“Angel? That’s your daughter’s name?”
“Angelique, actually. Will you come?”
His father’s response was lost in another fit of coughing.
The awful sound, which he suspected was more than a cold, reminded him of just how short life was. In that instant, he knew he couldn’t let Heather get away a second time. He knew without a doubt that he loved her—and Angel—too deeply to ever let them go. Peggy’s words came back to him, her insistence that the love she and Johnny shared would triumph over whatever problems came their way.
He reached the first impulsive decision he’d made in years. “A week from Saturday would be a good time,” he told his father. “With any luck, you’ll be here for my wedding.”
25
In all of his thirty-three years, Todd had never really done one single wildly impulsive act. During his years with Heather, he had acted spontaneously on occasion, but always at her instigation. He supposed in a way he could blame her for this crazy idea he couldn’t seem to shake, but the truth was it was his and his alone. He didn’t even know if she would go along with it. If she didn’t, it could be the most embarrassing moment of his life. But a few moments of dramatic uncertainty would be worth it if she said yes.
To pull it off, he needed allies. He needed Henrietta and the judge. After all, what he was planning would affect their own wedding day.
He got the two of them alone in the diner after Heather had left to take Angel upstairs to bed. He locked the front door, just to be sure there were no interruptions.
“What’s this all about?” Henrietta demanded as he peered nervously through the window of the locked door. “You’re not acting at all like yourself.”
“If this is about the birds and the bees, you’re a little late,” the judge commented dryly.
“Yes, I assumed I was,” Todd said. He sat down opposite the two of them, cleared his throat. “Actually…” Words failed him.
“Spit it out, son. Is something wrong?” the judge asked, his concern mirroring Henrietta’s.
“Actually, I was wondering how the two of you would feel if I horned in on your big day.”
“Horned in how?” Henrietta asked, clearly not grasping what he was asking. “You’re right in the middle of it as it is. If it weren’t for you, Heather and Flo, we’d never pull it off.”
“We’re mighty grateful to you for that, too,” the judge added. “If there’s something you need in return, just ask. Henrietta thinks the world of you and so do I.”
Todd didn’t consider himself a sentimental man, but the judge’s brusque pronouncement brought a lump to his throat. He realized that he’d somehow found himself a family in Whispering Wind, something he’d never expected when he’d come here so reluctantly months earlier.
“I want your ceremony to be a surprise wedding for Heather and me, too,” he said in a rush, then sat back while they stared at him in stunned silence. He took hope from the fact that neither of them had barked out a flat no to the unusual request.
“Oh, my,” Henrietta finally murmured, eyes shining. “If that isn’t the most romantic thing I have ever heard in my life.”
The judge looked more skeptical. “If you don’t mind my saying so, it sounds a bit risky. Most women prefer not to have something like this sprung on ’em.” He glanced at the woman beside him. “They want to take the time to consider a proposal from every which way.”
Henrietta frowned at him. “I had my reasons, old man. Heather doesn’t have a doubt in the world about Todd. She’ll be thrilled.” She beamed at Todd. “I say go for it.”
“You won’t mind sharing the day?” Todd asked. “You’ve waited a long time for it. If you’d prefer to keep it all to yourselves, I certainly understand.”
“A wedding day ought to be unique and memorable,” Henrietta said. “This ought to guarantee that. It ought to be about love, and judging from the way you look at that girl, I suppose it is definitely about that, too. I can’t wait to see Heather’s expression when she figures out what you’re up to. Do you have something in mind for springing it on her?”
“She’s going to be a bridesmaid for you, right?”
Henrietta nodded.
“Then how about when she’s walking down the aisle?”
“Kinda last-minute, don’t you think?” the judge asked again. “She could turn right around and hightail it out of there, leaving you and all the rest of us looking like fools.”
“She might,” Todd agreed. “But I figure it’s my best shot at showing her just how serious I am. The proposal has to be spontaneous and risky. It has to be daring enough to prove that I love her and that I will go to any lengths to show her just how much. That where she’s concerned, I’m willing to throw caution to the wind.”
The judge turned to Henrietta. “Well? Will it work? Or will we all end up with egg on our faces and our wedding day in ruins?”
“She’ll say yes,” Henrietta said with confidence.
“I hope you’re right,” Todd said fervently.
“The girl’s not an idiot,” Henrietta said. “Though for some time now, I’ve had to wonder about you.” She grinned at him. “You’re restoring my faith in your good sense.”
“Think we can pull off the legalities without giving away the game?” Todd asked the judge.
“You’ve come to the right person,” he declared, finally getting into the spirit of it, now that Henrietta had given the idea her full-fledged blessing. “I do believe I’ve got the power to pull this off without a hitch. Might as well be some advantages to all my years on the bench. I’ll have a word with the minister, too, so he won’t be taken by surprise.”
For the first time since Heather had appeared in Whispering Wind, Todd had the feeling that he had his life back under his own control. It was ironic, really, since once he married Heather, he doubted he’d have another moment when he felt that way again.
“Do you think there’s something odd going on with Todd?” Heather asked Flo a few days before the wedding.
“Not that I’ve noticed. Why?”
