Indecision moved over his young face.“I...I overheard my mom and Dr.Warren talking,” he began shakily, close to tears.“They didn’t know I could hear them.They thought I was asleep.Dr.Warren told Mom there may be a chance I could walk again, but I’ll need this new kind of operation.”A solitary tear escaped and slid from the corner of his eye onto the white pillowcase.Embarrassed, Billy fiercely wiped his eyes.“My mom needs me to take care of her.Ever since Dad left, she’s been so unhappy.She used to cry all the time—she still cries—but she tries not to let me know.I don’t want to walk just for me.I need to walk for Mom.I’ll be able to look after her then, instead of her looking after me.”
Billy’s unselfish concern for his mother brought tears shimmering to Skye’s eyes.“Then we must pray very hard, Billy.But most of all, we must believe Jesus loves you and your mother and He knows what’s best for both of you.We must trust Him to do what’s right.”
“Will you pray with me?”he whispered, almost as if he were afraid prayers were a sign of weakness instead of strength.
“Of course I will, every night, if you want,” she promised.
The troubled face relaxed.
“If you’re able to have the surgery, would you like me to stay with your mother?We could wait and pray together for you.”Billy’s sense of duty was so strong toward his mother, Skye knew this would help him.
A smile brightened his face.“Would you?”
“Sure thing, Sprout,” she promised.
Later that evening, after Skye had sung and entertained the children, Sally joined her in the nurses’ lounge for a cup of coffee.
“Dr.Warren has begun some of the testing on Billy,” Sally announced.
“And?”Skye couldn’t disguise the concern that heavily laced her voice.
“Thus far, it looks favorable, but everything rests on Dr.Snell’s opinion,” Sally explained with tight-lipped anxiety.Elaborating on the details the operation would entail, Sally was interrupted by a volunteer.
“Skye, there’s a call for you on line one.”Joyce Kimball stuck her head around the door frame.“I had it transferred in here.You can use the phone on the countertop.”
“Thanks, Joyce.”Setting her cup on the table, Skye moved to the phone.“I wonder who would be phoning me here.”
Sally slouched indolently and batted her eyelashes teasingly.“I bet it’s Jordan Kiley.He’s fallen for you, my dear girl.”
“Hardly.”Skye dismissed the thought with a wave of her hand and turned her back on Sally’s wicked gleam.
“This is Skye Garvin,” she said hesitatingly.
“Hello, blue eyes.”
It was Jordan, and the tender affection in his voice brought a tingling sensation to the ends of her nerves.But before she could express her surprise, Jordan continued.
“Are you free tomorrow afternoon?”The question was abrupt, asked in a brisk voice.
“Yes.”She moistened her suddenly dry lips.“I can’t think of anything offhand.Why?”
“Good.I’ll pick you up after school; wait there for me.I haven’t time to explain now.I’ll see you tomorrow.”As quickly as the conversation had begun it was over.Skye turned back to Sally, her expression showing her confusion.
“Jordan?”Sally asked with a know-it-all attitude.
Skye nodded, deep in thought.“He’s coming tomorrow but...but he didn’t say why.”
“This sounds serious to me,” Sally teased, twitching her eyebrows.
Still thinking about the brief conversation, Skye didn’t notice the dramatic scene Sally was enacting until she glanced upward to witness a paper towel draped over Sally’s head as she slowly marched up an imaginary aisle, singing in her loudest voice the reprise to the wedding march.
“Here comes the bride...tall, skinny, and snide...”Before she could complete another witticism, Skye threw a pillow in her direction and burst into laughter.
The afternoon beams of sunlight filtered through the window of Skye’s classroom.Looping a long strand of honey-colored hair behind her ear, she stood from her position on the floor with the children and stretched.A warm sensation grew within her at the beauty of the unspoiled day.With the warm weather the children were anxious to be outside and rose eagerly when the bell rang announcing the close of another day.Within minutes her classroom was empty as the children exploded onto the playground.
When Skye returned to her desk to straighten a few papers, she caught sight of Jordan through her windows, walking across the school grounds, weaving his way among the children.Unbidden, her senses clamored at the sight of him, and she recognized anew the depth of her feeling for this virile man.His face looked drawn and tired, as if something were weighing on his mind, but the look they exchanged when their eyes met was anything but jaded.
He entered her classroom, his smile warm and disturbing.“Why is it none of my teachers was ever this beautiful?”he murmured.
