dream!”
“Get off of me! I have to find Hank!” she screamed, yanking her arms free of her captor and connecting with the solid bones of his face.
“Julie! It’s me! It’s Hank! Wake up!”
Hank was here? Confusion had her fiery dream evaporating into nothingness. Slowly the weight of her eyelids lifted and she saw Hank’s face just inches from her own in the darkness.
Her hysterical screaming stopped, and a relief-stricken wail began. He was okay. He was safe from the fire. “You’re all right,” she said between great gasps of air.
He wrapped her into his arms, pulling her tightly against his chest as he spoke in a calming voice. “I’m fine. You were having a bad dream. Everything’s okay now.” He cuddled her against his warm body, gently stroking her hair.
“Everything was on fire. My father was there, and he was…” she tried to find the words to describe her gruesome vision, “burned. It was horrible.”
Julie wiped her eyes, her hands shaking.
“How awful for you.”
She realized that Hank had actually seen her father after the fire, and cringed at the thought. She didn’t want to imagine what he had seen, didn’t want to know he had seen it.
“There was a generator with a severed cord. And Gwen was there in a nurse’s uniform, trying to give me a telegram.”
“It sounds like your mind has had a lot to take in over the last couple of days.”
“Yes.” She snuggled closer to his chest, burying her face in his T-shirt.
“Was I in your dream?” he asked, his fingers tentatively stroking her shoulder. “You called my name.”
“Yes,” she said, suddenly shy. “I couldn’t see you, but I knew you were in the building and the fire was going to get you. I was trying to save you.” She left out the part about the wedding gown.
Hank gently rubbed her back and she felt her body slowly relax into the mattress. “Hank?”
“Mmm hmm?”
“Are we safe here?”
“Of course.”
“Are you sure they don’t know where we are?”
“I’m positive. No one followed us here, and I didn’t tell anyone where we went.” He hadn’t even told Barstow, a fact which might come back to haunt him. “How else would someone know where we are?”
“I don’t know.”
Hank’s brow furrowed as Julie settled back into the crook of his arm and fell back asleep.
If Julie was correct, then not only were she and Gwen in danger, but his entire family. Hank gave himself a mental shake. Her bad feeling could not be based in fact.
They hadn’t been followed, of that he was certain. He had deliberately set the GPS to avoid expressways so he could better watch the cars around them. Still, his gut didn’t like this. The people who Hank loved most were gathered in this house. Was it possible he had put them all in danger by bringing Julie and Gwen here?
He laid awake in the night, Julie curled by his side, for some hours after that. His eyes finally succumbed to sleep as the first light of Christmas Eve beckoned on the horizon.
~~~
Julie was gone when Hank woke up to rays of bright sunshine on his face. He’d have to remember to close the blinds tonight.
He caught a whiff of coffee on the air, his mind turning to the day ahead. There must be a million things to do, and they had let him sleep late. He pulled a green polo over his head and went to see what he could do to help.
Voices flowed up the stairway, the sound reminiscent of a million other family get-togethers. For a moment, he imagined his father downstairs with the others, talking and laughing over morning coffee. Hank’s feet stilled on the top step, his eyes landing on the familiar photograph of him with his dad, fishing poles in their hands.
For just a moment, he was sure he could feel his father’s comforting presence, smell the scent that belonged to him alone.
I love you, Dad.
Hank walked down the steps, smiling, suddenly certain his father would not miss Kelly’s wedding after all.
“Well, look who finally
“Get off of me! I have to find Hank!” she screamed, yanking her arms free of her captor and connecting with the solid bones of his face.
“Julie! It’s me! It’s Hank! Wake up!”
Hank was here? Confusion had her fiery dream evaporating into nothingness. Slowly the weight of her eyelids lifted and she saw Hank’s face just inches from her own in the darkness.
Her hysterical screaming stopped, and a relief-stricken wail began. He was okay. He was safe from the fire. “You’re all right,” she said between great gasps of air.
He wrapped her into his arms, pulling her tightly against his chest as he spoke in a calming voice. “I’m fine. You were having a bad dream. Everything’s okay now.” He cuddled her against his warm body, gently stroking her hair.
“Everything was on fire. My father was there, and he was…” she tried to find the words to describe her gruesome vision, “burned. It was horrible.”
Julie wiped her eyes, her hands shaking.
“How awful for you.”
She realized that Hank had actually seen her father after the fire, and cringed at the thought. She didn’t want to imagine what he had seen, didn’t want to know he had seen it.
“There was a generator with a severed cord. And Gwen was there in a nurse’s uniform, trying to give me a telegram.”
“It sounds like your mind has had a lot to take in over the last couple of days.”
“Yes.” She snuggled closer to his chest, burying her face in his T-shirt.
“Was I in your dream?” he asked, his fingers tentatively stroking her shoulder. “You called my name.”
“Yes,” she said, suddenly shy. “I couldn’t see you, but I knew you were in the building and the fire was going to get you. I was trying to save you.” She left out the part about the wedding gown.
Hank gently rubbed her back and she felt her body slowly relax into the mattress. “Hank?”
“Mmm hmm?”
“Are we safe here?”
“Of course.”
“Are you sure they don’t know where we are?”
“I’m positive. No one followed us here, and I didn’t tell anyone where we went.” He hadn’t even told Barstow, a fact which might come back to haunt him. “How else would someone know where we are?”
“I don’t know.”
Hank’s brow furrowed as Julie settled back into the crook of his arm and fell back asleep.
If Julie was correct, then not only were she and Gwen in danger, but his entire family. Hank gave himself a mental shake. Her bad feeling could not be based in fact.
They hadn’t been followed, of that he was certain. He had deliberately set the GPS to avoid expressways so he could better watch the cars around them. Still, his gut didn’t like this. The people who Hank loved most were gathered in this house. Was it possible he had put them all in danger by bringing Julie and Gwen here?
He laid awake in the night, Julie curled by his side, for some hours after that. His eyes finally succumbed to sleep as the first light of Christmas Eve beckoned on the horizon.
~~~
Julie was gone when Hank woke up to rays of bright sunshine on his face. He’d have to remember to close the blinds tonight.
He caught a whiff of coffee on the air, his mind turning to the day ahead. There must be a million things to do, and they had let him sleep late. He pulled a green polo over his head and went to see what he could do to help.
Voices flowed up the stairway, the sound reminiscent of a million other family get-togethers. For a moment, he imagined his father downstairs with the others, talking and laughing over morning coffee. Hank’s feet stilled on the top step, his eyes landing on the familiar photograph of him with his dad, fishing poles in their hands.
For just a moment, he was sure he could feel his father’s comforting presence, smell the scent that belonged to him alone.
I love you, Dad.
Hank walked down the steps, smiling, suddenly certain his father would not miss Kelly’s wedding after all.
“Well, look who finally
Similar Books
