Angel Baby (Heaven Can Wait)

by Laura Marie Altom

  A knock sounded at the back door.

  Speaking of pains.

  Before turning off the stove, Jonah shot a glance at the counter loaded with tinfoil-covered serving dishes. He had enough sugar cookies, banana bread and chocolate cake to land him in the hospital with diabetes. Why wouldn’t the good citizens of Blue Moon leave him alone? He knew they meant well, but when would they get it through their heads that there was no cheering him up? What he felt for Angel couldn’t be fixed with a whole houseful of baked goods.

  “Mmm-ah! Mmm-ah!”

  Another knock sounded. This time sharper.

  “Keep your pants on, I’m—” Door open, Jonah had to blink.

  Angel, wearing figure-hugging jean cutoffs and a painted-on DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS T-shirt, stood right there on his back porch. Hands behind her back, lean, tan legs going on for miles, red cowboy boots covering her kissable toes.

  His mouth went dry. Was she real or a mirage?

  “Hey...” the mirage said. Aquamarine eyes shimmering, she reached her hand out for him to shake. “We haven’t formally been introduced. I’m Rose Sherman.”

  He grasped her hand. “Angel, you came back.”

  “No, Jonah, I’m Rose.”

  “Mmm-ah! Mmm-ah!” Katie lurched so hard in her high chair that the feet clanked against the floor.

  “Katie? Is that you, baby?” The woman so familiar, yet so foreign, rushed past him to unfasten his baby from her chair and clutch her into her arms. “Katie, Katie,” she sang, raining the infant’s forehead with kisses. “I missed you so bad.”

  “What about me?” Jonah closed the door.

  “Of course.”

  “But…”

  “But, with Liz—Katie, what we share is unconditional.”

  “And with me, there’s baggage?” From somewhere, he managed to find a weak smile.

  “I suppose that’s one way of putting it.” She smiled, too, and the sight of it tilted his carefully balanced world off axis.

  What was wrong with him? He was over her. Had convinced himself he’d never truly fallen for her in the first place, so how could his pulse pound to such a degree? How come he couldn’t breathe and the tips of his fingers itched from wanting to smooth her luminous hair?

  She swallowed hard, cupped the back of Katie’s head, cuddling her ever closer. “I suppose since I left, I should be the one who starts things off with an apology.”

  Jonah shook his head. “I should apologize. I should’ve—”

  “What? There wasn’t anything anyone could do. Yes, we both made mistakes, but those are behind us.”

  She looked to Katie, then eventually back to him. “I’m here with hopes of looking forward.”

  “Together?”

  “If that’s what you want.”

  “That what you want?”

  “I think so, but other times…” She shrugged. “I just wish there was some way to know for sure.”

  “Don’t we all,” he said with a forced chuckle.

  Her gaze darted from his face to the kitchen as a whole. “I like what you’ve done with the place. Looks cozy.”

  “Thanks.” Soiled baby clothes and his jeans and T-shirts overflowed from the laundry basket. Dirty dishes languished in the sink. Take-out packaging from the diner littered the tabletop and spilled onto the floor.

  “Need a housekeeper?”

  Yes.

  No. Hell, no, he didn’t need a housekeeper, he needed a wife. Not to clean house for him, but to be his best friend and lover for the rest of his life.

  “Make love to me, Jonah.”

  “What?”

  Hand on his sleeve, his baby—her baby—in her arms, she said, “I know this must sound crazy, but please. I’ve come so far. I have to know if any of what we shared is real.”

  “What about Katie?”

  “Knowing Esther, she’d pay you to watch her.”

  Fifteen minutes later, Rose had proven herself right. Esther did take Katie, as well as welcome Rose back with a crushing hug.

  “Girl, I missed you,” Esther said. “Don’t ever leave us like that again.”

  “I can’t make any promises,” Rose said, “other than that I promise to try.”

  “Good enough.” Esther grabbed Katie. “You gonna behave, you little monster?”

  The baby grinned.

