A moment later, Lisa followed Herb outside. She saw the car and blinked and stared, as if she couldn’t believe her eyes. And then, when Herb handed Lisa the keys, Lisa threw her arms around him and kissed him.

The scene changed. The whole family was sitting around a beautifully decorated Christmas tree in her mother’s living room. They were exchanging presents on Christmas Day, and Delores handed Hannah a long, flat package in gold paper with little candy canes printed all over it. There was a tag on the front that read, From Dad and Uncle Ed. Hannah took off the ribbon and bow very carefully and handed them to her mother. Delores saved things like that. Then she took off the paper and stared down at the beautifully restored and refinished board inside. Someone had carved two names into the wood in childish block letters. One name was Ed and the other was Lars.

“Your uncle Ed was lucky,” her father’s voice said. “He only had to carve two letters. I had to carve four on the ladder we used to get up into our treehouse. I’m glad you kept our ladder, Honey-bear. And I’m glad your mother remembered what I told her about it.”

Hannah’s mouth dropped open. So that was why Delores had wanted the old ladder that had almost caused Lisa to tumble to the floor. She’d removed the board where Hannah’s Uncle Ed and father had carved their names as boys and restored it as a plaque for Hannah.

The screen went dark and Hannah sighed. She was sorry the glimpse into the future was over. But her father was still here and she concentrated on the form at the foot of her bed. It was beginning to undulate and fade, and she knew that he was about to leave her.

“Dad!” she called out to him. “Will you come back, Dad?”

“I’m always here, Honey-bear. I always will be. And I promise that I’ll always give you a kiss on Christmas morning, just the way I used to do when I woke you up to tell you that Santa had come.”

Hannah opened her mouth to ask another question, but the amorphous form that had been her father changed into wisps of sparkling gold that floated up to the ceiling and then beyond.

“He’s gone,” she said to Moishe. “Dad’s gone, but he promised he’d kiss me on Christmas morning.”

Moishe began to purr and then he licked her hand. And Hannah gave him a scratch behind his ears, something he loved, and that made him purr even louder.

“Hannah?” a voice called her out of her half-awake state. “Mike’s here. I’ll give him some coffee and a couple of the Cherry Shortbread Bar Cookies I made. How do you feel?”