Beverly Barton - Faith, Hope and Love Read online

  Jody neared Faith’s hospital bed. Worth held back, staying just inside the doorway.

  “Hi, there,” Jody said. “Dr. Tracy tells me that you’re having a problem with your memory.”

  Worth inched a little closer to the bed, close enough so that he could see Faith. Her swollen, bruised eyes were open and she stared at Jody with complete puzzlement.

  “Do I know you?” Faith’s voice sounded incredibly weak.

  “Oh, Faithie.” Jody swallowed her tears. “I’m Jody Crenson. I’m your best friend. We’ve been buddies since we were kids.”

  “Jody? You’re my friend.”

  “That’s right.”

  “I’ve had an accident,” Faith said. “The doctor told me that I’m going to regain my memory and he told me that I had two friends waiting to see me.”

  “Yeah, that would be me and Worth.”

  “Worth?”

  Jody motioned to Worth, then said to Faith. “Yeah, this guy hasn’t left the hospital since they brought you in. He’s been awfully worried about you. We all have.”

  As Worth came up beside Jody, Faith asked, “Are you my husband?”

  Jody gave Worth a concerned look.

  “We aren’t married,” Worth said. “Not yet.”

  “You’re my fiancé?”

  “Something like that.” Worth reached down and took Faith’s hand. “It’s good to see you awake, Blue Eyes. You’ve been asleep for days.”

  “Blue Eyes?”

  Worth chuckled. “That’s what I called you when we first met. Well, actually I called you ma’am at first, but once I got a good look at those beautiful blue eyes of yours—”

  Faith squeezed his hand. “Your voice seems familiar. I’ve heard it somewhere before.”

  “I’ve been talking to you while you were unconscious,” Worth told her. “Maybe you heard me.”

  “What—what kind of accident did I have?” Faith looked up at Worth. “Was I in a car wreck?”

  “Not exactly, but I don’t think now’s the time for you to worry about that. You just concentrate on getting well and regaining your memory. Don’t worry about anything else. I’m going to take care of you.”

  “Because you love me,” Faith’s voice was a mere whisper.

  “Yes, because he loves you,” Jody answered for him. “We all love you. The whole family.”

  “Family?”

  “You’ll meet them later,” Jody said. “There’s George and Lindsey, who are like…well, they’re like your aunt and uncle. Then there’s Margaret. She’s like your…sort of a grandmother to you. And there’s—”

  “There’s plenty of time later to talk,” Worth interrupted. Now wasn’t the time to tell a woman who had no memory that she was the mother of an infant. He knew that despite her amnesia, Faith’s maternal instincts were probably undamaged and the minute she heard she had a kid, she’d go nuts worrying about the child.

  “Yeah, Worth’s right. You need to rest and get well.” Jody backed away from the bed. “I’m going to call the family and give them a current update.”

  Worth stayed with Faith, her little hand wrapped securely in his grasp. “You’re going to be all right and your memory will return. I know it has to be frightening for you, but trust me to take care of everything. Whatever you want, whatever you need, I’ll make sure you get it.”

  “I’m so tired,” Faith said. “And I hurt. I ache all over.”

  “I’ll see if they can up the dosage on your pain medication.”

  When Faith grasped Worth’s hand tightly, he was amazed by her strength. “Don’t go,” she pleaded. “Don’t leave me.”

  He leaned over and gently kissed her bruised forehead. “I’ll stay right here until the nurses run me out.”

  Someone behind him cleared their throat. Worth glanced over his shoulder and recognized Nurse Malone and Detective Rollins standing in the doorway.

  Chapter 4

  “Dr. Tracy said that I could speak with Ms. Sheridan,” Detective Rollins said.

  “He’s allowed five minutes.” Nurse Malone followed the policeman into the room. “I’m to stay with him while he questions her.”

  Faith clung tenaciously to Worth’s hand. “Why do the police want to question me? Is it about the accident?”

  Worth could see not only the fear and uncertainty in Faith’s eyes, but he could sense how nervous and upset she was. “Don’t worry. Remember that I’m here and I won’t let anyone hurt you.” Worth eased Faith’s hand from his, then turned to meet Detective Rollins.

