Betrayal Read Online Free

their retreating backs.
    Desserts in hand, Don made his way to the Explorer. Emily leaned over the front seat to open the driver’s door for him.
    â€œIs she still eating?” Emily asked.
    â€œNo, now it’s the bathroom, but I bet you can’t guess who this dessert is for.” He held up the box containing the apple pie and chocolate chip cookie. “One for the road.”
    Emily smiled at her dad. “You mean two.”
    â€œYeah, I guess I do. Let’s just try and keep the peace with your mom and sister. Once we arrive in Asheville, your mother will be nice to everyone. You know how she likes to make a good impression on Alex and Kate.”
    Emily nodded. She knew, but she also knew her mother didn’t impress them at all. Not that they’d ever said anything to her. It was just something she could sense. She felt ashamed of her mother sometimes and hated herself for feeling that way. Maybe she’d understand her mother when she was older. She hoped so.
    Fifteen minutes passed, and her mother and Sara had yet to emerge from the restroom. Just as Emily got out of the car to go check on them, they materialized.
    â€œWhat in the world were you two doing in there for so long?” Don asked as he pulled out of the parking lot.
    â€œSara is constipated,” Debbie reported.
    Emily had to bite the inside of her mouth just to keep from laughing out loud. If she couldn’t go to the bathroom now, just wait a while. Once those miniburgers navigated their way through her sister’s gut, she’d have the Hershey squirts for days. Just imagining this brought an even bigger smile to her face. Maybe she’d crap herself. It would serve the little brat right if she did. Maybe then she wouldn’t be such a pig in the future.
    â€œMommy!” Sara shrieked
    â€œIt’s all right, honey. You can’t help it if you’re sick. It’s her nerves.” Debbie turned around to look at Emily, who was trying very hard not to laugh at the topic of conversation.
    â€œEmily, badgering your sister has got to cease. She has a nervous stomach as it is. All the bickering has wreaked havoc on her bowels.”
    â€œWe get the picture, Debbie. Now, can we talk about something else?” Don flashed a grin in his rearview mirror at Emily.
    She smiled back.
    For once they were on the same page.

Chapter 2
    Asheville, North Carolina
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    K ate was careful not to make too much noise as she removed bowls and utensils from the cupboard. Don and Debbie had arrived after midnight and would most likely want to sleep in. She wanted to make a hearty breakfast for everyone. She’d start them off with her homemade blueberry pancakes. She had thick-sliced hickory-smoked bacon and a special bottle of homemade syrup straight from Vermont. Fresh oranges for juice for the girls and grapefruit juice for Debbie. She was sure she still drank grapefruit juice. She’d been on a diet ever since Kate had met her and, other than alcohol, Kate had never seen Debbie drink anything else.
    Kate loved the early mornings. Always an early riser, she’d cherished this time for as long as she could remember. She would start her day with a good strong cup of tea. Alex wasn’t a tea drinker, so she bought the best roasted coffee beans she could get at the Daily Grind, a local grocery specializing in gourmet coffees and hard-to-find food items. She readied a pot of coffee, then took the blueberries she’d recently picked, put them in a colander, and rinsed them in the kitchen sink. Kate loved her kitchen almost as much as she loved the art studio that Alex had built for her right after they’d married. It was a loft just above the kennels where all the dogs were kept. When she needed inspiration, she’d simply walk downstairs and play with all the wonderful retrievers Alex bred and raised. Almost always, she’d go back to the studio exhilarated and would work at her pottery