    She stuffed it under the cushions, more firmly this time. Books usually gave up after a while when she didn't want to read them. But not this one. "Behave," she told it.
    She walked across the open living-room/dining-room area. The kitchen at the other end was separated only by an island counter. It was all very clean, masculine. No clutter. Just the way Jake liked it. She lost herself in him, in this. She let it happen.
    She took a deep breath before she opened the door. She knew who it was. Adam had called earlier and said he was coming by. She waved him in. "His suitcases are under the bed."
    Adam entered the apartment and waited while she closed the door. "How are you doing, Clo?" he asked as he unzipped his jacket.
    "I'm great. Let's go to the bedroom and get this over with."
    "I can't tell you how many women have said that to me."
    Chloe had to smile. Everything about Adam made him seem carefree—his sense of humor, his naturally tan skin, his curly blond hair. He looked part surfer and part ski bum. And it was true, if there was an extreme outdoor sport, Adam had done it at least once. Up until three years ago, that is. After his accident, he said it was time to settle down. No more risks, no more travel, for him.
    But Chloe always sensed he wasn't really happy here.
    She followed him and watched from the bedroom doorway while he took the suitcases out and began to put Jake's clothes in them. She wished he could pack Jake's smell. She wished there was a way to put it in a bottle and stopper it. It was in the mattress, in the wallpaper, in the couch cushions. It was like a feral mark. This was his space. These were his things. It didn't feel like security as it once had, when she first moved in with him. It felt like gloating now. Like Jake saying, Look at all I have. You need this. You need me.
    "Josey Cirrini asked about you, after you left the shop today," Chloe said, because that was neutral territory. "She thought you and I were a couple. She seemed relieved that we weren't."
    Adam stopped packing, giving Chloe the strangest
    look.
    "I take it this is a surprise to you?"
    "She's a nice woman and I deliver her mail, that's all."
    "She is nice. And I didn't realize she was so young," Chloe said. "Come on, I know you've noticed more than her mail."
    "She smells like peppermint," he said, after giving it some thought.
    "You have noticed."
    But he didn't say anything else. It wasn't like their usual banter, when she would tease him about dating more. He disappeared into the attached bathroom and she crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at her feet.
    "I'm going to lose you, aren't I?" she said when he came out of the bathroom with Jake's toiletries.
    She liked Adam, but he was friends with Jake first. Jake had met him at the gym. Adam hadn't been in Bald Slope for very long at the time; it had only been a few months since his accident on Bald Slope Mountain, and Jake invited him to have drinks with him and Chloe. Everything around her had been Jake's first. The apartment was Jake's, a stylish red-brick place in the historic renovated firehouse downtown. It had been a gift to him from his