Heart Lessons (The Angel Chronicles Book 2)

by Mary May

  Heart Lessons (The Angel Chronicles)

  By

  Mary May

  © Mary Heath, 2013.

  This publication is protected under the US Copyright Act of 1976 and all other applicable international, federal, state and local laws, and all rights are reserved, including resale rights. You are not permitted to give or sell this book to anyone else. Any trademarks, product names, service marks, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners and are used only for reference. All rights are reserved.

  The names, events, and character depictions in this novel are not based on anyone or anything else, fictional or non-fictional.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Sneak Peak at The Growing Years

  Acknowledgements

  Author Link

  Chapter 1

  Gideon sat on the roof of the large gray rock mansion watching a now three year old Charlie play in the fall leaves with Moppet, the giant English sheepdog that Charlie’s mother, Sabrina, had insisted on rescuing from the local shelter. The past few weeks since Charlie had turned three had been the longest, most painful in Gideon’s very long existence. Since Gideon was her guardian angel, the little girl could see and respond to Gideon until her third birthday, at which time her inner spirit eye had closed, shutting Gideon out of her life. Oh, he could still see her, of course; he wouldn’t be much of a guardian if he couldn’t, but Charlie couldn’t see Gideon any longer, and that had just about been more than the old warrior could tolerate. He honestly didn’t know how regulation guardians could go through this time after time; must be something in the way they were created. In his opinion it sucked.

  The first month Charlie had looked for him and called for her “Giddy.” When she would look right through him when he was standing in front of her, it would break his heart. Gideon had come to the conclusion that he did, indeed, have a heart, and in his opinion they sucked, too. Why have something that could cause you so much pain? After the second month Charlie had stopped looking for him, Gideon would have bet his right wing that nothing else could hurt as bad as watching that baby girl look for him, but when she stopped looking? Well, that had hurt even worse. He knew it was best for Charlie to forget him as quickly as possible; that was how it was supposed to be, but try telling that to his aching heart. He shifted his wings, thinking about how much Charlie enjoyed chasing them, how on her third birthday the Lord had heard the cry of his heart, allowing Gideon to hug the little girl one last time and play “chase the wings.” He would never forget the feel of Charlie’s little fingers softly stroking the downy feathers of his black-as-midnight wings, the look of wonder on her face when she was finally able to actually touch them.

  When he had enough of feeling sorry for himself, he stood up, stepping off the edge of the roof, snapping open his wings. Then he gently floated the four stories to the ground. Moppet came bounding over, stopping right at his feet in his usual position with his front half on the ground and his butt up in the air whipping his tail back and forth like a banner. Now that Charlie couldn’t see him and Sherrilyn had crossed over into glory, the dog and the butler were the only ones that even knew Gideon was around. Yes, that sucked as well. He stooped down, ruffling the dog’s shaggy ears; they had bonded in an unlikely alliance over their mutual dislike of a new family member.

  Devon Lane was Sherrilyn’s long-lost baby brother. He had turned up at Sherrilyn’s funeral and had pretty much moved into the mansion, much to Gideon’s and Moppet’s dismay. The dog felt the same way about the man as Gideon did. They both kept a very close eye him whenever he was around. Unfortunately, Sabrina did not have the same reservations about Devon. Gideon was concerned that Sabrina’s naturally loving and accepting heart was going to be hurt, and that would turn out very bad… for Devon. He might officially be Charlie’s guardian, but as far as he was concerned, Sabrina was his to watch over as well.

  The woman in question was lying on a lounge on the back deck keeping an eye on her daughter, while looking through applications for a new housekeeper. Edgar was getting too old to keep up with a house this size; not that he would ever admit to such a thing, so Sabrina had put an ad in the local paper. She knew Edgar would throw a world-class hissy fit when she told him what she had done, or at least Edgar’s version of a hissy fit, which would probably be the raising of both of his bushy eyebrows, instead of one. To say that Edgar was laced a little tight would be like saying the Titanic was simply a nice boat. Edgar had very strong ideas about his position in the mansion. No matter how hard Sabrina tried to get him to loosen up and relax, he wouldn’t. She finally gave up that particular battle and was happy when he finally stopped calling her Mrs. Blakely. Now she was addressed as “Madam” since Sherrilyn had passed away. She knew he wasn’t going to be happy about giving up his duties to a stranger, but Sabrina was concerned for his health. After all, he was a few years shy of ninety; he had to learn to slow down.

  She flipped through application after application, looking for something to catch her attention, something to make her think, “This is the one!” But after an hour of looking, she was ready to give up. They all said the same thing! They were all honest and dependable, hardworking and reliable. They all had references and contacts. They all had years of experience and were highly trained in running large estates. With a sigh she laid the thick pile on the table beside her and sent up a prayer. “Lord, You pick out who You want in this house and with this family. Honestly, I don’t have a clue!” Feeling better after she put it in the Lord’s hands, she called Charlie to come in to get cleaned up for dinner.

  Sabrina was in the kitchen with Edgar a couple of days later preparing a light lunch when she heard the doorbell chime. Wiping her hands on a towel, she went and answered the door. A middle-aged woman was standing there with a suitcase by her feet. “Hello, can I help you?” Sabrina asked.

