The Ghosts of Peppernell Manor (27 page)

BOOK: The Ghosts of Peppernell Manor
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Pete was watching me as I got my first real look at Summerplace. “What do you think?” he finally asked.
“I don't know yet,” I answered truthfully. “It could be beautiful, but it's a little forbidding.”
Pete nodded. “I tried to get Miss Hallstead to choose a different color than the dark green, but this is the way she wanted it.”
He led the way up the wide steps to the front porch. “It doesn't welcome me,” I noted, half to myself. Pete had reached the front door, and he put my suitcases down and turned to face me.
“I don't think the front porch is the only thing you're going to find unwelcoming about this place. Don't expect all of the people here to be happy about your arrival,” he said gravely.
Pete's words unnerved me, and I felt my fear rushing back. I was unsure about my new job and my new home, and I shook my head as if doing so would help me shake off my rising doubts. I forced a note of confidence into my voice that I didn't feel. “Let's go in,” I told him. After all, it couldn't be any worse than what I had left behind.
If I had known then of the events that were already taking shape in the gloom of Hallstead House, I might not have had the courage to go inside.
Photo by John A. Reade, Jr.
Amy M. Reade
is also the author of
Secrets of Hallstead House.
She grew up in northern New York, just south of the Canadian border, and spent her weekends and summers on the St. Lawrence River. She graduated from Cornell University and then went on to law school at Indiana University in Bloomington. She practiced law in New York City before moving to southern New Jersey, where, in addition to writing, she is a wife, a full-time mom, and a volunteer in school, church, and community groups. She lives just a stone's throw from the Atlantic Ocean with her husband and three children as well as a dog and two cats. She loves cooking and all things Hawaii and is currently at work on her next novel. Visit her on the web at
www.amymreade.com
or at
www.amreade.wordpress.com
.
LYRICAL PRESS BOOKS are published by
 
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
 
Copyright © 2015 by Amy M. Reade
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
 
Lyrical and the L logo are trademarks of the Kensington Publishing Corp.
ISBN: 978-1-6018-3301-3
 
ISBN-13: 978-1-60183-302-0
ISBN-10: 1-60183-302-4

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