by Mary McNear
In response, Poppy picked up a shrink-wrapped head of iceberg lettuce, and held it out to him, without comment. There was no denying that it looked sad.
“I know, I know,” he said. “But shelf space here will always be limited.”
“This from a man who stocks twelve different kinds of beer?”
He sighed. Produce was not his forte. If he hadn’t promised Alicia that he would feed their children fresh fruits and vegetables daily, everything that they ate would probably have come out of a bag, or a box, or a can.
“We could probably get another kind of lettuce,” he conceded to Poppy.
“You think so?” she asked, teasingly, putting the iceberg lettuce back on the shelf. She reached out and slid her fingers into the front waistband of his jeans, and pulled him against her. He groaned a little, deep in his throat. It wouldn’t take much more encouragement for him than this to make love to her right here, right now. “Do you think you can get some baby romaine, maybe?” she asked, playfully.
“I think so, but this isn’t Whole Foods,” he mumbled distractedly. He ran his fingers through her hair, and then buried his face in it, and breathed deeply. It was sweet and fresh, like her.
“So . . . you’re never going to have arugula, is that what you’re trying to tell me?”
“No arugula,” he agreed. “The other things, though, those would be nice,” he admitted.
“Sam?” she asked, snuggling closer.
“Yes?”
“Can we go back to your place now?”
CHAPTER 30
By early October the trees on Butternut Lake were already aflame with color, oranges and reds and burnished yellows that on this crisp afternoon contrasted dramatically with the brilliant blue of the water. In another month, these leaves would be gathered in piles in yards or swirling along Butternut Lake drive on windy afternoons. But for now, Poppy thought, her bare feet planted firmly at the edge of the boathouse roof, they were still gloriously beautiful.
“Are you ready?” Win asked, standing beside her. Poppy shivered in the chilly air. An hour ago, in the warmth of the cabin, over a cup of hot chocolate, she’d mentioned to Win that she’d always wanted to jump off the boathouse roof. She’d watched Win do this many times when they were kids, and while it had looked like fun, she’d always been too afraid to join her. That was all the encouragement Win had needed. She’d insisted they change into their bathing suits and then she’d dragged a by-then nervous Poppy out here.
“Okay, Pops, let’s do it now, right now,” she said, reaching for her hand. “Before the snows come,” she added teasingly.
“I’m scared,” Poppy admitted, looking down at the water twelve feet below them.
“That’s no reason not to do it,” Win said.
Poppy gripped her hand tighter and closed her eyes.
“Ready? One, two, three,” Win counted down. Right before they jumped, Poppy opened her eyes. And she was so glad she did. Because in that moment, the moment before they hit the water, there was only the rush of air, the thrill of freedom, and the dazzling blue of the sky above them and the water below them.
P.S. Insights, Interviews & More . . . *
About the author
* * *
Meet Mary McNear
About the book
* * *
Reading Group Discussion Questions
Read on
* * *
Have You Read?
More from Mary McNear
About the author
Meet Mary McNear
MARY MCNEAR, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Butternut Lake series, writes in a local doughnut shop, where she sips Diet Pepsi, observes the hubbub of neighborhood life, and tries to resist the constant temptation of freshly made doughnuts. Mary bases her novels on a lifetime of summers spent in a small town on a lake in the northern Midwest. She lives in San Francisco with her family.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
About the book
Reading Group Discussion Questions
1.Poppy returns to Butternut Lake because she has nowhere else to go, but also because it’s the one place she truly considers home. Is there a place of your heart that you truly consider “home,” even if it is somewhere you haven’t been in years?
2.Win and Poppy react to their upbringing in very different ways. Poppy is a free spirit. Win tries to control her world. Do you think their coping mechanisms have worked for them? And is it possible that Poppy is also, in her own way, just as much a control freak as her sister?
3.Win protests that three years isn’t long enough to get over her husband’s death. Do you think it’s been long? Is there ever really an expiration date on grief?
4.Do you think Win actually is allergic to Sasquatch? Or is she just upset that his presence is an interruption to her routine?
5.Sam and Alicia seem to have found a very sensible way to deal with their divorce. Do you feel Sam may have been selfish in his desire to move back to Butternut? Was Alicia at all at fault for choosing to stay in the city? Or did they simply grow apart?
6.Justine is a very mysterious character. What do you think is truly going on in her life?
