His Other Wife Read Online Free

kitchen open, girl. He’ll come home more than you think.”
    “Just wait until Seth wants to move back in, Hilary,” Gina said. “We’ll be here for each other then, too. That’s when you
     can cry.”
    But not one of them mentioned the major difference, Hilary realized. They all talked about Seth coming home. Rather than being home. Once he crossed the gym stage and the school superintendent handed Seth his diploma, she wouldn’t have anything left
     of him to hang on to. No more nights curled up together reading Go, Dog, Go! No more sweaty little head propped beneath her chin. No more soggy bottom in a bathing suit. No more epic drives to baseball
     games with six players crammed into the seats, babbling on about girls and their batting averages while they shot spitballs
     at one another.
    No more terror as she stomped an imaginary brake on the passenger’s side of the car, teaching Seth to drive. No more mornings
     feeling responsible when he couldn’t drag himself out of bed.
    Actually, Hilary admitted, it had been awhile since she’d worried about any of these mothering duties, even the teenager ones.
     She had this to consider: Was she really grieving her son’s growing up and moving out for good? Or was she more afraid of
     being alone for the first time in her life?
    Kim left the booth to pick up her order. Gina was talking to an acquaintance at the door. Donna and Fay were waiting in line
     to order lunch, deep in a conversation about whether or not to order the college-dorm package with extra-long twin sheets
     for their kids’ beds. Which left Hilary and Julie fingering their mugs as they leaned toward each other, each waiting for
     the other to speak.
    Julie’s eyes filled with tears. “Oh, Hilary. I’m so sorry. I’m not great company these days.”
    “Been rough, has it?”
    “Yes, more than I ever imagined. I shouldn’t be here, I guess. So many of you are dealing with graduating seniors. And me,
     I’m dealing with this divorce and I’m a mess. I don’t have anything worthwhile to add to the conversation.”
    Hilary reached for Julie’s hand and squeezed it. “It’s good you came, Jules. You know that. Anything any of us can do to help,
     we’ll do it.”
    “His lawyer delivered the papers this morning, Hilary. It was awful.”
    There weren’t many words of comfort for this, Hilary knew. She held her friend’s hand and let Julie cry. “I’m so sorry.”
    “How did you do it, Hilary?” Julie pulled her hand away and blew her nose on a napkin. “How did you get through it? Does it
     keep hurting like this forever?”
    Hilary rummaged through her purse to find an extra tissue. When she found one, she handed it to Julie. “On the day Eric’s
     lawyer showed up at the door, it was horrible.” She remembered standing on the front step, the edges of the document in her
     hand rustling like dried leaves, hearing her own lifeless voice asking when the papers needed to be signed, where they needed
     to be delivered.
    “Can you imagine having that job?” Julie touched the edges of her eyes with the tissue and offered a sad smile. “I’d hate
     it.”
    Hilary gave a wry laugh. “Yeah. Me, too.”
    “You never talked about your divorce much.”
    “You want me to talk about it?” Hilary propped her elbows on the table. “I was a blubbering, sobbing wreck of a human being
     for eight solid weeks. I don’t think I missed an hour without crying.” She locked eyes with Julie. “You really want to hear
     all this stuff ?”
    Julie nodded. “I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want to hear it.”
    “I just kept thinking, How could he do this? How could Eric just throw away all those years we’d spent together? How could he give up on half our lives? ”
    Julie watched a sparrow flit past the window. “No,” she said. “Really, Hilary. It’s more than half. At least it is for me.”
    “I used to wake myself up in the middle of the night crying. It was like there was some