“I have that same app,” I said, my heart warming at this shared connection between us. “And you’re right, listening to the sound of rain is the perfect cure for insomnia.”
After getting ready, Claudia and I jumped in my car and took off. Her bus back to Houston didn’t leave until after lunch, so she still had a few more hours on the island with me. My hope was she’d change her mind and stay for Jillian’s party tonight.
On the way up the mountain, her phone dinged with a text, and she smiled. “It’s Leland. He’s feeling a lot better and is driving down to Rose Island this morning.”
“That’s wonderful. I can’t wait to meet him. He knows he’s invited to the party, right?”
“I told him.”
“Well, I hope y’all will stay.”
She shrugged. “I guess it will just depend on how he feels once he gets here.”
I nodded, not wanting to pressure her. “Whatever you decide is perfectly fine. I’m just so happy we were able to have this time together.”
“Me, too.”
Outside the museum, Claudia and I found Keith, pacing the sidewalk with the baby on his shoulder. “She’s finally asleep,” he whispered.
“Okay, we’ll be quiet,” I whispered back.
He gestured toward the banquet hall. “Your boyfriend is inside hanging the strobe light.”
I smiled at the word boyfriend. I, Bianca Morgan, had a boyfriend, something I’d almost given up on.
Claudia and I went inside where Daniel stood on a ladder, adjusting the light that reflected off the disco mirror ball.
“What do you think?” he asked.
“It looks great,” we both said.
“Good. Let’s turn off the overhead lights and see what it looks like in the dark.”
Matt hit the switch, and the effect was enchanting. Bits of light flickered across Daniel’s face and hair as he climbed down the ladder and came toward me. I sucked in a sharp breath, daring to believe this handsome man actually cared about me as much as I cared about him.
*
For the rest of the morning, everyone worked hard arranging the tables and decorating for the party. As I ironed the wrinkle-free tablecloths, Joy and Claudia worked together to come up with the perfect solution for the centerpieces—a combination of wild daisies, cedar branches, and roses.
While Keith had purchased the daisies and roses from the flower shop, the girls had collected the greenery from the woods surrounding the museum. Listening to the two of them chat as they corroborated together warmed my heart. It felt as though God had given me two daughters instead of just the one I’d asked for.
When everything was all set, Keith took the baby home while the rest of us wandered through the museum. I wanted to show Claudia some of the exhibits; plus, I was determined to find the plastic horse Joy had talked about in the Urgent Care the other day.
The horse must’ve been moved, however, because the place where I’d last seen it had been taken over by dozens of enlarged photographs displayed on easels. According to a sign, all the pictures had once appeared in the local newspaper.
“That girl looks like Vicki,” Claudia said, pointing to one of the photographs.
I followed her gaze and laughed at the picture of my sister wearing a tiara and cape. “It is her. That’s the night she was crowned homecoming queen.”
“I didn’t know she was homecoming queen,” Matt said.
“She was.”
“Is that Seth Watson?” Daniel asked, pointing at someone in the background of the picture.
“It is, and . . .”
“That’s your brother standing next to him,” Joy finished for me.
“Wow,” Drew said, “that is Uncle Marcus, isn’t it?”
I nodded, the lump in my throat aching as it often did whenever I unexpectedly came across a photo of Marcus. Daniel rested a hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
Matt pulled out his phone and took a picture of the photograph. “I’m going to send it to Aunt Vicki.”
“Let’s go see if we can find any more pictures of people we know,” Drew said. He took off, wandering through the exhibit with Joy, Claudia, and Matt.
Daniel and I trailed behind, taking our time. “Are you okay?” Daniel asked.
“Yes, I’m fine. Sometimes it’s just really hard to see pictures of Marcus looking so happy and full of life.”
“I imagine so.” His tone was somber. “I wish I could say the same thing about Libby, but things were so tense in our marriage, especially at the end, that I don’t have a lot of good memories of her.”
“I’m sorry.”
He nodded and glanced across the room at Joy who was laughing with Claudia. “My dad made a comment when he was here at Christmas. Enzo had said something similar when Joy was younger, so—”
“Aunt Bianca,” Drew shouted from the other side of the exhibit, “come here. I want to show you something.”
I pulled my gaze from Daniel and glanced at Drew. “Give me just a minute, okay?”
When I turned back to Daniel, he was staring down at his phone. “Sorry, I’ve got to get this.” Without further explanation, he headed toward the exit door and left.
I stared after him, desperate to know what he’d been about to tell me. What had his dad and brother said?
“Aunt Bianca, are you coming?”
“Yes.” I strode over to Drew and the others who were studying a photo taken on the old Ferris wheel that used to be down by the pier.
“It’s Grandma and Grandpa,” Drew said.
“Oh, wow. It is.” I smiled at the sight of my mom and dad who both looked so happy. My parents had definitely experienced their share of marital problems, but for the most part, they had a loving relationship I admired.
“I think I remember riding that Ferris wheel,” Joy said.
I nodded. “You probably did. Until it was destroyed by a hurricane a few years ago, it was one of the most popular things to do on Rose Island.”
Matt, who was standing behind me, said, “Joy, is that you?”
