the support from her family — and even from Brandon — to have the courage to move on. Maybe a few of her Facebook friends were going through similar situations, and the Ezra verse might speak to them.
Bailey ran the brush through her hair. The trouble with the verse was that it brought Cody’s name to mind — the way so many moments in a day still did. And that caused her to check his Facebook page. She’d told herself a hundred times that looking in on Cody wasn’t healthy. She didn’t need to know what he was doing or how his football team was coming along. It wasn’t smart for her to analyze his page, reading his wall or checking out his information to see if he was still single. Every time she looked in on him, she only walked away feeling worse, rejected all over again. And every time she asked herself the same question: How could he go on like nothing was wrong? Like they hadn’t just walked away from the greatest love either of them might ever know?
But today was worse than ever. All along she’d known that at some point she would look at his Facebook and find a picture of Cheyenne and him. It was inevitable, since he was spending his time with her. Bailey had read every one of Cody’s updates on Cheyenne, how she was healing and coming along after the accident. Of course he was with her. But still, she’d never seen a picture of them together.
Until this morning.
Bailey listened for the women’s voices in the front room. They would talk for a few minutes first — Betty had told her that much. If she wanted to join the Bible study, she still had a little time. She dropped to her desk chair once more and in a few clicks she was back on Cody’s page. His profile picture was the same — a group shot of him and a few of the players. He looked as handsome as ever, his face more chiseled maybe. Stronger — if that were possible.
The photo was something Cody was tagged in, and it was taken by one of the players, Arnie Hurley. It was posted last night — Sunday — and it showed Cody and Cheyenne sitting in his pickup truck while half the football team held a sign welcoming her back. Since she was sitting in the truck, Bailey couldn’t make out exactly what she looked like. But what she could see shook her confidence completely.
Cheyenne was gorgeous — striking cheekbones and big brown eyes. Straight dark hair to her shoulders. Bailey had never felt more plain in all her life. She leaned close to the screen and tried to get a better look. When Cheyenne was fighting for her life in a hospital bed, she’d looked nothing like she did now. But that made sense — what with her head bandaged and the swelling in her face after the accident. Now she looked like a supermodel.
Bailey breathed out, fighting the defeat that welled in her heart. No wonder Cody hadn’t called her. He was clearly in love with Cheyenne. He could tell her he didn’t feel worthy of her love or try to convince her that their lives were too different for a relationship between them to work. But the truth was here — in the Facebook photo. Cody’s face was lit up, his smile as genuine as the look in his eyes. He was happy and committed to her. There was no other way to read the picture.
Bailey checked his information page once more and saw that he was still listed as single. Which made no sense. He should be truthful and just tell the world how it was. He was in a relationship with Cheyenne Williams.
Bailey clicked the X at the top left corner of the page and Facebook immediately disappeared. Great … you did it again. Her time on Facebook had made her late, and still she had to go back one more time, take one more look. Bailey didn’t know what was wrong with her, why she couldn’t let him go. She had no reason to think about Cody now. Especially when things with Brandon were better than ever.
She stood, took her Bible from the nightstand next to her bed, and headed out to join the others. As she approached, they were so lost in conversation it took a few moments for them to notice her. Each of