Always in My Dreams Read Free Page B

fact that Skye had not been moved to take "Worth" as her own surname. She had grown up as a Dennehy. She was not enamored of the idea of replacing it with something else.
    That last thought brought Skye back to her earlier conversation with her father. "He's got some sort of plan up his sleeve, you know."
    Daniel's light brows came together as he frowned. "Who? Charlie?"
    "No, not Charlie. I don't care about Charlie or Alice or any of the others." Which was more or less the truth. "I'm talking about Jay Mac. This inventor business is just a bit suspicious. It's not like my—" Without warning, Daniel's left foot slipped to the side and caught the blade on Skye's right skate. They wobbled, clutching one another, scrambling to hold their balance. Somewhat to Skye's amazement it was Daniel who managed to compensate, his lanky figure folding and unfolding like the pleats of an accordion. Skye went down with an unladylike oooff and sprawled across the ice on her stomach. Her face was protected by the ermine muff she had managed to raise at the last possible second. It cradled her head on the ice while she caught her breath.
    She was vaguely aware that she and Daniel had become the center of some confusion and attention. A few couples had managed to avoid bumping into them as they had teetered on the ice, but two others not paying attention had gone down hard. Skye heard her name used like a curse. She smiled, closing her eyes as she took a quick inventory of body parts. She sensed, rather than saw, Daniel hunkering down beside her and the beginnings of a crowd gathering around them both.
    "Skye? Are you all right?" he asked, touching her temple. "Where do you hurt?"
    She opened one eye and said drily, "All over."
    "Is anything broken?"
    Skye was still taking inventory. She stretched her legs and rotated her ankles. "Nothing's broken."
    "Do you think she'll lose the baby?" someone in the crowd whispered, loudly enough to be heard.
    "She shouldn't have been skating," said another. "She probably wanted to be rid of it."
    "I think she fainted," said a third.
    The conversation around her was so absurd, so patently ridiculous, that at first Skye had no idea she was the subject of the scandalous speculation. It was the stricken look on Daniel's face that made her take notice of the talk and eventually apply it to herself.
    "It's happened before in her family," a voice whispered knowingly. The confidential tone was carried on the back of the wind to all parts of the gathering circle. "Her sisters, you know."
    "Not all of them, surely. Isn't one a nun?"
    "Why do you think she went into the convent?" came a reply. It was said with the authority of gospel.
    "My mother says this is the final straw," said a young woman. "I'm not allowed to accept any more invitations if she'll be there. It doesn't matter who her father is. My mother says it's what happens when a Protestant like Jay Mac takes up with a Catholic." There was a small pause, as if the speaker was shuddering. "If she knew about tonight..." She let her voice drift away, allowing her friends to imagine the consequences she might suffer if her mother heard about this incident.
    Skye was too angry to be mortified. Did they think she was deaf? She held out her hand to Daniel. "Will you help me up?"
    He took her hand and her elbow and assisted her into a sitting position. "You're certain you're all right?"
    "I will be, as soon as you get me out of here." She hardly recognized her own voice. The words had been said through clenched teeth.
    The crowd began to disperse as Daniel helped Skye to her feet. His own balance wasn't steady but no one offered to lend a hand. Looping his arm under Skye's, he supported her as they skated away from the party to the edge of the pond and the bench located on the perimeter. After she sat down he knelt in front of her and began loosening the laces on her skates.
    "You shouldn't pay them any attention, Skye," he told her. "They were speaking without