Back for Seconds by Ginger Voight Page B

would leave her high and dry in a few weeks. She still couldn’t believe people wanted to buy her food. A part of her figured surely it couldn’t last. Ten thousand dollars was a lofty goal that seemed as far away as the moon. She knew, though, she’d have to reach it in order to fully trust it.
    But she dressed in good faith, a red dress this time. It was soft peachskin material with a wide black belt and black detailing on the pockets and trim. She tried to style her long hair, although there wasn’t that much she could do with it. She tied it back in a sleek bun, which fit into her more mature homemaker image. With some makeup, some modest jewelry and heels, she was ready to face the more conservative Sunday crowd.
    She wasn’t, however, ready to face her soon-to-be-ex-husband. Her hand shook as she knocked on the front door that used to belong to her. Russell was slow to answer. His eyes traveled across her face and her outfit, surprised to see her so formally dressed, though he said nothing about it. “The kids are in the family room,” he murmured as he opened the door wider for her to enter.
    The high heels of her black pumps echoed across the tile floor of the foyer and down the hall. She could hear her children, laughing and animated. It was a sound she had missed during her busy weekend and it immediately put a smile on her face. That smile died a quick death when she turned the corner and spotted her baby, Hannah, in the arms of a nubile blonde. The stranger sat with legs tucked under her in one of the big chairs that sat across from the main couch. She was barefoot and quite at home.
    Hannah spotted her mother and leapt out of the woman’s lap to run over for a big hug. “Mommy!” she squealed. “You look so pretty.”
    Joely caressed her dark hair. “So do you,” she said, inspecting the minor makeup job her daughter sported. She suspected the heavily made up blonde was responsible. Joely glanced over at Russell, who stepped forward to make introductions.
    “Joely, this is Jena Martin. Jena, this is the kids’ mother, Joely.”
    Joely was surprised that after everything he’d already done to her, his pared-down description of her still cut her to the quick. After all their years together, this was what she had been reduced to – a brood mare. As dressed up as she was, and as pretty as she had felt, her ego took a nosedive when she compared herself to the woman who had replaced her. She swallowed the lump in her throat as the tall girl unwound her long, tanned legs out from under her and walked over to shake her hand.
    “It’s so nice to meet you,” she smiled, but even Joely could see it was fake – likely as fake as the inexplicably perky Double-D’s she had stuffed into her tank top. Joely had Double-D breasts as well, from the age of fourteen on. The only difference was that hers couldn’t be used as a water-flotation device in the event of an emergency landing.
    Joely’s voice was stiff and controlled. “Likewise.”
    Truth was she knew all about Jena Martin. Ever since Novanna sent her that first email, Joely had researched Jena like she was applying for a job at the C.I.A. She scoped her social media and she did Internet searches on her name, so she had seen many photos of her before. Jena was every bit as perfect as Joely feared, from her whiter than white teeth to her sexy, manicured toes. She even sported a tattoo on the top of her foot that hinted she was a bad girl… a dirty girl. Joely didn’t even want to think about what kind of sex they were having, which was likely far more exciting than the requisite poke-and-go relations she and Russell had shared over the last several years. Her voice constricted tight as she turned to the other kids.
    “It’s time to go.”
    Kari fired off a pout. “Already?”
    It was another punch to the gut. Even her children preferred this girl to her. “Yes,” she managed. “I have to get to the restaurant.”
    Kari brightened a little bit