Murray had forgotten. A few weeks ago Derek announced the activity in Sunday school. Later Murray discovered it was Tonya’s idea, which surprised him. He didn’t realize she liked to visit old people.
Poe: Hey, I’m off work on Saturday. Maybe I’ll come along.
Tonya: Yes! Please do! BTW, where do you work?
Poe: Ha! Classified info.
Tonya: Why won’t you tell me who you are?
With a sigh Murray sat back. Tonya was certainly persistent. He thought back to their conversation tonight at church and knew that Tonya was thawing out toward him. But was she ready to find out that Poe was Murray?
Poe: You’re not ready to meet me.
Tonya: Yes I am! If you really loved me, you would do it.
Poe: Well … I’ll think about it.
Tonya: You said that before.
Poe: I’m still thinking.
As Murray typed those words, a plan formed in his mind. On Saturday evening, he could sit beside Tonya in the church van on the way to Douglas, stay near her side at the nursing home, and then—as Murray—ask her to attend a play with him at the Cheyenne Playhouse next week.
Their date would be an experiment. He would show her the love of Christ, as well as his own love for her, and gauge her reaction. If they could get through the evening without arguing, and if she seemed romantically inclined toward him, maybe he would reveal himself as Poe.
Maybe.
Chapter 19
On Friday morning, Tonya picked up Cheyenne, Laurie, and Gretchen in town, and they began their trek to the cooking show in Denver. Although it was only seven o’clock, all four were wide awake and chatting. Not only were they looking forward to the cooking seminar, but they also couldn’t wait to go shopping.
“I need some new clothes,” Gretchen said from the backseat.
“Me, too.” Tonya glanced down at her jeans. The blue was fading at the knees.
Cheyenne, on the passenger’s seat, glanced back at the other girls. “I only brought a hundred dollars in cash, so I can’t buy too much.”
“I’m using my debit card, and I just got paid.” Laurie laughed. “The sky’s the limit for me. I want to buy something special for Corey, too.”
Tonya rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe you’re dating Mr. Hands-on-Me, Laurie.”
“Hey, he’s been a perfect gentleman. Besides, our names rhyme.”
“Corey and Laurie.” Cheyenne grinned. “Maybe you two will fall in love.” “I hope so.” Laurie giggled.
The conversation swirled around Tonya as she thought back to IMing with Poe last night. Now there was a perfect gentleman, and someone who loved her for herself. As she drove down Highway 270, his words lingered in her mind.
Poe: Have a great time tomorrow. Win that trip to Hawaii!
Tonya: OK, I will!
Poe: I’m sending my love with you, and you wouldn’t believe how much I love you, Tonya. I’ll keep you in prayer, too.
She gave a wistful sigh. She still hadn’t told him she loved him, but she knew she did. If only she knew who he was. Lord, please let me meet this guy!
But what if he really was Reed Dickens? Poe said he had to work until eleven tonight, and a three-to-eleven shift was common for hospital nurses. Could Poe be Reed? If so, he was certainly different on the computer than he was in person. At church Reed barely acknowledged her, and he wasn’t the sensitive, poetic type. No, Poe couldn’t be Reed.
At least she hoped not.
But what if she ended up marrying someone else, and Poe just faded from her life? What if she never found out his identity? What would happen to all his talk about love?
Well, she wouldn’t give up! She’d keep praying and trusting God to bring them together.
In the distance, Tonya heard a siren. She glanced in the rearview mirror. A Wyoming highway patrol car, lights flashing, rushed up behind them.
“Oh no!” Tonya’s shoulders drooped as she pulled over to the side of the road.
The other three girls craned their necks toward the back window.
“Don’t worry, girlfriend.” Cheyenne touched Tonya’s shoulder. “Maybe that cop received a dispatch, and he’s going around.”
“No such luck,” Laurie said. “He’s stopping behind us.”
Tonya hit the button to roll down her window. “If that’s Murray, I’m going to kill him.”
Cheyenne laughed. “Murray wouldn’t give you a ticket.”
“Are you kidding? He’s already given me two.”