  The lady smiled, her teeth a blinding white against the darkness of her skin. “Now, missy, I’m thinking that I’m here to help you!”

  Sabrina frowned in confusion. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand; what are you here for?”

  Again, she got a blinding smile: “To help you.” The woman stood there smiling at Sabrina like she should know what she was doing there.

  Sabrina thought for a moment then it hit her. “Oh, of course! You’re here to apply for the housekeeping position!”

  The lady nodded then smiled again, “Yes, ma’am.”

  Sabrina stepped back, letting the woman come in. She picked up her stuffed suitcase, walking through the door, looking up and around at the towering ceilings and skylights. She hadn’t got more than two or three steps inside the house when she stopped cocking her head then smiled again, saying, “Well, now, how… interesting.” Then she just looked at Sabrina and waited.

  Not quite knowing what to make of that odd statement, she left it alone, leading her into the den then turning and offering her hand. “I’m Sabrina Blakely. It’s nice to meet you.”

  When the woman took her hand, Sabrina felt like she had touched a live wire. Her whole body tingled! “M
y name is Cléo Dora Barque, but everyone calls me Cleo, and I’m just as pleased to be meeting you, honey.”

  Sabrina smiled. Her accent left no doubt where she was from. Her thick Cajun brogue was charming. “Please have a seat, Mrs. Barque. Can I get you anything to drink or eat?”

  The woman smiled again. “Miss Blakely, I came all this way to help you, not the other way around!”

  Sabrina laughed. “Ok, why don’t we get to know one another a little bit. I love your accent! What part of Louisiana are you from?”

  Cleo sat down on the plushy sofa with a deep sigh. Sabrina could tell she was tired. “Merci, but that feels good. There isn’t enough cushion on a bus seat for a mole rat! To answer your question, I’m from a small creole village called Bouret. It’s a ways south of Baton Rouge.”

  Looking at her suitcase, Sabrina asked if she had come all this way just for an interview. Cleo closed her eyes and moved her lips silently. Sabrina watched her closely. It looked as if she was praying.

  “Miss Blakely, I’m not sure how to go about explaining myself to you. I wouldn’t blame you if you tossed me out on my ear, but please just hear me out before you do.”

  Sabrina nodded and kept watching the odd woman. Cleo drew in a deep breath and started to tell Sabrina a pretty remarkable story.

  “Miss Sabrina, I’m not sure how spiritual you are, or what you believe as far as God is concerned, but I was instructed three days ago to pack my bags and come to Mountain View, North Carolina, and apply for this job.”

  Sabrina sat there looking at her. “Who instructed you to come here?”

  Cleo sat on the couch, leaned forward and looked Sabrina dead in her eye: “The Lord. I was sitting on my back porch when I heard Him, just as plain as I can hear you, tell me to go pack my bags and come here, that you needed me. Now, I’m not one to argue when the Almighty speaks, so I packed and got the first bus to North Carolina I could catch and here I am.”

  Sabrina’s eyes widened. She slowly nodded her head then got to her feet. “Would you excuse me for just a minute? I’m going to go fix us some drinks.” She carefully walked out of the den.

  When she was far enough away, she broke into a dead run and raced into the kitchen where Edgar was still chopping vegetables. Sliding up to the bar she breathlessly told Edgar the news. “Edgar, you are not going to believe this. This woman just shows up and says the Lord sent her to help us and she has this really cute accent and she is from a tiny town in Louisiana and…”

  Edgar put his hand up. “Stop! What are you talking about, Miss Sabrina? Who is here to help us?”

  Sabrina took a breath then started again at the beginning. After she had explained everything, Edgar was silent. Sabrina watched him for a minute or two dancing from side to side. She finally couldn’t take his silence any longer. “Edgar, say something!”

  Edgar continued to chop the celery; when he had reached the end of the stalk, he looked up at Sabrina. “You placed an ad in the paper for my replacement and you didn’t think this was something I needed to know about?”

  Sabrina opened her mouth and closed it a couple of times trying to find the right words. “I’m not looking for your replacement, Edgar. No one can ever take your place in this family, but I did put an ad in the local paper asking for some help. You can’t keep up a house this size by yourself forever, and you refuse to let me help with precious little, so what choice did I have?” She waited while he thought over what she had said.

  He finally nodded his head. “Perhaps you’re right; it is time that I start training someone to oversee things when I’m gone.”

  Sabrina rolled her eyes. “Edgar, you’re not leaving or dying anytime soon, but yes, we do need help, so tell me what you think about Miss Cleo.”

  He was silent for a minute longer. “You said you ran an ad in our local paper?” Sabrina nodded her head.

  “Then how did she hear about it in Louisiana?”

  Sabrina smiled. “I don’t know. I was looking through a mountain of applications a couple of days ago and I couldn’t decide on any of them. They all looked alike, so I just prayed that the Lord would pick who He wanted in this house; then today Miss Cleo is on our doorstep.”

  Edgar washed up the chopping board and the knives. “Well, it would appear that He has made His choice, would it not? Now lunch is ready. Why don’t you go get our new housekeeper and let the rest of us meet her?”

