My American Angel (Shower & Shelter Artist Collective Book 6)

by Brooke St. James

  "Twice?" he said. "You talk to a guy twice, and he's flying all the way over here? I don't know about this, Caroline."

  "I'm the one who reached out to contact him, Will, and not the other way around. It's not like he was seeking me out. And besides, I want to see him. I would have been willing to go to New York if he wouldn't have come here. I like him, Will. He's a really nice guy."

  "Nice, but elusive," my brother said, reminding me of my own words.

  "What did you mean by that?" Katie asked.

  "I don't know. I don't really know what he does. I feel like he might be lying to me but in a good-guy sort of way like he might work for the CIA or something. He knows a lot about art, though. I don't know how that would factor into it."

  "Maybe he's an art thief!" Katie said with a wide-eyed expression like she'd just solved a mystery. "That's someone who would know a lot about art and also seem elusive. Maybe he's coming down here to do a huge heist, and he needs you to be in on it. He might have an elaborate plan where you have to play the damsel in distress."

  "He's not an art thief," I insisted.

  And at the same time, my brother said, "she's not going to steal any art."

  "Okay, okay," Katie said defensively. She smiled and lifted her hands. "It would make sense about why he would act sketchy and know a lot about art, though. I'm just saying, don't take him around any art museums or galleries unless you want to get in on a heist." She was joking around, of course, pushing her husband's buttons since he had always been protective of me.

  "When's he coming?" Will asked.

  "Saturday."

  "This Saturday?"

  I nodded.

  "Tomorrow?" he asked.

  I nodded again.

  "Where are y'all meeting?" Katie asked.

  "At the store," Will said instantly (referring to the family business). "Or at my house," he added.

  "The library," I said.

  "Awww," Katie said since she remembered the part about where we met.

  Will still didn't seem too excited about it. "What do you know about him?" Will asked.

  "He was an only child, and his parents died when he was sixteen. That's when he left Montréal and headed for New York. You should hear him speak French. He speaks English with no accent, and then he switches over to perfect French."

  "No, I don't know if you should do it, Caroline." Will said, shaking his head.

  He was so serious that I stared at him with a confused expression. "I'm doing it," I said. "I wasn't asking for your permission. I can meet a man at a library in the middle of the day if I want, Will."

  "What are you supposed to do?" he asked. "What's supposed to come of it? I know this guy's not trying to fly down here just to get you to say 'hello' to him, Caroline. He's going to be expecting something."

  "Will, stop," Katie said, nudging her husband with her shoulder. "She just told you she was a grown woman."

  "I want to meet him," Will said.

  I laughed. "No way."

  "Why not?"

  "Because you'd give him the third degree, obviously."

  Will put his palms up like he didn't see what the problem was. "If he's a good guy, he can handle the third degree. He shouldn't have anything to hide."

  "I love you, Will, but no. I got this," I said.

  "I don't want to give him the third degree," Katie said. "I just want to meet him. I wish you would bring him around just because I'm curious. I can't fathom that you saw him one summer when you were kids, and now you're hooking up, I mean, meeting up with him again."

  "He looks exactly like he did back then," I said.

  "What is supposed to come of this?" Will asked again. He still looked a little annoyed. "What could possibly happen with the guy who lives in New York when you live down here? Are you supposed to pick up your life and move to New York City?"

  "Good grief, William," Katie said. "She's just trying to meet the guy."

  "Yeah, but why would she even want to meet him unless she's going to start dating him? And what's the point if he lives in New York?"

  "These are all valid concerns," I said. "And I will gladly smile and pretend to consider them, brother. Especially since you have agreed to pay for sushi tonight." I smirked at Will, and he narrowed his eyes at me.

  "I'm serious," he said. "You're only trying to see him because you like him, right? And what's really the point when you live across the country?"

  "The point, Will, is that I liked him back then. I liked him a lot. I remember really having a connection with him."

