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

inability to break eye contact, to move on?
    â€œOur company is going to be doing some landscaping on the street,” he added. “So if you’re interested in getting a bid for your yard”—he reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a business card—“we’ll give you or any of the other neighbors a ten-percent discount.”
    She couldn’t afford a landscaper, no matter what kind of deal he gave her, yet she took his card anyway, fingered the embossed lettering.
    â€œMom!” Danny yelled again, this time louder and more insistent.
    â€œI’m coming.” Her words gave the proper response, but her feet seemed to be uncooperative.
    â€œKeep us in mind,” he said.
    She nodded, afraid she’d be keeping the landscaper in mind longer than she ought to, and forced herself to head back to the house.
    Shake it off, she told herself as she reached her front porch.
    Danny stepped aside to allow her in.
    Still, for some crazy reason, just as she started past the threshold, she stole one last peek over her shoulder, only to see that the landscaper hadn’t moved either, that his eyes were still on her.
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    Amy had no more than returned the photograph of Ellie and Harold back to the mantel and started back to the kitchen when the doorbell rang.
    Had Maria had a change of heart about the tea?
    Oddly enough, Amy hoped so. She returned to the living room and answered the door only to find a tall, dark-haired man on the stoop. He appeared to be Latino, with soft brown eyes and a shy smile.
    â€œMrs. Masterson?” he asked.
    She nodded.
    â€œI’m Eddie with Gonzales Landscaping. I was asked to come by and look at the yard so that we can give the owner an estimate for cleaning things up around here.”
    â€œOh, good.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “It definitely needs some work.”
    â€œDo you have any dogs I should be aware of?”
    â€œNo, I don’t.” At least, not at this house.
    â€œIs there anything specific in the yard that needs to be trimmed? Anything you’re especially concerned about?”
    â€œActually, I’ve only done a cursory walk-through of the yard, so I can’t really say. I know there’s a rose garden in back, and it’s in bad shape. Other than that, the lawn needs to be mowed and edged, the trees and bushes need to be trimmed.”
    â€œIf you don’t mind, Mrs. Masterson, I’ll take a look around.”
    â€œNo, not at all. But call me Amy.”
    â€œAll right.” As he stepped off the porch, she closed the door and returned to the kitchen, where she opened the pantry, threw out all the open containers of food, and boxed up the rest. She found an unopened bag of Kitty Delight, although she hadn’t seen any other sign of a cat. Rather than pack it up with the food items, she left it on a shelf to deal with later.
    After washing down the shelves, she started on the drawers, then scoured the counters.
    Near the telephone, which no longer had a dial tone, she found a pink steno pad with several notations written in pencil:
    Soup kitchen Friday. Vera will pick me up.
    Tell Joey the washing machine is broken again.
    760-555-1493–Daniel Delacourt–tomorrow afternoon here.
    Dr. Ryley–new medication not working.
    Odd, she thought. It wasn’t the typical list, like the items she needed from the grocery store. It appeared that Ellie was keeping notes for herself, jotting down things she didn’t want to forget.
    Had she known her mind was failing?
    Again, the doorbell rang. Amy wasn’t sure how much time had passed. Fifteen or twenty minutes, she supposed.
    Assuming the landscaper had finished checking out the yard and wanted to tell her he was leaving, she made her way back to the entry and swung open the door only to find her ex-husband and her daughter on the stoop.
    â€œBrandon,” was all she could say.
    â€œWhat’s