The Wife List

The Wife List A Novel J.A. Schneider Publisher Information The Wife List is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, institutions or locales is entirely coincidental. Copyright © 2023 J.A. Schneider. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, store in a retrieval system, or transmit this book, or any part thereof, in any form or by any means whatsoever, whether now existing or devised at a future time, without permission in writing from the author, except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles and reviews. Find out more about the author and her other books at http://jaschneiderauthor.net For Bob and Dani, always The Wife List Title Page Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57 Acknowledgments An extract from Cry To Me PROLOGUE A cry awakes me. I jolt awake, blinking in confusion. I lie and listen, staring into darkness. Nothing. I don’t hear a sound. Just water, dripping outside. I tug at the blanket, frowning uneasily. Did I really hear that cry, or was it a dream? I reach to pull my phone out from under my pillow, and blink at it. One o’clock. Three hours of sleep. In the old window, I see a hint of moonlight. A beam of it streaming in beckons after the rain, so I roll out of bed to look out. I press my forehead to the cool glass, and see that the patrol car is gone from the driveway. I squint harder into the darkness…right, left, to see if there’s any sign of police…but why would there be? I try to remember what I told them. I’m alright and safe? Tomorrow I’ll rethink staying here? It comes back, what they said about this creepy place’s lack of security. Great, overthinking and getting all nerves-jangly again. Go back to sleep, I storm at myself, and turn back toward the bed. Another cry stops me cold. A woman’s voice, low and pleading, “No, please don’t.” I wheel, my eyes gaping at my closed door. She mentioned her ex hitting her, and minutes have passed since her first cry and the second, so maybe a nightmare? There’s no sound of assault. I go 1. FIVE WEEKS EARLIER I’ll give this marriage one more try. That gloomy thought comes to me soon after I wake. I lie, staring out at the gray dawn recalling when waking up together was, well, rapture. When we married four years ago, I was sure I would love Brad Kemp forever and I meant it, with my whole beating heart. I fantasized about growing old with him - the two of us white-haired, holding hands while walking on some retirement beach. I really believed we were going to have the perfect marriage. But somewhere between then and now, we’ve gone off the rails. “I don’t smell coffee, Beth.” Brad is frowning, fifty miles away on his pillow, his large dark eyes staring down at his phone. He hasn’t heard from his agent. And that faulty new coffeemaker obviously didn’t click on again – haven’t I returned it? “Not yet,” I sigh. “Will do.” I roll over and look at him. So handsome, even first thing in the morning. I used to love his stubble and mop of dark hair and that cute cleft in his chin. He is still sexy to look at, but lately Brad gives me hives. I roll out of bed and grab my robe. “I’ll make coffee.” “In that old clunker?” “Yep.” He shoots me an exasperated look. “It makes coffee taste like iodine.” “So drink orange juice.” This is the