  My brother shook his head looking unconvinced. "You said y'all didn't even understand each other."

  "We did some of the time," I said. "And I could just tell by the way we looked at each other that… I don't even have to explain this to you."

  "What do you think he does?" Katie asked. She smiled and wiggled her eyebrows as if speculating about this guy was her new favorite thing to do. "CIA? Navy Seal? FBI? Art thief? I kind of picture him robbing casinos like George Clooney and Brad Pitt."

  My brother rubbed his own forehead as if his wife's speculation did nothing but give him a headache. She smiled at his gesture and leaned into him as a means of apologizing for pushing his buttons.

  "Does he have money?" Will asked.

  "How would I know that?"

  "Did he say anything about coming up with the money to fly over here?"

  "No."

  "Did he ask if he could stay at your place?"

  "No."

  Will shrugged. "Then he's at least got a little money."

  "What's his last name?" Katie asked. "We can just search him on Facebook."

  Panic rose inside me when she asked the question. I was aware of the fact that I didn't know his last name, but I hadn't expected her to ask me for it. I cleared my throat and then I took a bite of sushi, all while pretending that I hadn't heard Katie's question. "This is soooo good!" I said, smiling at them as I finished my bite.

  "What's his name?" Will asked.

  "Theo."

  "Theo who?"

  "What?" I asked, pretending to not hear him.

  "What's his last name?" my brother pressed.

  "Yeah, you could just check him out on Facebook," Katie said.

  "I don't want to do that," I said. "I want to just have the experience of meeting him at the library like we did when we were kids. I want it to be like it was twenty years ago before we had Facebook and all that."

  "You don't know the guy's name," my brother accused. His eyebrows were raised as if I was a child who was getting in over my head.

  "So what?" I asked. "I don't even know if he knows mine. He's a nice guy—a smart guy. I'm just going to run into him in public place and see what happens. We might go our separate ways and not see each other again for twenty more years."

  "That's just weird," Will said.

  "No, it's not," Katie said. "She's just saying they're going see what happens."

  "Exactly," I said.

  ***

  I finished having dinner with my brother and his wife before we parted ways so they could go to a movie. I went home to get Elroy before driving us to a stretch of beach that I loved to walk. It was a beautiful evening, and I enjoyed our walk, contemplating all the things that may or may not happen the next day at the library.

  I was in the middle of daydreaming about Theo when I decided to call. I wanted to talk to him, but I didn't feel like stopping to text, so before giving myself too much time to think about it I pressed the button to give him a call.

  I had in earbuds for listening to music so I slipped my phone into my pocket, smiling when I heard it begin to ring. It rang three times, and I was just about to find my phone and press button to hang up when Theo picked up the phone. My heart began racing the instant I heard him, and suddenly, I was mad at myself for calling.

  "Hello?" I asked.

  "One second," he said. I heard him say, "Thank you," to someone on the other end before speaking to me again. "Hello,"
he said.

  "Hi. Am I disturbing you?"

  "No," he said. "What are you doing?"

  "I'm walking Elroy," I said. "I'm down at the inlet. It's a beautiful night."

  "I know. At least it is down here."

  "You mean up there?" I asked.

  "Down here," he said. "I'm two hours south of you."

  "Miami?" I asked.

  "Yes."

  "What are you doing there?"

  "I came in this morning, thinking I'd explore a little bit. It's a city I have always been curious about. I was checking out the art scene."

  "Do you have a sketchy job?" I asked.

  "No," he said. I could hear him smiling.

  "Are you an art thief?" I asked.

  "No."

  "Some other kind of thief?"

  "I'm no kind of thief," he said. "Why would you think that?"

  "Are you a criminal of any sort?"

  "No."

  "Because to me you seem like a totally reasonable person."

  "That's because I am a totally reasonable person," he said. "Most of the time, anyway."

  "Military?" I asked, trying to get one last guess in.

  "No, I'm not in the military," he said.