  Chapter 2

  Gideon stood in the den watching the woman sitting on the couch and looking around the room with her dark eyes, muttering to herself about how that little missy was gonna call the police and have her picked up for sure. She had told Sabrina the Lord sent her to help them. Gideon wasn’t sure what to make of that; he wasn’t going to dismiss it entirely because the Lord had been known to send people to where they were needed, but he wasn’t going to believe it just yet either. He tried to judge her age, but she had one those complexions that didn’t show a lot of aging. His best guess would be somewhere over forty but under sixty. She had her black hair braided in a crown around the top of her head, and she wore a flowing pantsuit that was multi-colored with low black flats on her feet. What he found most interesting was the way she kept looking to the corner of the room where he was watching her. After being fooled by Edgar for so long, he decided to see if she was able to see him, too. He walked slowly, stood directly in front of her and carefully watched her breathing. It remained slow and even and she didn’t seem to notice that he had moved, so maybe she wasn’t aware of him. But then she started speaking…

  “Spirit, my name is Cleo and I feel your presence very strongly in this house. I can tell you’re a “Bonnanj” (good spirit) and I want you to know that you and me are on the same side. The Good Lord sent me here to help this young woman, and I don’t mean her or anyone else in this family no harm…you hear me? I know you don’t want no trouble out of me, and I don’t want no trouble out of you, so let’s just shake hands, so to speak, and agree to stay out of each other’s way.”

  Gideon would have thought he was over being surprised by people, but once again… he was. When she had called him a “Bonnanj,” which was Creole for good spirit, he was taken aback by how she was able to know what he was. He wondered just how much she could pick up on, so he spoke to her. “Can you hear me?” he asked. Cleo didn’t respond, so either she couldn’t hear him or she wasn’t going to let him know she could hear him. He clapped his hands right in front of her face and she didn’t even flinch. Gideon decided she probably couldn’t actually hear or see him but was just aware of his presence, but he wasn’t going to be fooled again, so he would watch her very closely.

  Sabrina came back into the den and was all smiles. “Mrs. Barque, we would be happy if you would have lunch with us and let me introduce you to Edgar and to my daughter Charlie.”

  Cleo got to her feet and smiled her megawatt smile back at Sabrina. “That sounds just fine…just fine… but you and me is going to have to come to some agreement.”

  Sabrina’s forehead wrinkled. “Ok, an agreement about what?”

  Cleo reached out and tapped her on the hand. “That you call me Cleo or Miss Cleo, if you insist, but no more Mrs. Barque!”

  Sabrina laughed. “Of course, but only if you will call me Sabrina. I have enough trouble with Edgar being so formal; I’m very relieved that you are not.” As they waked to the kitchen, Sabrina filled Cleo in on the rest of the household and by the time they reached the doorway to the kitchen, Cleo felt like she already knew everyone living there.

  “Edgar, this is Miss Cleo.”

  Sabrina watched as Edgar sized up the woman; then he nodded briskly and shook her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Barque.”

  Cleo shook his hand. “Just Cleo, Mr. Edgar, just Cleo.” Cleo looked around the large kitchen, turning a circle as she took it all in. “My lands, how many people do you feed out of here every day?”

  Sabrina chuckled. “Usually three unless Devon is home; then it’s four.�
�

  The woman’s dark eyes widened. “You could run a restaurant out of here! No wonder you were asking for help… A body could get lost going from the front door to the kitchen.”

  Sabrina nodded her head in agreement as she laid the table. “You can, and I did! I seriously thought about leaving a trail of breadcrumbs. It’s crazy huge. The previous owners had some very… unique ideas about home design. Would you like a tour after we eat lunch?”

  Cleo smiled and nodded again. Then her eyes landed on Charlie sitting in her booster chair. “Ah, now who is this petite timoun, sweet child?”

  Charlie looked at Cleo and smiled around her mouthful of pears. “This is my daughter Charlotte, but we call her Charlie.”

  Cleo stooped down and looked Charlie in the eye. “You are a very special little lady…Miss Cleo can see that…Yes, ma’am, I sure can.”

  Charlie swallowed her bite then held out her little hand. “Hi, I’m Charlie.” Cleo spoke to Charlie for a few minutes and, just like that, it seemed like she had been a part of the family forever…

  They all sat down and ate lunch and got to know one another. The first thing they discussed was their common faith in God. Sabrina also found out Cleo was a widow and had several children and grandchildren. She had come from a large family and was the middle child of ten children.

  “Ten children!” Sabrina exclaimed. “I want a large family, but I was thinking more like three kids, four tops!”

  Cleo laughed. “Oh, we was a handful for my poor old mama, that’s for certain sure, but we never went without a playmate, and we were all stair steps in age. The oldest helped to watch after the youngest and so on. I did decide for myself that ten was a bit much, so I settled for half.”

  Sabrina swallowed her bite of chicken salad. “So you had five children?”

  “That’s right… four boys and one daughter. My poor Shayla liked to have never found a man that wasn’t scared off by her four watchdogs!” Cleo chuckled to herself.