7.Sasquatch was the one constant in Poppy’s life. Do you believe animals can sense the pain in their human companions? Is it at all possible that he knew the time had come when he could let go?
8.Sisters are always fascinating as characters in books, movies, and on television. Why do you think the sister-sister relationship is such an intriguing one? Do you know sisters like Win and Poppy—two women raised by the same people who are wildly different individuals?
9.Rich the photographer is not brought to justice, and it’s possible he never will be. Have you ever had to face a situation where you needed to accept that a perfect outcome may not be possible?
10.Do you think it was fair that Win and Poppy’s grandparents left the cabin solely to Win?
Read on
Have You Read?
More from Mary McNear
For more books by Mary McNear check out
MOONLIGHT ON BUTTERNUT LAKE
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Mary McNear takes us home to Butternut Lake, where the townspeople are sure to look after anyone they consider their own. . . .
Mila Jones has fled the big city seeking a safe haven on the serene shores of Butternut Lake. Her position looking after Reid Ford is more than a job. It’s a chance at a fresh start. And although her sullen patient does everything he can to make her quit, Mila refuses to give up on him.
But Mila isn’t the only one needing refuge. Haunted by the car accident that nearly killed him, Reid has hidden himself away. He wants Mila to just leave him alone. And he wishes the whole town would stop looking after his well-being.
Against all odds, Mila slowly draws Reid out. Soon they form a tentative, yet increasingly deeper bond with each other, as well as becoming part of the day-to-day fabric of Butternut Lake itself. But the world has a way of intruding, even in such a serene place . . . and when Mila’s violent husband forces his way back into her life, she and Reid are compelled to face down the past.
BUTTERNUT LAKE:
THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
You’re invited to Christmas at Butternut Lake! New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Mary McNear, author of Up at Butternut Lake and Butternut Summer, takes us home for the holidays in this joyful e-original novella.
Butternut Lake is so beautiful at Christmas—from the delightfully decorated shops to the cozy homes with their twinkling lights outside to the lake itself. And this year so much is happening!
A wedding: Caroline meticulously plans her perfect Christmastime dream wedding to Jack, remarrying him after many years apart.
A baby: Allie and Walker are expecting the best Christmas gift of all—their first baby together.
A reunion: Daisy, Caroline and Jack’s daughter, is returning home after a long semester away at college.<
br />
But what’s Christmas without complications? Walker smothers Allie with worry; Daisy pines for her true love, Will, away in the army. And then the unthinkable happens—and Caroline’s wedding plans are ruined.
And just when it seems all is lost, the people of Butternut Lake come together to give their friends the greatest gifts of all. . . .
BUTTERNUT SUMMER
Every summer on Butternut Lake the tourists arrive, the shops open, and the waves lap its tree-lined shores, just as they have for years. But this season everything changes for one mother and daughter who’ve always called the lake home. . . .
Caroline’s life is turned upside down the moment her ex-husband, Jack, strides through the door of her coffee shop. He seems changed—stronger, steadier, and determined to make amends with Caroline and their daughter, Daisy. Is he really different, or is he the same irresistibly charming but irresponsible man he was when he left Butternut Lake eighteen years ago? Caroline, whose life is stuck on pause as her finances are going down the tubes, is tempted to let him back into her life . . . but would it be wise?
For Caroline’s daughter, Daisy, the summer is filled with surprises. Home from college, she’s reunited with the father she adores—but hardly knows—and swept away by her first true love. But Will isn’t what her mother wants for her—all Caroline can see is that he’s the kind of sexy “bad boy” Daisy should stay away from.
As the long, lazy days of summer pass, Daisy and Caroline come to realize that even if Butternut Lake doesn’t change, life does. . . .
UP AT BUTTERNUT LAKE
It’s summer, and after ten years away, Allie Beckett has returned to the family cabin beside tranquil Butternut Lake, where as a teenager she spent so many carefree days. She’s promised her five-year-old son, Wyatt, they will be happy there. She’s promised herself this is the place to begin again after the death of her husband in Afghanistan. The cabin holds so many wonderful memories, but from the moment she crosses its threshold Allie is seized with doubts. Has she done the right thing uprooting her little boy from the only home he’s ever known?
