Page 34 of Sweet Temptation

“There’s more.” Jackie swiped to the next image—a screenshot of property records for Millers Creek that Rachel had found after hearing about the latest engagement, with Bradley and Diane Peters listed as joint owners of a house on Magnolia Lane.

Angela set the scissors down carefully on the counter, her fingers white-knuckled. “There has to be an explanation.”

“I thought so too,” Jackie admitted. “When I showed up at his house in Millers Creek and his wife answered the door, I spent hours trying to come up with explanations that would make it not true.”

“His wife?” Angela whispered, sinking onto the adjacent styling chair. “No. He can’t be…” Her voice trailed off as she stared at the evidence on Jackie’s phone.

“I’m so sorry.” Jackie heaved an unsteady sigh. “I know exactly how you’re feeling right now.”

A tear slipped down Angela’s cheek, leaving a trail in her perfectly applied makeup. “I don’t understand. We’ve started planning our wedding. He’s meeting with a realtor next week to find us a place. Why would he—” She broke off, twisting the engagement ring on her finger. “Oh God. I have a trust fund from my grandmother. It’s how I bought the salon. He said he’d help me invest it so it grows stronger.”

Jackie reached across, laying her hand over Angela’s trembling fingers. “I truly am sorry, but I know if it were me, I’d want someone to tell me what was going on.”

Angela stared at their joined hands for a long moment, her shoulders slumping. Then gradually, her posture straightened. “I might need a good character witness after I kill him. You girls up for the job?”

“Actually,” Rachel chuckled softly, “we were hoping you might like to join us.”

“Join you?” Confusion had returned to Angela’s face.

Jackie grinned. “As my Grams has often said, revenge can be bittersweet, but karma can be pure entertainment. We thought it might be fun to move karma along. Care to join the fun?”

Chapter Fourteen

Rachel drummed her fingers against the steering wheel, eyeing the tidy brick home across the street. They’d been sitting here for twenty minutes, no closer to a concrete plan than when they’d left Honeysuckle. A sleek silver Mercedes sat in the driveway. Unless the guy kept a sports car and a practical car, it had to belong to the wife.

“So,” she glanced sideways at Jackie in the passenger seat and Angela hunched forward from the back, “now what?”

“We ring the doorbell and tell her the truth?” Jackie’s words lacked conviction.

Angela snorted. “Right. ‘Hi, you don’t know us, but your husband proposed to me last week, and broke up with her not long before that. Want to help us destroy him?’”

“When you put it that way…” Jackie winced.

“Maybe we should just—” Rachel stopped mid-sentence, straightening in her seat. “She’s coming out.”

A slim woman with shoulder-length blonde hair stepped out the front door, locking it behind her. She wore white capris and a navy blouse, looking every bit the polished suburban wife.

“That’s her.” Jackie slinked down in her seat. “That’s who answered the door when I showed up looking for Brad.”

“Looks like he has a type.” Rachel’s gaze narrowed on the casually elegant woman as she slid into her car. “Tall, blonde, and confident.”

“Never in my life have I looked that confident.” Jackie straightened in her seat as the car backed out of the driveway.

“So. I repeat, now what?”

“Follow her.” Jackie pointed. “Maybe if we get an idea what she’s like it will help us decide how to deal with her.”

Rachel had her doubts but it made more sense than sitting here watching an empty house waiting for the wife—or worse, Brad—to return. “Just so we’re clear, if she spots us and calls the police, I’m throwing you both under the bus.”

Following the luxury sedan, Rachel tried not to get too close, and prayed the woman didn’t notice them on her tail. A few more miles and the Mercedes signaled and turned into the parking lot of the Harvest Market grocery store.

“Perfect,” Angela whispered as Rachel found a spot several spaces away. “Grocery stores are great for casual run-ins.”

“Because nothing sayscasuallike three women following you down the cereal aisle,” Rachel muttered, but she found herself caught up in the absurdity of their mission.

Inside, they grabbed a shopping basket as cover and spotted their target examining organic produce.

Grabbing a shopping cart, Rachel looked to the woman who would soon be her next sister-in-law. “So what exactly are we hoping to learn from this mission?”

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