“Right, who wants to bake a cake?” Barbara said.
By the time Polly lifted her face from Essie’s skirt, Mia was already racing to the kitchen to “get things out.” As Polly scampered after her, Barbara grabbed the abandoned shoes and stuffed them under a cushion.
Essie flopped back against the couch. “Clearly there’s a requirement for a grandmother in this large family of mine.” Her tone was casual but she was watching her a little too intently. “I’m taking applications if you know anyone who might be interested?”
“Gran!” Mia called from the kitchen. “Hurry uuuuuuuup!”
“Coming,” Barbara replied. She winked at Essie and then hurried into the kitchen to bake with her granddaughters.
Also by Sally Hepworth
The Mother’s Promise
The Things We Keep
The Secrets of Midwives
Wenn du an meiner Seite bist
About the Author
Sally Hepworth is a former event planner and human resources professional. A graduate of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, Sally started writing novels after the birth of her first child. She is the author of Love Like the French, published by Random House Germany in February 2014. Sally has lived around the world, spending extended periods in Singapore, the U.K., and Canada, and she now writes full-time from her home in Melbourne, where she lives with her husband and two young children. Visit her at www.sallyhepworthauthor.com or find her on Facebook (www.facebook.com/sallyhepworthauthor) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/sallyhepworth) or sign up for email updates here.
Thank you for buying this
St. Martin’s Press ebook.
To receive special offers, bonus content,
and info on new releases and other great reads,
sign up for our newsletters.
Or visit us online at
us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup
For email updates on the author, click here.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Epigraph
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Also by Sally Hepworth
About the Author
Copyright
THE FAMILY NEXT DOOR. Copyright © 2018 by Sally Hepworth. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Olga Grlic
Cover photograph of houses © Terry Wild/ImageBrief
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-12089-2 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-12091-5 (ebook)
ISBN 978-1-250-18513-6 (international, sold outside the U.S., subject to rights availability)
e-ISBN 9781250120915
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact your local bookseller or the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at [email protected].
First Edition: March 2018
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The Family Next Door Page 25