She spent a restless night. If she’d been able to toss and turn in the bed she would have, but the IV and the tube, not to mention the constant pain in her broken ribs and arm, made it impossible. The faces of James, Annie and Grandpa were constantly before her, like pictures hung on a wall. Especially Annie. No mother should have to lose her son.
A woman dressed in a business suit and holding a clipboard tapped on Tavia’s partially opened door then stepped inside. “I’m from the hospital’s admittance office. I need to get some information from you. Since you were unconscious when they brought you in, we were unable to ask about your insurance. You do have insurance coverage, don’t you?”
Her heart pounding, Tavia shook her head.
The woman made a notation on the clipboard. “I’m sure there was adequate accident coverage on the vehicles involved to cover any hospital bills you might incur, but we like to have this information for our records.” With a smile, she turned and moved toward the door. “Thank you. That’s really all I needed to know.”
The morning dragged on, with Tavia continually watching the clock. At ten, she burst into tears. Just knowing those who loved Adam were gathered together at the church for his funeral made her heart feel it was being crushed by some unseen weight. She could visualize the family huddled together on one of the pews as the organ played and the preacher said a few words, probably reading from the Bible. She glanced toward the beautiful bouquet the Flints had sent her, and the small vase of white daisies, and wondered how many baskets of flowers graced the front of the sanctuary. Was the church filled to capacity with their many friends and business associates? She wished she could be there to pay her respects. As who? Jewel? Or as Tavia—the imposter?
I am an imposter, she told herself. If only I could tell them.
These people have been kind to me, treated me with more love and respect than anyone I’ve ever known. But any minute now, the clock will strike midnight, the truth will come out, and I’ll become Tavia McRae again. A poor little girl with no money, no job and no place to go.
The doctor came in a bit later and, after looking over her chart and checking her head wounds and her arm, and talking about her broken ribs, said, “We’ll be able to remove that tube from your throat soon. You may not have noticed, but we’ve been gradually decreasing some of the settings now that you are doing most of the work on your own. You just might get rid of that thing tomorrow.”
While Tavia would be glad to have that uncomfortable tube removed, she also knew it would be her day of reckoning. With it gone, there would no longer be a reason for her not to tell the Flint family who she was.
A selfish thought came to her. Since no one questioned the fact that she was Jewel, could she possibly mask herself as Jewel a little longer? Just until she was able to take care of herself and Annie’s health improved? Tavia shuddered at the ridiculous idea. Only someone desperate would do such a cruel thing. But—wasn’t she desperate?
Grandpa came into her room later, explaining the funeral had been exceptionally hard on both Annie and James, and he’d encouraged them to go on home and rest, volunteering to come to the hospital in their place. “I’m sure they’ll be here this evening,” he told her, scooting a chair up close. “I told them you’d understand.”
Tavia nodded. She wanted only the best for them. Though she’d known them for only a short time, she’d grown to respect them both. Why couldn’t she have been born into a family like Adam’s?
Beck’s smiling face appeared in the partially opened doorway. “Hi, I hope I’m not disturbing you.”
Grandpa turned at the sound of his voice. “Of course you’re not disturbing us. Come on in.”
He’s walking!
Beck hobbled into the room with the assistance of a cane. “How is Annie doing? At times, she didn’t look like she’d make it through the service.”
Grandpa shrugged. “James took her home. I think the doc gave her something to make her rest. She didn’t sleep at all last night. He found her lying in Adam’s bed, his picture cuddled to her breast. It’s like she’s in a fog. It seems to take every ounce of her strength just to get dressed.”
“How is—” Speaking in soft tones, he nodded his head toward the bed “—she?”
“Hard to tell since she can’t talk, but she seems to be doing as well as can be expected. The doc told us he might take the tube out tomorrow.”
Leaning on his cane, Beck rounded the bed and stood staring at Tavia, his eyes kind and filled with concern.
Grandpa rose and motioned toward his chair. “If you’re going to be here for a few minutes, Beck, why don’t you sit down? I think I’ll go out to the vending machines and get a soft drink. Can I get you anything?”