  "Just tell me I can trust you," I said. "You know, with my safety."

  "I'm not sure why you're worried, but yes, you can trust me with your safety, Caroline."

  "You would say that even if I couldn't, huh?"

  "I guess I would, yes."

  Both of us had a smile in our voice, so we shared a second or two of lighthearted silence.

  "I can't believe you're two hours from me," I said.

  "I know, I thought about driving up there to see you, but I thought if I waited twenty years, I could wait one more day. Plus, I figured you wouldn't be hanging out at the library on a Friday night."

  "Nope," I said. "I'm on the beach. I ate sushi with Will and Katie, and now I've got Elroy down at the beach. He loves it."

  "I'm on the beach too," he said.

  A wave of unnecessary jealousy hit me when he said he was at the beach. I wondered what sort of scantily clad, bikini-wearing women were in his vicinity. I closed my eyes and reminded myself that I had no reason to have any types of feelings about this guy.

  He could do whatever he wanted.

  "Do you like Florida?" I asked. "Are you staying at a nice place?"

  "I do, and I am," he said. "Miami's got a lot going on. I'm looking forward to Jensen Beach, though."

  "Oh, really, Jensen? What's in Jensen?" I asked. I smiled at myself for being so bad at flirting as Elroy pulled me down the shore.

  "This girl," Theo said, playing along with me. "Just this girl I used to know."

  Chapter 6

  "I can't do it. I'm calling him. I'm cancelling. I'm turning around. I'm hyperventilating over here."

  "Caroline, calm down," Katie said. "You're not hyperventilating." Her voice came across the stereo speakers of my car. I called her on my way to the library even though I had just left her house. I had other people in my life who knew I was going to meet Theo that day, but Katie was the one I had confided in the most.

  "Just bring him over here," she said. "Your brother will grill some burgers for dinner tonight."

  "You just want to meet him," I said.

  "Yes, I do."

  "Don't worry about burgers," I said. "I don't know how it's gonna go or what we're gonna decide to do. He strikes me as a kind of private person. I wouldn't be surprised if I spent an hour so with him and he went on his way."

  "Then why are you so nervous?" she asked.

  "Because I don't want him to do that."

  "What do you want him to do?"

  "Not that. I don't know what I'm expecting. I wasn't expecting to be doing this at all. My stomach is turning flips right now. I seriously have the sensation of being on a roller coaster and I'm just sitting in my car. Plus, I'm embarrassed when I think of the conversations we've had on the phone. I think I told him I wanted to ride off into the… " I trailed off.

  "The sunset?" Katie asked.

  "No. I don't know what I'm saying. I'm just nervous."

  I pulled into a parking spot at the library, and I killed the engine, staring out of the front window and feeling like it would take a miracle for me to get out of the driver's seat. I was so anxious to see Theo that I couldn't think straight. I was supposed to meet him there at 2 o'clock, and I came fifteen minutes early just so I could have the advantage of standing still while he walked up to me.

  "Besides, you look beautiful," Katie's voice was coming through my phone since I had already turned the car engine off.

  I was so nervous that I had totally forgotten I was on the phone with her. I put the phone to my ear. "What did you say?"

  "I said you look beautiful. You should feel great about going in there."

  "Thank you," I said.

  "Call if you need us to check on Elroy," she said.

  "I don't think I'll be gone that long, but thank you."

  "You're welcome. I love you."

  "I love you, too."

  "Hey," she said.

  "Yeah?"

  "Have fun."

  I sighed. "I will."

  "Just relax and be yourself," she said.

  I told Katie goodbye and took another deep breath, praying for bravery as I hung up the phone and began moving toward the library. It was a small branch, and because we were in Florida and not Canada, it looked very different from the library where Theo and I met. There were palm trees and tropical flowers lining the walkway as I went inside.

  "Caroline Harrison, I was just talking about your family the other day, sweetheart. How are y'all doing? I need to go to the store and get some of your daddy's dip."

