Read Favorite Wife for Free Online Page B

she sobbed, “don’t do this! Please get her out of here.”
    Suddenly Estela tripped. When she let go of my arm, the open pickup door hit her hard. I whirled and stared out the rear window, watching her roll over and over in the dust along the side of the road. Immediately she sat up, covered her face with her hands, and slouched forward, her shoulders shaking.
    Glancing at her crumpled form in his rearview mirror while we moved on down the road, Lane shrugged. “Well, that’s too bad,” he said evenly. “Maybe it’ll teach her a lesson.”
    I gaped at him, openmouthed. My stomach lurched. Was this the man I had daydreamed about? What if Estela had been me? Would he have left me lying there?
    â€œStop the truck. Right now,” I demanded.
    He ignored me for a few seconds, then grudgingly pulled off the side of the road under the trees.
    â€œGo back and see if your wife is hurt,” I said coldly as I opened the door.
    Determined fingers grabbed my blouse. “Cut it out,” Lane snarled. “She’s not hurt and she’s got to learn. I told her before we ever got married that there would be other women. She knew I would marry again. I’m not going to let her come between us. I love you, and she’s just got to accept that.”
    I yanked my blouse free from his fingers. “Our marrying won’t work, Lane.” Alarm replaced the anger on his face as I continued. “A marriage between us won’t ever work, because I don’t love you. I should have told you before,” I stepped down onto the road.
    Feeling his eyes on my back, I hurried away. After a full minute the engine started up. Gears whined and shifted, and when I turned the corner, I glanced behind me. The pickup was idling next to Estela.
    All I could think of during evening chores as I milked our two cows and scattered grain in the chicken feeders was Estela, huddled in a heap in the dirt. She loved her husband. She had been a good wife to him, at least as far as I knew. She had given him a beautiful son. How could he treat her that way? Shouldn’t he convert her to polygamy instead of forcing it on her? Shouldn’t he have helped her to realize the benefits and eternal blessings that plural marriage provided? Shouldn’t she have some say about who joined her own family? The whole thing made my head ache, and I crawled into bed at twilight, grateful that none of my family had noticed my reticence. Life was so confusing. Lane and Estela filled my thoughts as I drifted off to sleep.

C HAPTER T HREE
    T he snakes crawling all around me were long and black, slimy and horrid. I screamed but the sound caught in my throat. A dense, enveloping fog floated about me. I wanted to run, but I couldn’t move. One of the snakes wrapped itself around my ankle and crawled over my bare foot, its scales scratching my skin. I tried to scream again, knowing I was going to die. I could feel myself being sucked into the blackness inside of my mind.
    I forced my eyes open. An illusive apparition hovered just over my head. Suddenly I realized that there were several of the ghost-like creatures. Two of them reached down and tried to lift me up, but my body passed right through their arms. I screamed and moaned in terror, their arms reaching for me again and again. “God,” I prayed frantically, “Oh, God, don’t let them get me.”
    Out of the thick mists, a human form appeared and hastened to my side. I sensed immediately that he had come to my rescue. Relief overwhelmed me! Strong arms pulled me close. Under my cheek was a rough material. It rubbed against my face and smelled clean and good, and I clung to him as we floated away, higher and higher. I looked down. Below us the ghosts were gone, but the snakes crawled and writhed together. Suddenly the man kissed my lips. “Susan,” he whispered. Startled, I raised my eyes to his face.
    â€œSusan! Susan, wake up.”