Free Bad Blood by Mary Monroe Page A

someone else soon,” Father assured me.
    â€œUh . . . that’s the other thing I wanted to share.” I cleared my throat and glanced from my mother to my father. “I have met someone else. I’m going to marry her next month.”
    â€œ What? ” my parents yelled at the same time.
    â€œYou’ve met another woman, and you’ve already decided you want to marry her?” Mother hollered. “You can’t be serious, son!”
    â€œSeth, do you think it’s wise for you to even be thinking about marrying another woman while you’re still with Rachel? Isn’t this kind of sudden?” Father boomed.
    â€œAnd we haven’t even met her yet!” Mother shouted. Words could not describe the look on her face. “What’s wrong with you, boy? Are you sure some of Rachel’s family’s mental condition didn’t rub off on you when you went to Alabama?”
    â€œIt’s not as bad as it sounds,” I protested. “This is not that sudden. Actually, I met Darla last year, in April, and we’ve been seeing one another on the sly since then. We, uh, thought it best if we kept our relationship a secret until I got out of this mess with Rachel. I couldn’t risk having Rachel find out and do something real crazy to me or my new girl. And, believe you me, this one has no skeletons in her closet,” I said, holding my hands up in the air for emphasis. “I did a full background check on her myself. I checked all the way back to her great-grandparents on both sides. She’s from a fine family, and not a single one has ever had any mental issues. As a matter of fact, I’ve invited her to have dinner with us next Sunday.”
    â€œDoes Rachel know about this girl? And what’s her name again?” Mother asked.
    â€œNo, Rachel does not know about her, and her name is Darla Woodson. I know Rachel does not call or come over here much anymore, but if and when she does contact you again, don’t tell her about Darla until I say it’s okay.” I sniffed and gave Mother a pleading look.
    â€œHa! After the charlatan Rachel turned out to be, I don’t even want to see that hussy’s face anytime soon—let alone talk to her! I’m not going to tell her about you and this new girl,” Mother wailed.
    â€œI know you won’t, Mother. But please promise me you won’t tell anybody at church or any of your friends. Uh, this could turn into a very embarrassing situation for me and the whole family.” I turned to my father. “Right, Father?” I said with a wink. I had never confronted my father about his mistress, but he was no fool. I had a feeling he knew that I knew. Had he asked me, I would have told him so. Out of respect for him, and to save my mother the heartache, I had no intention of snitching on him.
    â€œThat’s right,” Father agreed, giving me a sheepish look. As soon as Mother left the table to go check on dessert, he continued. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’ve done a few things I don’t want anybody to know about—things that could hurt a lot of people. If you know what I mean . . .”
    â€œI do know what you mean,” I said with a conspiratorial nod and a thumbs-up.
    I felt so relieved. But I rushed to finish my dinner, anyway. I was aware of the way my parents kept staring at me when they didn’t think I was looking. I was also glad that I couldn’t read minds, because I didn’t want to know everything they were thinking. I was also glad that my brothers and their families were not present. I would tell them all as soon as I could, which had to be within the next couple of weeks. I was running out of time. Rachel had begun to look at wedding dresses again.

Chapter 11
    Rachel
    I JOINED A 24 H OUR F ITNESS GYM THE FOLLOWING M ONDAY , A couple of weeks after I’d told Seth I would. I was so determined to get in shape that after