Free A Chance Mistake by Jackie Zack

Weird. The whole bloomin’ lot.
    As she helped the next customer, she turned to the window to see the back of The Unseen in the display. So close but impossible for her to grab the book and read. Kory’s picture smiled at her, and she imagined the novel to say, “I’m yours, baby, but you can’t get me.”
    Ah, ha. She could grab the book after the next customer, but lucky for Gweneth, shoppers kept coming.
    At last closing time came; Dafina and Griff headed home under sprinkles of rain. She would turn the house upside down to find her reading material and spend the whole blessed evening immersed in another time and place where a man that looked like Kory was falling for her alternate self.
    “Griff, can you find it for me?”
    He turned and gave her a look that surely meant, ‘you’ve got to be fooling.’
    When she arrived home, she plopped her purse on a chair, popped a dinner in the popty-ping, and stepped with added effort to the living room. Even though she could walk without much of a limp, her ankle still hurt. Her gaze shot to the side table where The Unseen fairly glowed in light from the window. Impossible. She’d looked there. It was the first place she tried that morning. How?
    She picked up the novel. Was she losing her mind? Wait. When she looked for the book, it was before Kory had arrived from the cottage. That meant Kory had something to do with it being missing and then returning. Flipping the pages didn’t reveal any clue. Nothing unusual. Odd, that.
    “You’re not getting away from me this time.” Dafina held the book tightly over her heart then found her place in the pages, sat down and started reading. She lifted her right foot and placed it on the pillow covered foot stool. The popty-ping blared its warning that the dinner was done, but the story equaled the food in being heated. Their evening at the coffee house had come to an end and Carl/Kory walked the platinum princess home. He pulled her in for a kiss, thinking that he’d either have to leave a split second later or stay the night.
    Dafina rushed to the next page, but a blaring noise rang out. Wasn’t the microwave satisfied giving out the first siren blare that it had to send out another? Oh, bother! It was the door buzzer. She set the book down and stepped to the front door. Peering out through the curtained window, the sight made her spirit sink. Aunt Nesta had arrived several days early, suitcase in hand.
    Oh, no—Pops! If Nesta saw the dummy, she’d have to realize something was amiss. Dafina rushed to the kitchen and grabbed Pops. As quickly as she could, she lugged the creation to her bedroom and stuffed him in the closet. The moldy head detached and took a dive for a back corner. The door bell buzzed again.
     
    ****
     
    The massive cloud let loose a downpour like a giant bucket emptying out water. Cold water. Kory strained his hands against the duct tape in attempt to get as much rain on the adhesive as possible. If the wetness offered any help, he couldn’t tell. Claustrophobia crowded in on him. The deluge made it impossible to see any good distance, and the tape across his mouth made it all too clear that if he couldn’t breathe through his nose, he’d be a goner.
    All he could do was sit and wait. How much time had ticked by, he had no idea. Fifteen minutes—a half hour? As the rain cascaded down seemingly without end, he still made war with his bonds, yanking his hands every which way possible. The tape began to lose its stickiness, he could feel it. Hope glimmered, and then his hands were free.
    He pulled the tape from his mouth. “Yes!” Stinging pain shot over his upper lip and chin. “ Aarrh! ”
    He swiped a hand over his new beard and stretched his jaw. But thank goodness for stupid thugs. If they had to be bad guys, the more that were dumb, the better. He leaned forward against his bent knees and ripped the duct tape that bound his ankles.
    The rain continued to pelt him and bubbled in nearby puddles.