Free An All-Consuming Fire by Donna Fletcher Crow Page A

whether Fred and Ginger’s fall had truly been an accident.
    Now as Antony drove along the nearly deserted country lane he slipped a CD of Advent carols into the player and sang along with the hymn, “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus, born to set thy people free…”
    The headlights played on the hedgerows as the narrow road curved up the side of a hill. Felicity had asked him to come to the bungalow for supper and, free from the worries of filming for two whole days, he could relax and even give some thought to Cynthia’s plans for their wedding. Antony smiled. He had a greater indulgence for his American mother-in-law-to-be than Felicity had for her own mother. Antony could sense Cynthia’s vulnerability under the protective shell she had built up over the years and he was aware of her desire to make up for the time she had lost with her daughter by being so distant throughout Felicity’s childhood.
    And Antony was aware that he and Cynthia had the same goal: They both wanted to make Felicity happy. Although, Cynthia’s way of going about it was counterproductive at the least. Felicity and her mother had made great strides forward last Easter when Cynthia had confessed her own pain and guilt over the death of Felicity’s brother that had precipitated Cynthia’s withdrawal from her family. But there were still years of mother-daughter bonding to be made up. Perhaps he could help as something of a mediator. Or at least bring a bit of perspective to Felicity’s brittleness.
    At the foot of the hill the road straightened out and Antony could speed up. He returned to his hymn, “Dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing hea—”
    Seemingly from out of nowhere the glare of headlights from an oncoming car caught Antony full in the face. His eyes dazzled, causing him to fling up a protective arm even as he jerked the steering wheel to the left and slammed on the brake.
    Antony’s car rocked and the rear end slewed crazily. A sickening crunch of metal made his stomach clench. He gripped the steering wheel as the impact sent his little car into a spin. With a thud it came to an abrupt stop that made his head snap. Then silence and dark.

Chapter 6
    A ntony’s eyes flew open just in time to see the tail lights of the other car fading to dim red dots as it sped away over the crest of the long hill. Where had it come from? He was certain there had been no approaching headlights as he drove down the hill. Could it possibly have borne a resemblance to the car that seemed to follow him a few days ago? There was no telling. His heart pounding so hard he thought his chest would explode, Antony struggled to clear his thoughts and remember what had happened. But it had all happened so fast. Had he been preoccupied, too absorbed in his own thoughts to avoid danger rushing at him? Yes, he had been thinking about Felicity and singing along with his CD… He suddenly became aware of the music still issuing from the steeply raked dashboard:
    By Thine own eternal Spirit
    Rule in all our hearts alone;
    By Thine all sufficient merit,
    Raise us to Thy glorious thr—
    Antony extended an unsteady finger and stabbed the player into silence, then flicked the key to turn the engine off, but left the headlights on. He did not want to be engulfed by the total darkness of the English countryside.
    He took a deep, unsteady breath. He needed to think clearly in spite of the fact that his head was spinning and his pulse racing. No, he was certain he had not been guilty of inattentive driving. That car had not been approaching normally. So where had it come from? Could it have entered from a farm track? In spite of the dark, Antony had been aware that the hedgerow lining the eastern slope of the hill had given way to intermittent bushes on this side of the slope. In such an open area surely he would have seen the lights of a vehicle approaching even from the side.
    Had it been resting in a lay-by and just pulled onto the road at that moment?