“Sounds good to me,” Faith murmured obediently, though the idea of having people wait on her had never set very well with her. She had always done for herself. As weak as she felt, though, she figured she could stand having Jayne and Alaina turned loose in her kitchen for a few days, despite their decided lack of domestic skills. The two of them together couldn’t boil water.
“I’ll check in on you again tomorrow, honey,” Dr. Moore said, moving toward the door, black bag in hand. “Call me if you need me.”
Faith thanked him, tucking her smile into the corners of her mouth. Dr. Moore had let the women’s movement bypass him entirely. He still doled out casual endearments as easily as he did lollipops. Faith knew he didn’t mean to be condescending or disrespectful in any way. He was just a nice, fatherly old gentleman who treated all his patients as if they were his own children. It was that kind of friendly warmth that had drawn her to Anastasia in the first place.
Jayne and Alaina stuck their heads in the door as soon as the doctor was through it.
“Feeling up to having visitors?” Alaina asked.
“For a little while,” Faith answered, wondering if one of her visitors would be Shane. She hadn’t had a minute alone with him since the ordeal. In fact, she thought, with a little shiver of fear, it almost seemed as though he had been avoiding her.
She remembered none of what had happened on the boat after Strauss had shot her. Her memory held fragments of the emergency room-the bright lights, the metallic sounds and antiseptic scents, the sense of urgency as people rushed around. There was no doubt in her mind that Shane had held her-the sense of safety she recalled was unique to being in his arms. But in the hours since he had kept his distance.
“Honey, if you’re too tired, we can come back later.”
Faith jerked herself out of her musings, looking almost startled to see her friends. Jayne had pulled a chair up beside the bed, and Lindy had immediately scrambled up onto her lap. Alaina, holding herself a little apart as she always did, was leaning against the foot post, a worried frown tugging down her lush mouth.
“No, no, I’m fine,” Faith assured them.
Alaina’s frown only deepened. “I don’t think many people would agree with you, considering what happened.”
“It could have been worse.” Faith forced a bright smile, needing desperately to lighten the mood. The last thing she wanted was to relive the horror of what had happened. As it was, she knew the black memory would haunt her for the rest of her life. “Like they say in the movies-it’s just a flesh wound.”
Jayne rolled her eyes, readily taking Faith’s cue. “How cliché.”
“What’s that mean?” Lindy asked, twisting around on Jayne’s lap.
“It’s what writers in Hollywood get paid for, sweetheart,” Jayne replied with a saccharine sweetness that was lost on Lindy. She hugged the little girl and shot Faith a teasing look. “Look on the bright side. When this is all over, I can write your story into a screenplay, Alaina can negotiate the deal, and we’ll make a million selling it to TV for a miniseries. Mr. Callan can play himself and become a star.”
“Pass,” Faith said, shaking her head against the pillows that had been plumped up behind her. “I think I’ve had about all the notoriety I can stand.”
Jayne pouted prettily, tucking a strand of her wild auburn hair behind her ear. “There goes my big break.”
“I thought you were all through with Tinsel Town,” Alaina remarked dryly.
“I am. It never hurts to have connections, though. What if one of my llamas is destined to become the next Mr. Ed?”
Alaina sniffed. “Sounds like a good argument for owning a library card.” She pushed herself away from the bedpost and reached out to tousle Lindy’s hair. “Speaking of breaks, I think we’d better give Faith one.”
Faith didn’t argue the suggestion. The medication Dr. Moore had given her was kicking in, making her feel numb and fuzzy-headed. She managed a smile for her friends, wondering what she would have done without them. “Thanks again for staying with me, you guys. I really appreciate it.”
Alaina took hold of Faith’s good hand and gave it a squeeze that revealed more of her feelings than she would ever verbalize. “What are friends for if not to trash your house and eat everything in your freezer while you’re laid up?”
On her way out Alaina stopped in her tracks and whirled around. “I almost forgot!” she exclaimed, digging a perfectly manicured hand into the deep pocket of the loose-fitting raw silk jacket she wore. “This came for you in today’s mail. It’s from Bryan. I thought you’d want to open it right away.”
It was uncanny how Bryan’s little gifts always seemed to turn up when his friends were most in need of a spiritual lift. But Faith had learned not to question it. Bryan didn’t seem to think it unusual at all. His only explanation of the phenomenon had been a shrug and a smile.
She examined the small brown package, Christmas-like excitement momentarily overriding the other complex mix of emotions she had been experiencing. The return address on the box was a castle in Ireland. That sounded like a good place for ghost hunting. Faith could only wonder what else Bryan had found there to catch his fancy.
“I can’t open it,” she said, frowning at her bandaged arm. “I don’t have enough hands.”
Alaina dispensed with the small box’s wrapping and opened the square jeweler’s case inside. Faith gave a little gasp. Nestled on a bed of frayed green satin was a man’s ring. Hesitantly she lifted it out. It was obviously very old. The gold had mellowed in color with time and wear. Inside the band was an inscription in what Faith presumed to be Gaelic. But the most remarkable feature of the ring was the crest it bore-two intricately intertwined hearts. They were so worn, parts of them were nearly gone, but there was no mistaking what they were.
They were identical to the pendant that seemed suddenly warm against her skin.
The note inside the box read:
Dear Faith,
I found this in Kilkenny and thought you should have it. I think you’ll want it when you find the end of your rainbow. I envy the man you give this to. He’ll be getting a heart more pure and bright than anything made of gold.
All my love to you and the rest of the Fearsome Foursome,
Bryan
“It’s lovely,” Alaina said softly. “But why would he send you a man’s ring?”
Faith didn’t answer. She merely stared at the ring, then closed it in her hand when a knock sounded at her bedroom door.
“Come in.”
Shane opened the door but came only halfway through it, as if he were uncertain of the reception he would receive. Faith’s gaze met his, and a hundred unspoken questions sang in the air between them.
Alaina glanced from the hard-bitten warrior in the doorway to her friend’s tightly closed fist, and shook her head. “Uncanny,” she muttered, then cleared her throat delicately. “I’ll leave you two alone.”
Shane moved into the room but didn’t so much as glance at Alaina as she left. All his attention was focused on the woman who lay in the canopied bed. She looked so fragile, so vulnerable. Her pale skin almost matched the prim cotton nightgown she wore. Shadows lingered beneath her shining dark eyes. Shane’s heart ached at the thought that she was in that bed because of him.
Faith’s heart was pounding as she took in every aspect of Shane’s appearance, from the tips of his black shoes to his elegantly cut dark trousers, the dress shirt that spanned his broad shoulders and tapered to his trim waist. His handsome, aristocratic face wore a carefully closed expression, but it didn’t quite mask the emotions in his eyes.
What she read in those silvery depths frightened her. Regret. Pain. A tortured anguish that seemed to reach out and clutch at her heart.
She had gotten her wish. Shane had come to see her, but she knew with an ominous sense of foreboding that she didn’t want to hear what he had come to say. Digging down deep, she found she had a little scrap of strength left. She wrapped herself around it and prayed it would get her through whatever was to come.