The Trouble with Angels

Page 45

"You convinced her to tell Catherine the baby wasn’t Ted’s?” The question came from Gabriel and had the ring of challenge in it.

"Not entirely on my own, mind you,” Mercy was quick to add, her eyes avoiding Gabriel’s.

"But Blythe did confess the truth?” Goodness wanted to know.

"Yes, and soon afterward Ted proposed to Joy.”

"Wonderful.” Shirley clapped her hands together.

"Where are they now?”

"The two are spending Christmas Eve with Catherine.”

"How sweet,” Shirley said with a romantic sigh.

"Perhaps you’d care to explain what old Charles said about a certain angel visiting him,” Gabriel said sternly.

"Ah…well…”

"I seemed to hear something about you speaking to Joy Palmer and instructing her to keep a party dress. What was that all about?”

Once again Mercy cast a flustered, helpless look at Gabriel. "I think I might have helped Charles.”

"Were you assigned to him?”

"No.” Mercy swallowed tightly.

"That’s what I thought. Now about the dress?”

"It’s the most perfectly beautiful dress you’ve ever seen. Joy looked absolutely spectacular in it. She was going to return it to the department store, and I knew she was going to regret that,” Mercy explained, talking so fast the words blended together. "I was working hard on Blythe, and I knew she was close to confessing the truth. It didn’t make sense for Joy to take back a party dress when she was going to need it so soon.”

"Soon?”

"New Year’s Eve party at Ted’s company,” Mercy said, in the know. "He got the invitation last week.”

"So you’ve taken to reading his mail?” Gabriel asked in a deep, rich voice that spoke of disapproval.

"Not always,” Mercy admitted. "Just sometimes.”

"I see.” The archangel didn’t look any too pleased.

"They’re going to marry, aren’t they?” Mercy wanted to know.

Once more Gabriel hesitated before revealing the future. "Ted and Joy. Yes.”

"Children?”

"Three. Two boys and a girl, in rapid succession. They name their daughter Catherine.”

"What about Blythe and her baby?” The question came from Shirley, which made sense. As a former guardian angel, Shirley was often concerned about children’s welfare.

"Blythe will deliver a healthy baby boy this coming summer. After counseling and a good deal of soul-searching, she’ll decide to give the child up for adoption. Blythe will personally choose his parents, and the two will exchange letters for the first year. Giving her son a good home was probably the most unselfish act of her life. It helps mature her.”

"Does she marry?” Goodness asked. It seemed only right that Blythe find happiness.

"Yes, to a friend of Ted and Joy’s. They’ll introduce them two years from now, and the couple will marry after a whirlwind courtship. Blythe and her husband will have two children.”

"So everything turned out well in the end.”

"It wasn’t the end,” Gabriel corrected, "but the beginning.”

"That’s so romantic,” Mercy said, and sighed. She rested her cheek on the back of her hands and floated several feet off the ground.

"I can’t get over how good we are,” Shirley said, and buffed her nails against her chest. "I mean, when we first started out, who would have believed we’d meet with such unabashed success?”

"Not I,” Gabriel was the first to agree. "I was sure each one of these assignments was far more complicated than any of you were capable of handling.”

"The key to our success,” Shirley informed him primly, "is that we work so well together.”

"That’s it,” Mercy agreed, crossing her arms and wearing a smug look. "We’re willing to help each other.”

"Is that right,” Goodness said, her arms folded over her chest as well. She tapped her foot just so they’d remember exactly how little help she had gotten from her two best friends. "I seem to recall that the two of you were at the Forum while I was stuck with Paul, who completely ignored me.”

"Of course Goodness had a more difficult assignment,” Shirley said, rushing to get all the words out.