I turned to see that Matt was looking at another picture taken of the Ferris wheel. This one showed a little girl and her mother.
“Oh my gosh, it is me.” Joy stepped toward Matt to get a better view of the photo. “I can’t believe it, but that’s me and my mom.”
“You were so cute,” Claudia said. “Look at your pigtails and that little dress. And your purse. I had a purse just like that.”
“My mother gave me that purse for my birthday.” Joy’s voice held a note of melancholy.
I glanced at the image of Joy before turning my attention to her mom. For some inexplicable reason, my heart began pounding and I struggled to breathe. I must’ve made a gasping sound or something because everyone turned to stare at me.
“Bianca?” Joy asked. “Are you okay?”
I pressed a hand to my chest. Was I having a heart attack? No, it was more like a panic attack. A feeling of dread that something wasn’t right.
Leaning closer to the photograph, I studied Joy’s mom. A ragged scar ran from the corner of her eye down to her lip. I’d seen that scar before. Seen it turn red with anger.
Taking a deep breath, I looked at Joy. “Did your mom ever work as a nurse in South Carolina?”
Joy shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. Why?”
“It’s just . . . well, she looks like the nurse from the hospital when Claudia was born. The one who took that picture of us.”
Joy frowned. “My mom worked as a preschool teacher in El Paso. We never lived in South Carolina.”
“That nurse’s name was Tiffany Jackson,” I continued. “Did your mom ever go by the name Tiffany Jackson?”
“No.” Joy folded her arms across her chest. Something wasn’t right, but what was it?
“It’s probably just the scar,” Drew said. “Not a lot of people have a scar like that.”
“Drew,” Matt scolded. “Don’t be rude.”
Drew
shot Joy a look of apology. “Sorry. I wasn’t making fun of your mom’s scar, it’s just really noticeable.”
“My mother hated that scar,” Joy said. “She used to say it was proof that the gods despised her.”
“The gods?” Drew said.
Joy nodded as my stomach roiled. Then I remembered. Tiffany had used the exact same words to describe her scar. The exact same words.
Chapter 36
Daniel
Standing outside the museum, Daniel answered his phone. “Enzo?”
“Yeah,” his brother said.
“Oh, hey.”
“Hey,” Enzo said. “I got your message about calling you back. It sounded important. Is Joy okay?”
“Yeah, she’s fine.”
“Her numbers have been good?”
Daniel nodded. “They’ve been really good lately.”
A deep silence fell between them. Although Daniel had rehearsed what he’d say if his brother actually returned his call, he found himself unable to speak.
“So, what is it? Why’d you call?” Enzo’s voice held the same measure of anger it had during their fight at Christmas.
Daniel continued walking away from the museum. “I wanted to talk to you about . . . well, about everything. About—”
“About betraying me by cozying up to Dad behind my back?”
Enzo’s words hit him hard. “I should’ve told you he was on the island,” Daniel conceded.
“Yeah, you should’ve. And maybe you should’ve remembered what he did to us. What he did to Mom.”
“I remember.”
“Do you? Is that why you invited him to Christmas? Is that why you were playing Happy Family with him like nothing had happened?”
Daniel took a deep breath. “I didn’t invite him to Christmas, and I wasn’t playing Happy Family with him. He just showed up. I was just trying to deal with it the best I knew how.”
“You didn’t think about dealing with it by telling him to leave?”
“Of course, I thought about that.” Daniel shoved a hand through his hair. He wanted to shout back at Enzo and say this was why he’d been afraid to say anything in the first place. He’d known his brother wouldn’t understand.
“Look, I gotta go,” Enzo said.
“Please don’t.”
Without a word, his brother hung up the phone. Frustrated, Daniel kept walking. After a while, he turned and headed back to the museum.
Sinking onto a bench, Daniel placed his ankle across his knee and tapped his foot. Why had he listened to Bianca about calling his brother? He couldn’t make Enzo see his side of things any more than he could cure Joy’s diabetes or erase his father’s mistakes.
Sometimes things were just out of your control.
Father, I abandon myself into your hands. Do with me what you will—
“Daniel?”
Looking up, he found Bianca, staring at him with concern. “Are you praying?”
“Sort of.” He motioned for her to join him on the bench. “That was my brother on the phone. I left a message for him last night, and he was calling me back.”
“What did he say?”
Daniel just shook his head, discouraged.
Bianca sat beside him, uncharacteristically quiet. He glanced at her, worried by how pale she looked. “Are you okay?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. There’s this photograph inside.”
“A photograph?”
She nodded. “It’s of Joy and her mom on the Ferris wheel when you came to the island.”
“Oh, wow. What’d Joy say about it?”
“Not much, but Daniel . . . I think I met Joy’s mom before.”
An ominous feeling slithered up his spine. “Where?”
“At the hospital in South Carolina when I had Claudia. Did you and Libby live there when Joy was a baby? Did Libby ever work as a nurse or use the name Tiffany Jackson?”
Daniel’s head pounded. “I don’t know.”
Bianca frowned. “What do you mean you don’t know? Joy’s birthday is a month before Claudia’s. This nurse told me she had a newborn at home, so if it was Libby, Joy would’ve been her baby.”