  “Would you mind stepping outside, Mr. Cordell?” the policeman asked.

  “Yes, I would mind,” Worth replied. “I’m sure you’ve been told that Faith has amnesia. She’s not going to be able to tell you anything. Not now.”

  “I understand, but I need to speak with her all the same.” Rollins was somewhere in his late thirties, with a short, stocky frame, dark hair and mustache and a professional manner about him. “If you want to stay, Cordell, it’s fine with me.”

  Rollins came forward, Nurse Malone at his side. Worth rounded the foot of the hospital bed and took a stand. Faith’s gaze sought and found his. He offered her a supportive smile and when she returned his smile, an odd sensation hit him square in the gut. Faith didn’t remember him, didn’t know him at all, yet on some instinctive level, she trusted him. It was as if her subconscious recognized him as her protector.

  “Ms. Sheridan, I’m Jerry Wayne Rollins, a detective with the Whitewood police department and I need to ask you a few questions.”

  Faith looked to Worth. He nodded. She turned to the detective. “All right.”

  “Ms. Sheridan, do you remember what happened to you?”

  “You mean the accident?”

  “Do you think you had an accident?”

  “I don’t know. I—I assumed that since I’m badly injured and in the hospital, I must have…Wasn’t I involved in a car wreck?”

  Rollins glanced at Worth. He knew she had to be told, but why now? Couldn’t it wait? It would be different if she could remember anything, but she couldn’t.

  Rollins looked to Nurse Malone. “The doctor said it was all right to explain things to her.”

  “Yes, it’s all right,” the nurse replied.

  “Ms. Sheridan, you weren’t in a car wreck,” the detective said. “You were assaulted, kidnapped and severely beaten.”

  Faith’s blue eyes widened in shock. Her mouth opened in a silent gasp. Then her gaze collided with Worth’s.

  “Worth?” She held out her hand to him. He rushed to her side and took her hand. “Is he telling me the truth? Is that what happened to me?”

  “Yes, that’s what the police believe happened,” Worth told her.

  “Who would do such a thing to me?”

  “We don’t know for sure,” Rollins said. “That’s one reason we were hoping you could remember something…anything that might help us.”

  “I’m sorry. I don’t know.” Faith frowned, a worried expression forming on her face. She glanced around the room nervously, then tried to lift herself into a sitting position.

  Nurse Malone rushed to Faith. “Please, don’t move around. You need to lie still and rest.” The nurse turned to Rollins. “Perhaps you should go, Detective. I’m afraid Faith is becoming agitated.”

  Worth followed the policeman out into the main area of the ICU.

  “Rollins?”

  “Yes, Mr. Cordell?”

  “Want to fill me in on what’s happening?”

  Rollins gave Worth a curious stare. “Such as?”

  “Such as why you’re here questioning Faith and not somebody from the Sparkman police department? Why you don’t have a guard posted here at the hospital? Why—”

  Rollins held up a restraining hand. “The Sparkman P.D. and the Whitewood P.D. are working together, along with the Greenville P.D. and the state Bureau of Investigation, but since Dr. Tracy informed us that Ms. Sheridan has amnesia, we saw no point in having anyon
e other than our department do the initial questioning. And at present, we see no need to post a guard. If the Greenville Slayer is the one who attacked Ms. Sheridan, then she’s probably safe. He’s made no attempt to harm either of the other two women who survived his brutal attacks. Not while they were recovering or since.”

  “You’re taking a chance with Faith’s life on the assumption he won’t seek her out while she’s here at Memorial. I’m not willing to risk it. Either I or another agent from Dundee’s will stay near Faith 24/7 while she’s in the hospital.”

  “That’s fine with me, Mr. Cordell. She’s your girlfriend and you feel a need to act protective. My job is to do all in my power to find the guy who nearly killed her. If she can remember anything about what happened to her, it might help us.”

  “When her memory starts coming back, we’ll be in touch.”

