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Back The Mother Next Door Save as PDF
Chapters (84)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise
  3. Dedication
  4. About the Author
  5. HALLOWEEN
  6. Seven Weeks Before Halloween
  7. ONE
  8. TWO
  9. THREE
  10. HALLOWEEN
  11. Six Weeks Before Halloween
  12. FOUR
  13. FIVE
  14. SIX
  15. HALLOWEEN
  16. Five Weeks Before Halloween
  17. SEVEN
  18. EIGHT
  19. HALLOWEEN
  20. NINE
  21. TEN
  22. HALLOWEEN
  23. ELEVEN
  24. TWELVE
  25. Twenty-Five Days Until Halloween
  26. THIRTEEN
  27. FOURTEEN
  28. HALLOWEEN
  29. FIFTEEN
  30. SIXTEEN
  31. SEVENTEEN
  32. EIGHTEEN
  33. NINETEEN
  34. TWENTY
  35. HALLOWEEN
  36. Eighteen Days Until Halloween
  37. TWENTY-ONE
  38. TWENTY-TWO
  39. HALLOWEEN
  40. TWENTY-THREE
  41. TWENTY-FOUR
  42. Eleven Days Until Halloween
  43. TWENTY-FIVE
  44. TWENTY-SIX
  45. Eight Days Until Halloween
  46. TWENTY-SEVEN
  47. TWENTY-EIGHT
  48. TWENTY-NINE
  49. HALLOWEEN
  50. THIRTY
  51. Four Days Until Halloween
  52. THIRTY-ONE
  53. HALLOWEEN
  54. THIRTY-TWO
  55. Two Days Until Halloween
  56. THIRTY-THREE
  57. The Night Before Halloween
  58. THIRTY-FOUR
  59. HALLOWEEN
  60. THIRTY-FIVE
  61. Halloween, Present Day
  62. THIRTY-SIX
  63. THIRTY-SEVEN
  64. HALLOWEEN
  65. THIRTY-EIGHT
  66. HALLOWEEN
  67. THIRTY-NINE
  68. HALLOWEEN
  69. FORTY
  70. HALLOWEEN
  71. FORTY-ONE
  72. FORTY-TWO
  73. FORTY-THREE
  74. FORTY-FOUR
  75. HALLOWEEN... NOW
  76. FORTY-FIVE
  77. Seven Months Later
  78. FORTY-SIX
  79. FORTY-SEVEN
  80. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  81. ALICE SWANSON’S
  82. Reader's Guide
  83. Questions for Discussion
  84. Booklist

“I think you sense it.” Maggie’s gaze was direct, and I couldn’t look away. “You know something’s off. Why don’t you ask them? They are your best friends now, aren’t they? Ask them more about that night on the bridge. If they are innocent, then they should have nothing to hide, right?”

My heart thudded. What was Maggie hinting at? Did she know about Jackie’s obsession with Daphne? Did she also believe that Daphne was driven to jump because of Jackie? Georgeann had said Jackie was great, but I bet she was just being nice. Or was Maggie fishing for a story that didn’t exist? Poking her nose around where she shouldn’t? “Why do you hate them so much?” I asked.

Maggie’s jaw set hard. “Because they always win.”

She was right. They did always win. They made sure of that, didn’t they? That was how it all worked. And people like Maggie, when they tried to change that, just ended up looking foolish.

Maggie slid a business card from her pocket and handed it to me. “My cell phone number’s on there. Text me when you realize I’m right.” She held it out until I took it. “Daphne wasn’t depressed, Theresa. She liked it here. And she loved her baby. Why would she leave her?”

Her baby? Daphne had a child?

“And have you talked to her child?” I asked with a straight face. “For your story?”

“Well, no. I couldn’t find her.” Maggie looked right at me. “Her family won’t even acknowledge it happened. Her parents kicked her out when she got preggers. The Browns, who took her in, who you bought this very house from, won’t talk about it either.”

That dull roar of panic rose inside me again.

“So they didn’t raise the baby?” I asked.

But I already knew the answer.

HALLOWEEN

“Daphne.”

The voice calls from downstairs. Daphne is up in the attic. In her bedroom. She loves it, can hardly believe her luck, so big and bright and plenty of room for her and the baby. She has the crib close to her bed so she can reach over in the middle of the night and make sure her daughter is still breathing.

Tonight, the big room offers plenty of space for all the neighborhood kids to spread out blankets and lie down after their long day. They had a good time at the party, as always.

She had a good time, too. Except that the mothers in the neighborhood have been cold to her tonight. She’s worried she did something wrong. She likes the work—it’s easy, hanging out with the kids—and she would never want to do anything to upset them.