  “All right,” Esther said. “Guess you can stay.” To Rose and Jonah, she added, “Go on. I wasn’t born yesterday. I know you didn’t drop Katie off so you two could attend the Bible breakfast meetin’ down at the Baptist church.”

  Rose gave her friend a wink, then fierce hug. “Thank you,” she whispered in Esther’s good ear. “You’re an amazing friend.”

  “Ditto.”

  Five minutes after that, hand at the small of Rose’s back, Jonah ushered her through the front door of his house. “Don’t think I’ve ever come this way…” She covered her nerves with a giggle. What had she been thinking? Was she out of her mind asking him to take her to bed not five minutes after showing up on the man’s back porch?

  “Then it’s about time.” Jonah closed and locked the door behind him.

  The grandfather clock greeted them with disapproving ticks.

  Downtown, the morning coal train blew its lonely whistle. It was late. Was she too late to repair the damage her leaving had done?

  “How’s the diner?" she asked, suddenly eager to discuss anything but the deed they’d supposedly come home to do.

  “Good.” He perched on the sofa’s arm. “Not quite as good as when you were performing, but the singing waitresses turned out to be one hell of a great draw. Much better than Happy Meals or Buy-One-Get-One-Free burger specials.” He looked to his feet. “My great-grandfather would be proud.”

  “I’m glad.” Worrying her lower lip, she flashed him a shy smile.

  “Guess I should probably call down there, huh? Tell them I’m going to be late.” He’d already headed for the phone.

  “If you need to work,” she called after him, “I’ll understand. I’m good at hanging out around here.” Guess he hadn’t heard her, as he was already talking to Leon or Pauline on the other end of the phone.

  Rose’s gaze fell to the drooping peace lily, the dust on the piano. This house needed her. Katie needed her. Did Jonah? She’d jokingly asked if he needed a housekeeper, but she hadn’t come back looking for a job. She was looking for a life.

  Jonah returned. “That’s done.”

  “All set?”

  “All set.”

  “Good.” Again came that annoying giggle. Geesh, it wasn’t as if she was a virgin.

  Oh, yes, you are. The first time you and Jonah made love, he thought it was a dream—even you weren’t so sure if that night was reality or fantasy.

  “So…” Jonah tucked his hands in his pockets. “Want to head upstairs, or—”

  “What I want is to stop feeling like we’re strangers.” She searched his dear face. Deep brown eyes that had comforted her through her most terrifying storm. Firm lips that held the power to kiss her to dizzying heights, yet reduce her spirit to mush with stony silence. What was he thinking? Did he find her direct approach too forward? Downright brazen?

  “We are strangers,” he finally said.

  “What do you think we should do to fix that?”

  “What we should do is buy you the old Griffin place down the road. Fix it up cute. Spend the next two or three years dating, then invite the whole town to our big church wedding, but…”

  “But what?”

  “That’d take two or three years.”

  Pulse racing, she licked her lips. “And that’s a problem?”

  He grinned. “Look at my fly. You tell me.”

  Sure enough, he seemed a bit crowded down there. She’d barely had time to laugh before he crossed the room, cupping her face in his hands to grace her with a powerful, mind-blowing, heart-shattering kiss before scooping her into his arms and carrying her up the stairs.

  “You
passed our room,” she said when he ambled toward the guest room.

  “That’s not our room,” he said. “That was the room I shared with my wife. Geneva.”

  “Sam told me you were married. And that your wife died.”

  “Yeah, well, there’s a whole lot of messy stuff in between. If you’re planning on staying, we’ll have to get a new bed for that room and change the wallpaper.”

  “That room has paint—no paper.”

  “Does it matter?” he asked, laying her on the bed.

  “Not a bit.”

  He straddled her, whipped his navy blue T-shirt over his head. Magnificent didn’t do his body justice. His chest and shoulders were unyielding steel rising into a face so handsome, she was almost afraid to gaze upon him for fear he wouldn’t be real. But as he tugged at the hem of her T-shirt, pulling it over her head and tossing it to the floor, she felt not the sterile chill of her LA home but a sultry southern breeze blended with the heat of Jonah’s appreciative stare.

