Read Online Another Woman's Son (Harlequin Romance) by Anna Adams - Free Book Online

time she turned into her own neighborhood, she was so antsy her skin seemed to be jumping. English Meadows had suited Will’s idea of what his home should be. Each house in its own brick-fenced island. Each neighbor intent on his privacy. For her it had been like living in a fishbowl.
    One of the neighbors, who was a one-woman Neighborhood Watch, had always been friendly, but she’d liked to know what went on behind everyone’s walls.
    Isabel opened the gate with a remote she’d forgotten to leave the day she’d moved out. She parked in the curving driveway, in front of the door.
    As she climbed the stone steps, a black bird flew off the iron table that was flanked by two chairs on the left side of the brick porch. All for looks. Anyone who sat in those chairs went numb from the waist down within minutes.
    She’d bought them to suit Will’s idea of genteelwelcome. What a way to live. She pushed her key into the lock.
    As soon as it turned, she pulled her hand back and stood in front of the doorknob, her fingers spread. Going inside was harder than she’d anticipated.
    Will had considered this home, but it had been her compromise. Marriage entailed compromise, but trying to win her husband’s love had exhausted her. All the ridiculous arguments she’d backed down from. Why had she tried so hard to be the woman Will wanted?
    “Open the door,” she said out loud. If she was used to taking orders, she might as well give herself one.
    Her heart danced in the back of her throat, but she grabbed the key and opened the door. As if an invisible wall kept her out, she couldn’t force her feet to carry her inside. A few flakes of snow, halfhearted remains of the storm, drifted over her shoulder and disappeared before they hit the hardwood floor.
    She stared. Nothing had changed. The place looked just as it had three months ago. Wide, polished oak hall, a center table, topped by a Meissen bowl filled with fresh flowers. Someone must have come in since the accident to refresh the roses.
    Of course. Will must have hired a cleaner once he’d lost her. He wouldn’t want to adjust his habits just because his wife had left.
    “Hello?” she called, in case anyone had come today.
    No one answered. Isabel took her first step back into the life she’d abandoned. Her former home smelled the same. Her footsteps sounded the same on the overwaxed floors.
    Nothing had changed, but she was alien here.
    This was no time to let bitterness get the best of her. A lot of work faced her. The house was as clean as Faith’s, but different. She and Will had spread his family’s heirlooms around their walls and rooms.
    Where should she start? She’d leave the kitchen till last since she had to feed herself during this clear-out. She wandered down the wide hall. The gray-blue light of another approaching storm bathed her former home in the dim cold of outside.
    Behind her, the doorbell rang.
    She jumped. Ben had said he might bring Tony by. She looked at her watch. It couldn’t be them already. After playtime in the park, he’d have had to feed the baby.
    She’d returned calls from her friends and Will’s on the drive over. She still had to answer notes of condolence. She stared at the door, reluctant to face sympathy in person, especially from curious acquaintances who only wanted to know how she and Will had actually finished their relationship.
    She plastered a smile on her face and opened the door.
    Ben, with Tony perched on his arm, stared at her with a question on his face. “What’s wrong?”
    She pulled him inside. “I didn’t expect you so early.”
    “But you’re glad to see us?”
    She ignored his out-of-character doubt as Tony greeted her with such a happy wave he banged his small fist into his father’s eye. “My Iz-bell!”
    Ben covered his face, and she kissed Tony with a loud smack. “Hey, buddy. You make me feel all better.”
    “He’s not that medicinal for me.” Ben teased his son with a quick tickle. “Am I