Read Online The Girl Next Door by Patricia MacDonald - Free Book Online Page B

house.”
    Duncan nodded, pressing his lips together. “Isn’t that nice? What do you say, Nina?”
    “Sure,” she said, although she would have much preferred for the three of them to
     be alone. She could tell by the look in his eyes that Duncan was weary and felt the
     same way. But he was not about to decline the invitation.
    “All right, then,” said Duncan. “Lead the way.
    G EORGE and Rose Connelly’s house was a modest bungalow with a small, neatly tended yard
     and a bright standing lantern that threw out a welcoming arc of light. A foot-high
     statue ofthe Virgin Mary, set inside a pale blue starry niche, stood in the front garden near
     the steps. A bouquet of red artificial roses in the vase near her feet were a jarring
     note in the otherwise browning shrubbery of autumn.
    Nina parked behind Jimmy’s Saturn and she and Duncan followed him up the front steps.
     He opened the door and called out, “Hello. I’m home.” The front of the house had a
     dark glassed-in porch with canvas-covered porch furniture. But it was bright inside
     the house, and an appealing smell wafted out to the darkened porch.
    “Come on in,” said Jimmy, leading the way through the open front door. “You can have
     a seat.” He gestured toward the matching taupe sofa and love seat perpendicular to
     one another against the living room walls. Above the sofas were a bevy of framed family
     photos, many of them including Jimmy, and an assortment of acrylic landscapes in tubular
     aluminum frames. There was also a framed picture of a haloed Jesus.
    Despite Jimmy’s suggestion, Nina and Duncan remained standing. Rose Connelly came
     out of the kitchen wiping her hands on a dish towel. She was a short, stout woman
     with a blond perm. She was wearing a Western-style denim shirt with pearl snaps up
     the front and pink flowers embroidered across the yoke.
    Jimmy reached out and put a protective arm around her shoulders.
    “Hi, sweetie,” she said.
    “Mom, you remember my father, and Nina.”
    Rose smiled at Nina. “Hello, dear.” Then she nodded at Duncan. “Dr. Avery,” she said.
    “Hello, Rose. You’re looking well,” said Duncan.
    “Something smells great,” said Nina, trying to ignore the strained smile on Rose’s
     face and her own unease at hearing Jimmy call this woman “Mom.”
    “I made a stew for dinner. I hope that’s okay. Go getGeorge, honey,” she said to Jimmy. “He’s out in his workshop. Sit down, sit down.”
    “This is so nice of you,” said Nina, slipping off her coat and holding out her hand
     for Duncan’s jacket. “Where can I put these?”
    “Just lay them on the glider on the sunporch. Dr. Avery, can I get you a drink? We
     have beer, or wine coolers.”
    “Uh, no,” said Duncan. “I’m not allowed to have alcohol. Conditions of parole. And
     call me Duncan. Please.”
    Rose nodded, but Nina saw something stiff and disapproving in Rose’s expression. Rose
     had always been warm and friendly to Nina when she visited in the past. There was
     a distinctly different atmosphere to this visit. Nina deposited the coats on the porch
     and came back into the living room, seating herself beside Duncan on the love seat.
     Rose sat in a wooden Windsor-style armchair across the room, beside the gas fireplace.
    “So, Jimmy tells me that you two are staying at your aunt’s house?” Rose asked politely.
    “Just temporarily,” said Nina. “We need to find a more permanent place for Dad. Do
     you know of anybody who has an apartment?”
    “Around here? No, oh no,” said Rose quickly, frowning as if Nina had suggested the
     impossible. “There’s nothing.”
    Nothing, Nina thought? Rose Connelly had lived here for years. Surely she would know
     someone with an apartment to rent. If she wanted to help. Nina reminded herself not
     to take offense. Rose and her husband, George, had done her family a great favor.
    “How is Anthony doing?” Duncan asked.
    The harsh expression on Rose’s