The House on Honeysuckle Lane Read Online Free Page B

hometown of Nichols-borough, and wanted her children—those she hoped to have—to benefit from the presence of grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins. Daniel thought that a wise idea. A life in Oliver’s Well would suit him just fine.
    They were married eight months after their first date and moved into a charming little house on the outskirts of town that had been gifted to them by Anna Maria’s great-aunt and great-uncle. There was a small but manageable mortgage, and if over time the house proved to be a bit tight for a family of four, they were happy there and in the end that was everything.
    Together Daniel and Anna Maria had started a small catering business called Savories and Seasonings. For a time they struggled, but they never wavered in their dedication and desire for success. They borrowed money from parents and the bank, worked hard, spent ridiculously little on extras, paid back the loans as soon as possible, and learned as they went along. Bonnie Eckman, a resident of Oliver’s Well who had once worked as a personal chef as well as a caterer, generously gave Daniel and Anna Maria advice and encouragement. It was a while before they had enough money to convert their garage into a licensed commercial kitchen, but once they did, the business really took off. Now, a year after Caro Reynolds’s death, Savories and Seasonings was firmly in the black with a roster of regular clients to which several new ones were added each season.
    â€œDad!” Marco’s still high-pitched voice cried, making Daniel flinch. “Here comes Aunt Emma!”
    Daniel watched as his sister pulled into the driveway in the car she kept spotlessly clean and perfectly maintained. Anna Maria appeared at his side and put a hand on her husband’s shoulder.
    â€œYou okay?” she asked.
    Daniel turned away from the window and smiled. “Yeah,” he said. But inside he felt not so certain.

C HAPTER 4
    H is eyes are tired, Andie thought. He’s troubled. This was Andie’s first impression of the brother she had not seen since their mother’s funeral. She reached out to hug him, and while Daniel didn’t pull away, she thought she sensed, as she had after the funeral, a slight hesitation in his manner.
    â€œEmma’s already here,” Daniel told her as they went inside the house that had been their parents’ for so many years. He closed the front door, on which someone—maybe Anna Maria, Andie thought—had hung a large pine wreath decorated with the same velvety blue ribbon Caro had favored, in honor of the Christmas season. “She’s upstairs getting settled.”
    Andie smiled. “The shiny Lexus in the driveway was a hint.”
    â€œRight. Well, I’m glad you’re here. How was the trip?” he asked.
    Andie glanced at the tall and stately grandfather clock that had stood in the living room at number 32 Honeysuckle Lane for as far back as she could remember. “Long but uneventful,” she said, noting the time.
    Andie headed for the den, located at the rear of the first floor; its windows overlooked the backyard and patio, once the scene of Caro’s famous Labor Day cocktail party, at which she would serve her guests dainty canapés and frosty gin and tonics.
    â€œWhere are you going?” Daniel asked.
    â€œI’m staying in the den,” she told him.
    Daniel looked confused. “But I made up the bed in your old room,” he said. “I thought you’d want to stay there.”
    Andie smiled. “Thanks, Danny, but I prefer the den. I’ll find some sheets and make up the couch.”
    Andie continued on her way. Obviously, she thought, dropping her slouchy bag onto the carpeted floor of the den, Daniel didn’t know that whenever she visited her parents’ home she bunked down here. She simply couldn’t bear to stay in her childhood bedroom. The room that she had shared with baby Rumi after