LITMIR.BIZ

       Chapter One

      Mya Lawson sat staring out the window in her home office as she waited for the pages she had revised to fill the printer’s tray. She was still amazed that she had come up with yet another plot for her fictional New England series. What had begun as a hobby for Mya was now a vocation since she gave up her position as college professor to become a stay-at-home mother.

      The sound of the printer spitting out paper competed with the incessant tapping of rain against the windows. It had begun raining earlier that morning and had continued nonstop throughout the midafternoon. Mya knew it was an indoor play day for Lily once she woke from her nap. An unconscious smile parted her lips when her gaze lingered on the oak tree shading the backyard. Mya lost count of the number of times she and her sister hid behind the massive trunk or climbed the thick branches once they were older while playing hide-and-seek with their mother. Although aware of their hiding places, Veronica Lawson elected to play along much to the delight of her rambunctious daughters. But as they grew older the game stopped because Veronica claimed she did not have the energy to chase after them.

      An expression of melancholy sweeping over Mya’s features replaced her smile. She and seven-month-old Lily were the last of the Wickham Falls Lawsons. What she found ironic was that neither she nor Lily shared DNA with their namesake ancestors. Graham and Veronica Lawson, after more than twenty years of a childless marriage, had decided to adopt. They adopted Mya, and then two years later Samantha joined the family.

      Mya exhaled an audible sigh. Her parents were gone, Samantha was gone, and now there was only she and her niece.

      Her sister wanted Mya to raise Lily in Wickham Falls—a small town with a population of little more than four thousand residents—even though Samantha had complained about growing up in a small town and couldn’t wait to grow up and leave to see the world. She got her wish once she began her career as a flight attendant and got to visit many of the cities and countries she had fantasized about.

      Sammie, as Mya always called her, had died a month ago and Mya was still attempting to adjust to the loss and her life without her sister. Sammie had returned to Wickham Falls for a rare visit with the news that she was six weeks pregnant. She told Mya of her affair with a New York City businessman, and despite using protection, she’d gotten pregnant. Her sister refused to disclose the name of her lover or tell him about the baby because he had been adamant when he told her he wasn’t ready for marriage or fatherhood.

      The sudden ring of the telephone shattered her reverie. Unconsciously her

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