Free The Key Ingredient by Susan Wiggs Page A

reason she tripped over the cable. The fall brought her to her knees, keys hitting the pavement with a jingle. She picked up the keys and whipped a glance around, praying no one had seen.
    Three ­people hurried over—­ Are you all right? Did you hurt yourself?
    â€œI’m fine,” she said, dusting off the palms of her hands and her scraped knees. “Really, don’t worry.”
    The phone in her shoulder bag went off like a buzz saw, even though it was set on silent mode. She marched past the construction area. Workers were still struggling with the lift, trying to open the hydraulic valve. She shouldn’t have let Martin talk her into the cheaper model.
    â€œYou have to turn it the other way,” she called out to the workers.
    â€œMa’am, this is a hard-­hat area,” a guy said, waving her off.
    â€œLeaving,” she said. “I’m just saying, you’re trying to crank the release valve the wrong way.”
    â€œWhat’s that?”
    â€œThe valve. You’re turning it the wrong way.” What a strange conversation. When you discovered your husband banging some other woman, weren’t you supposed to call your mom, sobbing? Or your best friend?
    â€œYou know,” she said to the guy. “Lefty loosey, righty tighty.”
    â€œMa’am?”
    â€œCounterclockwise,” she said, tracing her key chain in the air to show him the direction.
    â€œAnnie.” Martin burst out of his trailer and sprinted toward her. Cargo shorts, bare chest, cowboy boots. “Come back.”
    Her hand tightened around the key chain, the edges of the maple leaf biting into her flesh.
    The Segway tour group trolled past the end of the alley.
    â€œIt’s Martin Harlow,” someone called.
    â€œWe love your show, Martin,” called another girl in the Segway group. “We love you!”
    â€œMa’am, you mean like this?” The workman gave the valve a hard turn.
    A metallic groan sounded from somewhere on high. And the entire structure came crashing down.

 
    Also by Susan Wiggs
    CONTEMPORARY NOVELS
    Home Before Dark
    The Ocean Between Us
    Summer by the Sea
    Table for Five
    Lakeside Cottage
    Just Breathe
    The Goodbye Quilt
    The Bella Vista Chronicles
    The Apple Orchard
    The Beekeeper’s Ball
    The Lakeshore Chronicles
    Summer at Willow Lake
    The Winter Lodge
    Dockside
    Snowfall at Willow Lake
    Fireside
    Lakeshore Christmas
    The Summer Hideaway
    Marrying Daisy Bellamy
    Return to Willow Lake
    Candlelight Christmas
    Starlight on Willow Lake
    HISTORICAL ROMANCES
    The Lightkeeper
    The Drifter
    The Mistress of Normandy
    The Maiden of Ireland
    The Tudor Rose Trilogy
    At the King’s Command
    The Maiden’s Hand
    At the Queen’s Summons
    Chicago Fire Trilogy
    The Hostage
    The Mistress
    The Firebrand
    Calhoun Chronicles
    The Charm School
    The Horsemaster’s Daughter
    Halfway to Heaven
    Enchanted Afternoon
    A Summer Affair

 
    Copyright
    This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
    Excerpt from Family Tree copyright © 2016 by Susan Wiggs.
    THEKEYINGREDIENT. Copyright © 2016 by Susan Wiggs. 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, downloaded, 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. For information,