CHAPTER ONE- eight months prior
Kristy Thomas sighed as she placed her keys on the hook by the door that went to the garage. She slipped off her shoes and walked towards the kitchen, flipping on lights as she went. When she reached the kitchen, she headed for the fridge and took out some leftover takeout from the night before, popping it in the microwave after she had placed it on a plate. As the microwave did its work, she walked to the laundry room to let out her two Border Collies, Max and Luke. As they bounded out of the room, ready to attack her with wet doggy kisses, she smiled wryly and thought, at least I have the dogs here for me very night without fail.
She raced back to the kitchen a few minutes later when she heard the timer beep from the microwave, her stomach guiding her the entire way. After retrieving her plate of hot food, she collapsed on the couch and settled in for another lonely night of television.
On the other side of town, Mary Anne Bruno, in her comfortable flannel pajamas and her hair tied up into a loose ponytail, was already lying in bed with a pile of papers sitting on her lap. She frowned as she made a mark on one of the papers, with a corrective note next to it, and just as she was about to continue reading the paragraph, a muffled cry came over the baby monitor.
"Logan-" she started to call before remembering that he had just run out to the store to get them a late night snack of ice cream. Instantly, she threw her papers to the other side of the bed and made her way out of her room and across the hall to her daughter's room.
"It's okay Megan," Mary Anne said soothingly as she walked into the room and headed for the crib. She leaned over and picked up her child, then headed for the rocking chair next to the window. She began to rock with her daughter, and then smoothed her soft brown hair back. She began to sing a soft lullaby as she rocked, but was startled by a sound by the doorway. Mary Anne looked up quickly, only to see her three and a half-year-old son staring solemnly into the room with his large blue eyes.
"What are you doing up sweetie?"
"I just heard Meggy crying… I wanted to make sure she was okay," little Alexander Bruno answered in a soft whisper. Mary Anne smiled, and with tears in her eyes beckoned her son to come towards her. When he reached her, he hopped up onto the chair with her and stared at his sister. Forgetting about the papers to be marked, Mary Anne continued rocking with her two children, never wanting the moment to end.
Mallory Pike looked at her watch anxiously. I am going to be late, she thought to herself when she realized that it was already 8:15. I was late last week and the week before that… I cannot be late again
"Why won't this darned train just move?" she said out loud. Mallory felt the woman next to her look over at her. Ignoring the woman, Mallory fiddled with the latch on her briefcase, listening to the soothing snap snap sound that it made.
"Do you mind?" the lady to her left asked as the train started moving.
Mallory turned and looked at the tired looking woman in her forties. "Sorry," she apologized genuinely. "I am just well on my way to being late to pick up my daughter, and it seems that it is becoming a habit of mine." She stood up and, forgetting about the woman, wrapped the scarf tighter around her neck as the train began to slow to a stop at the station. That long wait just for that short minute and a half train ride! she thought to herself, feeling her spirits slowly lifting.
A few minutes later, Mallory was in her SUV, the windows freshly scraped free of ice and the heat blaring, and was driving toward Stoneybrook Elementary School to pick her daughter up from Girl Scouts. She pulled into the parking lot exactly one minute early and, with a smile, she jumped out of the car and ran into the foyer of the school.
Abby Stevenson-McKenzie stared down at the piece of clean white paper laying in front of her on the oak desk. "La-la-la-la," she sang obnoxiously in hopes that something would come to her mind. "Carpet cleaner… When I think of carpet cleaner, I think of…" she paused as she tried to scour her brain for an idea: ANY idea. Out of frustration, she pulled the paper free of the pad, crumpled it and tossed it into the garbage can that was placed on the other side of the room.
"Still have a perfect paper toss, Mrs. McKenzie."
Abby looked towards the doorway. "Kevin!" she cried out happily. "You're home early." She got up to give him a long hug.
"Of course I am. I made sure that the meeting was short and sweet, I did not want to leave my wife stranded in this brand new house all on her own." Kevin looked at his wife, her curly dark brown hair and matching deep brown eyes. "Is something wrong sweetheart?" he asked her with concern.
"Welllll," Abby started, then stopped herself. She did not want a repeat of the other night. "I just had a long day, that's all. You know how stressful it can get at the office."
"Of course I do… anyway, you look busy, so how about I start dinner and you can continue doing what you are doing," he said to Abby, who smiled gratefully. After a quick kiss, Kevin left the room and Abby went back to the idea block that had not seemed to pass in the last six months.
