Letters in the Attic Read Online Free PDF

always.”
    “Thanks.”
    “Anyway, I don’t think Susan had any family. I don’t remember her talking about anybody but her mom and dad.”
    “Didn’t she—?”
    “Her aunt!” Annie clasped one hand to her forehead. “Of course, the one she stayed with when she lived in New York. It’s so obvious, it never even occurred to me. Her return address has to be on some of those letters Susan sent me back in school.”
    “See? That haystack just got a lot more manageable. All you have to do is get back on the Internet and do a reverse lookup on that address, and more than likely it will tell you the name and telephone number of whoever lives there. Easy peasy.”
    “Easy for you, maybe. But thanks for the suggestion. I’ll see what I can find out.” Annie beamed at her. “I knew you were my best friend for a reason. I think Susan must have mentioned her aunt’s first name in one of the letters, too, and I’m almost positive her last name was Morris.”
    “Just think, you might have Susan’s phone number by tomorrow afternoon.”
    “That would be great. I don’t know why, but I really would like to talk to her again and know that she’s OK.”
    “Why wouldn’t she be?”
    Annie shrugged. “I don’t know. I’d just feel better if I knew for sure. She always seemed to want so badly for somebody to be her friend. I don’t like to think of her being alone in the world.”
    Alice reached over to squeeze her hand. “You were always nice to her. Not like me.”
    “You?” Annie shook her head. “OK, maybe the two of you were never best friends, but I don’t remember you being mean to her or anything.”
    “Maybe not mean, not really, but I was always jealous.”
    “Really?”
    “Oh, you know. The two of you spent so much time together, and your grandmother was always having her over. I guess I felt a little left out sometimes. And Susan was tall and graceful, just like I wasn’t.”
    Annie smiled. “Neither of us has ever been what you could describe as tall, and both of us had our clumsy days.”
    “And I guess I was jealous of her looks too.” Alice stared regretfully into the depths of her coffee cup and then took a drink. “All that blond hair.”
    “You could get a wig.”
    Alice laughed and half choked. “You would have to say that right when I took a big swallow.”
    “Sorry about that.” Annie didn’t quite suppress a giggle. “I was going to tell you not to feel bad, because we’ve grown up some since that time.” She winked. “But maybe not.”
    “Just for that, I’m turning you out into the cold.”
    “Oh, I forgot.” Annie drained her coffee cup and popped the rest of her cookie into her mouth. “Divine Décor, right? Where is it tonight?”
    “Camden. It’s not that far, but I’ve never been to that part of town, and I want to make sure I get there on time.”
    Annie gathered up her purse and the printouts she had brought with her. “You’ve been a tremendous help, neighbor.”
    “Anytime.” Alice went with her to the door. “And I want to know what you find out about the aunt in New York, OK?”
    “Sure. Have fun tonight.”
    Annie waved and scurried back to her own front porch and into the house. It was getting colder. She took a few minutes to start a fire in the hearth and then looked through the day’s mail. Then she opened the drawer in the end table next to the couch and took out the stack of Susan’s letters.
    She had read them over several times since she first discovered them, remembering the friends and happenings Susan had written about, looking for clues they might hold. Was there any use in reading them over again? Something she had missed?
    She ruffled the corner of the yellowing envelopes and saw the return addresses on each of them flip past. Many of the letters had been mailed from Susan’s aunt’s house in New York, but several were from 214 Elm Street in Stony Point.
    What was the house like now? Annie remembered it being a huge white