She couldn’t answer.Her heart was hammering so wildly, it made clear thinking impossible.She lowered her head, not wanting Jordan to see the effect he had on her.
His free hand gently lifted her face.“Your car?”
“It’s not running again.”Her voice didn’t sound right, even to herself.“It stalled last week, and I couldn’t get it started.I phoned the car dealership where I’d bought it, and they put a new battery in.The mechanic said since the car is three years old, that probably was the problem.”
“Who’s the mechanic?”
“George somebody.He works for Olsen Ford, where I bought the car.”
“And?”
“Well, it died again the other day, and this George said it needed a new alteration.”
“Alternator,” Jordan supplied with a grin.
“Whatever!”she said irritably.“Anyway, the car did it again today.That’s why I’m drenched.I had to leave it and walk home.”
A flickering light of anger entered his eyes.“I’ll handle it for you.”
“No,” she challenged sharply.“It’s going to give me a great deal of pleasure to talk to these people.”
A light rap on her door stiffened her instinctively.She wasn’t expecting anyone.
A tall, well-dressed man of towering bulk greeted her.
“Jordan here?”He placed heavy emphasis onJordan,his expression alive with amusement.
“Bill.”The name was spoken with no welcome as Jordan moved toward the man.“I said I’d only be a minute.”
The huge man shrugged.“I got tired of waiting” was the only excuse he offered.“Aren’t you going to introduce me?”
“Bill Malloy, Skye Garvin.”The introduction was issued grudgingly.
Bill Malloy smiled warmly at Skye, and his strong hand closed firmly over hers.“You’re everything Jordan said and more.”He released her hand slowly.His eyes, trapping hers, possessed a mocking gleam.
“Weren’t we on our way to a meeting?”Jordan asked curtly.
“We were.”Bill smiled.“I know how Dan hates to be kept waiting.”
“Then let’s get moving.”Jordan’s voice sounded thin and brittle.
“It was a pleasure meeting you, Skye.”Jordan’s friend’s gaze continued to hold hers.
“Yes,” she said in some confusion.Her attention darted from one man to the other.Bill was finding something highly amusing, but what?Jordan was recognizably upset.His lips were firmly compressed, as if he was holding his anger tightly in check.
“I’ll phone you,” he promised Skye, ushering his friend out the door.Gently his hand touched her cheek.
Skye watched them go, thoroughly bewildered.Jordan had never mentioned why he’d stopped by.Although he hadn’t said he was returning to LA, Skye had gotten the impression he was.She honestly hadn’t expected to see him again.
A shiver danced over her skin, reminding her she was wet.She didn’t care to ponder the question of what exactly had caused her skin to quiver.
The bathwater steamed up the bathroom mirror.It was a luxury to linger in the tub.Skye could actually feel the hot water chase away her chill.Scooping the moisture over herself with the washcloth, her thoughts drifted back to her visit with Peggy.It was almost unbelievable that her sister-in-law would talk to her like that.And because the things Peggy said were so untrue, it hurt all the more.Skye had come so far, considering that the grief had been overwhelming at first.It was as if the pieces of her life had crumbled before her.But simply because she was a living, breathing soul, she found herself forced into a resilient, elastic world.Although others cared, they couldn’t know the emotional torture she had endured.Suddenly a gnawing pain swelled inside her until her eyes burned with tears.
Resting her head against the back of the tub, she stared sightlessly at the ceiling, tears streaming unheeded down her face.Could it be that Peggy was right?Had all this grief lain just below the surface, not really being dealt with at all?Skye examined the last eight years of her life.Had she really made a martyr of herself?Deflecting male relationships and commitment to another man?But Glen had been so special.He was the only man she’d ever loved, ever wanted.Loving another would betray what they had shared.It had been cruel and heartless to take him from her.
It came to her then.Profound and deep.The shock raised goose bumps over her pale skin, although she lay in a tub of steaming water.She blamed God for taking Glen.Over the years she had yielded other areas of her life to her Lord but had stubbornly withheld this one facet of her Christian walk.Her faith had been smaller than a mustard seed.Instead of looking uponhis death and all that followed as having worked together for her good, Skye had never forgiven God.
Rising from her bath, she wrapped a towel around herself and faced the bathroom mirror.With jerking movements she wiped away the steam to examine herself.Sally was right; her hairstyle—the coiled bun—was harsh and purposely unattractive.With troubled eyes and her heart hammering, she pulled the pins and watched her hair tumble down.It needed to be cut to a more manageable length.Her pale cheeks looked bloodless and waxen.How long had it been since she’d purposely made herself attractive?But perhaps she looked wan because she was seeing herself with new soul-searching eyes.
