Tariana’s look of confusion did not seem to convince the fired-up woman. “You think I don’t know how you pine after my man? How blind do you think I am?”
Frances appeared willing to start a fight right there in the doctor’s office with Michael’s unconscious body next to them. The coldness of it angered Tariana.
“Do you not care that Michael has survived a horrid accident? He is alive, and your pettiness is unbecoming.”
“And I understand that you can fill me in on all those details as well, since you were with him.” Frances’s voice raised in anger. “Is this the first time, or am I the one deceived?”
The doctor pounded his hand on the nearby table. “Ladies! You will take your argument elsewhere. I have much work to do on this leg. We shall worry about his head when he wakes up.”
Nurse Betty opened the door to the office and waited for the girls to exit.
Frances turned and slapped Tariana full across her face. “I will be staying, and she will be leaving. You might as well go straight to your bedroom, and I hope you do not see the light of day until after my wedding.”
Tariana sped from the room and out the office door, glancing wildly around her. Life for everyone else had returned to normal, and the streets bustled with activity. She was standing there, unsure of which way to turn when Cherise and Samantha hurried alongside her.
“You poor, dear sister,” Cherise said. “To witness Michael fall overboard must have been devastating.”
“How is Frances taking it?” Samantha asked. “I hear there was lots of blood.”
When Tariana continued to stare, Cherise said, “Let us treat you to some tea and maybe a sweet treat at the diner.” They closed in on both sides of her, and the three girls walked arm in arm down the street. By the time they’d reached the Oregon Diner, Tariana felt able to breathe normally again. And when the tea was delivered to their table, she raised the cup to her lips to sip the hot liquid and warm her chill-shocked body.
Cherise caressed her sister’s free hand, lying on her lap. “We can wait until you’re ready to speak.”
“I saw a boy fall from a roof once, and my heart beat erratically for days,” Samantha said. “It’s a horrible thing. And Michael, being almost family and all, just had to be your worst nightmare.”
Tariana sighed and put down her cup. “You both might as well hear the entire story from me. If you haven’t hated me before, you will now.”
“Never,” both girls cried together. “We love you just the way you are, the good with the bad.”
“On Sunday, Michael suggested I go to the dock, and he’d give me a tour. You can well imagine how excited I was to see inside the vessel the men are restoring.”
“Yes,” Samantha squealed. “I dream of riding in one of those ships someday.”
“Yes, and it appears that Michael has been saving to take our Frances aboard for a honeymoon trip.”
“How come she gets all the luck?” Cherise pouted.
“If he does not wake up clearer than when he went to sleep, it might be me that he takes on the trip.” Saying it aloud sounded sinful to her ears, like trying to do a balancing act on the edge of her fall into Hades. Yesterday, she’d have given her eye-teeth for such an opportunity, but not today. Her fanciful future had been forever wiped clean in a flash of time.
“Whatever do you mean? You’re talking in riddles,” Cherise said.
“Michael hit his head on something, and his thoughts are confused. He called me his love and talked as though I were the one he’d chosen for his wife and not Frances.”
“No!” Cherise exclaimed.
“I’m afraid so. We must pray to the heavens that when he awakens, his mind will be set right, and this two-fold nightmare will end.”
“Is Frances aware of his befuddled brain?”
“She was told, and her jealousy is raging out of control. And to think – it wasn’t so long ago that this might have pleased me.” Tariana took a hankie from her bag and dabbed at the tears that threatened to break loose. “Now, Frances will focus on the fact that I was with him – invited by him – to tour the ship, and that he had a life grip on my hand when she walked through the door to the infirmary. Thank goodness, he was unconscious at the time, so he was spared the ugliness of her reaction.”
“I can hear it now,” Samantha said. She let out a low whistle.
“Except this time, I can’t blame her, and I have no idea how to make it right.” Tariana fell silent, and a gloomy mood settled over the threesome.
Chapter 6
The trio of sisters stopped by the infirmary before returning home to find their father seated quietly in the waiting room; of course, they’d call the preacher to pray.
“How is Michael?” Cherise asked.
“Resting. Doc says his leg will heal fine. He’s more concerned about his head. Seems he’s a bit confused, but we won’t know the extent of it until he wakes up, and we can question him.”
“Is Frances still in with him?” Tariana asked.
“Your mother took her home. She is a mess of emotions, which the patient does not need to see when he comes around. His parents are with him, so he’s not alone.”
Reverend Clarence Gracin stood and stretched. “I was waiting for you girls. There’s nothing we can do here. Might as well head to the house.”
“I’d like to stay, Father,” Tariana said.
“Do you not suppose you’ve done enough damage for one day?” her father asked.
“Not on purpose,” she said in her defense. “Michael was