Allie and her son are embraced by the townsfolk, and her reunions are joyous ones—with her friend Jax, now a young mother of three with one more on the way, and Caroline, the owner of the local coffee shop. And then there are newcomers like Walker Ford, who mostly keeps to himself—until he takes a shine to Wyatt . . . and to Allie.
Everyone knows that moving forward is never easy, and as the long, lazy days of summer take hold, Allie must learn to unlock the hidden longings of her heart, and to accept that in order to face the future we must also confront—and understand—what has come before.
Praise for The Space Between Sisters
“The Space Between Sisters explores the complex relationship between sisters, their differences, their mirrored histories, their love and support of one another. This triumphant story had me reading until the wee hours of the morning.”
—Debbie Macomber, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“The perfect book to bring on summer vacation, this stay-up-all-night novel . . . is one that readers will love. With well-developed characters who captivate and a deeply emotional subplot . . . this novel is one to add to your collection for keeps.”
—RT Book Reviews (4 ½ Stars)
Praise for the Works of Mary McNear
“A great, emotional read for every woman who must face the past before moving forward.”
—Sherryl Woods, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“Butternut Lake is so beautifully rendered, you’ll wish it was real.”
—Susan Wiggs, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“A delicious setting and a heroine to cheer for . . . my favorite kind of book.”
—Susan Elizabeth Phillips, New York Times bestselling author
“This charming debut should attract fans of Susan Wiggs and Luanne Rice.”
—Booklist
“Well-written with realistic characters . . . this novel is one that you will find yourself wanting to finish in one sitting. . . . Readers who enjoy this story will rejoice at the thought of more novels in the future set in this charming little town.”
—San Francisco Book Review
Praise for Moonlight on Butternut Lake
“McNear skillfully shows the strength and encouragement a woman needs to draw upon in order to leave her abuser. . . . This solid story will find an audience among readers who enjoy novels involving social issues.”
—Library Journal
“Moonlight on Butternut Lake by Mary McNear is the next entry in the bestselling and emotionally rich Butternut Lake series, and it’s a nuanced story of healing and second chances. . . . Suffused with all the magic of firefly-lit summer nights. . . .”
—BookPage
“Mary McNear has been on my author radar since the very first book in this series. She knows how to engage the reader right from the very first page and gets you right into the characters’ lives. She makes them seem like they are your old friends. . . .”
—Susan Dyer, Fresh Fiction
“I know that not everyone can find their way to Minnesota to a cabin on the lake, however, opening up this book can be the next best thing.”
—Book Journey
“[A]n exceptional and highly recommended addition to personal reading lists. . . .”
—Midwest Book Review
Praise for Up at Butternut Lake
“The first in a homey, feel-good series, McNear’s small-town tale offers lakeside views and likable characters. . . . McNear has admirably crafted people worth following.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“[A] heartwarming love story.”
—Woman’sDay, Best Book Club Pick
“Up at Butternut Lake is charming and uplifting. . . . Readers will likely cherish and appreciate this romantic and refreshing debut.”
—RT Book Reviews (4 Stars)
“McNear’s charmingly light Up at Butternut Lake gives voice to this enduring Midwestern fantasy in easy-to-swallow prose. It would have been simple for McNear to tie up every plot line with a neat bow, but her writing proves more complex than mere vacation fluff. Still, if you’re packing your lakeside tote and hefting the canoe to the top of your vehicle, you might want to take along Up at Butternut Lake. The North Woods won’t be the same without some heartfelt reading to go along with the smell of a campfire and toasting marshmallows.”
—Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Also by Mary McNear
The Space Between Sisters
Moonlight on Butternut Lake
Butternut Summer
Up at Butternut Lake
Butternut Lake: The Night Before Christmas (novella)
Credits
Cover design by Emin Mancheril
Cover photograph © CI2/Cavan Images/Corbis
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
P.S.™ is a trademark of HarperCollins Publishers.
THE SPACE BETWEEN SISTERS. Copyright © 2016 by Mary McNear. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
EPub Edition June 2016 ISBN 9780062399366
ISBN 978-0-06-239935-9
16 17 18 19 20 OV/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
About the Publisher
Australia
Ha
rperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor
Toronto, ON M4W 1A8, Canada
www.harpercollins.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand
Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive
Rosedale 0632
Auckland, New Zealand
www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF, UK
www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
195 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
www.harpercollins.com