Free The Secret (Seacliff High Mystery Book 1) by Kathi Daley

gotten back to me yet. Besides, I really wanted to get the bedrooms done first.”
    “I peeked into your room earlier. I love the way you did the curtains. Where’d you ever get the idea to drape them that way?”
    “I’ve seen paintings from around the turn of the century with drapes hung in a similar fashion. I figured because we seem to have purchased such a majestic old house, we might as well decorate it in a way that honors its heritage.” Her mom poured an extra dollop of syrup over the remaining pancakes on her plate. “When I first started on the bedrooms I just wanted to make them somewhat livable, but now I’m really excited about decorating the rest of the house. Maybe we should work on clearing out the rest of the downstairs rooms this weekend. I spent part of the afternoon drawing some sketches of what each room might eventually look like and I can’t wait to get started.”
    Alyson was happy to see her mom really getting in to the remodel project. Her face glowed as she continued to share her ideas for each room. It had been a long time since Alyson had seen her mother so happy, so long since her smile had reached her eyes the way it always had before the murder. So much had happened in the past year. For the first time in many months, Alyson felt she could see the first rays of light breaking through the darkness that had become their lives.
    “. . . and after thinking about it, I decided earth tones with blue accents really would be best.”
    “Sounds great, Mom.” Alyson realized she’d totally missed half of what her mom had said. “I’d better get to school. I’ll ask the gang if they can help out again on Saturday. There’s some pretty heavy-looking furniture in the bedroom off the kitchen.”
    “I’m so glad you’ve made such good friends so quickly. I never did ask how your dinner was last night.”
    Alyson hesitated. She’d promised Trevor, but her mom seemed so happy. She hated to ruin the mood. “It was great. We went to a cute little café downtown. They had really good food and a warm, cozy atmosphere. It felt like a real hometown locals’ place. The kind where, eventually, everyone knows your name.”
    “We’ll have to try it sometime soon; maybe one night later this week. I’ve been so busy with the remodel I haven’t been in cooking mode, the past few days anyway.”
    “Sure, whenever.” Alyson kissed her mom on the cheek as she got out of the car in front of the school.
    “Should I pick you up at three, or are you doing something with your friends?”
    “I’m not sure yet. Is it okay if I call to let you know?”
    “Call my cell. I’ll keep it with me because I might not hear the downstairs phone ring if I’m working upstairs.”
    “Okay, have a good day,” Alyson called.
    Alyson hurried toward her first-period class, anxious to get some feedback from Mac on her computer search the day before. As with the previous morning, Chelsea was already seated at the table next to Trevor, so she guessed her inquiry would have to wait.
    “So how ’bout it, Trev?” Chelsea was asking as Alyson sat down next to Mac.
    “Chelsea wants to ride along with us to the dance on Saturday,” Mac filled Alyson in.
    “Sure, why not?” Trevor answered.
    Alyson wasn’t sure why Trevor didn’t tell Chelsea to buzz off instead of letting her push him around all the time, but it really wasn’t her problem and she had more important things to think about.
    As with the previous morning, the time until lunch both flew by and dragged on interminably. As soon as the bell sounded, indicating the conclusion of fourth period and the beginning of lunch, Alyson grabbed Mac’s arm and hurried her toward the cafeteria.
    “I thought fourth period would never end. I’ve been dying to tell you about our research in town yesterday,” Alyson began. “This no-sharing-information-until-lunch thing is killing me.”
    “I know what you mean,” Mac sympathized, “But it’s only fair we share