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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

My heart both soared and sank, as if it were a boat churning on a wild sea, up and then down. My girl and I had had the roughest time of it over these last few months. My lies had been the cause of that, of course, and I was still paying the price. I hoped she’d come around, eventually, but until then I had to just give it time.

Still, I liked seeing her happy. She’d always been quick to make new friends. I wondered if her mother had been like that.

Every time I took the stairs up to Lily’s bedroom. Every time I looked out through that round attic window. Every time I strolled in the woods by the lake. It was as if Daphne’s ghost were hovering like a balloon above us. In some way, she always would.

I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to it. I was just learning to live with it.

I was also learning to go easier on myself. To not take on all the blame when things went wrong, when I made mistakes. My mother had honed the perfectionist in me to a painfully sharp point, and I was trying to dull it.

“Theresa?”

I realized Georgeann had said something to me, tried to reel myself back in. “I’m sorry. What?”

“I said I can’t believe Adam let you-know-who speak,” Georgeann said.

“Well, she is valedictorian,” I said.

“Still. Lord knows what she’ll say.”

I could see Georgeann’s point. Ellen wasn’t the follow-the-rules type. I could fully imagine her “improvising” her speech. And after all she’d done to us—all she’d put us through—I hadn’t been happy she’d been allowed to speak either. In fact, Adam and I had bickered about it. Which was mild compared to the fighting we’d done over Greg—it had taken us months for Adam to trust me again after I’d lied about meeting up with Greg—but I still hadn’t wanted to push it. That girl didn’t deserve the recognition, but it wasn’t my decision.

“The silver lining here is she’ll be gone soon,” I said.

Adam had believed Ellen was truly sorry for all she’d done, but I knew she was manipulative. She’d spied on her father and read our emails. She pretended to be her mother, feeding Maggie Lewis tips through an anonymous account on NeighborWho. Sent me that card about Lily and told her about my affair with Greg. Lily had decided not to keep her adoption a secret any longer, though she—and Adam and I—weren’t exactly broadcasting her genetics to the public. It was a relief not to have to worry anymore. At least not about that.