London from My Windows Read Online Free PDF

be seeing him soon if heaven was for real. He wasn’t smiling. But he loved adventures! Why wasn’t he smiling? Because she’d failed. First she’d failed him, and then she’d failed Ava. Dear, sweet Ava. She should have tried harder. She should have been nicer to Gretchen, no matter how impossibly wrong that woman had been for her brother. She should have kept her opinions to herself. It drove a wedge between her and Bertie she’d never been able to repair. Ava had been a child stuck in the middle of stubborn adults fighting over petty bits and bobs. Beverly should have been the one to swallow the sword. Her pride had kept her from helping her niece. It was too late. Why hadn’t she done anything? Oh, why hadn’t she done anything? The clock was ticking. Was there anything she could do? Anything at all?
    Help her! she could have sworn she heard Bertie yelling through the wind . Help our Ava .
    They picked up speed; how could the ground be coming up already? She wanted to fly forever. She wanted to do it again. Faster and faster they approached. The instructor dipped back and she pulled her knees up for landing. Queenie was standing, grinning, and, good Lord, weeping. Their feet stuttered on the ground, and then Beverly, with her instructor on her back, fell face-first into the dirt. She heard Queenie gasp. But when they finally pulled her up, she was laughing. That was toptastic. Jasper landed right behind her. Smoothly, as only the young can land. She grasped his hands and together they smiled. Then, she remembered, and her smile evaporated.
    â€œYou look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Jasper said.
    â€œI have indeed,” Beverly said.
    â€œWhat’s wrong?”
    â€œAva,” Beverly said. She grasped Jasper’s hands. “We have to do something about Ava.”

CHAPTER 4
    Ava was perched at her kitchen table, working on a cartoon strip about young lovers scaling Mount Kilimanjaro, when the doorbell rang. Oh no. No, no, no. Unexpected guests could poison her entire day. The doorbell rang again. She’d been just about to sketch the lovers reaching the peak, a triumphant feat to be celebrated, until it’s discovered that one of them, probably the man, left the camera at base camp and it snowballs into their first big fight. That was the part she was looking forward to the most. Love didn’t count until you’d survived that first big fight. The doorbell rang for the third time. Leave me alone; I’m on a mountaintop.
    Ava picked up the remote and aimed it at the monitor hanging in the upper corner of the room. It flickered to life, illuminating the unwelcome guests as two uniformed police officers. Cliff, her boss in a way, and the one she was sleeping with, and most likely his partner, Joe. They looked funny together. Joe was a tall beanpole. Cliff was handsome all right, dark good looks and so muscular, but let’s face it—he was short. Still, he was sexy. He had that gruff Napoléon thing going on, and he was good in bed. Not that Ava had anyone to compare it with. Unbeknownst to him, Cliff was her first. It was hard to play the field when you were afraid of the field itself. Cliff cupped his hand over his eyes and tried to peer into her windows. “Amateur,” she said. Her windows were sealed with black sheets. He knew that.
    Given the presence of his partner, Cliff wasn’t here for a lunch-hour quickie. Too bad; sex with Cliff was always a nice distraction. Ava turned up the volume on the monitor. She could hear them conferring but couldn’t make out the words. It was her day off. What did they want?
    Ava stood and moved along the wall. Despite the black sheets, she didn’t want to take the chance that Cliff could sense her movements. Why hadn’t he called first? She’d wait them out. They’d leave eventually.
    â€œAva,” Cliff said. “I know you’re in there.” His voice would carry