Crowned (Girls of Wonder Lane Book 2)

by Christina Coryell

  Forcing a laugh, she nodded and looped her arm through his, standing up a little straighter.

  “Such a sweet talker,” she added mischievously. “Come on, cowboy. Looks like you and me are about to mosey on down to The Lone Star State.”

  Harley had wondered what she would do for the approximate eight hours of her apheresis, and she had an audiobook in case she needed the distraction. With Duke never leaving her side, though, she didn’t need anything extra. Although they hadn’t been seated together on the plane, simply knowing that he was onboard and in her corner gave her a heightened sense of confidence.

  The fact that Ryan had cared enough to ask Duke to accompany her filled her with warmth from her head right down to her toes, and she spent the majority of her flight to Dallas gazing out the window and daydreaming with a slight smile crossing her face. The only thing that had kept Ryan out of her mind after the flight was Duke’s attention.

  Once they had been settled, and Harley found herself sitting in a cozy chair with needles in both arms, Duke located a chair nearby and kept her company. Since she was afraid they might not let him come with her, Harley lied at the desk and stated that he was her father. It wasn’t such a stretch…he was probably older than her own dad, and obviously shared the same love of motorcycles.

  Duke had looked on in amazement as the procedure was explained to Harley, soaking up the details. The blood would be removed through a needle in one arm and passed through a machine that would collect the blood-forming cells, and the remainder of the blood would be returned through a needle in the other arm. It seemed simple enough, and other than the fact that she was still experiencing some headaches and other soreness from the injections back home, things weren’t too uncomfortable.

  “I’m surprised your boss didn’t force you to bring a camera along,” Duke remarked, employing no emotion whatsoever in his voice. As usual, it was hard to tell if he was joking or completely serious.

  “He has no idea where I am, and I’d like to keep it that way. The faster all of that buzz dissipates, the better.” Allowing herself to relax slightly, she pondered her thoughts, trying to decide if she should vocalize them. “I was supposed to go to New York to interview for a morning show, but the truth is, I’m starting to wonder if that’s really what I want.”

  “Well, now, I like Ryan as much as the next guy, but don’t go giving up your dreams just because you might have found a good match.”

  Leaning her head back against the seat, she giggled as she stared at Duke, arms crossed against his leather vest and looking downright intimidating. If she had taken him with her to any of her appointments in Louisville, people might have believed that the local news reporter had employed a bodyguard.

  “Honestly, do you think I’m as fickle as that?” she wondered, glancing at the tube running from her arm to the machine. “All I’ve wanted was to be someone important, and to make a difference. Through all of this, though, I’ve managed to see that being important and changing the world aren’t so much about people looking at you as they are about people not looking at you.”

  When Duke raised his eyebrows in response, she knew she had spoken less than eloquently.

  “What I mean is, being in front of a camera has all the appearance of making a person seem important, and it provides a huge platform for changing things. At least, it would if your boss wasn’t always looking for a political angle on his stories. And I really do think I’ve done some good in my career, but the things that really matter? The things that make the most difference are the things that are done quietly, in the background, when no one is looking. Things where I might not get any recognition at all.”

  “Are you okay with that?”

  She hesitated briefly, pondering the answer deep within, wondering if she could be.

  “You know what? I’m not sure.” Glancing at the ceiling, she shook her head slowly, letting all her concerns flood into her mind. “I keep trying to hold up that mirror and stare into it, but the fact is, I’m not all that impressed with what I see. As much as I hate to admit it, I enjoy the attention. It’s gratifying to my seventeen-year-old self to say, ‘World, do you see me now? You used to make fun of me, but look where I am.’ When I see someone on the street and they call me Louisville’s sweetheart, it makes me feel good. I like the idea that there are teenage girls out there looking to me to see how I dress, the way I carry myself. I even enjoy the fact that I can manage to coerce Denton into flirting with me just by the coy use of language. But everything I do is a show. Denton’s right about that—I’m a great actress. Or, at least I’ve become one.”

