Read The House on Sugar Plum Lane for Free Online Page B

though she understood how difficult it would be to have a child underfoot.
    â€œI thought I’d pack up Mrs. Rucker’s belongings first,” Amy added.
    Maria’s smile faded. “I would have offered to pack up things for the Davilas. I didn’t realize they were going to hire someone to do it.”
    Had Maria found that a little unusual, too? Either way, Amy decided to let it go. There were probably a lot of things she didn’t understand, so she thought it best to change the subject. “I heard Mr. Davila had a heart attack. Is he doing all right?”
    â€œThere were some complications, but I think he’s going to be fine. From what I understand, it’s going to take some time.”
    â€œI’m sure his illness took the family by surprise,” Amy added.
    â€œYes, it was completely unexpected. He was pretty active and appeared to be healthy. In fact, Ellie was supposed to move in with him and his wife, but that didn’t pan out.”
    â€œDid she move in with one of her children instead?” Amy asked.
    â€œShe only had one child. A daughter. But they weren’t very close.”
    Which meant what? That her daughter, who had to be Barbara Davila, wouldn’t take the old woman into her home to live with her? Or that she couldn’t for some reason?
    Amy hated to ask too many questions, especially up front. Yet that’s why she was here, wasn’t it? To find the answers her mother had been seeking?
    â€œHave you lived on Sugar Plum Lane very long?” she asked Maria.
    â€œI moved in with my tía, or rather, my aunt, when my mother died. I spent my teenage years with her and left when I got married. But after I filed for divorce, I brought the kids and came home.”
    Apparently the women had several things in common. They’d both lost their mothers, and they’d wanted out of bad marriages, which left them raising their children alone.
    â€œSo you live with your tía, ” Amy assumed, realizing Maria’s aunt probably knew more about the Ruckers—or, more specifically, about Barbara Davila.
    â€œNo, not anymore. Sofia passed away a few years ago.”
    â€œI’m sorry to hear that.” And for more reasons than one. Maria’s aunt might have held the key to Amy’s search.
    â€œWell, I’d better let you get back to work,” Maria said.
    â€œWould you like a cup of tea?” The question rolled right off Amy’s tongue without any forethought, and she wasn’t entirely sure why.
    Just to be hospitable?
    Curiosity about the Ruckers?
    The commonality she shared with the woman she’d just met?
    â€œActually,” Maria said, “I’d love a cup of tea. Ellie would often brew a pot whenever I stopped by. But I need to get back home. I left my son in charge, and he’s…” She sighed almost wearily. “Well, he hasn’t been getting along with his sister lately.”
    â€œBefore you go, can I ask you something?”
    â€œSure.”
    â€œI’m curious about Mrs. Rucker—Eleanor.”
    Maria smiled. “If she were standing here with us now, she’d insist that you call her Ellie. Everyone did.”
    â€œThen Ellie it is.” Amy returned the woman’s smile.
    â€œWhat about her?”
    â€œI…uh…spotted some old photographs and was curious about something. Hold on a minute.” Amy turned and hurried to the mantel, snagged the picture of the soldier and the girl, and returned to the open doorway. “Do you know who these people are?”
    Maria took the frame, glanced at the images, and nodded. “That’s Ellie and her husband, Harold. I never met him. He died during World War Two, but he was the love of her life. That photo has been on her mantel ever since I can remember. There’s another one like it near her bed.”
    â€œDidn’t she ever remarry?” Amy asked, unsure why it seemed to