The three adults exchanged glances while Skye did exactly as Billy predicted.
Dr.Warren’s office was within walking distance of the hospital.
“Do you want to wait out here, or do you want to come and talk to the doctor with me?”Betty questioned as they sat in the half-full waiting room.
“I’ll stay out here,” Skye whispered.
Betty immediately looked disappointed.“Okay,” she nodded, putting on a brave front.
Skye was half tempted to change her mind, but she couldn’t always be there for Betty to lean on, especially since she would be leaving San Francisco in June.No, it would be better if Betty started facing things on her own.
The nurse called Betty’s name a few minutes later and she rose, sending Skye one last pleading glance.Skye winked, lending her emotional encouragement.
After Betty had left, she scanned through several magazines that lay on the end tables.An issue that was dated several months back caught her attention.The cover showed CarinCain’s smiling face.Skye smiled secretly to herself.Of late she felt she owed the model a great debt.Flipping open the pages, she turned to the article and skimmed the contents that recounted the model’s industrious career.The second page of the article showed several pictures.One in particular leaped from the page.It read:Dan Murphy, well-known music magnate and longtime friend of Ms.Cain.
Dan Murphy...Dan Murphy...Dan Murphy...the full-bearded man stared back at her while her mind screamed his name.
Her fingers trembled so badly, she thought she’d drop the magazine.A knot formed in her stomach and twisted painfully as she continued to stare at the picture.At first glance she wouldn’t have known it was him; the full beard hid his features well.It was the piercing gray eyes staring back at her that betrayed him.The man she loved had lied to her.
Jordan Kiley was Dan Murphy.
Chapter Ten
Two nurses dressed in green surgical gowns briskly stepped across the family waiting area.Both women raised their eyes expectantly, only to be disappointed as the nurses walked through the room without pausing.It was too soon.They both knew it would be hours yet before they would receive word of Billy’s condition, but they were looking for a miracle, anything to end the interminable waiting.
Billy had been wheeled on the long stretcher from his room to the surgical floor two hours before.Betty had broken into tears as she walked beside her son.Although drugged and woozy, Billy had attempted to assure his mother and sent a pleading glance toward Skye.But tears shimmered in her own eyes, and she looked away, unable to respond to his silent plea.Skye had wanted to be both supportive and encouraging to Betty, but her whole world had come crashing down on her and she was as desperately in need of emotional strength as Betty.
Now the two women sat together, yet very alone.Unable to boost each other’s confidence, they didn’t speak.Unable tocomfort each other, they didn’t touch.Unable to smile, they avoided looking at each other.The nervous uneasiness stretched between them to a fine, taut line.
As time progressed, every minute, every hour, became a battle waged against fear.Skye read her Bible, seeking solace, but the comforting words only skimmed the surface of her mind.The hurt of Jordan’s deception blocked the comfort of God’s words.She didn’t know if Jordan was his name or if it was really Dan, and yet he was the man she had agreed to marry.A man she had insisted she could trust.
When a tall, blond-haired man entered the waiting area, Skye felt Betty stiffen.
“Bill.”The name was wrenched from her in an outpouring of incredulity and relief.She sprang to her feet and locked her arms around him.
Skye recognized the stranger immediately.It could only be Billy’s father.The sparkling blue eyes and broad forehead strongly resembled those of young Billy.Skye’s throat constricted at the sight of the two entwined in each other’s arms, tears streaming down their faces.
“I’ve been a fool.Can you forgive me?”he pleaded, his voice urgent.“I didn’t know about the accident.I swear I’d have come home had I known.”
Possessing a strength Skye would never have suspected, Betty calmly related the details of the accident and the events leading to the surgery.The fear that had sparked like electricity between them only a few minutes before was gone.This was what Betty needed to face the ordeal of Billy’s surgery.Neither Skye nor anyone else could replace the presence of this man, her husband.
The scene was poignant and tender.The two needed privacy to speak, and after an awkward introduction Skye slipped unnoticed from the waiting room.
The small chapel was empty, she noticed gratefully.Here there could be no façade, and, staring into the distance, she allowed the acid tears to fall, burning her cheeks.She prayed again for Billy, her voice a hushed whisper, and for a long while afterward sat silently and meditatively.
“How could Jordan lie to me like that, Lord?”she asked as all the pain of his deception rushed forward.It was the same agonizing question she had uttered a thousand times during the past few days.It was ironic that he could have been so offended by her small deception and at the same time be grossly misleading her.From this point forward she knew she couldn’t trust him or his love.With everything that had happened, she had to believe he’d offered marriage as a means of getting her to agree to sign a recording contract with his company.And all their talk about trust.Skye buried her face in her hands.If Jordan had any love for her at all, then he would have told her the truth.
How could she have been so wrong about him?Perhaps the hurt wouldn’t be so intense if she hadn’t bared her soul to him.The details of Glen’s death that she’d shared had been a measurement of her love.Jordan couldn’t possibly love her, she realized.Carrying the charade to this extreme proved his avowed love could only represent a shadow of what God meant their love to be.
After Glen and her father had died, Skye felt she would never again experience such deep emotional pain.Now she was forced to admit her error.No physical pain could possibly hurt this much.Straightening, she wiped her face dry and swallowed the lump in her throat.She knew what she must do.
The swish of air came from behind, indicating someone had entered the chapel.The tiny hairs at the base of her neck rose in recognition.It was Jordan.He had said he’d come, but Skye had half expected him to lie about that, too.She didn’t turn around, wanting to delay seeing him as long as possible.Thesound of each footstep advancing toward her was magnified a hundred times until Skye lowered her head to reduce the deafening noise.With her eyes shut tightly, she prayed for control and the strength to do what she must.
When Jordan sat beside her in the wooden pew, Skye jerked slightly with reaction.This was going to be worse than she’d imagined.
“I didn’t mean to startle you,” he whispered tenderly, and with familiar ease slipped his arm around her shoulder.
Skye couldn’t tolerate his touch; it made things all the more impossible.Trembling, she broke the contact and stood shakily, her feet almost faltering as she left the chapel with him.