  “But that bothers you.”

  Harley longed to put her head in her hands and take a slight breather, but the needles on either side reminded her to remain upright. “Of course it bothers me. ‘Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.’ That’s what one of my professors told me in college. I’ve done that for so long, I’ve nearly lost sight of reality. I can’t tell where Harley Laine leaves off and Harley Davidson begins.”

  “Harley Davidson?” he asked, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

  “Breathe a word of that, and I will end you.”

  “Wow, no need to be hostile.” His words held a bite, but his laugh said otherwise. A smile began to spread across her face, and she bit her lip to keep it from growing.

  “Sorry, nobody knows about that except Ryan, so if you don’t mind keeping that to yourself…”

  “No worries. If anything, it makes me like you even more.”

  “That doesn’t surprise me,” she complained, focusing her eyes on her knees. “Can I ask you a question?”

  “I don’t guess I’m going anywhere.”

  Drawing her eyes up, she focused on Duke, still sitting there calmly with his arms crossing his chest. No doubt anyone who saw them would think he was angry about something, but Harley knew it was an act, just like her high-class reporter shtick.

  “When I was a little girl, I memorized a lot of scripture. A lot. Lately, one passage in particular keeps running over and over in my mind. I can’t seem to make sense of it.” She paused to gauge Duke’s reaction, but since he seemed to have none, she soldiered on. “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.”

  For a split second he just stared at her as though she might be crazy, but then he uncrossed his arms and shifted himself in his seat. “Psalm 8.”

  Startled, Harley blinked twice and twisted her mouth to the side. “What’s Psalm 8?”

  “You just quoted Psalm 8.”

  “Oh.” Her heart sank slightly, and she almost wished she hadn’t brought it up.

  “What do you think of it?”

  “Me?” Shrugging her shoulders, she shook her head. “I’m not sure what to think. I have no trouble seeing the beauty in the heavens, the stars. Those things are easy for me to appreciate, but the part about man… I guess I don’t get it. Why would He care? Most people who are walking around thinking they have the crown are the ones who hurt everyone else.”

  “Says who?”

  “Personal experience?” Forcing a deep breath, she couldn’t coerce herself to even fake a smile. “I think even deeper than that, though, is the fact that I might be just as bad. I’ve been setting myself up as the queen, trying to wrestle the crown from everyone. I have to be the best on my street, at the studio, on television. What if that’s the reason I’m doing this, too? Because I have to be the most altruistic? This whole time, have I only wanted to rescue Kelsey so I could set myself up as her savior?”

  “Nonsense. You care about that girl, don’t ya?”

  “Of course I do.”

  Something inexplicable rose up inside her, and she fought to tamp it down, thinking about the subject in abstract rather than personally.

 
“Psalm 103.”

  “I think we’ve established that I don’t know the numbers, so can you just give me the quotes and save me a headache?”

  Rather than spout more scripture, Duke stepped away from his seat and moved toward her, kneeling down in front of where she sat, careful to avoid the tubes going into her arms.

  “Psalm 103 is David praising the Lord, who ‘redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion.’”

  “With love and compassion,” she repeated, staring at him as he continued to kneel beside her.

  “Love and compassion, darlin’. That’s the crown I see when I look at you. Maybe glory and honor is something you desire, but the crown He’s blessed you with is love. You love Kelsey, and your compassion for her not only drove you to want to help her, but it’s driven you here. It’s driven you to help someone you don’t even know.”

  She felt herself tearing up, and she cleared her throat in an attempt to bring her emotions under control. Sitting in that chair with her blood going through the machine beside her, the absolute last thing she wanted to do was begin crying like an imbecile.

  “Ryan thinks God is intimately involved in our lives, and I’m tempted to believe that myself.”

  “But you don’t,” he assumed gently, placing his hand over hers.

