Buffy Andrews - The Perfect Husband - A nail biting gripping psychological thriller

He was the perfect husband. Until he wasn’t.

When Shelly’s marriage ends in divorce, she’s left completely devastated and feeling like she’s never going to find love again.

Until she meets Eric.

Shelly can't believe her luck. The first person she meets after (reluctantly) joining online dating, and he’s handsome, caring, everything she ever wanted and more. From romantic dates to expensive gifts, it’s as if she’s in a dream.

But just when Shelly thinks she’s finally found her happily ever after, she begins to realize that all is not as it seems. As the cracks start to develop, perhaps Eric isn’t the perfect man she thought he was. Will her dream become a nightmare?

Also by Buffy Andrews

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The Moment Keeper

Our Fragile Hearts

A Year of Second Chances

The Perfect Husband

Buffy Andrews

ONE PLACE. MANY STORIES

Copyright

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2018

Copyright © Buffy Andrews 2018

Buffy Andrews asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

E-book Edition © June 2018 ISBN: 9780008254421

BUFFY ANDREWS

lives in south central Pennsylvania with her husband, Tom, and Wheaten Cairn terrier, Kakita.

By day, she works for USA Today Network as its Regional Engagement Manager for the Northeast.

By night, she writes middle-grade, young adult and women’s fiction.

Some of her fiction ideas pop into her head at the most inopportune times, such as during a sermon or in the shower or when she’s supposed to be listening in a meeting. She’s written all over church bulletins, jumped out of the shower more than once to write down an idea and turned meeting handouts into storyboards.

If you see her out and about, don’t be surprised if you see her pull out the notebook she keeps in her purse. She’s forever taking notes she’ll use later. After all, life is full of wonderful details to capture.

To those caught in a psychopath’s web of lies and deceit, I pray that you’re able to escape and find peace, heal and be happy. You matter.

Contents

Cover

Blurb

Title Page

Copyright

Author Bio

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

Excerpt

Endpages

About the publisher

Chapter 1

I looked in the mirror and no longer recognized myself. I hated my life and had thought about taking it.

No one would miss me.

I was a zero.

Nothing.

Zilch.

Chapter 2

A Year Ago

I couldn’t believe Jackie had talked me into this. After a bitter divorce, brought about by my husband’s affair five years ago, I swore I’d never date again. But here I was going through profiles on an online dating website. I must be insane! Did I really want a man in my life? I’d been on a couple of blind dates since my divorce and both ended in disaster. The first guy spat spaghetti sauce in my face when he laughed during dinner and the second paid the bill with three different gift cards. If I ever dated a guy again, he’d have to be exceptional.

I sat on the couch with my cat Izzy curled up next to me. I started laughing and Izzy’s head popped up. ‘Sorry, girl. Didn’t mean to scare you but this guy apparently thinks wearing a blue work vest with “May I Help You?” printed on the front is sexy.’ She purred and I scratched her neck. ‘Yeah, I know. No man is better than some man.’ I looked at a few more profiles, including one bare-chested guy wearing a baseball cap with the tagline: Cowboy seeks his cowgirl. Uh, no. Not for me. Nor was the guy whose plan it was to find a ‘good woman and build an empire around her’ or the guy who noted ‘I have a washer and dryer at my house so a first date at the Laundromat is out.’

‘Good God, Izzy, are all men jerks?’

Just when I was about to give up I stumbled upon a profile that seemed normal: EricT. He liked the outdoors and considered himself to be adventurous, spontaneous and fun-loving. He looked handsome. Unlike most of the profiles I’d seen, EricT had a full head of hair and straight teeth. Drats! He lived two hours away. Long-distance relationships rarely work out. And I certainly had no intention of moving.

I’d spent the past five years focusing on my real estate career. I’d regained some of the confidence I’d lost when my ten-year marriage to Scott ended in a firestorm after I caught him cheating.

I was thirty-two when I married Scott. My sorority sisters teased me about being the last one married. Most of them were married before they hit the quarter-century mark, but I wasn’t in a hurry. I didn’t plan on getting married more than once so I wanted to make sure I made the right decision. Turned out it was the wrong one!

I was now forty-seven and while I didn’t need a man to make me happy, I missed the intimacy and companionship.

When Scott and I started to have problems in our marriage, I wondered if things would have been different if I could’ve given him children. But over time I realized he was the problem, not me. I was the one who battled cervical cancer a year after we got married. He should have been there for me instead of rolling between the sheets with what I now believe had been a long list of women. He was a cheat, and I was better off without him.

I sat my laptop on the coffee table and went into the kitchen to make a salad for dinner. I’d been trying to eat healthier. The change of life had knocked on my door, and it had brought unwelcome guests: Weight and High Blood Pressure!

I was loading the dishwasher when my best friend Jackie called.

‘Hey, Jack. I was just going to call you.’

‘Sure, sure.’