“He’s got this look in his eyes. I can’t explain it. Every time he catches my eye, I get the sense that he knows something I don’t. It’s like there’s this deep, dark secret and he’s just about to pop.”
“A good secret or a bad one?”
“Exciting, from the looks of it.”
“Have you asked him?”
Heather shook her head. “No. We’re not actually speaking, not unless we have to. We’re polite for Henrietta’s sake, and we’re civilized when he picks Angel up to take her on some outing every evening, but that’s it.”
“He’s spending evenings with Angel?” Flo asked.
“Believe me, you are no more stunned by that than I am. He insisted on it. For weeks he wanted no part of custody. Now he’s spending almost as much time with her as I am. Angel adores him. You know daughters and their daddies. There’s a special bond there.”
“You almost sound jealous.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m delighted. It’s what I’ve wanted all along.”
“You just wanted to be a part of the family,” Flo guessed. Her gaze narrowed. “You’re still in love with him, aren’t you?”
Heather sighed. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Why? Because he says it doesn’t?”
“It pretty much takes two to do that particular tango,” Heather said.
“He’s in denial,” Flo said. “Believe me, I know all about male denial. Joe is king of it.”
Heather knew better. She knew that Joe had every intention of asking Flo to marry him. He was just waiting for her to understand that he loved her because of the woman she’d become, not the sex object she’d always thought herself to be.
“Has it occurred to you that Joe values you as a woman, not just someone to sleep with?” Heather asked, trying to help Joe out by nudging Flo in the right direction. The woman’s self-esteem needed a serious adjustment.
&n
bsp; Flo’s expression turned thoughtful, but then she shook her head. “The two go hand in hand. No man wants a woman unless he also finds her desirable. Joe treats me like his sister.”
Heather laughed. “Honey, no man kisses his sister the way Joe kisses you.”
Flo blushed furiously. “Okay, that’s true, but—”
“No buts. The man is crazy about you. He’s just waiting for you to start valuing yourself.”
Flo regarded her hopefully. “You think so?”
“I know so.”
Flo grinned. “Then how do I go about letting him know that I think I’m the best thing ever to walk into his life?”
“Just go with the program. Stop trying so hard to get him into bed and concentrate on all the other things you two have in common. Show him what a multidimensional woman you’ve become, instead of focusing all the time on the one area where you always felt comfortable with men. He needs to know you’re not just lumping him in with all those other guys from your past, that you’re sharing a side of you with him that no other man ever got to know.”
“I get it. Make him see how special he is to me, but not just for the same old thing.”
“Exactly. Sex is easy. Love is hard. Nobody knows that better than I do,” Heather said with a deep sigh.
“If you ask me, Todd is just being stubborn.”
“You ever know a man who wasn’t?”
“No,” Flo admitted. “But he’ll come around, just like you say Joe will. I guess men have to do things at their own pace, so we don’t get the idea that we have the upper hand.”
“I suppose,” Heather said glumly. Given the pace Todd was setting, she’d be Henrietta’s age before he got around to forgiving her, much less doing anything about the fact that he loved her.
When Friday night’s wedding rehearsal finally rolled around, Heather watched in amazement as Todd orchestrated the event with the skill of a military tactician. Give the man a thousand little details, and not a single one escaped his notice. Give him a woman who was crazy in love with him, and he couldn’t seem to see her at all. It was extremely frustrating.
Worse, with Henrietta and the judge acting like a couple of lovestruck teenagers, and Joe and Flo gazing deeply into each other’s eyes and stealing kisses every chance they got, Heather felt completely left out, romantically speaking. Watching so much happiness was stirring up a whole lot of envy, especially when the man who could change all that for her was right in the same room.
Todd seemed oblivious to the fact that out of the entire wedding party, at least among the adults, they were the only pair not connecting. She wanted to smack him and tell him to wake up and smell the coffee.
But she kept silent. She was not about to spoil even a second of Henrietta’s big moment with a petty little spat with Todd. If he wanted to hold a grudge, let him. She spent the entire rehearsal dinner pushing food around on her plate and pretending to ignore the mule-headed male at the opposite end of the table who seemed totally captivated by his daughter.
At the end of the dinner, Angel crawled out of Todd’s lap and toddled toward Heather. “Night, Mama. I go with Daddy.”
Heather’s gaze shot from her daughter’s face to Todd’s. “Excuse me?”
“I thought maybe she could spend the night at my place tonight.”
She told herself the reason she found the idea so irritating was that he hadn’t discussed it with her first, but the truth was she was flat-out jealous.
“Won’t you have too much to do to be worrying about Angel?” she asked.
“Everything’s under control. I thought you might appreciate a good night’s sleep and some extra time to get all gussied up for the ceremony in the morning. I’m sure Henrietta would like you and Flo on hand early. If Angel’s with me, she’ll be out from underfoot.”
“Yes, I’m sure Henrietta would appreciate the extra help. That’s very thoughtful of you,” she said grudgingly.
He gave her a sharp look. “If it’s a problem…”
She sighed. “No, of course not. It’s a very sensible plan.”
He grinned. “That’s me, Mr. Sensible.”
