The Trouble with Angels

Page 22

"All right,” Ted agreed, "I won’t.”

Joy expelled her breath forcefully, regretting her outburst. "I was more touchy than I should have been. I apologize.”

"No problem.”

She led him into the kitchen, which bustled with activity. The scent of fresh bread baking mingled with roast beef and vegetables. She handed Ted a cream-colored ceramic mug and led him to the huge coffee machine. When they’d both filled their mugs, she returned to her office and sat behind at her desk.

"Okay,” she said, forcing herself to relax, "what is it you want to know?”

Ted settled onto the chair as if it had been custom made for him. He crossed his long legs, propping his ankle against his knee, and held the mug with one hand. "Have you ever been in love?”

Hot coffee spilled out of the cup and burned Joy’s chin. "What’s that got to do with anything?”

"Quite a lot, as it happens.”

In an effort to disguise her uneasiness, she sipped her coffee. "I fell in love three times when I was in high school. Unfortunately not a one of the boys knew my name.” Now that she thought about it, it was clear that her pattern of worshiping from afar had began early in life.

"I mean really in love?” he pressed.

She set the coffee on her desk with a deliberate show of impatience. "If these are the kinds of questions you’re going to ask, then the deal’s off.”

He grinned as if to suggest she’d have a much harder time getting rid of him than she suspected. "All right, there are a few other questions I can ask.”

She relaxed and reached for her coffee once more. All this was for naught, and she knew it. It irritated her that she was forced into this silliness.

For now she was the brightest, most appealing woman he’d ever met. All that, of course, would change as soon as he got over the becoming-engaged jitters. Billy, one of her brothers, had shown identical symptoms. Her parents had been ready to pull their hair out.

"Did I tell you about my brother Billy?” she asked instead.

He frowned. "No.”

"He dated Diana for two years. He bought her an engagement ring, and then the night before he was set to propose he met this cute girl in a bar. Overnight he was convinced he was in love. My mother didn’t know what to think. My father took him out for a father/son talk, which ended up in a shouting match. To make a long story short, Bill and Diana are married and have three beautiful children.”

"What happened to the girl he met in the bar?”

"I don’t know,” Joy cried. "No one does. That’s my point. Are you or are you not going to marry Blythe?”

It took him two lifetimes to answer. "I sincerely doubt it.”

"But you’ve considered marrying her?”

Another lifetime, then: "Yes.”

Ted Griffin was both honest and fair, that much she’d say for him. "I’m sure when Billy kissed—I think her name was Donna—he was convinced she was the best thing that had ever happened to him, that he’d found someone special.”

"I’m not Billy.”

"True, you’re older and more sophisticated than my brother, but it holds true, don’t you see? When a man is about to willingly surrender his freedom, something inside him resists. Something inside him fights against it. I’ve got two older brothers, and a dozen male cousins, and I’ve seen this phenomenon happen over and over again. So why don’t we both save each other a lot of grief and just drop it now?”

"Sorry, no.”

Joy should have known that would have been too easy. She threw her hands into the air. "All right, ask away. But kindly limit your questions to those less personal.”

Ted smiled that devilish handsome smile of his and nodded. "You’re a virgin, aren’t you?”

10

Leta Johnson looked up from her desk when Paul walked into the church office. "Good morning,” she said with her usual cheerfulness.

"Morning.” He picked up the two pink message slips on the corner of her desk. One was from Steve Tenny and the other from Bernard Bartelli.

"How was your evening with Bethany and Joe?” Leta asked, and he was sure she was making idle conversation. It wasn’t like her to beat around the bush. When she had something to say, she generally said it. He had often admired this trait in her. He didn’t always like it, but he found himself in her debt enough to appreciate the woman she was.

"Our dinner was great,” he answered absently. He was worried about the Bartellis. Madge remained hospitalized, and from what he understood, their children had been notified of her accident. It seemed heartless and unnecessary to make Madge suffer this way. Paul had been to visit her only once since she’d broken her hip. He would go again soon, he promised himself.

"I talked to Joe the other day and learned he’s engaged.”

"Yes,” Paul said, looking up from the phone messages. "He brought Annie home for me to meet.”