  “I don’t want to believe it,” she admitted, realizing it herself for the first time. “Mainly for what it means for the past.”

  Duke carefully folded her hand between both of his, mindful of the needle in her arm. With a tender look in his eyes, he offered a sad smile. “Hon, just because somebody hurt you doesn’t mean that’s what God intended. And just because someone claims to be right with God, that doesn’t mean they are. It certainly doesn’t mean they talk for Him. There are a might lot of people who called themselves Christians who wouldn’t allow me to darken their doorsteps years ago, because of the way I looked. I’m grateful that I didn’t let them sway me from the truth.”

  Harley let her mind drift to a picture of the church that Duke and Annie attended, seeing the diverse crowd who seemed to have nothing linking them together. Nothing but their faith, at least.

  “But…if things have been hard, and you’ve struggled, does that mean God wanted that? If someone did hurt you, didn’t accept you for who you are, what does that mean? If God really is involved in our lives?”

  Duke shifted to his other knee as he appeared to give her question some thought, narrowing his eyes as he patted her hand.

  “You remember the story of Joseph, in the Old Testament?”

  “Sure, the guy whose brothers threw him in a hole.”

  Her terse response caused Duke to chuckle. “Yeah, they threw him in a hole, and then they faked his death, sold him into slavery. He was wrongly accused, imprisoned, and forgotten by those who vowed to remember him. Not exactly learning experiences I would have chosen.” He paused, peering deeply into her eyes. “But do you remember what he said when he finally told them who he was? Years later, when he was powerful, and they fell before him? He said that they thought evil against him, but God meant it for good. When he was young, he dreamed that he was elevated above them, and they hated him for it. But their actions wound up being the very thing that elevated him.”

  Glancing down at the ground, Harley attempted to digest what he had just said. What they thought evil against him, God meant for good.

  “I don’t know your history, darlin’, and I don’t know what you’re wrestling with deep inside, but I can see this in your very own situation right this second. You remember not too long ago, when you and I were sitting on that bench in front of Tiny’s, and you were upset about your boss using Kelsey to try to make you a star?”

  “Yes, it shouldn’t have been about me.”

  “But he made it about you, and what was different because of it?”

  “It became a spectacle,” she offered softly. “I think it gave us all false hope, because there was such a build-up on whether I would be a match for Kelsey. And it made me look like a martyr, volunteering to be tested for this and that and everything.”

  “Which you wouldn’t have done if your boss hadn’t insisted.”

  “Of course not. I would have done it quietly, and no one would have known except Kelsey’s family.”

  “And you wouldn’t be here now, as a possible answer to someone’s prayers.”

  “Because God used Mitch’s selfishness for good?”

  Rising to his feet slowly, he reached over and tousled her hair a bit, as though she were a child.

  “Well, here you sit, little lady,” he said with an easy smile. “I dare you to doubt that.”

  C hapter Twenty-Six

  The elevator doors opened, and Harley found herself bolting into the hallway before she reminded herself to calm down. An overabundance of haste wasn’t going to help matters, and she needed to try to remain calm for Kelsey’s sake.

  When Ryan called the evening of her stay in Dallas to tell her that Kelsey had been admitted to the hospital again, she wanted to come home immediately. He was able to convince her that there was nothing she could do, and she should wait for her morning flight as she planned. To his credit, Duke talked another passenger on the flight into switching seats with him, and he allowed her to rest against his shoulder, fitfully dozing as they returned to Kentucky.

  Dark splotches filled her vision, and she abruptly stopped, leaning against the cold, sterile wall. Although she felt mostly normal, she was a bit weak. Fainting in the corridor wasn’t likely to assist anyone, and she should have known to take it easy. She had been tired and slightly sore ever since the procedure, and she knew recovery would probably take a week.

  Feeling the blood slowly return to its proper place, she straightened up and began walking, albeit a little more slowly. The patient room loomed ahead of her, and she hesitated before stepping inside, forcing herself to look calm and unafraid for her younger friend.

