Free Dreadful Sorry by Kathryn Reiss

stopped.
    She closed her eyes, then opened them, but the hallway looked the same. It
was
the same. She pressed her hands over her eyes to blot out the sight of the hallway before her.
    "What, Molly?" Paulette put her hand on Molly's arm. "What's wrong?"
    . "It's the hallway from my dream," Molly whispered, eyes closed.
    "Oh,
wow!
" said Paulette worriedly. "
What
dream?"
    Bill's voice boomed from the end of the hall. "Molly? Paulette? Is that you?"
    "We're home, my love!" called Paulette. "Be right there!"
    At the sound of Bill's familiar voice, Molly uncovered her eyes. She clenched her hands into fists at her sides—they were shaking as badly as the old man's on the plane. She took a heaving breath to calm herself.
    "Hey, save the tour for later! Just get in here and let me kiss my daughter," bellowed Bill from the end of the hall. "Or I swear I'll drag myself out of this confounded bed and—"
    "We're coming, Dad!" called Molly. She hurried ahead of Paulette down the hallway to the door at the end, steeling herself as she stepped into the room. She fully expected to see the same bed where the woman had lain covered in blood, where the man had turned to her, angry and accusing. But no, the bed was against the wall opposite the windows. And it was a different bed, of course, and the person lying in it wasn't a woman at all but her own father, his ankle encased in a white cast and lying raised on a pillow. There was no blood anywhere.
    "Dad!" Molly ran to him with a glad cry.
    "It's great to see you, honey," he said, hugging her. "I could just kick myself for falling off that damn ladder. What bad timing!"
    "I'm just glad you're okay."
    "Oh, I'm fine. But my paper-stripping days are over for a while. Six weeks, looks like." He pulled her down on the bed and reached out a hand to draw Paulette over. Paulette took his hand and stood at the side of the bed, smoothing his hair.
    "My two ladies," he said, grinning. "Together at last. Well, Molly? Was I right? Isn't Paulette a wonder?"
    "Yes," said Molly, surreptitiously peering all around the room. She was still trembling.
    "And Molly is everything you said she was," said Paulette.
    "Well, I'm glad to have us all together, that's all I can say." Bill lay back on his pillows. "How was the trip, Molly? Are you hungry?" He yawned through his smile. "I ate what Paulette fixed me before she went to get you, or I'd join you. All I want to do now, I'm afraid, is go to sleep."
    "Me, too," Molly said sympathetically. "And don't worry about me. I ate on the flight to Boston."
    Paulette stroked Bill's face. "Poor Lamb Chop, you look totally shattered. How about if I take Molly on a house tour and then get her settled for the night? You just go to sleep now, and we can all talk in the morning."
    He closed his eyes. "It's just this pain medication they gave me. It knocks you out."
    "Molly's going to be here a long time," Paulette said reassuringly. She headed for the door. "Coming, Molly? Let's get you something to drink, at least." She turned back to Bill. "Can I get you anything, my poor, battered beloved?"
    Even through her daze, Molly had to wince at Paulette's goo-goo voice. Jen would be on the floor laughing.
    Bill kept his eyes closed. "Nothing for me, Puppy. Just take good care of Molly."
    "Good night, Did," Molly said softly, and followed Paulette back into the hallway. They didn't go back down the main stairs but instead headed down a steep, uncarpeted flight at the back of the house, ending up in a big, old kitchen with stained red linoleum on the floor.
    Paulette closed the door to the back stairs firmly, then gestured to a chair at the round kitchen table. "Here, sit down and make yourself cozy. What do you want? How about lemonade? I'm afraid I don't have any Coke. That stuff isn't good for you."
    "No, really, I'm fine."
    "I'm having a cup of herbal tea. Join me?"
    "Sure."
    Paulette bustled around the big kitchen, chattering as she assembled her tea things and put the water