Excerpts From Wives

Home

About The Novel

Excerpts From Wives

Inspiration For The Wives

Reviews For Wives

Where is Logan’s Point

Where To Buy

Author Interviews

About The Author

“Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned,

Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.”

William Congreve, English dramatist (1670 - 1729)

The Mourning Bride, 1697, act III scene 8

Text Box: From the Prologue After spending three hours with a bail bondsman and presenting him with a cashier's check for $2,500—ten percent of her husband's bail—Karen Stockwell and her husband Frank walked out of the New Hampton, Connecticut jail. Silence prevailed for the first half of the trip home. Finally, without even turning to look at Karen in the passenger seat, Frank said, "I suppose you think I'm guilty, don't you?" Karen looked at him in astonishment that he felt the need to ask the question. A whole litany of venomous and vengeful replies streamed through her mind, but she controlled herself and simply answered, "Yes." Her tone made it clear that she saw that as completely obvious. In a poorly-lit corner of her brain, Karen thought for a moment that an apology might be coming—or at least an explanation. After seven years, she should have known better. "And I suppose you'll be wanting a divorce when this is over," he said. "No!" she snapped. "I don't want a divorce when this is over! I want you the hell out of my life right now! I should have thrown you out the first time I caught you screwing around on me! Or the second, third, or fourth! But I'm not even going to listen to your bullshit this time, Frank. You had sex with a fifteen-year-old, and you did it in my bed! I want you out of that house in twenty-four hours!" From Chapter One: Karen was emptying her dishwasher and stacking plates in the cupboard when her back door flew open, and her friend and neighbor, Jill Knox, burst into the kitchen. "I found out who Greg’s been screwing, and I'm going to tear her f***ing heart out!" The unexpected opening of the door startled Karen, but that Jill had come into her house without calling or knocking didn't surprise her at all. That happened all the time. And although Jill's opening sentence was a bit surprising, it was the look in Jill's eyes that really caught Karen's attention. It defined the old saying that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and it was a look that Karen had seen before ... in her own mirror. From Chapter Fifteen: A few minutes later Lexis was fairly composed, under the circumstances. She explained to them what her attorney had just told her on the phone. "She said that since Oregon isn't a community-property state, either party can claim anything that's a product of the marriage. They present their cases, and the court decides who's entitled to what. And Mitch has suddenly decided that he wants the book store." "But Mitch can't claim any of this," Cynthia said. "You built this store one book at a time. When's the last time he was even in here?" Lexis closed her eyes and a tear ran down each cheek. "It's all in his name," she said in a completely defeated tone. "Because of my first divorce I had just been through a bankruptcy when we got married, so I couldn't put my name on anything by myself. The lease on the building is in his name, the accounts with my book distributors are in his name, the corporation is in his name ... even the trademark on the name Lex Libris is in his name." Lexis broke down and started crying, again. "I love this place." She put her face in her hands, and began sobbing again. "What am I going to do? Why is this happening to me?" Each of her friends moved to comfort her, and each of them was shedding tears of their own. "Don't worry, Lex," Karen said. "We'll figure something out. You want me to go with you when you go to talk to your attorney tomorrow?" "Don't worry, Lexis, this is a long way from over," Cynthia said. "I don't think Mitch or his attorney know the kind of support group you have." "Yeah," Jill added in a theatrical tough tone, "he's screwing with the wrong group of wives!" From Chapter Eighteen: They rode in silence for a while, Lexis just looking out the side window. "Have you ever thought about killing someone?" Lexis asked, still staring out the window at nothing in particular. "I think everyone's wished someone was dead at one time or another," Karen said. "It's certainly natural with what you're going through." She turned to Karen, and said, "Not just wished. I mean seriously thought about it? I swear, Karen, if I thought I could get away with it, I would drive a stake through his cold f***ing heart! That greedy manipulative prick has turned my life into a living hell, and I'd like to send him to his own." Wow! Karen said to herself, been bottling that up long? In the six years she'd know Lexis, she couldn't remember her ever using the F-word before. This was anger at a whole new level. "I certainly see your point, Lex," Karen said as she drove, "but a stake through the heart? I mean, unless you could prove that you really believed he was a vampire getting away with that would be pretty tricky." Karen was making a joke about it, but she was quite sure from Lexis' tone that she was serious about wanting to kill Mitch. What kind of a neighborhood were they living in, Karen wondered to herself. Was there some kind of bedeviled Steven King lodestone buried under the cul-de-sac that drew homicidal women toward it from far and wide? Lexis laughed. "I agree that it's not very subtle, but it sends a clear message."

Text Box: Excerpts From Wives