  She rapped on the door quietly, barely peeking her head inside, where she saw Kelsey lying on the bed. She appeared to be sleeping at first, eyes closed, dark circles resting underneath and her surrounding skin colored with the effects of jaundice. Her lashes slowly flitted upward, though, and she brought her eyes over to meet Harley’s.

  “Please tell me this isn’t just a ploy to get my attention,” Harley said, her lame attempt at a joke eliciting the slightest of smiles from Kelsey.

  “I wish.”

  Regina rose from her seat next to the bed and stepped up to Harley, wrapping her in a warm hug. “How are you feeling, sweetie? Did your procedure go okay?”

  “Of course, but I couldn’t wait to get back, especially after Ryan called. I wish I would have been here.”

  “There was nothing you could do,” Regina assured her as Harley settled on the bed next to Kelsey, taking her friend’s right hand in both of her own.

  “Is there anything I can do for you, Kels? Anything at all, you name it.”

  “Do you have any news on Zac Efron?” Kelsey asked weakly.

  Harley laughed, placing her fist against her mouth to hold back the giggles and the tears that threatened. Shaking her head, she gave Kelsey a tremulous smile. “I love you, you know that? You inspire me, Kelsey Andrews.”

  “I inspire you?”

  Nodding, Harley leaned down and pressed a kiss against Kelsey’s forehead. “Absolutely, more than anyone I’ve ever met. You make me want to be a better person—not for my own benefit, but because I wish I was truly good, like you.”

  “But you do so many good things, Harley,” Regina interrupted, causing Harley to turn in her direction.

  “Sure, sometimes, when I’m dragged kicking and screaming in that direction.”

  “How was Dallas?”

  Harley straightened up and smiled at Regina, sensing that the woman was trying to make things seem more normal instead of sentimental. “I don’t know. I basically saw the inside of the room where I sat all day, and Duke and I had dinner at the hot
el.”

  “The biker from church?” Kelsey asked quietly.

  “Yes. I’m sure we looked like quite a pair. He accompanied me to give me moral support, and I was really glad he was there. Supposedly it was Ryan’s idea.”

  “That’s sweet of him, then,” Regina stated. “So you didn’t have to be alone.”

  “Will you stay with me, Harley?”

  Harley drew her eyes back to Kelsey, attempting to give her a reassuring smile. “Of course, as long as you want me to.”

  Apparently satisfied with the answer, Kelsey closed her eyes to rest again, and Harley looked to Regina with questioning eyes.

  “She’s really tired, that’s all. Everything will be okay.” Rising to her feet, Regina placed her hand on Harley’s back. “Mind if I take a few minutes to walk around? I’m getting rather restless.”

  “Take all the time you need.”

  As Regina stepped out of the room, Harley gently brushed the hair back from Kelsey’s forehead, studying her peaceful countenance.

  “I’m really glad you’re here. I was afraid.”

  A flitter of pain shot through Harley’s heart at that admission, and she squeezed Kelsey’s hand in her own.

  “Everything’s going to be fine,” she choked out, struggling to find words. “You need to keep your hope, sweetie.”

  “I know. I wasn’t afraid for me. I was afraid for you.”

  “For me?” Despite her best attempts, a tear slid down Harley’s cheek, which she let go unheeded, since Kelsey was still closing her eyes.

  “Yes. Because I want you to know that whatever happens, I’m okay. And I love you.”

  Another tear streamed its way down her face, and Harley bit her lip to keep herself calm. “Please don’t talk like that, Kels.”

  “Why? You don’t know what’s going to happen. Things happen to people every day, whether they’re sick or not.”

  The truth of that statement rested on Harley as she stared at her friend, who looked unbelievably pale and fragile at the moment. Even in her state, she could be destined for the world much longer than Harley. Wasn’t that evidenced the day of the explosion, when she found herself at the hospital?