The Other Wives Club

by Shari Low

Stupid name. Anyway, hasta la vista baby, as they say here.’ Tess smiled. ‘They don’t say that anywhere, Mum.’ ‘Well, your dad does. Every time I leave the van. He thinks he’s hilarious.’ Tess suddenly pictured her mother’s slightly sunburned nose wrinkling with affection as she said that and felt a distinct tug on her heartstrings. Retirement had been an adventure for Evelyn and Alan Campbell. A former nurse and policeman, they’d quit at fifty-five, jetted off to Brazil and were currently travelling around the nations of South America in a camper van. Tess tried not to think about it. It went against the natural order of things. Her parents should be fretting over their twenty-eight-year-old

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marriages. Could potentially be a little uncomfortable, but still bearable. Add one ex-wife, and the dread factor started to rise. Add in another ex-wife, her husband and step-kid and the shivers ran all the way to her toes. Suddenly, taking on gangs of brutal drugs smugglers in the hills above Bogota seemed like the preferable option. “Civilized” Drew called it. Modern. Functional. ‘‘We’re all grown-ups,’’ was his favourite saying, as he surveyed his multi-generational extended family at birthdays, Christmases and assorted special occasions. He was proud of the fact that he still worked with Mona, ex-wife number two, and took Sarah, ex-wife number one, out for lunch on the anniversary of their divorce every

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