The Daily Novel

Chapter Twenty-One
Nona should have been happy at Brenna’s revelation. But while Brenna was out with Nick, Paul had called to talk to his mother. Ashley had brought the cordless into Nona’s room.
“So, what have you been doing this weekend, dear?” she’d asked him.
“I went out with Marie again last night,” he reported. He’d met Marie [...]

Chapter Twenty
Though Paul wasn’t rigid and unyielding, neither was he mercurial. His moods, his thinking, his plans, his attitudes were usually pretty stable. Lately, though, he found both his emotions and his attitudes to be decidedly changeable. To a certain degree, these fluctuations had begun when he left Brenna, but it was after the breakup [...]

Chapter Eighteen
Nick called Sunday morning. He had spent the night at Chaz’s house and wanted to have breakfast with Brenna. Could she get away? It was early—not even eight o’clock yet—but Brenna had already had breakfast. “Well, I remembered you were an early riser; that’s why I took a chance on calling so early. But [...]

Chapter Eleven
Brenna pulled up in front of Nona’s house and, with the forced-bright tone she found herself using a lot these days, said, “Okay, guys. We’re here. All out for Grandma’s house!” Kyle, in the front seat, unbuckled his seat belt, while Sammy, in the back, waited for Brenna to come back and help him.
Nona [...]

Chapter Nine
The trio reached the motel door. Paul’s pipe beat a sharp staccato rhythm against his teeth. When Agent Omelia opened the motel room door, Brenna and Paul immediately saw a young boy sitting in a dejected posture on the bed. But the boy who raised his downcast eyes to them bore only faint resemblance [...]

Chapter Seven
Riverton, one year later
The client was being difficult. This was the tenth house they had looked at together that pretty well fit the requirements he had laid out, the third that Brenna thought was absolutely perfect for him. But he had found some picky little thing wrong with every house she’d shown him.
And as [...]

Chapter Six
Midway, Halloween
The store windows were still full of costumes, candy, and all manner of fright-inducers, though all but the tardiest of shoppers had surely stocked up by now. The windows’ wares ranged from benign jack-o’lanterns whose toothy grins were meant to inspire more fun than fright, to realistic-looking spiders, fake but authentic-looking wolf-heads, “decorative” [...]

Chapter Five
Midway, Thanksgiving
Kyle had stayed up late the night before—special dispensation for the holiday. Now the Macy’s parade was starting on TV, and he was still in bed. Jenny debated whether to wake him up. She knew he would be upset if he missed any part of the parade, but he’d surely be cross if [...]

Chapter Four
Riverton, Columbus Day
The phone rang. “Good morning,” Brenna answered, glancing at Sammy, who’d fallen asleep in his playpen. But the phone hadn’t awakened him. The three-month-old, who’d been born at the beginning of July, was still asleep.
Under Paul’s insistence, Brenna had quit her real estate work after Sammy’s birth. But then . . . [...]

Chapter Three
Riverton, Columbus Day
It had been over a week, and still no sign of Kyle and Jenny. After two more days of fidgeting and pacing, Paul, finally equipped with a cellphone, had finally gone back to work. Brenna, too, had gone back to her real estate, in the face of much displeasure from Paul. They [...]