“No, thank you, sir.” Beck shuffled a few steps then, holding on to the arms of the chair, lowered himself and sat down, his broken leg extended out in front of him. “I had a cup of coffee in my room.” He smiled up at her. “I hope you’re doing okay, ma’am, and feeling some better.”
She blinked her eyes in response.
He fidgeted in the seat, glancing away from her face and toward the window. “It’s kinda strange, talking to someone who can’t answer back. I—I don’t know exactly what to say.”
I don’t care what you say—just keep talking.
“Umm, let me see.” He allowed a small smile to curl at the corners of his mouth. “Are you a sports fan? We could talk football.”
She gave a miniscule shake of her head.
He twisted his mouth to one side and frowned. “I’m not much on current events or politics.”
Again, she shook her head.
“Oh, so you aren’t, either. Gardening? Sewing? The latest fashions? I’m sure not up on those subjects.”
She raised her brows and gave a slight nod toward him.
He smiled up at her. “You wanna hear about me?”
I live a pretty boring life. I’ve never been married— or divorced. I don’t believe in divorce. When a man and woman take marriage vows, it should be for life. That’s not just my way of looking at it, it’s God’s way.”
It surprised her that a nice-looking man like Beck would remain single. He had to be in his late-twenties, maybe even thirty.
“I nearly got married. Once,” he went on. “It’s a long story. Maybe I’ll tell you about it sometime. What else do you want to know? I doubt you would want to hear about the trucking business. It’s about all I know.”
Tavia widened her eyes and nodded, hoping he’d continue.
Beck grinned. “You really want to hear about the trucking business?”
Again, she nodded.
He used his hands to lift his bad leg and adjust its position. “You sure about this? Okay, you asked for it. The trucking business. I worked on a loading dock when I was in high school and found I liked being around trucks. The week after my eighteenth birthday, I enrolled in the truck driver’s class at the local vocational-technical training center, got my license and began doing short hauls around the Denver area. About a year later, I went to work for one of the cross-country lines, found I liked those longer runs, and began saving toward buying my own truck. Three years later I bought one.” He chuckled. “It looked like an old clunker, but mechanically, it was in great shape. Drove it for about four years, then bought the truck that—” He stopped midsentence, clamping his lips together and lowering his gaze to the floor.
Tavia felt a shudder course through her body. The truck that caused the accident!
After several tense moments, Beck pulled his handkerchief from his pocket and blew his nose. “I’m sorry, Jewel. That was careless of me. I didn’t mean to remind you of your loss. Please forgive me.”
“Can you believe that machine ate my dollar bill?” Grandpa swept into the room shaking his head. “Guess I should’ve gone to the nurses’ station and complained, but I didn’t.” The man stopped in his tracks. “What’s going on here? You look like you’ve been suckin’ on persimmons.”
Beck braced himself with his cane and pulled to a standing position. “I put my foot in my mouth.” He hobbled toward the door, pausing by Grandpa to add, “Maybe I’d better be going.”
Grandpa looked from Beck to Tavia and back again. “Think you can make it back to your room by yourself?”
Beck managed a smile. “Yes, sir. I think I can. I got here by myself.”
The two men shook hands, then Beck turned back to face Tavia. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up unpleasant things. I hope you know that.”
Tavia bobbed her head. I’m so glad you came, Beck.
As soon as he was out the door, Grandpa seated himself and rested his elbows on her bed. “Now, where were we?”
Beck paused outside the door and switched his cane to his other hand. His sole purpose for coming to Jewel’s room had been to cheer her up. He could only imagine what the day must have been like for her, knowing her fiancé was being lowered into his grave. She’d been upset, as he’d known she’d be, but she seemed to be taking it a little better than he’d expected. Probably, with her own physical problems and the meds they were giving her to take the edge off her pain, the reality of his death hadn’t fully hit her yet. But once she got out of the hospital and Adam was no longer in her life, it’d jolt her pretty hard.