LITMIR.BIZ

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so he wouldn’t take her right home. Floyd had been good-looking and popular, and she’d thought she could fall in love with him—and him with her if he’d give her a chance.

      She’d also erroneously thought that she wouldn’t get pregnant.

      She’d been wrong on all counts.

      But when she’d discovered she was pregnant, Floyd had seemed as good a bet as anyone. He had a farm down in Old Town Whitehorse and, while reluctant, he had agreed at the urging of his parents to stand up and accept his responsibilities.

      She’d known she was no looker. It was one reason she’d learned to cook at an early age. She’d realized she needed more to offer than other girls. She’d thought her cooking and cleaning would make Floyd fall in love with her. She’d still dreamed of the happily-ever-after romance she hadn’t found with Floyd or any other boy.

      She’d been only seventeen when she and Floyd had married. He’d been twenty-eight. Now, at fifty-one, Arlene had long ago given up on love, let alone romance.

      Hank Monroe looked up just then. He wasn’t handsome, not by anyone’s standards, but there was something about him that had her pulse pounding as she made her way to his booth.

      “Arlene?” he asked hopefully as he got to his big feet.

      She could only nod and smile. “You must be Hank.”

      He nodded with a laugh that resembled a donkey’s bray. She laughed then, too, and they exchanged a look that made Arlene feel seventeen again.

      “I like your laugh,” he said and grinned.

      By the time she had him signed up for her dating service she had a date with him for Saturday night and was on her way to buy herself something special to wear.

      She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this excited. But at the back of her mind she heard her mother’s nagging voice warning her that this feeling wouldn’t last. It couldn’t. Because Arlene didn’t deserve to be happy.

      HAD VIOLET EVANS known what her mother was feeling at that moment, she would have joined her deceased grandmother in warning Arlene not to count on a future—let alone a happy one.

      If Violet had her way, her mother wouldn’t be around long. And from what the doctors were saying at the mental hospital, it looked as if Violet was going to get her way.

      And not even Arlene—who’d seen through Violet’s ruse—could stop her. In fact, Arlene Evans might be the only person alive who knew how sick—and dangerous—her daughter really was.

      But while Violet hadn’t fooled her mother, she had her doctors. As Violet sat next to the window and looked over the hospital grounds, she could almost taste freedom. It wouldn’t be long now. She’d played her role perfectly. All those case histories of psychosis had given her the script. Now she was nearing the final act, the one that would get her released.

      It didn’t surprise her that her mother was fighting her release. Arlene knew what Violet was capable of and, worse, had an inkling of what she would do once she got out of this place. Violet’s great sin, she believed, was that she’d shamed her mother by not being marriageable.

      She’d been born unattractive and hadn’t grown out of it. Even her mother—who Violet resembled—had snagged a man. Arlene’s endless attempts at marrying her off had only made matters worse. Violet hated her for it. Hated that she’d taken after her mother, unlike her two siblings.

      “Violet? Is everything all right?”

      She turned to find her doctor watching her closely, a slight frown on his face.

      “I was just thinking about some of the awful things my mother said I did,” she covered quickly as she realized he’d seen her true feelings when he’d walked up on her.

      She really had to be more careful.

      He sat down beside her. He was a small man with small hands. “Does that make you angry?”

      “Only with myself,” she said piously. She’d worked so hard to hide what was really going on inside her. She would have to remember not to think about her mother.

      “I am getting better, aren’t I, Dr. Armond?” she asked pleadingly.

      “Yes, Violet. I am very pleased with your prognosis. Very pleased. In fact, that was one reason I came to find you.” He paused and smiled. “I’m recommending your release.”

      Violet’s heart leaped. “Oh, Dr. Armond. Are you sure I’m ready?”

      “Yes, Violet. I’ll recommend some outpatient visits, of course, but there is no reason you can’t be an active member of society again. I’d hoped you would be excited.”

      “Oh, I am. I can’t wait. To think that I have my whole life ahead of me…” Her eyes brimmed with tears and he covered her hand with his.

      “I’m so glad to hear that because I’ve set your release for next month.”

      Next month? She’d been planning on getting out sooner than that. What was wrong with the stupid old quack?

      She was careful not to let her disappointment or her anger show. She tried to calm herself. What was another thirty days here? Nothing compared to what she’d been through. But it still felt like a lifetime, she was so anxious to get out.

      “I wanted you to have enough time to prepare for reentering that world,” he was saying. “I think it would be unhealthy for you to return to your mother’s home given the way she feels, don’t you?”

      “Yes.”

      “I thought you could prepare by working here in the hospital office. You’ll also need income. I’ll help you put together a résumé for when you’re released.”

      The imbecile. She wasn’t going to need a job when she got out. “That is so kind of you,” she said. “How can I ever thank you?” She could think of several ways she’d like to thank him, all of them involving his pain.

      “You being well and getting on with your life will be thanks enough,” he said as he removed his hand from hers and rose to leave. “I want you to be a survivor, Violet.”

      She nodded and smiled. “I intend to be.” She couldn’t say the same for her mother and the others who had made her life a living hell.

      She tried not to shudder at the thought of the mediocre life she would have on the outside if it was up to these doctors. Some dismal job, a cramped apartment, several cats and nothing to look forward to at night but television and a frozen cheesecake.

      A woman as smart as she was? Not a chance. She’d been foolish in the past. She’d let them catch her. She wouldn’t make that mistake again..

      She thought about her mother’s face when she saw her oldest daughter again. Payback was a bitch, she thought with a secret smile as she looked out the window.

      Thirty days. And counting.

       Chapter Four

      The auction was held in front of the Harper House on a bright blue-sky June day. Someone had mowed part of the weeds in the front yard the night before. The air smelled of fresh-mown grass and dust from the county road out front.

      As McKenna mounted the steps to the open front door, she saw that the footprints she’d seen yesterday evening in the thick layer of dust had been trampled by the half dozen people who’d traipsed through the house this morning.

      April had been right. The house needed work. But that wasn’t what surprised McKenna. She’d always been enthralled by the house. She’d just assumed she would feel the same once inside. The interior had a dark, cold feel even with the warm sun shining through the dirty windows, and she found herself shivering as she walked through the rooms.

      She noticed the shovel and shirt she’d seen by the

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