The House On Sugar Plum Lane. Judy Duarte

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СКАЧАТЬ “I still don’t get it, Amy. What are you doing? Looking for ghosts in a haunted house?”

      She laughed, the lilt of her voice more of a balm on his raw and ragged emotions than anything else had been since she’d moved out, which included having more than his share of stiff drinks, slamming a fist through the wall once, and burying himself in more work.

      “In a way,” she admitted, “that’s exactly what I’m doing.”

      Okay, she’d really gone off the deep end. He again glanced in the rearview mirror, making eye contact with the little girl they’d created, a beautiful child with her mommy’s blond hair and expressive blue eyes.

      A daughter that still bound them together, whether Amy liked it or not.

      So he said, “I’m still waiting for that simple explanation you promised.”

      She inhaled, then let out a slow and steady breath. “I followed the trail to a woman named Barbara Rucker, who grew up in the house where you found me today.”

      “What’d you do? Break in?”

      “No, I’m there legally.”

      That was a relief, although his wife was so honest that her mom used to say she wouldn’t take a shortcut home. But after all they’d been through the past few months? Who knew what she’d do next.

      “Who lives in the house now?” he asked.

      “Actually, the neighbors think that I do.”

      “Excuse me?”

      “I leased the place,” she explained. “It’s furnished and still holds Mrs. Rucker’s personal belongings, so it gives me an opportunity to…look around.”

      What happened to the sensible woman he’d married, the loving mother who was a gourmet cook and had an eye for décor?

      Brandon slowly shook his head. His wife—no way was he ready to throw in the towel and refer to her as his ex yet—had surely flipped. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

      “You signed a lease?” he asked. Of course she had; she’d just told him that. But for some reason, he’d thought he’d missed something. “For how long?”

      “Six months. It’s the least amount of time they’d agree to.”

      It wasn’t about the money, but it still seemed like a big waste to him. “How much did that cost?”

      “I can afford it.”

      “That’s not the point.”

      “I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

      Quite frankly, once upon a time, right after a fairy-tale courtship and wedding, he’d thought Amy had been the easiest woman in the world to understand, to love and trust, to come home to. But she’d thrown him for a loop about six months ago, right about the time her mother passed away.

      He’d told himself it was grief messing with her mind. But now? He didn’t know what to think.

      “Are you planning to move again?” he asked.

      “No. I wouldn’t do that to Callie.”

      He was glad to hear that. She’d done enough to the poor kid already—moved out of the only home she’d ever known, filed for divorce from her father. A man who’d do anything to provide for his family, by the way, but she’d thrown it all in his face.

      He again glanced in the mirror, saw his daughter smiling at him, oblivious to the grown-up problems around her. “I realize you miss your mom, Amy. But to take on a search like that—”

      “I didn’t expect you to understand. You hardly even knew my mother. In fact, I think you were still calling her Mrs. Barnes when she died.”

      He wasn’t sure what she meant by that, so he spoke up in his own defense. “I used to call her Susan.”

      For some reason, he could imagine Amy rolling her eyes about now. She’d been doing that a lot in the past few months.

      Where had they gone wrong? When had they gotten off track?

      “For Pete’s sake, Brandon. You even arrived late to the funeral.”

      He’d had to work that morning, and an important call had come in. He hadn’t meant to be late. And then he’d run into traffic on Interstate 5—a fatal accident that had blocked all four lanes.

      “I can’t explain why this matters,” Amy said. “Not so you would understand. But I have to do it. I’ve got this big, huge hole in my heart now that my mom’s gone.”

      Brandon understood about holes in one’s heart, gaps in one’s life. He’d been dealing with that ever since Amy had dropped the bomb on him and moved out.

      “What about me?” he asked. “What about us?”

      “I’m sorry that our marriage wasn’t strong enough, that we don’t love each other like we once did. If it had been, if we did, we might have made it through anything.”

      She was probably right, but the trouble was, Brandon still loved Amy. And he feared he always would.

      “What’s done is done,” she said.

      Was it?

      “Besides, I’ve always been in this alone.”

      Not by his choice, he wanted to say. But he kept his mouth shut. Things had changed; Amy had changed.

      And even though he’d give anything to go back to the way things once were, she’d made it clear that she wasn’t up for the trek.

      Chapter 4

      Barbara Davila walked along the tree-shaded sidewalk to Pacifica General Hospital with slow, deliberate steps. She’d hoped that the trips to visit her son would get easier, but they hadn’t. Each day was still a struggle, and she suspected they would be until his discharge.

      For almost two weeks now, Joey had been in the cardiac unit, and each time she pushed through the revolving doors into the lobby, she was swept back to a time in her life she’d tried to forget.

      But maybe today would be different. There was talk of a heart bypass once his blood sugar level was acceptable, and she hoped that one day soon they’d announce he’d been stabilized, surgery had been scheduled, and he was finally on the road to recovery.

      She was eager to get him home, where she could oversee his care and help him get back on his feet again.

      She hadn’t told him or his wife yet, although she was sure they’d be delighted, but she’d decided it would be best if he recovered at her house in Rancho Santa Fe. It was so much more spacious and comfortable than the small condo in Fairbrook where he and his wife lived. Barbara could also afford round-the-clock help and would spare no expense at making him comfortable. She just needed to get him home.

      Who would have СКАЧАТЬ