  Oh, he was real, all right. As real as this moment they’d stolen in time. There was nothing fancy about their coupling as they took turns nipping kisses and scooting each other out of their clothes.

  Rose thought their reunion would be tender and slow, and it started out that way. But then desire grabbed hold, with every fevered openmouthed kiss and groan reminding her of the secret places that for weeks she’d dreamt of but been forbidden to touch.

  When Jonah’s explorations moved between her legs, she was ready for him, wet and hungry and throbbing for more than his inquisitive fingers, but then sighing from the pleasure of his deceptively simple touch.

  He was power in motion and she joined him for the ride as they tumbled topsy-turvy among cool cotton sheets, reveling in each other and their rekindled love.

  He entered her in one swift, gasping thrust and she accepted all of him, closing her eyes and moaning with pleasure, pressing the tips of her fingers into his muscular back. This was no time for talking but for feeling, for reassuring each other that they were gloriously, wondrously together and alive and setting course on a journey neither would ever forget.

  Such was their urgency that both soon peaked. In Jonah, Rose hadn’t found a storybook hero who lasted for days and nights without end. She’d found a real man, with real strengths and weaknesses. And at the moment, she was all too happy to seek shelter in his arms.

  Glowing with sweat, her face wreathed in a brilliant smile all of his making, she rested on her side, tracing the outlines of his brows, nose and cheeks.

  “Woman…” he smoothed back her hair. “You wore me out.”

  “Sorry.” She played innocent, batting her lashes.

  “The hell you are.” He cupped her cheeks, pulling her in for another kiss.

  “Okay, so I’m not. Are you?” She searched his face for signs of regret.

  “Nope.”

  “Cool. Now, how about us scrounging up some breakfast?”

  Chapter Forty-Five

  While Jonah fetched Katie from Esther’s, Rose happily puttered about the kitchen, whipping up pancakes and sausage, filling the sink with warm, sudsy water, and relishing the simple, homespun task of washing dishes that she knew most women thought a bore. Maybe one day she would, too, but, for now, any so-called chore concerning the care of her family was a task she’d treasure.

  After breakfast, Rose put Jonah to work, playfully scolding him about having let her house fall to ruin in the short time she’d been gone. While she happily scrubbed the kitchen floor, singing to Katie, who cooed in her swing, she had Jonah folding laundry and making sure the washer and dryer kept up their steady hums. After a day spent changing bed linens, dusting, weeding and watering the garden, they fixed a simple supper of pork chops, frozen green beans, and baked potatoes, and Rose helped Jonah bathe Katie in the big, claw-footed tub, remembering the time he’d brought her so much comfort there.

  Would there be more of those times to come?

  There would if she had any say in the matter—sooner as opposed to later!

  After the dinner dishes were washed and put away, and the baby long since lotioned and powdered and tucked in for the night, Rose said, “How about letting me give you a bath?”

  “What?” He grinned while kneeling to put the skillet in the cabinet beside the stove. “The warden’s giving me a break?”

  “Watch it, mister, or I might just get in the tub to pleasure myself and force you to watch.”

  “Damn,” he said with a slight shake of his head. “That doesn’t sound too bad, either. And here I thought you were still my Angel.”

  Rose froze.

  “Why do I get the feeling that was the wrong thing to say?” Easing behind her at the sink, he curved his fingers over her shoulders and rubbed.

  She spun about to face him. “Why do I suddenly get the feeling nothing has changed?”

  “What do you mean?”

  She paused a moment before saying, “This Angel thing has to stop. I haven’t mentioned it before, but that’s the third time you’ve said something along those same lines today. If we’re to have any kind of a future—which, by the way, are we?”

  “I don’t know.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “I guess I assumed we’d get married for real, but maybe we still have a few things to work out.”

  “Okay, starting with the fact that I’m not now, nor have I ever been since I was ten, an angel. Right up front, you have to know I used to have a serious drinking problem—serious enough that on the night you found me, I was checking myself into a clinic.”

