Free Redemption by Sharon Cullen Page B

to peer at her through his glasses as if she were some specimen under a microscope. “Stewart. Your name’s Hope Stewart.”
    She sat back, absorbing that information. Hope Stewart. Yes, it felt right. It fit. Not Hope Webster, but Hope Stewart. However, that didn’t mean they weren’t married. She could have kept her maiden name. She placed a hand under her belly, receiving comfort from her baby, before asking the big question. “Are we married?”
    Daniel’s eyes widened. He threw back his head and laughed. Hope shot a confused glance at John but he was looking at Daniel with an inscrutable expression.
    “What’s so funny?” she finally asked.
    Daniel lifted his glasses and wiped his eyes. “Geez, Hope. You really know how to wound a man, you know?”
    She leaned forward. “Please, just tell me.”
    Daniel sobered, a pained look crossing his face. “No. We’re not married. Not for lack of trying on my part. We’ve been best friends for fifteen years, went through high school together. I can’t believe you don’t remember me.”
    He seemed hurt and Hope touched his knee. From the corner of her eye, she saw John stiffen. “I’m sorry. Please don’t take it personally. I don’t remember anything.” Except a possible murder , but she kept that to herself. “Do I live around here?”
    “You live in Essex.” At her confused look, he explained. “Just outside Baltimore. You are—were—a school teacher.”
    “Were?”
    Daniel looked away, a red flush creeping up his face. “You were fired.”
    She reared back. John shifted. “Fired?”
    Daniel waved his hand in her direction. “The baby. You taught in a Catholic elementary school and when they discovered you were, uh, pregnant, they let you go. Something about not following the morality clause in your contract.”
    Her head began to spin and she grabbed onto the couch cushions. She’d been fired because she was pregnant? Nausea crawled up her throat and she had to swallow a few times. Suddenly a hand was on the back of her head and she was thrust forward.
    “Breathe,” John commanded.
    Her dizziness passed and he let her up, glaring at her as if it were her fault her world was spinning out of control.
    Daniel looked alarmed, his gaze jumping between John and her. She swiped some hair out of her eyes and took a deep breath as John stepped back to his post at the door.
    “You need water or something?” Daniel asked.
    She shook her head. “Tell me about the day I borrowed your car.” She pushed the rest of her questions away to examine later.
    “You showed up at my house late at night. Man, you were wild, almost hysterical, you know? You begged me for that Corolla I’d kept in the garage. Told me not to ask. Said it was better I didn’t know.”
    “And you gave me the keys? Just like that? No questions?”
    His expression softened. “Hope. I’d do anything for you. You know that.”
    No, she didn’t, but she could sense it. Poor Daniel. He had a soft spot for her and she didn’t share it. “What day was this?”
    “About midnight on Christmas Eve.”
    “That’s all I said?”
    He held his hands out to the side and shrugged. “That’s it. I’ve been worried sick. Tried calling your dad but he hasn’t been answering.”
    “My dad?”
    Daniel stared at her again as if trying to decide if she were joking. “Your father, Charles Stewart. Usually you spend Christmas with him.”
    “Where does my dad live?”
    “Bishop’s Gate. It’s not too far from here. ’Bout twenty minutes or so.”
    She had a father who wasn’t looking for her, yet it appeared they were close. She wondered if John was thinking the same thing she was. And if he was, she wondered if his thoughts made him as sick as hers did. “I have one more question, Daniel. Then we’ll get out of your hair.”
    “Sure. Anything.”
    “Am I, um, married?”
    Silence fell between the three of them. Hope could sense John’s tension, his nerves taut as he waited for