Review: The Fourth Child

The Fourth Child by C.J. Carmichael

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Re-read in December 2017 = added highlighs and my feelings...
Re-read in March 2015 = Added one more star

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A very well written story that engages the reader from beginning to end.
But I would not take the cheater back, he was a son of a bitch.
And Janice was a bitch who knew the man was married.
He was loving the attention of a younger woman who fed his ego.
While the two had dates and dinners while pretending to work late, he did not remember his wife taking care of her three daughters at home alone.
And he spoke openly in the face of his wife who was in love with another woman and did not even remember her feelings or how his attitude would affect her daughters.
And he admitted that he kissed Janice and she even left a lipstick on the glove compartment of his car. Real evidence of the cheating left by Janice for his wife to find out.
Saying that he did not have sex with Janice did not convince me, I got the impression that something more intimate happened between them.

Already the place had the hollow, muted atmosphere he associated with afterhours and weekends.
And Janice.

Occasional lunches became more frequent; open meetings evolved into secret rendezvous. At what point had he known he was falling in love? Kirk still wasn't sure. But he did know the time had come to do something about it. Last week at dinner, Janice had told him she wanted more. He couldn't pretend not to understand what she meant.

"What about here, Kirk? What about now? The place is deserted. I've locked the door."

He groaned. God, he couldn't believe it. She was offering him his ultimate fantasy. How many nights had he lain awake thinking of something just like this? Now he swallowed, his gaze automatically settling on the hint of cleavage between the parted layers of silky blouse.

"If I kiss you, this time I won't be able to stop there."

"But that's okay," Janice said, leaning in toward him. "That's what I've been trying to tell you."

"The thing is, Claire, I've fallen in love with someone else."

Kirk always worked long hours, and lately they'd been even longer than usual. Had there been other signs she'd missed? They'd been making love less frequently. And saying I love you even less.

Regardless of whether Kirk had slept with Janice, he'd broken his wedding vow to Claire. He was in love with the other woman, and how could Claire compete? She was ten years older, overweight— and pregnant on top of everything!

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