Letting the door close lightly behind her, Jessica Ramsey gracefully walked out into the cold night as she left her job for the night.
"Good bye Liz," she said to the woman that was walking with her as she began to head for the car that was parked at the curb.
"See you later Jessica," Liz Hernandez called into the wind as she turned in the opposite direction. Jessi began to run with long striding bounds towards the blue sedan, opening the passenger side door when she reached it.
"Hey Ryan," she said as she plopped down into the soft leather seat.
"Hey Jess," Ryan Jacobs replied as he leaned over to give her a kiss on the cheek.
"Thanks again for picking me up," Jessi said, "I just cannot believe that my new car will be late to the dealership! I was not counting on that."
"No problem. So how was you day?"
"It went by fast… hey, love, you just missed the turnoff for the highway!" Jessi exclaimed, interrupting her own thoughts.
"Now now, is not okay for a boyfriend to have a surprise planned for the love of his life?" Ryan asked in mock shock, looking briefly over at Jessi. When Jessi just giggled in response, he grinned happily and continued driving.
Claudia Kishi got out of the taxi after paying the driver, then went around to the back of the cab to get her two suitcases. After the driver huffed and puffed, Claudia wheeled her suitcases into the train station, whistling happily. She already had her ticket, so she headed straight for the platform and waited for the train to arrive.
Ahhh, she thought to herself. I will finally be getting back to my house, and better yet, all of those dreadful meetings are finally over! She looked up at the clock, and realizing that she still had ten minutes before the train was due to arrive, she headed over the stand that was selling magazines and some junk food.
After purchasing a bottle of water and the latest IT! Magazine and tossing them into her large shoulder bag, she headed back to platform. The train was just pulling in when she got there, and with a large smile on her face, she boarded the train to go home.
Dawn Schafer stood up and cheered loudly. "GO SIDNEY!" she yelled loudly, her hands cupped around her mouth.
Eight year old Sidney Edwards, panting heavily, looked towards the stands, and with a grin, waved wildly at her stepmother. Dawn waved back enthusiastically, then watched as Sidney passed the basketball off then headed for the bench to take a drink of water. Sitting back down in her seat, Dawn began to twist the cap off of her own bottle of water, but stopped when she felt somebody gripping her shoulders. Surprised, she dropped the bottle and looked behind her, not feeling the cold water splash all over her bare legs until she saw who was there.
"Jake!" she gently scolded her husband as he stared in disbelief at what had just happened. She grabbed the sweater sitting next to her and began to hastily wipe her legs as Jake Edwards grinned sheepishly at the large amount of people that were staring at them.
"I did not know that such an innocent gesture would turn into this," he mumbled into Dawn's ear as his lips brushed her neck.
Dawn smiled briefly. "You are late."
Jake looked at his watch after he waved to his daughter. "Late? It's 5:32… that would make me two minutes late, love. Not a big deal."
Shrugging as she stood up, Dawn looked at her husband. "I am just very punctual, that's all. Anyway, hate to cut this short, but a train of events will make me two minutes late to the restaurant, which is going to be right in the dinner hour rush."
Jake grabbed Dawn's hand and said, "You are forgetting a mild detail. You are your own boss because you own the restaurant."
Dawn leaned down to give Jake a lingering kiss. "Don't put that in my head because then I will never return to work." With that, she waved to Sidney and rushed out of the gymnasium.
Stacey McGill looked up from her textbook and towards the clock. It is not even nine o'clock yet, but I feel as if I have been doing this for a lot longer than four hours. She stretched back in her chair, enjoying the sensation that went through her body. After the brief stretch ended, she leaned forward and wrote something on the piece of paper that lay in front of her. She put down her pen and headed across the room towards her tiny kitchen to grab some water before she went back to the grueling work.
Standing in front of the sink in the kitchen, she stared off into space for a few minutes. After she put the glass in the sink, she headed back across the living room and plopped down in her chair. Right when she started to get into the swing of things, she was interrupted by the ringing of the phone.
"Isn't this the way it always goes?" she mumbled quietly to herself as she picked up the cordless phone that on the desk next to her jar filled with pencils, pens, and erasers. "Hello?" she said softly into the receiver. The voice that followed made her forget her brief moment of exasperation, and she leaned back into the chair with a large smile on her face, settling in for a long conversation.