  Before the detective was out of sight, Worth heard Faith calling his name. Repeatedly. He rushed back into cubicle four to find Nurse Malone physically restraining Faith.

  “Please, see if you can do something with her,” the nurse said. “If you can calm her, I won’t have to give her a sedative.”

  Worth all but shoved the nurse aside as he leaned over Faith’s bed. She reached for him, one slender arm hooked up to tubes and wires. With the utmost tenderness, Worth encompassed her fragile body in his embrace as he jerked the side rail down and sat on the edge of the bed. Lying there, cuddled against his chest, her fast, erratic breathing began to slow and return to a steady rhythm.

  “Don’t leave me,” Faith pleaded.

  Worth rubbed his chin across her temple then kissed the top of her head. “I’ll stay right here with you, if you promise you’ll relax and rest.”

  “I promise.”

  Worth’s gaze connected with Nurse Malone’s, who smiled and nodded, then left the room. When she returned fifteen minutes later, Faith was asleep, cocooned in Worth’s arms.

  A week later Worth sent Domingo Shea back to Atlanta. The Dundee agent had swapped out twelve-hour shifts with Worth during Faith’s hospital stay, but today Faith had been dismissed from Memorial. Her cuts were beginning to heal and the bruises had faded to pale yellow. The doctors had told Worth and Faith’s “family,” it was a miracle that neither of her legs or arms had been broken, only her nose, considering the severity of her beating. She had suffered several cracked ribs, which were also healing nicely.

  While the nurse’s aide wheeled Faith out to the canopied hospital entrance, Worth pulled his rental car to a stop, hopped out and rounded the hood. He and the aide filled the back seat with the flowers Faith had received once she’d been moved from ICU to a private room. Then Worth swept Faith up in his arms and placed her in the front seat of the car. After securing her seat belt, he thanked the nurse’s aide, then returned to the driver’s side.

  “Ready to go home?” he asked.

  “I don’t even remember where home is,” she said. “But yes, I think I’m ready.”

  “Everyone’s going to be there,” he told her. “By everyone I mean—”

  “Jody and Margaret and Lindsey and George.”

  “You’ve memorized their names.”

  “Yes, and I can put each name to a face. They’ve been visiting me every day since I came out of the coma.”

  Worth pulled onto the street and headed toward downtown Whitewood. The family had agreed that Faith should be told about Hope before she came home and Worth had decided that since he was Hope’s father, it was his place to tell Faith about their child. It had been a unanimous decision to wait until Faith had recovered to some degree before telling her that she was a mother.

  “You’re going to stay with me, aren’t you?” Faith asked.

  “Yes, I’m staying. We’ve been over that several times, haven’t we? I’m not going anywhere.”

  “I’m sorry, Worth, but for some reason I can’t get over this irrational fear that you’re going to leave me.”

  Was her reaction simply gut instincts or was it a hint of returning memory? Worth wondered. Right now Faith depended on him, needed him, wanted him. But how would she feel once her memory came back and she realized he wasn’t the knight in shining armor she thought he was? He had taken her virginity, gotten her pregnant and hadn’t shown up for the most important date of her life.

  Worth pulled the Camry into Faith’s driveway and killed the motor, then turned to her. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

  “Something bad? I’m not sure I want to hear anything else bad. It’s been difficult enough coming to terms with the fact that someone nearly beat me to death and that this person might be a serial killer called the Greenville Slayer.”

  “This isn’t bad news,” Worth assured her. “It’s actually good news.”

  Faith cocked her head to one side and smiled. “If it’s good news, why do you look so somber?”

  “Jody and the others have planned a welcome home party for you. Nothing elaborate, just them and us and…” Worth reached out and caressed her cheek. “There’s someone else in your life, someone very important.”

  “I don’t understand.” Faith’s nose crinkled when she frowned. “Jody told me that my parents are dead, that I have no brothers and sisters, that she and I grew up at the Whitewood Girls’ Ranch. Is this important person another friend, someone who couldn’t come to the hospital to see me?”

