The House on Sugar Plum Lane by JUDY DUARTE Read Free Book Online

matter.
    â€œYes, but only briefly. From what I understand, the marriage was a big mistake. She never talked to me about him, but I remember my aunt saying that he wasn’t good to her.”
    â€œThat’s too bad.”
    â€œYou mean that her second husband was a jerk?” Maria asked, handing back the frame.
    â€œOh, no.” Amy straightened. “That she lost the love of her life in the war, that she never met anyone else who could take his place.”
    Maria smiled. “You sound like a romantic.”
    â€œI always used to be.”
    â€œSo did I, but my ex-husband took care of dimming my rose-colored glasses.”
    Amy’s ex had done the same thing, but she hoped to find someone new someday, someone who valued his wife and child.
    â€œWell,” Maria said. “I really need to get home. Let me know when Callie gets here. I’ll bring Sara by to meet her.”
    Amy nodded, although she couldn’t do that.
    How could she ask a child to help perpetuate the lie her mother had created?

Chapter 3
    As Maria walked down the cracked, leaf-riddled sidewalk that led from Ellie’s porch to the street, a sense of sadness slowed her steps. There was a part of her that hated to leave the house in the hands of a stranger, yet she had to admit that Amy seemed nice enough.
    As she reached the picket fence that surrounded Ellie’s yard, she passed through the gate that had completely broken off its hinges, turned to her right at the street, and continued home.
    Before she reached the property line that separated her house from Ellie’s, a white pickup pulled up and parked along the curb. The bed of the truck, she noted, was filled with a lawnmower and other gardening tools. And a green logo on the passenger door read GONZALES LANDSCAPING .
    Maria didn’t give the vehicle’s arrival much thought until the driver, a dark-haired man in his twenties, climbed from the cab, leaving a brown, shaggy dog in the front seat. The dog barked, but it wasn’t the animal that piqued her interest; it was the handsome driver with an olive complexion, a square-cut jaw, and a rugged build.
    Normally, she kept her eyes averted from men, particularly those who were young and attractive. It was easier that way.
    Her marriage hadn’t been happy, and she was unwilling to put herself in the position of repeating the same mistake. But she couldn’t help risking a second glance at the brawny man who stood about six foot two.
    When he tossed her a grin, her brains turned to mush—her bones and joints, too. Yet, try as she might, she couldn’t return the friendly gesture.
    Or maybe she inadvertently had, since he continued toward her.
    â€œExcuse me,” he said. “Do you live here?”
    Yes. No.
    It was a simple question with a simpler answer, but for some reason, her words failed to form.
    As their gazes met and locked, a swarm of butterflies rose up in her stomach. You’d think she’d never come face-to-face with an attractive man before, although she had to admit, this was the first time she’d ever been attracted to anyone other than her ex-husband. Ray’s lies and betrayal had scarred her for good—at least, that’s what she’d told herself.
    The gardener nodded toward Ellie’s house, and Maria’s brain finally rallied.
    â€œNo, I live in the blue house.” She pointed to hers just as the front door swung open.
    â€œMom!” Danny shouted from the porch.
    She turned to her son, glad for the distraction, even if it meant trouble inside.
    â€œEllie’s out in the backyard again,” the unsmiling boy announced, “and she’s calling for some guy named Harold.”
    â€œI…uh.” Maria glanced at the landscaper. “I have to go.”
    â€œI can see that.” His smile broadened, revealing a single dimple that could only mean bad news to any woman who found it charming.
    What was with her