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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

“And you’re liking the new house?” Greg asked.

“I love it. It’s keeping me busy, too.” I changed my voice to sound proper. “I’m learning all about paint shades and wallpaper and brushed nickel cartridge faucets.”

“Wow. You’re becoming an interior designer.”

“Hardly.” I laughed. “I’m just starting with our powder room. But Lily has taken to calling me ‘HGTV’ to be mean.”

Greg threw back his head and laughed. “I take it she likes the new house, too?”

“Are you kidding?” I said. “It was really the one thing that sold her on moving. She barely ever comes down from her bedroom in the attic.”

“Oh. The attic,” he said.

“Yes, weird, I know. Adam says that he’s never seen her so happy.”

I caught a flash of something in Greg’s eyes—anger? sadness?—and realized it must’ve been my mention of Adam. Greg had always seemed slightly unhappy, lonely—even when I’d known him all those years ago—and I wondered if seeing me now, finally happy with someone else, was triggering him.

I put my hand on his arm. “Listen, Greg,” I said softly. “I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciated—” I stopped. The crowd was spilling down from the bleachers, and I could see Adam, tall above the crowd, coming toward us. I dropped my hand, something like a cherry pit rising in my chest. “Look, Adam doesn’t know. Any of it. Okay?”

Greg’s brow rose. “Really?” He noted my expression, then whispered, “Our little secret, then. I like that. I can hold it over you.”

Adam reached us, eyed Greg, then me. Were we standing too close?

“Hi, honey,” I said cheerfully and clutched his arm. “Adam, this is Greg Hendricks. My former professor.”

“Ah, Miles’s son.” Adam held out a hand. Miles, his boss, the superintendent. Friends in high places, like Pia had said.

“Yes. No matter how old I get, I’ll always be Miles’s son.” He laughed, ran his fingers through his hair. “I suppose it could be worse. But anyway, I’ve got to get back to my dad. I shall see you both again, I’m sure. ‘The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again.’”

“Charles Dickens,” I told Adam as Greg waved and disappeared into the crowd. “He likes to quote literature.” Above us, the sound of the fans stomping down the metal bleachers made it seem like the world was exploding.

Adam shrugged. “I’m starving,” he yelled over the din. “Let’s go get a pile of greasy food.”

HALLOWEEN