The Next Wife by Kaira Rouda (top 20 books to read .txt) 📗

Now I’m not so sure where we stand. I’ll deal with her later.

John is speaking. “I’m going to miss all of this. I hope things don’t change too much with the IPO.”

Is he drunk? I can’t tell. He’s definitely emotional. More emotional than I’ve ever seen him. His forehead is still shiny, too, and his face is pale.

“Did you eat?” I glare at him, but he ignores the question.

“I have dinner plans with Ashlyn tonight,” John says.

“You’ll need a rain check, I’m afraid.”

Lance appears, serious as usual. “John, it’s time to address the employees.”

“Ashlyn, will you come onstage with me?” John motions to his daughter, and they walk away from me toward the front of the room.

I’m seething. John should call me up there. I should be by his side. My face flushes. Lance watches me.

“What?” My hands ball into fists by my side. Calm down, I remind myself.

Lance says, “John will be right back. It’s just a speech. This is Ashlyn’s family business, too, and she’s the only child. It’s important for the employees to see her. After all, they watched her grow up.”

He’s so annoying. “I know that. I’m the wife. I’m important, too.”

He shrugs and walks away. I remind myself that in an hour we will be wheels up, free from these people for the weekend. I turn my back to Kate, who has been ignoring me anyway, and try to tolerate the show. I suppose she isn’t up there, either, so that makes me feel good.

John and Ashlyn stand side by side on a stage brought in for the event. He whispers something in her ear and she stares at me, shaking her head. The music stops, and John holds up both hands. The employees clink their glasses with cocktail forks until the room is silent.

“What a day! I just want to take a moment to thank you for your service to the company. Whether you’ve been here with us for twenty years or six months, we’re family. I wish you all well with the IPO. Thanks, too, for welcoming Ashlyn into the family business. She’s enjoyed her internship this summer and will be back after she graduates.”

Ashlyn smiles and waves. She loves all this attention. I didn’t really think it was in her, but it is. Disappointing, really. In high school she was so reserved. A bookworm. Easy to love, simple to understand, predictable, and malleable. I miss those days.

“I’d like to take a moment to thank Ashlyn’s mom and my business partner, Kate. EventCo wouldn’t exist without her. Kate, please join us.” John waves at Kate to come to the stage.

“Come up here, Mom,” Ashlyn says into the microphone. She thinks she’s some sort of emcee or something.

Oh, barf. Really? I feel my jaw clench as the whole room turns to watch Kate. She’s wearing chic high heels. She smiles broadly, and tears shine in her eyes. The lights from the disco ball bounce sparkles of light across her white suit. She seems to glow as she walks to the front. Damn it. Meanwhile, I’m brooding among the masses. Ignored and forgotten. Alone and angry.

“Kate really helped pull us through these last few weeks. Thank you for everything,” John says from the stage.

I watch in horror as the crowd parts. John takes Kate’s hand and pulls her up to stand between them onstage. One little happily divorced family.

The applause from the company employees is loud, over the top if you ask me. Maybe they’re all drunk.

Kate holds the microphone. “Thank you all for believing in us and our vision, some of you from the very beginning.” She’s at home in front of a crowd, in the spotlight. I know that already. I want to gag, but I’ll keep up appearances. Of course I will. “It hasn’t been easy lately, being one step removed from all of you as we worked through the S-1 filing and the quiet period, but now I couldn’t be more excited for the future. And for EventCo, the best is yet to be.”

How clever of Kate to work in the company tagline. The crowd roars and yells, “The best is yet to be!”

Thunderous applause. They’re lemmings. All of them.

“It’s an honor to stand up here, with my family, and take this time to celebrate what we’ve all worked so hard to achieve. All of Ashlyn’s life we’ve been creating EventCo. It started as an idea in the middle of the night and grew into a start-up in the basement of our first home.” Kate smiles. “Ashlyn cooing in the playpen in the corner.”

“Oh, Mom, really?” Despite her protests, Ashlyn seems proud of her mom right now. I thought they didn’t like each other? Maybe they’re both faking it in front of me. Or maybe things have changed? No. It’s a show. It must be.

We all know what Kate really is: a bitter has-been dried-up divorcée who drinks too much and fights with her daughter. That’s what John told me when we first started hooking up. That’s why he left her. Her best has already been. I’m the new Mrs. Nelson. The beautiful, elegant, young Mrs. Nelson.

I need to get up there onstage. This is my time to shine. This is my company, too. Ashlyn is my daughter, too. I can deliver a good speech. Just watch.

I start working my way up to the front of the crowd as Kate drones on.

“Thank you, each and every one of you. For believing in me, and John, and EventCo. Now, back to the party!” The happy family steps down into the crowd, Ashlyn between Kate and John, holding her parents’ hands. I watch stunned as John kisses them both on the cheek. That’s about enough.

If I still smoked, this would be the moment I’d go have a cigarette. This little display of unity also makes me realize I shouldn’t have agreed to retire after the IPO announcement. John told me it would