Excerpt: 'The First Wife' by Erica Spindler

Erica Spindler, author of The First Wife (out now!), shares a favorite scene from her new release.

Erica: Bailey Browne believes in happily-ever-after. She believes in fate and two people being destined to meet. So when she meets mysterious, handsome Logan Abbott on a island vacation, she falls head-over-heels in love. They marry in a romantic whirlwind and return to his Louisiana horse farm.

There, Bailey begins to grasp just how little she knows about her husband; his secrets crash down on her. The biggest: What really happened to his first wife, True? Her fairy tale seems to be slipping away.

Bailey refuses to let it go. She has a choice: Believe what everyone else says is true, or bet her life on love.

In this scene, Bailey has turned to Logan's brittle, emotionally fragile sister for help.

EXCERPT

Raine opened the door before Bailey knocked. She wore a painter's apron, decorated with what looked to be a lifetime of paint.

Her eyebrows drew down into a frown. "This is a surprise."

"Hello, Raine," she said. "I hoped we could visit."

She moved aside and Bailey stepped into the studio. The smell of the oil paint and turpentine stung her nose. Surrounding her, on every wall and easel, were the most grotesque paintings she had ever seen.

She shifted her gaze to her sister-in-law. "I love your brother. More than anything."

"Careful, sister-in-law, you'll make me puke."

"Don't you believe in love?"

"The romantic version? Death do us part and all that?"

"Yes."

"How lucky you are to be such an innocent."

So very brittle, Bailey thought. So angry. It glittered in her eyes and vibrated in her acid tone.

Bailey's heart went out to her, for all the loss she had suffered. But it was her husband, their marriage, she meant to save. Bailey tried again. "Don't you want him to be happy?"

"Happiness is illusory." Raine began to clean the paint off her brushes. "But yes, more than anything. More than my own happiness."

"Then help me. That's all I want."

She laughed but didn't look up. "That's why you're here, isn't it? You're wondering about all the things he won't tell you? Longing for him to let to let you in, thinking I can help?"

Raine snorted at that and Bailey went on. "I need to understand him. So I can help him."

"Help him? Change him, you mean." She laughed. "Just let him be. Enjoy your good fortune ... while you can."

"I love him," she said again. "And I'm not going to stop loving him."

"And to do that, you have to peel back the layers. Peek under the rock and see what's lurking there." She looked directly at Bailey. "You won't like what you find."

"You can't scare me."

"Oh, but I think I can."

Raine went from one painting-in-progress to the next. Pausing a moment to study, then flitting on to the next. "You sound like someone else. I love him," Raine mocked. "I want him to be happy. We see how well that worked out."

"True."

"You even look like her." Raine stopped, met her eyes again. "She was ten years younger than Logan. You're ten years younger, as well. Why do think he keeps marrying younger women?"

"It's not that unusual," she said. "People do it all the time."

"Men," Raine said. "More than women. For obvious reasons."

"Logan isn't just any man."

"No, he's not. And he could have anyone." She stopped again. Pinned her with that somehow feral gaze. "Why you?"

Bailey tried not to flinch. Raine had gotten enough points this go-around. "I have no idea. But you do. Or you think you do."

"Because young women are starry-eyed. And gullible. And fall so very easily into love."

"We're dumb, is that what you're saying?"

"Some are. Not you. Impetuous maybe. A bit desperate."

That last hurt, Bailey refused to let it show.

"Did he tell you that he kept True a secret from us, as well? Oh, I see by your expression that he didn't. No worries, sweet Bailey, he didn't fly off to a Caribbean island and come home with a wife."

"That's a relief."

Raine smiled at Bailey's sarcasm. "She was another under-achiever. Like you, no family. No ties."

"Why'd she leave him, Raine? What went wrong?"

She stopped, her back to Bailey. "Do you really want to do this? Peek under that rock? See what's hiding there in the dark?"

"Yes."

Raine's shoulders drooped, as if all the fight had left her. She sank onto the stool in front of a large, dark painting. For long moments, she simply gazed at it. Then she spoke. "Death follows him. That's what they say, you know. That death follows us, this family."

Chill bumps raced up her arms. "I know. I think people are being cruel, saying that."

"You heard it in town."

"Yes."

"I'm not surprised." Raine turned back to the painting. "All dead. Mama and Daddy. True and—"

"What did you say?"

When Raine didn't respond, Bailey took a step toward her, blood thundering in her head. "You said True's name. But True's not dead. She left him."

For a moment, Raine simply gazed at her painting. Then, without looking at her, she said, "Or so you've been told."

"Stop it."

"Who'll be next? You?" A smile touched her lips. "Poor, sweet Bailey. Run now. While you still have the chance."

Maybe she should, Bailey thought. Escape. Leave this shark tank behind.

But she couldn't. She had tied her life to Logan's, had chosen to believe their fairy tale. For better or worse, crazy or not.

Happily-ever-after.

Find out more about Erica and her books at www.ericaspindler.com.