  “No, not exactly. You see…you have a…we have a…Hope is our child. She’s four months old and—”

  “I have a baby? I’m a mother?”

  “Yeah. Her name is Hope.”

  “And she’s our child? Yours and mine? She was born four months ago and we aren’t…we didn’t get married? Why didn’t we marry?”

  “It’s a long story and we’ll eventually get around to it,” Worth said. “But for now, you need to know that there’s a baby in there waiting for her mama, waiting for you.”

  “Oh. I—I can’t believe I have a child and I don’t even remember her. What sort of mother am I?”

  “You’re a good mother. The best. It isn’t your fault that you’re suffering from temporary amnesia.”

  “I’m beginning to wonder if it is temporary.” Faith sighed heavily. “It’s been over a week since I came out the coma and so far, I don’t remember anything.”

  “Not consciously, but I think you do remember a few things subconsciously. Not memories exactly, but feelings.”

  “What if when I see my child, I don’t feel anything? What if I don’t feel like a mother? She’ll know. She’ll sense it and…Oh, Worth, I’m scared.”

  “I’m pretty scared myself,” he admitted. “You see, Faith, I don’t know our daughter and she doesn’t know me. I haven’t been around since she was born, so I’ll be getting to know her for the first time.”

  “You weren’t with me when she was born?”

  Worth shook his head.

  “Where were you?”

  “You and I had ended our relationship before you found out you were pregnant with Hope.” Worth knew that he owed it to Faith to be as honest with her as he could be, without undermining her confidence and trust in him. “I got it in my head that you were better off without me, so I did what I thought was best for both of us.”

  “You told me about how we met in Subria, when I was working as a nanny for a billionaire’s daughter and how you were part of the rescue party who freed me. Was that when our daughter was conceived, when we were in Subria?”

  Worth nodded.

  “But we barely knew each other. Somehow it doesn’t feel right. I don’t know why, but I feel as if I’m not the sort of woman who’d go to bed with a man I just met and I wouldn’t have a child without a husband.”

  “That’s exactly the kind of woman you are—the good girl kind who gets married first,” Worth told her. “But when we were hiding out in Subria, waiting for the rescue chopper, we both knew we might not make it out alive. We had sex…made love because we thought it might be our last night on earth.�
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  “We didn’t love each other?”

  Worth couldn’t bear the look of disappointment and regret in Faith’s big blue eyes. “Maybe not then, but later…”

  “Later we fell in love?”

  “Yeah, something like that.”

  “But you didn’t know I was pregnant and you left me because you thought I was better off without you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And we have a baby together and you’ve come back because…” She glared at him. “When did you come back?”

  “What difference does it make when I came back? I’m here now and I’m staying to take care of you and Hope.”

  Worth caught a glimpse of the front door to Faith’s apartment easing open. Jody peeped outside.

  “They’re waiting for you,” he said. “Are you ready for your homecoming party?”

  “I thought I was, but…What if I don’t remember how to take care of a baby?”

  “You won’t be alone. I’ll be here and Jody lives next door and Lindsey and Margaret are only a few blocks away. We’ll manage. After all, how difficult can it be to take care of one four-month-old baby?”

  Worth got out of the car, lifted Faith into his arms, and carried her up the sidewalk, onto the porch and through the open front door. Jody closed the door behind them, then followed them into the living room. Margaret sat on the sofa, Hope in her lap. Lindsey and George hovered in the doorway leading to the kitchen.

  “Welcome home,” they all called out in unison as Worth seated Faith on the sofa beside Margaret.

  Everyone held their breaths as Faith studied Hope, looking her over from curly red hair to pink booties. When Faith held open her arms to her child, a collective sigh reverberated throughout the room. Hope gurgled and gooed when Faith took her and held her.

  “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” Faith looked from one person to another and each person smiled and said that yes, Hope was the most beautiful baby in the world. “She looks like you.” Faith’s gaze rested on Worth, who stood only a few feet away. “She has your eyes, your chin and…” Faith wound one of Hope’s red curls around her finger. “Was your hair this color when you were a baby?”