Close Neighbors

Close Neighbors
Dawn Stewardson

“Julie, the man who phoned was just some crazy person,” Chase said

“Honest, Daddy?”

“Yes…” He waited, suspecting his daughter wasn’t quite done.

Sure enough, she said, “Anne was just gonna tell me how we could stop the police from thinking Aunt Rachel killed Graham.”

“You told Anne that Rachel is the girlfriend the reporters are referring to?”

“No, just that I knew somebody with a problem….”

“Julie, why did you think you should talk to Anne about this?”

“Because she knows all about what the police do. When Penelope Snow figures things out in Anne’s books, that’s only make-believe. Really it’s Anne.”

“I know, baby. But when she makes up a story she puts in details that all fit together. That doesn’t mean she can figure out a real-life mystery.”

“Yes, she can. ’Cuz she used to be a private detective. She told me her father’s one, too.”

“Really,” he said again, his brain shifting gears. Here he was, not knowing what on earth he should do, and he’d suddenly acquired a neighbor who might be able to give him some advice. “Julie? Do you think it would be okay if I went back over and talked to Anne with you?”

Dear Reader,

Close Neighbors is a story about relationships, not only the developing romantic one between Anne Barrett and Chase Nicholson, but also the long-established ones in Anne’s and Chase’s families—particularly between Chase’s nine-year-old daughter, Julie, and the significant adults in her life.

The book spans a short period of time, yet each of these relationships evolves during the story. Most of us find change frightening, but as Julie’s grandmother tells her, “Darling, if everything always stayed the same, life would be awfully boring.”

I think it’s safe to say that Close Neighbors is anything but boring.

This book is special to me because my father helped me plot a good deal of it while he was in the hospital. That gave me a wonderful head start when it came to the actual writing, so if you ever find yourself spending a lot of time visiting someone in the hospital, you might consider trying your hand at a book. In the meanwhile, I hope you enjoy Close Neighbors.

Warmest,

Dawn Stewardson

Close Neighbors

Dawn Stewardson

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

This one is for my father, who spent countless hours helping me with the plotting.

And for John, always.

CONTENTS

PROLOGUE (#ue3da1f1d-445b-54d4-b68b-1d1515937562)

CHAPTER ONE (#u5102bc6d-08a1-5051-bea4-818ad0329d9a)

CHAPTER TWO (#u9c3fa232-b9d6-5673-95c2-ec53b2c095f0)

CHAPTER THREE (#udd16d16e-e04e-573b-8e1c-17f9629e45a1)

CHAPTER FOUR (#uf9de719b-9755-547c-9f24-10d2c2bdb375)

CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)

PROLOGUE

“THERE. ALL DONE.” Julie set a third glass of water on the table and smiled, then felt awful when Aunt Rachel didn’t smile back.

She hadn’t smiled all day. In fact, she’d been crying earlier. She’d come out of her room with her eyes red and her face puffy. So even though both she and Daddy kept saying there was no reason to be worried, Julie knew there was.

They’d kind of fooled her this morning, when they’d sat her down and explained what had happened. They’d made it sound okay.

Well, okay wasn’t exactly right. If you knew somebody and he got killed, it was probably never okay. But they’d said it was just one of those unfortunate things, so she hadn’t really been afraid. Not until the police detectives arrived.

That had been scary. And the stuff on TV was even worse.

At first, Daddy wasn’t going to let her watch it. Then he’d decided she’d see it at a friend’s house or something, anyway, and it would be better if she watched with them—so they could explain what was true and what wasn’t.

It was the stuff that wasn’t true that had been really bad. ’Cuz even though the newspeople never said Rachel’s name, they kept talking about an ex-girlfriend being the last person to see Graham alive—except for the killer. Only, somehow, they made it sound as if the police thought Rachel was the killer.