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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 sky outside darkened fast, and Kendra finally switched on a light and drew all her drapes closed. Around 6 p.m., Paul and Cole stomped in, said hello, and, as she’d predicted, retreated to their separate spaces. When the pizza arrived, we kept one pie in the den for ourselves.

We were nearly through the wine bottle by then, and I could feel my head loosening and floating, my limbs heavy. Kendra had kicked off her shoes and burrowed her feet between the cushions.

“So, tell me what you think of everybody,” she said, sitting back.

“Who?”

She waved her hand. “The girls.” She took a sip. “What’s your impression of them?”

“They’re great,” I said. I knew I had to tread lightly. This was the first time I’d hung out with Kendra alone, and I didn’t want her to think I was a gossip.

“Nah. What do you really think?” She grabbed another slice of pizza and sunk her teeth in.

I didn’t know what type of answer Kendra was looking for. Did she want me to point out weaknesses, flaws, to prove I was perceptive? Or gush about how great everyone was, to demonstrate I was loyal? I decided to hover in the middle. “I’m not sure I know them well enough to form an opinion yet. I think Alice is very sweet”—Kendra smirked—“and Bettina is...really stylish.”

“Stylish?” Kendra laughed. “Yeah, she is. She can also be totally hard to read, right? Like, you have no idea if she loves you or hates you? It’s okay to say it.”

I shook my head but started laughing. I was drunk, but also high on the moment. There I was, in Kendra’s house, like we’d been friends since second grade.

“And Pia is way better at Pilates than I’ll ever be. And she gets through life without alcohol, which is a heroic thing in my book.”

“Oh god, she fooled you?” Kendra threw her head back and laughed. “Pia is a total lush. Well, that’s not fair. She was. After her divorce she tried to quit, thank god. She gets all high and mighty about it sometimes, shaking that water bottle in our faces, going on about how many days sober she’s been. But her willpower can be pretty shitty. We all know where she hides it in her house.”

“Wow,” I said. I imagined Pia stashing airplane bottles of whiskey behind boxes of rice in the pantry, the way my aunt Carol used to between stints in rehab. “I guess we all have our secrets.”

Kendra aimed her crust at me. “So, what’s yours?”

“Mine?” I took another bite of my slice to buy myself time. How many hours do you have? “I’m afraid I’m just boring old me.”