Ladies' Night Andrews, Kay (great novels .txt) 📖

couldn’t believe that was me. Grace Stanton? Well, Davenport, now. I didn’t plan to do it. I’m not a person who acts out like that. But I guess you never know what you’re capable of until you’re put in a situation like that.”

Camryn snorted. “It was just a car. And you know he had insurance on the damned thing. As for planning something? Oh, hell yeah, I’m big on planning. Especially when it comes to that kind of thing. You know that quote, ‘revenge is a dish best served cold’? I am all about that.”

Suzanne leaned across the table. The small candle lit her face, giving it a greenish glow. “Did you catch your husband and that girl?”

Camryn’s expression changed, hardened. “No. And that’s what makes this whole thing so nasty. Our daughter, Jana, caught her daddy, in bed, with her best friend and roommate.”

“Oh no.” Suzanne looked sickened.

The other women at the table were silent.

“Awful,” Suzanne mumbled.

Grace blotted the tabletop with a paper napkin. “Did you confront him?”

“Oh yes.”

“Did he admit it?”

Camryn shrugged. “What was he gonna do, call his baby girl a liar? And then I found that little DVD of his.”

She turned to Grace, rattling the ice cubes in her now-drained glass. “You think I could get another one of these?”

Grace turned toward the bar, caught her mother’s eye and held up Camryn’s glass. Rochelle nodded and a moment later arrived at the table. She didn’t seem in a hurry to leave, either. So Grace introduced her to the other women, Rochelle went to refill everybody’s glass, and before Grace knew it, Rochelle had pulled a chair up to the edge of the booth.

“You mentioned a DVD?” Ashleigh asked, after the introductions had been completed.

“Uh-huh. The fool hid it inside the family Bible. I guess he thought Jesus loves a liar and was counting on forgiveness. But not from me.” Camryn shook her head. “Not after what I saw.”

“Porn?” Suzanne’s nose wrinkled in distaste.

“You could say that,” Camryn said. “Dexter had been a busy little boy, filming his very own self. Getting ready for his ‘dates.’ And yeah, he lied about that, too, Treena wasn’t his only ‘Forever Your Girl.’ Uh-huh, yes. That was the theme song for his date nights. Paula Abdul’s ‘Forever Your Girl’ was his turn-on tune. But what really turned him on was the sight of himself in the mirror, prancing around in his red satin thong.”

“Eeewww,” Grace said. She shuddered. “Just … eewwww.”

“I used to really like that song,” Ashleigh said sadly.

“You’ll have a whole new appreciation for it if you see that video,” Camryn said tartly. “You got a smartphone?” She held out her hand. “Give it here and I’ll show you how to find it on YouTube.”

“No thanks.”

“So…” Rochelle interrupted. “How did the video get on YouTube?”

“I put it there,” Camryn said. “Oh, yes I did. Dexter Nobles, in the flesh—a whole lotta flesh! Getting dressed in his lil panties, getting ready for business meetings, lunches. County Commission meetings. Oh, he loved the feel of that satin under his suit when he was doing county business.”

“You really did that?” Ashleigh asked, glancing down at her phone.

“Sure did. And it’s gotten over twelve thousand hits,” Camryn said.

“And that’s what got Judge Stackpole on your case,” Grace said. “Right?”

“His lawyer got the video taken down, but as soon as he did, other people put it right back up there. It’s gone viral.”

“Does your daughter know you put it on YouTube?” Suzanne asked.

Camryn sighed. “I didn’t tell her. But she found out. She’s furious. Not speaking to me.” She looked around the group. “Does that seem fair to you? Dexter’s the one who cheated, the dirty pervert. But she’s mad at me—for outing him.”

“Kids don’t want to know bad stuff about their parents,” Rochelle said.

“Dexter and I? We’d been living separate lives for a long time now,” Camryn admitted. “I guess we stayed together for Jana. I don’t miss his sorry ass. Not a bit. But I miss my little girl.”

“She’ll just have to get over herself,” Ashleigh said. “Like you said, he’s the pervert. The cheater. I bet she’ll come around.”

Camryn managed a wry smile. “Hope so. Now what about you, Miss Ashleigh? What did you do to earn yourself a spot in divorce recovery?”

“It’s really not that big a deal,” Ashleigh protested. “Nothing like what you guys did. I mean, it’s a paint job, okay? The whole thing got blown way out of proportion.”

“Why don’t you just go ahead and tell us everything that happened?” Grace asked. “After all, you heard what happened with us.”

Ashleigh pulled her compact from her satchel, checked her makeup, fixed her lipstick, and flipped her hair behind her shoulders.

“So … you already know who my husband is. Boyce Hartounian. We met when I was working as an insurance billing clerk in his office.” She looked over at Rochelle. “Boyce is one of the top plastic surgeons in Florida. He is the man for boobs, in case you’re ever interested. And, of course, he was married at the time, but honestly, Beverly, that cow, was totally a joke. So that happened.”

“Wait,” Grace interrupted. “What happened? Did we miss something?”

“They split up,” Ashleigh said. “She hired this weasel of an investigator, and there were some unfortunate photographs, and what with that, well, Beverly did very, very well for herself in the settlement.”

Suzanne interrupted. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to go.” She opened her pocketbook and placed a five-dollar bill on the table. “Will this be enough?”

“More than enough,” Grace assured her. “Are you sure you can’t stay?”

“I really can’t,” Suzanne said, looking flustered. “My daughter, Darby, still isn’t used to the idea of her father being gone. She gets anxious if she’s alone at night.”

“How old is she?” Camryn asked.

“She’ll be eighteen in October,” Suzanne said. “A senior this fall. This split-up has been very hard on her.”

She looked around the table. “Good night, everybody. Thanks for including me.”

Camryn watched Suzanne leave the bar. She turned to Grace.