THE WOMAN WHO CAME HOME BEFORE SUNSET

Chapter 01 - THE WOMAN WHO CAME HOME BEFORE SUNSET

## chapter 01 - The Stranger in My Pool

Claire Whitmore came home from Paris one day early because she wanted to surprise her husband.

The driver left her at the stone gates of the villa shortly before sunset. The house looked exactly as she remembered it—white walls glowing beneath the California sky, tall cypress trees lining the driveway, and the blue water of the infinity pool reflecting the mountains beyond.

Claire carried her suitcase through the silent house.

Then she heard laughter outside.

A young blonde woman was in the pool with Claire’s husband.

Evan had both hands around the woman’s waist. They were smiling at each other in the private, careless way people smiled when they believed nobody was watching.

Claire stepped onto the terrace in her champagne-colored travel robe.

“Am I interrupting something?”

The blonde woman gasped.

Evan turned so quickly that water splashed across his face.

“Claire?”

His expression shifted from shock to calculation.

He climbed toward the edge of the pool.

“You weren’t supposed to be home until tomorrow.”

Claire looked at the woman beside him.

“That is the first honest thing you’ve said.”

The woman wrapped her arms around herself.

Evan reached for a towel.