  I smiled at the older lady. There was a checkout station near the entrance, and I recognized one of the women working behind the desk. I had gone to high school with some of her grandsons. I was the school mascot, and my brothers both played football, so I knew a lot of the football players, and her grandsons were among them. Her name was Ms. Bonnie, and she was always really into the games. In fact, she currently had on a T-shirt that said Panther Football.

  "Hey, Ms. Bonnie."

  "How are you, sweetheart? Come on over here and give me a hug. I feel like it's been ages!"

  She stood up, expecting me to walk over to her, which I did. I did it quickly, though, because I knew she liked to talk, and I did not want to be standing at the front desk with all those curious women when Theo walked in. I had plans to find this little nook I knew existed over in fiction and situate myself in it so I could wait for Theo to arrive. I would get there and straighten my clothes and have enough time to gather my thoughts and catch my breath.

  My little detour (Ms. Bonnie) squeezed me tightly when I came in for the hug. She was a cushiony-feeling lady, and I squeezed her back. She smiled at me and turned me around by the shoulders as if showing me off to the other ladies. "This is Caroline Harrison. Her family owns Joey's Smokehouse."

  "Ohhh," one lady said, nodding and looking impressed. "I just love your dip! They carry it at Publix now, over in the local section."

  "I didn't know that!" Bonnie said. "I'm gonna have to pick up some on my way home." She still had her hand on my arm, but she looked at the women. "Caroline's brothers were both all-state running backs," she added. "And Caroline wore the panther suit with the cheerleaders." She smiled and rubbed my arm with her soft grandma hands. "She was such a wonderful little mascot! She was! She could flip and flop all over the place."

  I really wasn't that good. I took turns with another girl on account of how hot it was in the costume, and she was much better than I was. She was serious about it. She could do all kinds of stunts and everything. I was pretty much just a goofball who danced with the marching band and cut up with the cheerleaders. I didn't tell Ms. Bonnie she was probably thinking of Latisha, though. I just smiled and accepted her compliment as I started to inch away.

  "Thank you
," I said. "I had fun doing that."

  "What are you doing here?" she asked. "Are you looking for a particular book?"

  "I'm, uh, no ma'am. I'm just looking. I'll probably just browse. I like fiction. Romance. Spy. Mostly mystery. Any of that. I like fiction."

  Bonnie had already headed back to her chair, but she started back toward me as if she was going to show me to the right section.

  "Oh, no ma'am," I said with a hand out to stop her. "I'm good. I know where I'm going. I'm just browsing."

  "Are you sure?" she asked.

  I nodded and waved at her as I walked away. I rounded the corner that led to the fiction section and set my sights on the spot I had been imagining. There was a private little padded bench in between two sets of shelves, and I was happy to see that it was unoccupied. I went to it and sat down, taking a deep breath and trying to shake off my crippling nerves. I had only been there for about three seconds when someone walked up from the aisle behind me and sat down next to me.

  The person had approached me from behind, and I hadn't yet turned to look at him, but I knew it was Theo. I knew it because who else would be a wonderful-smelling manly presence in the public library who would choose to come sit right next to me for no reason at all? No one, that's who.

  It was Theo, there was no doubt about it.

  I was looking straight into my lap, and (because the bench connected two different aisles, and he had approached me from the other side) I still hadn't seen his face. I could make out a little bit out of the corner of my eye, but not much. All I had to do was turn and fully face him, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. We were sitting so close that our hips were almost touching. I took in the curves of his back out of my periphery, and I took another deep breath, hoping I could speak if spoken to. I kept expecting him to turn and look at me, but he didn't. There were just a few inches separating us, but we both just stared straight ahead and didn't look at each other. He said nothing. We just sat there for what must've been two minutes and didn't say a single thing. We didn't even look at each other. It was the most awkward, interesting, beautiful silence I had ever experienced.

  "Are you Theo?" I asked finally.

  "Yes."

  "Are you Caroline?"