Laurie leaned forward. “Guess what? It is Murray.”
Tonya tried to quell her irritation, but getting a ticket would take twenty minutes of their time, not to mention another bite out of her paycheck and another spike in her car insurance.
He strode up to her open window and looked inside the car. “Hello, ladies.”
“Hi, Murray!” came the reply in three voices.
Tonya didn’t greet him. “Murray, I wasn’t speeding, was I? I was really trying to stay within the speed limit, and besides that, we’re going to a cooking show. We don’t have time for this. I don’t want to be late.”
“Whoa!” He held up his hands. “I’m not giving you a ticket, Tonya.”
She looked up into his blue eyes. “You’re not?”
He smiled. “You were going four miles over the speed limit, so I stopped you—but just as a warning. The WHP is out in full force on I-25.”
“What’s the WHP?” Gretchen asked.
Murray glanced at her. “Wyoming highway patrol.” He looked back at Tonya. “They’re watching for speeders today on the interstate, so I thought I should warn you. Be careful, and keep your eye on the speedometer.” He took a step back and winked at her. “I don’t want you to get a ticket.”
Her heart fluttered at his wink. “Thanks, Murray.”
“Sure. Have a good time, ladies.” He strode back to his patrol car.
“That was nice of him.” Cheyenne settled back in her seat. “But how did he know you’d be driving on I-25?”
The cooking show was more awesome than Tonya could have imagined. When the girls arrived, they were each given a tote bag full of recipe cards, coupons, and the free measuring cups. The four of them took seats in a large auditorium among several hundred participants, mostly women. A fully functional kitchen was set up on the stage, and one of the cooking masters named Jessie demonstrated a recipe step-by-step. Tonya and the other girls followed along on a recipe card, watching Jessie’s hands in a huge mirror hanging above her head and tilted toward the audience. An hour later, they stood in line to fill up on free food samples set on long tables.
With a half hour of the show left, Tonya took her seat in the auditorium. “I guess we won’t have to eat lunch.”
“I’m stuffed.” Cheyenne sat down beside her. “This is so much fun, Tonya. I’m glad we came.” She pulled the schedule from her tote bag. “The prize giveaways are the last thing before we leave.”
Tonya grinned. “I’m sure we won’t win anything, although Poe and I are both hoping for the trip to Hawaii. You know, that would make a great honeymoon package.”
Cheyenne raised her eyebrows. “Poe asked you to marry him?”
“No, but I’m trusting the Lord. Someday I’m going to marry that man.”
“If I were you, I wouldn’t be too quick about that decision. You’d better find out who he is first.”
“But he’s a Christian, and he’s so sweet.” Tonya sighed. “Do you know why he’s holding off on meeting me?”
“No, why?”
“He says I’ll be disappointed. He’s ‘seven shades of ugly,’ or so he says.”
“Maybe he’s the hunchback of Notre Dame.”
Tonya laughed. “I don’t think so.”
But her smile faded as she thought on Cheyenne’s words. Could there be something physically wrong with Poe? Some type of deformity? Maybe that was why he didn’t want to meet her.
Tears edged her eyes. Someone as wonderful as P
oe should not have to suffer like that. Lord, no matter what Poe’s problem is, I will continue to love him. She would accept him as he was, deformed or not.
The auditorium began filling up again. Laurie and Gretchen came back and took their seats next to Cheyenne. Tonya stowed her purse and tote bag between her feet, ready to go when they were dismissed. She looked forward to spending the rest of the day shopping at the Park Meadows Mall in southern Denver.
When the audience settled, one of the cooks came to the mic. “Hi, my name is Marcie, and it’s time to give away our prizes!”
The audience went wild, clapping and screaming. Tonya screamed with the best of them. She would forget about Poe and enjoy herself.
Marcie waited for the noise to die down. “First, we have a surprise giveaway.” She held up a book. “We have twenty cookbooks to award before we choose winners for our three main prizes.”
Tonya glanced at Cheyenne. “I’d love to win a cookbook.”
Marcie continued, “Open the tote bag you received when you first came in. Everyone has a number posted under the inside flap.”
