The Way to Yesterday Read Free Page B

chest as he stared at the two cars engulfed in flames.
    "If you hadn't stopped me, we would have-"
    "Don't say it," Mary begged, and put her hand to his lips. Then
she moved from his arms to the car, opened the back door and lifted her
screaming daughter from the seat. "It's all right, punkin …
it's all right," Mary crooned. "Mommy's got you now.
    You're going to be just fine."
    Daniel watched the two most important women in his life walk back in the
house, then got in his car and pulled it back up the drive, away from the
flames. Already, he could hear more approaching sirens. The neighbors must have
called the police. It was just as well. He'd been too shaken too think past his
own family's safety.
    With one last regretful glance at the cars and for the demise of both
drivers, he hurried back into his home and found Mary in the rocker, singing
softly to their daughter as she drifted off to sleep.
    Without talking, he went into the kitchen, stood at the sink and stared down
into the bloody water for a moment, then pulled the stopper. As the water began
to drain away, he saw the knife at the bottom of the sink that had cut Mary's
hand. Cursing softly, he laid it on the counter, refilled the sink with clean
water and soap, and did the dishes. He could still hear Mary singing, but Hope
was no longer crying. At least she was happy because now he felt like crying.
He'd come so close to killing both himself and Hope. Bracing himself against
the top of the washing ma chine, he closed his eyes and dropped his head.
    "Thank you, Lord," he muttered, then took the clean clothes out of
the washer and dropped them into the dryer before grabbing the broom and
sweeping the kitchen floor.
    A short while later, he had finished with the morning chores. He went into
the living room to check on Mary and found Hope asleep in the bassinet and Mary
asleep on the sofa. Pain wrapped itself around his heart and squeezed. Not
much, but just enough to remind him of what he'd almost lost. Then he picked
Hope up from the bassinet and carried her into the nursery- down the hall,
covered her up with her favorite blanket and closed the door. She would sleep
for at least an hour, maybe more. He went back to the living room, gazed down
at his wife's thin, pale face and then at the blood seeping from beneath the
bandages on her finger and sighed. She probably needed stitches, but what was
done, was done. He got a small towel and wrapped it around Mary's hand, then
covered her with an afghan. She needed to sleep worse than she needed stitches,
and he needed to think.
    Chapter Two
    Mary woke with a start, then sat up in fright. Hope's old bassinet was in
the living room, her finger was throbbing, and it was almost noon. She wouldn't
stop to let herself even wonder where that bassinet had come from or why her
finger was wrapped up in a bandage and towel. The last thing she remembered was
walking into an antique shop. How she'd gotten home was beyond her and why she
was on the sofa instead of in her bedroom was beside the point. She had
overslept and her boss at the dress shop was bound to fire her.
    Thinking she would immediately call in to the store, she bolted to her feet,
frantically searching for the phone, but it wasn't in its usual place. Then she
saw the stroller by the front door and Daniel's jacket on the back of a chair
and went weak with relief.
    The dream.
    She was still having the dream, and as long as she slept, Daniel and Hope
were still alive. She looked in the nursery. The baby wasn't there, but when
she walked back in the hall and heard the soft rumble of Daniel's laughter and
a high-pitched baby squeal, it made her smile. Following the sounds to the
small patio beyond the kitchen, she found
    Daniel in a chaise lounge under their shade tree, holding Hope against his
chest. She was on her back, her arms and legs beating the air as she gazed
upward into the treetop.
    She combed her fingers through Daniel's thick, dark hair, relishing the feel
of