Read Online THE DEEP END by Julie Mulhern - Free Book Online Page A

Libba? Well, she just wanted Frank to bring us a bottle of wine.
    Where was he anyway?
    My fingers tightened around the imagined stem of a glass. “It’s not like Madeline infected the water.”
    Libba nodded. “That’s what I said. Besides, do you have any idea how much it costs to fill the pool?”
    “How much?” asked Jinx.
    Libba stared at a banal painting of flowers as if it might provide a figure. “A lot.”
    Frank put a glass in front of me then poured a tiny amount of wine for Libba. She tasted it, nodded and then, finally, he filled my glass. I took a grateful sip. First a drunken man on my stoop, then a dominatrix and her toys, and finally the thoroughly unpleasant revelation that my husband’s cheating had reached heretofore-unimagined levels. What a morning. I deserved a glass of wine.
    “Have you ladies had a chance to look at the menu?” Frank asked.
    I didn’t need to look. “A cup of gazpacho and the wedge salad served together.” I handed him the heavy menu printed with elaborate script.
    I knew Libba, Jinx, and Daisy’s orders before they spoke. Frank probably did too. A club sandwich, a house salad with the dressing on the side, and a grilled chicken breast with a side of cottage cheese. Adventurous eaters we were not.
    Apparently, Kitty, Prudence, and Madeline had cornered the adventurous market.
    I examined my cuticles, gathered my courage and, as soon as Frank disappeared to the kitchen with our order, asked, “Have you heard anything about Prudence Davies seeing anyone?”
    Daisy snorted. “Prudence? She’s so desperate, she’d sell her grandmother’s pearls for a man.”
    “I think it’s sad.” Libba smoothed the napkin in her lap. “I always say men can smell desperation. Prudence reeks.”
    Had she sniffed recently? I took a fortifying sip of wine. “What about Kitty Ballew? Have you heard any whispers about her stepping out on John?”
    Daisy carefully placed her glass of wine on the table. So carefully, I couldn’t but wonder how many glasses she had. “Why do you ask?”
    Three Lilly-clad women stared at me expectantly.
    I stared back.
    I hadn’t really considered that my friends would want to know why . I’d just assumed they’d welcome the opportunity to gossip about women we didn’t particularly like. I scratched the end of my nose. “No reason.”
    Libba rolled her eyes. “Liar.”
    I scratched again and tried to think of a more compelling reason than because. I’d grown accustomed to thinking of Henry cheating on me with Madeline. Any pain associated with that infidelity had long since worn down like the nub of an eraser on a number two pencil. But Prudence Davies? With her long face and long teeth, the woman looked like a horse wearing lipstick. Kitty Ballew had no chin and all the warmth of a pit viper. If Henry was going to cheat, why couldn’t he do it with more attractive women?
    My fingers crumpled my napkin. What the hell was I thinking? Would I be any less horrified if Henry chose women who looked like Lauren Hutton or the Charlie girl? I would. How shallow did that make me? I pictured a saucer, a pretty one with pale pink bouquets tied with soft yellow bows but absolutely no depth to it.
    Libba cleared her throat. My friends were waiting for the truth.
    Something bubbled with the wine in my stomach. I ignored it and lifted an admonishing finger. If I wanted information from them, I was going to have to offer some of my own. “Not a word. Not a whisper.”
    Daisy traced an x over her heart.
    Jinx leaned forward. “Not a word. Not a whisper.”
    Libba nodded.
    I swallowed. How could my mouth be so dry? “It seems that Henry has taken up with them.”
    Libba’s eyebrows rose to her hairline. “Both of them?”
    “Did Madeline know?” asked Jinx. A second later, she yelped then bent to rub her shin. Apparently, Libba or Daisy had kicked her under the table. They shouldn’t have. The assumption that Madeline would care more about Henry’s