Along with the rest of the attendees, Tonya picked up her bag and looked inside. Sure enough, a small square of paper was wedged under the flap. She pulled it out.
Cheyenne leaned toward her. “My number is 136. What’s yours?”
Tonya glanced at the paper. “It’s 224.”
“My number is 118.” Laurie looked at both of them from the other side of Cheyenne. “And Gretchen’s is 104.”
Tonya smiled. “Let’s hope one of us wins something.”
On the stage, Marcie turned the handle on a big see-through barrel that was filled with small slips of paper. The other cook, Jessie, joined her as Marcie spoke into the mic. “Jessie is going to pick out twenty numbers for the cookbooks. If I call your number, please come to the front.”
The hushed audience waited as Jessie plucked out a paper from the barrel and handed it to Marcie. “Seventy-two.”
With a little scream, a woman in the middle jumped up and made her way to the front.
Marcie and Jessie kept the numbers coming, with a steady stream of participants moving forward. Finally Marcie said, “Here’s our last one—number 104.”
Gretchen gasped. “That’s me!” Her wide eyes glanced at the other three girls.
“Go, Gretchen!” Cheyenne gave her a thumbs-up before Gretchen stood and walked down the aisle. “At least we won something!”
“I’m glad.” Tonya grinned. “I wanted to see what kind of recipes they put in their cookbook.”
After the participants took their seats, Jessie picked a number for the winner of the electric mixer. Amid the applause, a stout woman claimed the prize. Marcie chatted with her for a few minutes in front of the audience before the lady took her seat.
Marcie looked out over the crowd. “Now Jessie will pick a number for the new stove.”
“That would be nice to win,” Cheyenne whispered.
But someone else claimed it—a man! Everyone laughed and applauded as he went to the front. Marcie chatted with him for a few moments before he took his seat.
Tonya slipped her number back into her bag. I knew I wouldn’t win anything.
“Now for our grand prize—a trip for two to Hawaii!” Marcie waited while Jessie picked a number, and then she stepped to the microphone. “The winning number is 224.”
Tonya’s jaw dropped.
Cheyenne grabbed her arm. “Tonya! You won!”
She met Cheyenne’s eyes. “I can’t believe it!”
Amid thunderous applause, Tonya jumped up and almost ran down the aisle. She couldn’t stop smiling. Poe will be shocked!
Marcie welcomed her with the microphone.
“Congratulations! What’s your name?”
“Tonya Brandt.” She took a deep breath and glanced out at the audience. A blur of smiling faces greeted her with more clapping.
Marcie waited a moment for the applause to die down. “So, tell me, Tonya—who do you plan to take with you on this trip to Hawaii?”
Poe was the only person who came to mind. “Well, last night I was IMing with my … my boyfriend, and he told me to win the trip to Hawaii, and I told him I would. But I really didn’t think it would happen.”
Marcie laughed. “So now you can show your boyfriend a wonderful time in paradise.”
“Well …” She didn’t want these people to get the wrong idea. “Maybe this will entice him to propose marriage. After all, a trip to Hawaii would make a great honeymoon package.”
“It certainly would!” Marcie turned to the audience. “Give our winner another hand.”
Tonya smiled as she walked back to her seat. Imagine winning the grand prize out of hundreds of names! Deep in her heart she knew it wasn’t a coincidence. Maybe God was providing the motivation for Poe to reveal himself.
At ten o’clock that evening, Tonya passed the WELCOME TO WYOMING sign on I-25. Her passengers were quiet—probably as exhausted as she was. After the cooking show, she had filled out a couple of papers for the Hawaii trip, which was good for an entire year. Then the four of them spent the afternoon shopping. On their way north to Wyoming, they stopped for a late supper at an Olive Garden restaurant.
A half hour later, she exited the interstate at Highway 20. The freeway hadn’t had much traffic, but this road looked deserted. After a good twenty miles, she passed the town of Lost Springs, which was more like a building than a town. After all, the sign said it all—LOST SPRINGS, POPULATION: ONE.
She mused on who that one person could be as she drove past a farmhouse off to the left side of the road. A solitary light shone through a window.
