Read Online Close to Home by Lisa Jackson - Free Book Online Page A

she was content to let her teenager sleep away the morning. All that would change come Monday morning, of course, when school started for the girls. Sarah couldn’t imagine what a battle that would be. For now, though, there was a semblance of peace.
    â€œLet’s not wake the sleeping dragon, okay? So how about peanut butter and jelly . . . or jelly and peanut butter? We’ve got both.”
    â€œMom . . . ,” Gracie said, half amused, half embarrassed by her silly joke.
    Sarah grinned at her youngest. Maybe things were going to be okay.

C HAPTER 5
    â€œS o I guess you heard that Sarah’s back in town,” Holly Collins said as Clint swiped his debit card through the machine. He was standing at the counter of Collins Lumber, an all-purpose supply store located in a warehouse that had survived two world wars, three generations of ownership by a member of the Collins family, and still stood just off Main Street.
    â€œI heard,” Clint responded, stuffing his card into his wallet.
    â€œOf course, it’s because she’s planning on renovating that old wreck of a house.” Holly waited as the machine chunked out his receipt. “She’s single now, you know.”
    â€œIs that right?”
    â€œC’mon, Clint, don’t play dumb with me. I bet you’ve kept tabs on her. You two were pretty hot and heavy back in the day.” She ripped off the receipt and handed it to him.
    â€œBack in the day was a long time ago.” After signing the receipt, he jammed his wallet into the back pocket of his jeans.
    â€œI just can’t imagine trying to bring some life into that old monstrosity of a house. The Blue Pigeon or whatever.”
    â€œPeacock.”
    â€œRight. Jewel of the Columbia, my father used to call it. Like eons ago. No one except the old-timers around here remember it or care. Except Sarah. Looks like you’ll be neighbors again.”
    â€œLooks like.”
    â€œIf you ask me, it’s going to take a fortune to restore that old place. Most people with any sense think it would be best to bulldoze it down, get rid of that rotten old house, all the bad memories, and maybe a ghost or two in the process.” She actually smiled more widely, warming to her idea. “Up there on the point, with that view of the river, a new place would be spectacular! Maybe a resort with a golf course and a spa? Can you imagine? Worth a king’s ransom!” She jabbed a finger at Clint. “Now that would be a real jewel, y’know? It’s just too damned bad no one asks me.”
    â€œA shame.”
    â€œAnd well . . . Sarah.” She held his gaze as if they shared a private secret. “She always marched to the beat of a different drum, if you know what I mean.”
    He did, but he didn’t like where this was heading.
    â€œTo each her own, of course,” Holly added, and he felt a ridiculous need to defend her.
    â€œOf course.” He couldn’t hide the sarcasm in his tone, not that Holly noticed.
    â€œI just think it’s a little weird to move now, with her kids still in school and all. Uproot them less than six weeks after the new school year starts? Who does that?”
    â€œApparently Sarah.”
    â€œLike I said, ‘different drum’ or maybe marching on another planet. Oh, well!” She threw him a “what’re ya gonna do?” smile. “I guess I can’t say too much about how weird the Stewarts are, as Cam’s kind of related to them,” she admitted, mentioning her husband. She leaned over the counter, getting closer. “But I think it all started with Maxim, the one who built that damned house. The way Cam’s grandfather tells it, Maxim was a real piece of work. Beat the crap out of both his wives and all his kids. Sick stuff. Cam’s grandpa was just a boy, of course.”
    â€œHow could he have known Maxim? Maxim disappeared about a hundred years ago,” Clint