Yesterday's Sun Read Online Free PDF

and its contents.
    “Well, I’ve done all the hard work, so I’ll leave the rest to you. I’ve still got plenty of clearing to do. Unless you want to help me?” offered Tom.
    “Didn’t you hear what Billy said? I’m not a common laborer,” grinned Holly.
    Holly spent the rest of the afternoon fitting the pieces of the puzzle together. When she finished, all the cogs were in place in the center of the dial. Uppermost were four claws, pointing toward the skies, reaching out and waiting desperately to grasp the glass orb. Holly dropped the orb into the claws and it rattled into place, although the claws were open too wide to hold it snugly. The reflection from the sun as it glinted off the prism deep inside the orb was painfully bright. Holly called Tom over and they both stepped back to admire their new garden centerpiece.
    “I thought a sundial was supposed to use shadows, not reflections from the sun,” Tom said as he squinted at the orb. He tried to push it down farther into the mechanism to see if the claws would clasp it more tightly, but the dial creaked stubbornly and refused to move. “Looks like you didn’t put it together properly.”
    Holly thumped him.
    “What was that for?”
    “You’re not supposed to force the claws like that.”
    “How do you know?” asked Tom.
    “I just do,” replied Holly, a frown appearing on her brow. She didn’t know anything about sundials, but this one made her feel uncomfortable. She removed the orb and put it back in the box.
    “I’ll put this somewhere safe. I don’t suppose it’s a good idea reflecting sunlight across the garden when there’s so much deadwood still around.”
    “If that’s a hint, then I’ll get back to work. Time is running out.”
    Tom’s words sent a shiver down Holly’s spine. She had a sudden sense of foreboding that she couldn’t quite explain.

2

    T he house felt empty. Tom had left for Belgium in the early hours of the morning. Holly had clung to him until his taxi arrived and Tom had had to prize her fingers away from the lapels of his jacket as she gave him one final kiss, a kiss that would have to last her for six whole weeks.
    “It won’t be for long. I’ll be back before you know it and, besides, it’s less than two hours away by plane. If you need me, I could be back in no time at all.”
    “I should come with you. Whose stupid idea was it anyway for me to stay at home?”
    “Yours,” answered Tom, as kindly as he could.
    He was right; it had been her idea. She had to accept that she was at a critical point in her career. Moving out of the city when her work was starting to receive critical acclaim had been a huge risk. Moving out of the country would be vocational suicide.
    Holly had retreated to her bed, where she allowed herself to wallow in self-pity as she sensed the distance growing between them by the minute. She knew she was being self-indulgent; it wasn’t as if she hadn’t been on her own before. She could quite easily fend for herself, but that wasn’t the point. Her dream had been to move into the village with Tom, not to be on her own. As she lay in bed, the cheerful birdsong that accompanied the dawning of the new day only served to mock her. At least the weather was a little more sympathetic as the storm clouds gathered overhead. Holly pulled the bedcovers over her head and did her best to go back to sleep. It was Sunday, so at least there would be no builders to look after today.
    The birds had recovered from their early morning hysteria and settled into just occasional midday tweets by the time Holly pulled on her sweats, tied back her hair, and dragged herself into the kitchen to make a strong cup of coffee. She spotted Tom’s half-empty mug abandoned on the kitchen table and bit her lip to stifle a sob that appeared from nowhere.
    “You pathetic idiot,” she told herself. “Mrs. Bronson’s sculpture isn’t going to create itself.”
    She took a deep breath and pulled her shoulders back,