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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

The blonde mom frowned. “Cut it out, Barney,” she yelled. She took a sip of her wine.

I watched.

I waited.

Then she looked up. She seemed to gaze right at me through the window. Flecks of bark snapped off the tree trunk as I squeezed, and they fell at my feet. Even though I knew the woman couldn’t see me out here in the darkness, I held my breath until she turned away.

TWO

Theresa

Adam had warned me the Welcome to Woodard event wasn’t going to be fancy, and unfortunately, he was right. They hadn’t done much to transform the gymnasium of the high school—public school budgets, I supposed. The bleachers were pushed to the wall like unclimbable ladders, and they’d arranged a mix of low-and high-top tables throughout the gym. Near the doors, a microphone and two bulky speakers had been set up for remarks. No mood music, unless you counted the squeak of the men’s shoes on the waxy floor. The local community newspaper I’d worked for back in Philly had Christmas parties swankier than this, and those had been in the basement of a chicken wings place.

It was as one might expect—lots of hellos and nice-to-meet-yous and handshakes and forgetting people’s names as soon as they said them. Five hundred and fifty and this is my wife, Theresas. There were jokes about sports teams—“Coming from Philly, you know you can’t be an Eagles fan anymore, right?” After a while I felt like my smile needed to be propped up by toothpicks. Much of the conversations were shoptalk about the school, the classes, the kids, and I drowned it out until I could finally excuse myself, feigning thirst.

The woman at the drink table appeared to be a parent volunteer, dressed as she was in a Woodard High T-shirt and khaki pants. Her shoulder-length hair curled with humidity, and her facial features naturally arced downward so that even when she threw a smile my way, it came off as defeated.

“You’re Adam Wallace’s wife, right?” she asked as I took a flat-looking Coke. There was no alcohol. “We’re so excited to have him here.”

I got a little thrill noting the clout Adam’s name brought here.

“That’s me,” I said brightly. “Theresa Pressley.” I held out a hand.

“Oh wow, it’s so nice to meet you. I’m Georgeann. Georgeann Wilkins.” She handed me a thin white cocktail napkin. “Do you need anything else?” We both glanced at the table—there wasn’t anything else—and the woman let out an embarrassed chuckle. “Well, I guess if you need any help with anything, I’ve been here forever.”

After all the polite small talk at Adam’s side, Georgeann’s awkwardness made it easier to relax. “Oh you just must know everyone then,” I teased.