Those people are probably getting ready for bed. Tonya wished she could do the same, but from here it might take her another hour to get home. She had to drop off the three girls in town at their respective houses, then drive the seven miles out to the Brandt family ranch.
The orange lights from the dashboard illuminated the inside of the car, and soft classical music from the radio accompanied the hum of the engine. With a sigh she rubbed her left eye. That heavy Italian meal made her sleepy.
Suddenly two coyotes dashed across the road in front of her car.
With a gasp Tonya swerved to the left. The car plunged into the roadside ditch. Tonya’s left arm smacked against the window, and her face hit the glass.
Then everything went black.
Murray received the dispatch at 10:48—twelve minutes before he was scheduled to go off duty. An accident on Highway 20? Must be a drunk wrapped around a telephone pole.
Turning on his siren, Murray left the town of Fort Lob and sped down Highway 270. As his speedometer reached eighty miles per hour, he thought about Tonya speeding. She was never far from his thoughts.
He turned west on Highway 20. Glancing in his rearview mirror, he spotted Fort Lob’s only ambulance far behind him, the lights flashing. Murray turned right and floored the accelerator for fifteen miles until he neared the Whartons’ ranch. Ken Wharton had made the call to 911. As Murray slowed down, he vaguely made out a car in the ditch. Four or five people stood on the road above the vehicle.
Stopping in front of them, he killed the siren and switched on the patrol car’s floodlights. His heart almost stopped when he saw Tonya’s red Hyundai. It tilted into the ditch, the passenger door open.
Breaking away from the others, Cheyenne ran toward him.
He got out of his car. “What happened?”
“I don’t know.” Cheyenne looked at him with wide eyes. “I was half-asleep, and then all of a sudden we were in this ditch.”
“Is anyone hurt?” Murray surveyed the others as he strode toward them. Ken Wharton, his arms folded, stood beside the car. Gretchen and Laurie stood in the middle of the road together, their arms around each other. Dorothy Wharton, a faded nightgown peeking beneath her coat, stayed beside the girls, her arm around Laurie’s shoulders.
Murray’s scalp prickled. “Where’s Tonya?”
“She’s unconscious, Murray. We tried to wake her… .” Cheyenne’s voice trailed off as she twisted her hands together. “The rest of us are okay.”
Tonya. … Murray stared at the car. He wanted to run to her side, but his feet wouldn’t move.
The wail of the ambulance grew louder, snapping him out of his mental fog. The siren stopped as the vehicle pulled up beside Murray’s car. Davin Traxler climbed out of the driver’s side. “How can we help?” He walked toward them as Joe Fonsino exited the passenger side of the ambulance.
“We have one unconscious.” Murray strode to the car and thrust his head inside the open door. Tonya lay slumped against the driver’s door, her seat belt lying useless in her lap. “Tonya? Can you hear me?” He reached across the seat and grabbed her wrist. Feeling a steady pulse, he breathed a sigh of relief as he backed out of the car.
Davin glanced inside. “Looks like her seat belt broke.”
Murray looked from Davin to Joe. “Are we going to have to drag her out from the passenger side?”
“Let me look.” Joe walked down the ditch and surveyed the car. He tried the driver’s door.
“There’s no way to get her door open on this side.”
“I’ll get the gurney.” Davin walked backed to the ambulance.
“Please hurry.” Murray muttered the words, almost to himself. His heart twisted as he glanced at her still form. What if he lost her?
His determination kicked in. If Tonya lived through this, he was going to tell her he was Poe. He would declare his love for her—whether she accepted him or not. And it didn’t matter if the whole town knew.
He would keep pursuing her until she married him.
Chapter 20
On Saturday morning, Tonya opened her eyes to stare up at a white ceiling. She blinked. Where am I? A headache pounded in her temples.
A middle-aged woman in a white uniform came into view above her. “Hi, Tonya. My name is Carrie. You were in an accident last night, and now you’re at the county hospital in Lusk. You have a concussion, so the doctor wants you to stay here a few days where he can keep an eye on you.”
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