  “I know. Sam told me.”

  “Maybe something he didn’t tell you was that in my teenage years, and even as an adult, I’ve done things I’m not proud of. Day by day, I’m forgiving myself, but they’re still there. I can’t change the past any more than I can predict the future.” She shook her head, slapped her hands to her sides. “Who’s to say if small town life is for me? I mean, truthfully, right now I can’t imagine ever living any other way than right here, in this house, you and Katie by my side, but I worked hard to achieve the level of success I have. Growing up, I dreamed of becoming a star, of escaping my small town. So you can see why now I’m confused to find myself dreaming of not just returning to a small town, but you. As much as right now I think I’m ready to give up my career, it’s only fair to tell you how much I enjoyed singing at the diner. That could only mean I must at some level miss the limelight. And I know I miss the booze that kept me company on the road. Every day without it is a struggle, but that’s just something I’m going to have to battle through.”

  Jonah looked to his feet.

  “Well? Aren’t you going to say anything?”

  “Don’t you want this to work?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, why are you standing here doing this reverse sell job? I was all set to ask you to marry me tonight, yet you’ve listed a half-dozen reasons why I shouldn’t.”

  “Because just like Sam told you about facets of my former life, he also told me a lot about you. He told me about Geneva and how the two of you mixed like oil and water. He told me what a constant disappointment she was to you—to the whole town. I’d rather die than hurt you the way she did, Jonah. Maybe that’s why I’m dredging all this up, because you have to know up front that I’m trouble with a capital T. I’m also tired of being used and, on the flip side of the coin, I’m scared to death that what you feel for me isn’t real, but just a passing infatuation. I’m good for your baby. Good for your diner and house. And after what we shared this morning, I hope you could even say I was good in your bed—but maybe that’s all I am, good for temporary fun, but not forever.”

  “Stop.” He clasped his hands on top of his head. “You’ve made your point.”

  “Have I? So now, knowing my finer points and bad, do you still think this is ever going to work? Because if you have even a glimmer of doubt, now’s the time to ’fess up.”

  Jonah searched her gaze fo
r signs that this brave speech was just a bluff, but her aquamarine eyes blazed cold. In all the time he’d known her, she’d burst into tears at the briefest hint of emotion. Yet now, at this most crucial point in their relationship, she stood before him dry-eyed and daring.

  He thought he knew her so well—better than he knew himself. How could he have been so wrong?

  He took a deep breath. “I’ll be first to admit I’ve had grave misgivings about a relationship between us having any real chance at lasting. But after today, you showing up here out of the blue, professing not just your love, but your forgiveness, for my not telling you the truth about your identity back on the very first day we met, I thought, screw my fears. I’m just going to go for it. Fate wouldn’t be so cruel as to bring us together, split us apart, then do it all over again just for the hell of it. But you know what? Guess I was wrong.”

  “Okay, then…” She swallowed hard.

  Was this it? Jonah wondered. Was this the part where she told him her speech had only been a test designed to see how far his love would bend? Or was she exploring boundaries, like Geneva, afraid marriage to him would ultimately end up trapping her in an emotional cage?

  Still, she hadn’t shed so much as a single tear and, as much as he hated to admit it, that had to mean something. A something he instinctively knew he wouldn’t like.

  “Want me to leave?” she asked, looking small but proud before him. She raised her chin, daring him to argue a single word of what she’d said.

  He wanted to deny her, but lacked the energy. Truth was, he loved her too much to trap her.

  Maybe she was too cowardly to admit the real reasons she was letting him go, but he’d been down that road before. Being married to a woman who didn’t share his hopes and dreams had been hell. Almost as painful as he knew the next decades would be without Rose in his and Katie’s lives. “No,” he finally said, “I don’t want you to leave—at least not tonight, anyway.”

  “What’s that mean?”

  “It means I’ve got paperwork to do down at the diner. You bunk in your old room and we’ll say our good-byes in the morning.”