Page 12 of The Replacement Wife

She chuckled at her normally unruffled husband sounding so harried. Then an odd sensation pricked her. A rumbling that started in her brain and made her flush warm. Someone was watching her. No surprise there. The line to order tended to merge with the pickup line in the tiny shop. The general mood was one of uncaffeinated annoyance, so how dare she be amused.

She glanced up and saw a woman staring at her. She had a vague memory of the redhead but couldn’t place the time or situation. The woman had bundled up in a raincoat that fit the gloomy gray day. The sunglasses didn’t match, but maybe she was going for mysterious.

Elisa grabbed her cups and breezed by an older gentleman standing behind her. The redhead didn’t return Elisa’s smile as she headed for the door.

Elisa didn’t think about anything but the lunch ahead of her when she pulled into the vet clinic parking lot in Ardmore ten minutes later. She balanced the cupholder on one arm as she shut the car door. Her keys jangled. People milled aroundthe outside of the clinic, tense and some visibly upset, probably waiting for news of their sick pets.

She gave them a been-there sympathetic smile, because she had been, then glanced up at the windows on either side of the clinic door. The reflection caught her off guard. Raincoat. Auburn hair. She spun around, expecting to see the woman from the café standing behind her, but only a lot full of parked cars greeted her.

Where did she go?Then the voice in her head asked a second question...Was she ever really there?

A heaviness settled in Elisa’s chest. Her mood morphed from bright to wary. That woman... She couldn’t just disappear; shehadbeen there. Standing. Staring. Waiting... for something.

Elisa’s gaze bounced around the parking lot. People walked from their cars into the gym a few doors down from the clinic. A steady line of traffic circled the lanes looking for open spots. At least seeing the woman here explained why she looked familiar. They probably lived in the same town and their paths had likely crossed before. It was the only reasonable explanation. She didn’t have room in her life for one more unreasonable occurrence.

Putting the woman out of her mind, refusing to let that sinking feeling inside her overwhelm the rest of the day, Elisa walked into the clinic. She said hello and waved to the reception staff as she made her way back to Harris’s office.

Down the hall, past the room with barking dogs and the rush of technicians moving pets around for tests, she arrived at the door markedHarrison Wright, VMD. So official.So impressive. Even after almost nine years of marriage seeing his full name spelled out like that still made her heart do a little flip.

They’d carved out this path together. It existed mainly in the suburbs just outside Philadelphia, and that insular existence suited her. From their house in Villanova, to the clinics in Ardmore and Paoli, the area consisted of miles of neighborhoods filled with trees and soccer fields. Corner restaurants. Lush green lawns. Historic stone homes mingling with new developments. Barbecues at home. A school for Nathan that was small enough for her to know all of the teachers and most of the parents of the kids in Nathan’s grade.

Her life now didn’t bear any resemblance to the one-bedroom apartment she’d lived in with her mom, growing up in Ohio. Just the two of them. Then, never enough food or anything else. Now, abundance that carried with it a certain level of guilt for being so lucky.

Elisa knocked once on Harris’s door before opening it... and almost dropped the coffee tray. He sat at his desk looking a bit ruffled from his early morning shift. His expression didn’t say much, but the vibe of the room was off. And she knew why. Josh stood there with his palm on the lower back of the woman next to him.

The infamous new girlfriend?

Elisa glanced at Harris. He threw her asorryhalf smile but didn’t say a word.

Leave it to Josh to ignore her concerns, to pretend they didn’t fight about this meeting two nights ago, and just show up with this new woman anyway.

“Hi, I’m Rachel.” The woman extended her hand then laughed when she looked at Elisa’s hands, filled with coffee cups and a purse and keys. “Oh, sorry.”

She was pretty. Stunning, even. Tall and slim with long brown hair. She wore a floral dress, jean jacket, and motorcycle boots, and managed to pull off the look without any trouble. Perfect face. Perfect nose. Sweet smile.

The whole moment was awkward as hell.

“Rachel, this is my sister-in-law, Elisa.” Josh smiled at both women. “Harris’s wife.”

Killer.The word refused to leave Elisa’s head.

Harris cleared his throat as he stood up. He was over six feet and in command of the room, so the move grabbed everyone’s attention. “Josh and Rachel came by to say hello.”

“Hmmm.” That’s all Elisa could think to say. Screaming a warning at this woman to run and run far seemed like too much drama for an initial meeting. It would keep her safe, sure, but Harris wasn’t ready to hear the warnings. Elisa doubted Rachel was either.

The way she looked at Josh, all soft and in love. Elisa had seen that look before. Josh’s first wife, Candace, had it. Abby had it. Now this new one...

Shit.

Candace had died at thirty-two. Abby disappeared at thirty-one. That suggested the women in Josh’s life had an expiration date. This one—Rachel—looked a little younger, so she might have time to wise up and escape before anything bad happened to her.

Elisa had thought of Josh as a baby brother from theminute they met. Josh immediately accepted her back then. She didn’t have a sibling and she’d been drawn to Harris and Josh’s connection. Both frustrated by how defensive Harris could be when Josh messed up and delighted by their easy rapport. The way Harris interacted with Josh gave her a peek into how he might behave as a father—dependable, loving, and rock solid.

She’d also liked Josh for Josh. They joked and argued. Years later, she’d watch him play soccer in the yard with Nathan. She’d viewed him as a great uncle and brother, someone she could depend on. Now she had to fight the urge to buy this Rachel woman self-defense lessons and a plane ticket to anywhere but here.

Harris walked around the desk and took his coffee cup from Elisa’s hand. He leaned in to give her a kiss. She heard his whispered “I’m sorry” before he leaned back again.

“I know this is a surprise.” Josh delivered the understatement without apology.

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