“Don’t sound so proud of yourself. It’s an annoying trait.”
“Maybe I’ll work on changing it,” he said easily. “You never know.”
“You?”
“Darlin’, your skepticism wounds me. What kind of man doesn’t change?”
“Your kind,” she said at once.
He didn’t seem especially concerned about the accusation. In fact, before she realized his intention, he gave her a quick, hard kiss, then reached for Angel’s hand. “Let’s go, munchkin. Mama’s got to get her beauty sleep. Tomorrow’s a big day.”
“Big day,” Angel echoed, nodding. “Gonna be a wedding.”
He winked at her. “That’s right, baby. There is definitely going to be a wedding.”
Heather watched the two of them walk away hand in hand and wondered why she didn’t feel happier about having accomplished the goal that had brought her to Whispering Wind. The answer, of course, was obvious. Even Flo had seen it. Heather wanted more. She wanted the man she loved to want not just Angel in his life, but her. She wanted Todd to be madly, head over heels in love with her the way he’d once been.
But she had to wonder if he would ever let it happen.
Todd cursed the crazy notion that he’d had to bring Angel home with him. He’d wanted Heather to be rested and receptive when he popped the question at the church, but he hadn’t realized he was going to be sacrificing his own sanity to accomplish it.
Over the past couple of weeks he had foolishly thought he’d become adept at handling Angel’s routine. Unfortunately he was discovering this morning that getting Angel dressed in shorts and a T-shirt was one thing. Getting her all dressed up for Henrietta’s wedding to the judge and his own possible wedding to her mother was something else again.
He was soaked from head to toe by the time he had her bathed and into the frilly flower-girl dress Henrietta had delivered for her. The damn dress must have had a million tiny buttons and he was all thumbs.
He had exactly ten minutes to shower, shave and get into his own tuxedo if they were going to get to the church on time. He turned the apartment upside down trying to find the diamond-studded wedding ring he’d bought for Heather, then discovered it was already in his pocket. He was a wreck by the time they finally drove to the church.
As he gave Angel one last survey before they walked inside, he looked into her precious upturned face.
“You remember what we talked about?” he asked.
“Uh-huh.”
What had he been thinking trusting his fate to a three-year-old? “Are you sure?”
“I carry flowers,” she said.
“And?”
“Mama’s ring.”
“Exactly. Don’t lose it, okay?”
She nodded solemnly.
Todd checked one more time to make sure the ring was securely tucked into the little pocket Henrietta had sewn onto the flower-girl dress. Satisfied, he took Angel to find the bridal party. Unwilling to risk a bad-luck glimpse of his own prospective bride, he turned Angel over to Flo.
“Bye, Daddy.”
“Bye, Angel. Not a word, okay? It’s our secret.”
Flo regarded him intently. “What secret?”
“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a secret, would it?”
“But Angel knows?”
“Yes, and if you try to pry it out of her, you are the lowest form of humanity,” he said.
“How long will I have to wait to find out what it is?”
“Twenty minutes, tops.”
She grinned. “Just within my limit.”
Todd went off to find the judge, confirmed that everything had been taken care of, then went to wait just inside the back door of the church. The organist had been warned not to shift from background music to the wedding march until she was cued by a signal from the minister.
Todd heard Angel�
��s excited squeals first, then the rustle of gowns as Henrietta, Flo and Heather took their places in the foyer. The organist hit the first preliminary notes to signal Angel’s walk down the aisle with her basket of rose petals. She toddled into view at Heather’s coaching, followed by Flo.
Then Heather stepped into the doorway. Henrietta had claimed to want an all-white wedding, so both her bridesmaids were wearing floor-length slim white dresses that could just as easily have passed for bridal gowns. Her bouquet was a smaller version of Henrietta’s, just a spray of white tropical flowers, a single white rose and satin ribbons.
Todd gazed at her in awe. She took his breath away. She was so incredibly beautiful, so blasted unpredictable, so outrageously impudent.
And he loved her, never more so than he did at this moment. His heart was filled to overflowing with it. Though he’d given her no encouragement over the past few days for fear of giving away his plan, she winked at him. He took that as a sign from God that this was going to turn out exactly as he’d prayed.
He stepped into the aisle, then stunned her and everyone else by kissing her. He was dimly aware that the music had settled into a solemn holding pattern, that a gasp had rippled through the guests, that Angel was enthusiastically pelting them with rose petals.
When he finally released her, she gazed at him with a dazed expression. “Todd?”
“Will you marry me?” he asked quietly.
“Todd, this isn’t—”
“It is the perfect time and place,” he said.
“But Henrietta—”
“Knows all about it. We have her blessing. The only thing missing is your saying yes.”
She glanced over her shoulder to see Henrietta nodding enthusiastically, then toward the front of the church, where the judge gave her a similar nod of encouragement.
“You’re serious? Here and now? Just like that?”
“A double wedding,” he confirmed. “I did my best to make it your dream wedding, right down to the canapés for the reception.”
“Todd, you don’t do things like this.”
“I will if I have you by my side. Will you stay right here, keep producing plays for all of our friends, have more of my babies?”
Angel Mine Page 30
