The Daily Novel

Chapter 25
Cathy tried to walk, fell, then dragged herself across the lawn. “Jennifer!”
The young officer ran to her side. “What’s wrong?”
“My daughter . . . she went back inside!”
“I’ll get her,” he said. “Stay here.” Holding his hand over his nose and mouth, he rushed into the inferno.
Long moments passed before he carried Jennifer’s limp [...]

Chapter 23
Saturday morning, Lauren drove Cathy and Jennifer to shop for the raw materials they needed to create Cathy’s handicrafts. They returned home with the trunk bulging and Jennifer sandwiched between numerous bags in the back seat; then Lauren left the two, already at work, in the garage and drove to her father’s home. She [...]

Chapter 21
The man parked at the curb six houses down from Lauren’s home and waited, drinking coffee straight from a battered thermos. He saw Lauren back out of her garage and drive away, then, a short time later, watched as Cathy left the house and walked to the corner. Ten minutes passed before her bus [...]

Chapter 19
“Hey, Sis, you want some breakfast before I go to work,” Cathy asked, shaking Lauren from a sensual dream. Lauren yanked her pillow over her face. “I guess that’s a ‘no’,” Cathy said, turning to leave.
“Wait,” Lauren said hoarsely. She hugged her pillow and lay with her eyes closed. “You said something last night [...]

Chapter 17
Jennifer climbed from the truck, still giggling. Since catching Frank Miles flirting, she’d been teasing him mercilessly. “Get out, you little pest,” Frank said lovingly. “You need to respect your elders.”
“Okay, sport. My Coney Island Casanova. My drive-in Romeo,” Jennifer joked, batting her long lashes.
“Brat!”
“Love you, Grampa.”
“I love you, too. Call me . . [...]

Chapter 16
A mild southerly wind lifted Cathy’s dress as she waited for the bus. In her previous jobs, waitressing, she always hated working Saturdays, but she found herself happy to be going to the shop, no matter the day of the week.     Granted, Charlie became more persistent every day in his clumsy attempts to [...]

Chapter Fourteen
The first thing that struck Lauren when she arrived home was the silence—a lonesome stillness broken only by the tick-tick-tick of the mantle clock. In less than a week, she had become accustomed to Cathy’s chatter and Jennifer’s laugh.
Flo lay as flat as only a cat can on the sofa. She lifted her head [...]

Chapter Six
Lauren punched the time clock and stifled a yawn as she went to the nurses’ station. A tall, red-haired nurse was finishing up charts from the previous shift. “Good morning,” Lauren said. “Any new admissions or problems during the night?”
“One admission. Mild heart attack. He’s in 319,” the redhead answered.
“How about Mr. Oliphant? He [...]