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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

FIFTEEN

Theresa

In the circular window of our attic, Lily had fixed a translucent image of a witch riding a broom. When it was dark, the lamp from her desk made it seem like the witch was riding all the way to a full moon.

I saw it as I slipped down to the lake late Saturday afternoon, soon after Lily and Adam had left for Philadelphia. I was alone, for once. Just like that witch.

And up to trouble, too.

It was growing dark as I wove down the path past Kendra’s house to the lake, but I knew the way by now. I’d been walking it nearly every day since we’d moved in.

The air was cool, and I drew up the collar of my flannel shirt, wishing I’d worn a coat. I tucked my hands in my jeans pockets. It was quiet and foggy on the path, but there was always some sense around here of activity, of families living their lives. At dusk, you couldn’t open a window without smelling charred meat from someone’s grill or hearing the solitary thunk, thunk of a teenager shooting hoops in their driveway.

“The whole weekend to yourself,” Adam had said as he kissed me goodbye earlier. “Just don’t throw a wild party and burn the house down.”

I’d laughed, kissed him back. “I’m just a boring old person,” I’d said, feeling guilty as the words, the lies, tumbled out of my mouth. “Catching up on Netflix.”

Or meeting up with ex-lovers in the dark.

I sat on the bench at the edge of the lake and glanced at my phone, hoping Greg wouldn’t be late. After my conversation with Kendra earlier in the week, I’d been worried about what I’d told her, whether she’d keep my secret. Whether I’d thanked Greg enough for the favor. Since I’d run into him at the football game a few weeks ago, he’d emailed several times asking to meet for coffee—Wherefore art thou, Theresa?—but I hadn’t responded, justifying it to myself as having been too busy. Now I wondered if that was a mistake. After all, I needed him on my side.

This had been our old off-campus meeting spot, right near his house, easy for him to sneak away to. Almost thirteen years ago, and it felt the same. It was surrounded by a copse of pines, so we’d be sheltered if anyone did pass by. Close enough to the black water to see the bubbles and ripples from fish feeding. I was a woman disappearing into the shadows. Invisible. Something about that both terrified and thrilled me.

What would Kendra think?