Pecked to Death Read Online Free Page A

emotional,” Aunt Abby was fond of saying. “As long as you learn how to channel it so it works for you.” Crying to get her way in a room full of men was acceptable. Crying to show the world how much she was hurting was not.
     
    Sadie smoothed her hair, reapplied her makeup, and changed into something less rumpled. Then there was nothing left to do but make the short walk to the neighbor’s. She studiously kept her eyes forward, not allowing herself to see Aunt Abby’s darkened Victorian mansion, the only house between Sadie’s father and the Sawyers. If the three neighbors lived anywhere else, they probably wouldn’t be friends. Proximity had forged bonds that commonality hadn’t. If circumstances had been different, the Sawyers, Aunt Abby, and the Coopers wouldn’t have had anything to do with each other. As it was, they were family.
     
    She reached the house and let herself in. Unlike her father’s abode, this one was blazing with light and the door was unlocked. The smell that greeted her was as familiar as her own scent and she smiled, feeling automatically soothed. By the time she reached the crowded kitchen, her smile was genuine.
     
    There was so much buzz and activity in the kitchen that it took a few seconds for anyone to notice Sadie. When they did, the noise and excitement ratcheted up to ear-splitting levels. Maddie squealed and threw a leek in the air before twisting backwards to catch it again. “Sadie!” she exclaimed. She tossed the leek into the sink and dashed forward, wiping her hands on the towel tucked in her waist. “What are you doing trying to sneak in here?” Maddie threw her arms around Sadie and squeezed. Sadie returned the embrace, closing her eyes as a wave of homesickness washed over her. She had stayed away far too long from people she loved and who loved her in return.
     
    One of the reasons for that sat at the table in the corner, nursing a cold bottle of Coke. “Sadie,” her father said, tipping his soda in her direction. If Aunt Abby had been there, she would have said, “Good grief, Gideon. She’s your daughter. Get up and give the child a hug.” Everyone who was present lacked the nerve to chastise Gideon Cooper, however, so he remained seated, eyeing his only child with a look that spoke volumes.
     
    “Dad,” Sadie said, nodding politely in his direction. Breaking free of her father’s inspection, she stood on her toes to hug Tom Sawyer, Maddie’s husband. The notoriety of his name hadn’t registered for Sadie and Luke until their fifth grade introduction to Mark Twain. Then it had been she who provided kids with another reason to make fun of them. Hey, Luke, this guy’s name is Tom Sawyer! Just like your dad, she had hissed from across the room. Of course everyone heard and burst into hysterical giggles. For the rest of the year, everyone had called them Becky and Huck.
     
    The kitchen was crowded with other neighbors who, though friends, had never become as closely linked as the Sawyers and the Coopers. There were Mr. and Mrs. Kaplan from around the corner, Misty and Johnny Robbins from across the street. Sadie used to babysit for their twins when she was a teen. Beside her father sat Doctor Jones who looked one day from retirement and two days from death. Sadie had always thought he and Aunt Abby had a mutual crush. They had been friends forever, and Abby called him Jonesy. Last but not least were the Warrens. For a while when Sadie was a teenager, they had caused a scandal by separating and reuniting no less than a dozen times. Sadie had no trouble figuring out why. Mr. Warren was one of those older men who had made her and her friends uncomfortable with his overt and unwanted attention. Even now he was ogling her like she might be on the dessert menu.
     
    Still, Sadie said hello to each of them, swirling around the group like the long-lost celebrity she was. Oddly, no one mentioned her job or working on television. Perhaps, like her, they were