Wiping his hands on his jeans, he took a deep breath. He’d never told anyone this. Not Enzo, not his sister, and not even Joy.
“Daniel.” Bianca placed a hand on his arm. “What is it?”
He studied her carefully. “I don’t know if Libby ever worked as a nurse in South Carolina when Joy was a baby.”
The furrow between Bianca’s brows deepened. “I don’t understand.”
“I wasn’t there. I didn’t meet Joy until she was almost a year old.”
“You didn’t?”
“No. I’ve never told anyone that. Not even Joy.”
“I won’t say anything, but why didn’t you meet her until then?”
He sighed. “It’s a long story. You have to understand I was a different person back then. Before I found God, I slept around a lot. I’m not proud of it, but I was just your typical guy who didn’t think it was a big deal. If the girl was willing, why not?
“Anyway, Libby and I hooked up a few times. Then, she moved away, and I didn’t see her for a while. After my mom died, Libby just showed up on my doorstep, claiming Joy was my daughter. She even showed me the birth certificate, which had my name on it.”
Bianca’s eyes widened. “That must’ve been a huge shock.”
“It was. I didn’t think Joy was mine, regardless of what the birth certificate said, but Libby insisted. She told me she’d lost her job and didn’t have anywhere else to go. I felt sorry for her, so I agreed to let them stay with me while we waited for the results of the paternity test.”
Bianca nodded. “The test obviously came back positive.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because Joy looks just like you.”
“Does she?”
“Definitely. She has your laugh, and you both have this funky way of saying the word tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Yes, just like that. Joy says tomorrow just like you do.”
Daniel offered a sad smile. “Well, like I said before, blood isn’t always thicker than water.”
“What do you mean?”
He pushed out a deep breath. “The paternity test came back positive, but this past January, I learned that Libby had falsified the test results. She’d also lied on Joy’s birth certificate. Any characteristics Joy and I share are because of nurture, not nature.”
“I don’t understand. Are you saying you’re not Joy’s biological father?”
“That’s right. I’m not.”
“Are you sure?”
He nodded. “A long time ago, Enzo told me he didn’t believe Joy was mine. I insisted he was crazy, but when my father came down at Christmas, he made the same comment. Hearing that really bothered me, so I decided to do another paternity test. This time it came back negative.”
“It was probably a mistake.”
Daniel shook his head. “No, I ordered it three times from three different labs, and the results were the same. I know it doesn’t matter. Joy’s my daughter. She’ll always be my daughter, but I feel like she should know the truth.”
Bianca sat back hard. “Wow. When are you going to tell her?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, given what you told me, it’s possible that Libby was the nurse in the hospital.”
“Yes, it’s possible.”
“I’m sure Joy’s going to tell you what I said about recognizing her mother, so you should probably say something sooner rather than later.”
“I know,” he said, feeling cornered by the accusation in Bianca’s voice. “I’m going to tell her. I just have to figure out how.”
“How what?” a voice behind them said.
Spinning around, Daniel’s heart sank at the sight of Joy staring at him. “Joy.”
“What are you talking about, Dad? What do you need to tell me?”
&nbs
p; Swallowing hard, Daniel formed his words carefully, knowing what he was about to say would impact his daughter for the rest of her life.
Chapter 37
Claudia
Looking out the window, Claudia watched as Bianca and Daniel talked to Joy. Something was going on with the three of them, and it didn’t look good.
Claudia assumed their conversation had to do with Bianca’s belief that Joy’s mom was the nurse from South Carolina, but she had no idea why that would be a big deal.
The sound of her phone ringing caused her to jump. Glancing down, she saw it was her mother. “Mom?”
“It’s Clark,” her brother said, his voice small. “I’m calling you on Mom’s phone.”
“Hey, Clark. How’s it going?” She turned from the window, happy to hear his voice. Even though she’d only been gone a few days, she missed him. For that matter, she missed her entire family.
“When are you coming home?” he asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Oh. We’re at the hospital. Did Mom tell you?”
Claudia’s heart plummeted. “No, what’s going on? Is it Dad?”
“No. It’s Clay. He broke his arm because of me. I was the one who told him to do it.” Clark started crying so hard she could barely understand him. “He didn’t want to do it, but I told him he was a baby for not trying.”
“What did he do?”
“He tried jumping onto the ceiling fan when it was moving. We both did. I missed and landed on the bed, but when Clay went, he landed on the ground and broke his arm.”
“Oh, Clark.”
Her brother sniffed hard. “Please don’t be mad at me, Claudia. Dad said I was grounded for a year, and Clay said he was never speaking to me again. I think even Mom—” He heaved a giant sob. “I didn’t mean for him to get hurt.”
“I know you didn’t.”
“What if he gets cancer and loses his hair like Dad?”
“What?”
“Because of the hospital. Dad went to the hospital and came home without any hair. What if that happens to Clay? Then he’ll really hate me.”
Her brother was crying hysterically now. “And tomorrow’s our birthday, but you’re not even going to be here. You’re going to miss our party and everything.”
Bianca's Joy: Rose Island Book 3 Page 20