Bells, Rings & Angels' Wings

by Linda Randall Wisdom

  When was the last time she’d spent any time with her mother? she wondered. Time the way they used to. Her memory shifted back to the last time they had gone out to lunch and just sat and talked. Or gone shopping. Or even gone to the park and enjoyed a sunny afternoon.

  Sorrow filled her as she realized it had to have been before Sara’s death. Afterward, Libby had shut herself away from the world so she could grieve. And in the process, she had shut everyone away from her.

  “So you bring all these goodies over to Cyn,” she said, this time choosing a buttery cookie dusted with colored sugar. How many times had she come home from school as a child and found these cookies lying on a plate?

  Marie leaned over as if to impart a secret. “Cyn’s very susceptible to my fudge brownies.”

  “It’s because I don’t bake,” Cyn confessed. “Any cake I try baking either falls or turns out hard as a rock.”

  “At last year’s Ladies’ League picnic we used her cookies for Frisbees,” Marie added.

  “At least I never have to contribute to bake sales. All they ever want is my money paying for the goodies the others bring.”

  Libby burst out laughing. As she did, she realized this was one of the very few times she had laughed in the past several months. And it felt good.

  “Now tell us about your day,” Cyn suggested. “Did Josh try to flush anything else down the commode?” She quickly filled Marie in on the other Josh episode.

  “No, thank goodness. He was actually somewhat well behaved today.” Libby poured herself more tea, finding the orange spice brew soothing. “I think he’s hoping to throw me off guard before he does something entirely wild.”

  Cyn nodded. “All the boys in that family are like that.”

  Marie chuckled. “I have all boys and they used to act just as bad. Thank God they’re adults now and out of the house, though I don’t think they’ll ever grow up.”

  “No daughters?” Libby whispered. She understood why she didn’t exist in Marie’s life, but what about Vicky?

  Marie’s smile was tinged with regret. “No, I’m afraid not. I’d hoped for one or two girls to balance out the household, but I was never that lucky.”

  Libby didn’t stop to think when she reached across the table and covered Marie’s hand with her own. “You should have had daughters to pass your baking skills on to.”

  Marie turned her hand over to gently squeeze Libby’s. “Thank you, dear. But you learn to be happy with what you have because all children always seem to provide you with a special joy.”

  “Or a lot of headaches,” Cyn murmured with a sly smile.

  “This from the woman with four husbands.”

  Libby’s mouth dropped open. “Four?”

  Cyn shrugged. “What can I say? None of them could keep up with me.”

  Libby laughed as Cyn made wry comments about each of her ex-husbands.

  “I probably would have remarried Henry if he hadn’t gotten himself indicted for insider trading.” She shook her head, tsking softly under her breath. “The man just loved playing the market, but he had a bad habit of not playing fair.”

  Libby found herself alternately laughing and wheezing as the two women went on to amiably bicker about which of them had been the more popular back in high school.

  Marie was the first one to look up at the clock on the wall.

  “I’d best get home to start dinner,” she said, rising to her feet. “Nathan will be home before I know it.”

  Libby felt pain at the mention of her father— someone else she hadn’t spent time with for many months. She wondered if he still had heart trouble. Was he taking his prescribed walks and his medication? Did he stay away from his favorite foods, which only worsened his condition? She hated that she couldn’t ask.

  “It was very nice meeting you, Libby,” Marie said, as she put on her coat and buttoned it up. “When you’re ready to meet some nice young men I’ll introduce you to two of my boys, Greg and Rick. I’d like to see them with a nice girl.”

  Libby almost burst out laughing at the idea of dating one of her brothers. “I’d rather settle in first,” she murmured.

  “You want to fix her up with Greg?” Cyn rolled her eyes. “He may be your son, Marie, but we both know his only love is that new 4x4 pickup of his. Look how he’s out there every Saturday washing and waxing it. I heard one of the times he dated Heidi Potter he almost made her get out and walk from the Railroad Tavern since she had some mud on her shoes.”

  Libby edged her way to the door. “I’m happy to meet you, too, Marie,” she murmured. “Cyn, I’ll see you later.”

  The women were still good-naturedly arguing about Greg’s love for his truck as Libby crept out of the kitchen. She didn’t breathe a sigh of relief until she was in the blessed silence of her apartment.

  What she noticed first when she stepped inside was the temperature; the room was comfortably warm. The second thing she noticed was Matthias seated in the armchair. He held a glass of wine cupped in one hand.

  “Do you really enjoy running after those little terrors?” he asked as he took a sip. “Oh, I’m sorry. Would you care for a glass?”

  “Yes, thank you.” She was curious to see how he would conjure up her wine. She should have known better. She blinked and a glass of wine stood on the coffee table. “I suppose the heat was your idea.”

  “I thoroughly dislike cold weather.” He waved his glass to a tune that might have been silent in his head, but was soon heard by Libby. “I’ve always found Vivaldi relaxing.”

  Libby dropped her purse on the couch and sat down. She picked up the glass of wine. She slipped off her shoes and stretched her legs out so her feet could rest on the coffee table.

  “Why are you here?”

  He cast his eyes skyward. “I thought you would have wished to converse further on your seeing Tyler.”

  “Oh really? What was I supposed to say— ‘Hello, Tyler. In another dimension, I was your wife’? He would have laughed at me.” She sipped the wine, enjoying the inner warmth the alcohol gave her. “Why did he act as if he was God’s gift to women? He’s not the Tyler I know. Not the Tyler I grew up with. He’s too arrogant.”

  “He didn’t have you with him all these years. You were his softening feature, Libby. He always loved you. He wanted to be the perfect man for you and he did everything possible to be that man.”

  “I didn’t want Tyler to be something he’s not,” she said, distressed. “I always loved him just the way he was.”

  Matthias cocked his head to one side, watching her with his direct gaze. “And what is so wrong in finding out what this Tyler might offer you?”

  His smile should have warned her she was in for a surprise that might be very unwelcome. But she was too distracted by the jaunty knock on the door.

  She got up and walked over to the door. A quick peek through the curtains told her what she needed to know.

  “I’m perfectly safe,” Tyler announced, holding up his hands. “And I brought dinner.” He held up one hand a little higher. It held two white paper bags emblazoned with a popular fast-foodfranchise logo.

  “I’d say this is the perfect time to find out.” Matthias and his wineglass were gone in a blink of an eye.

  Chapter Nine

  “I thought you might be hungry,” Tyler explained when Libby opened the door. “Hope you like cheeseburgers.” He quickly jumped inside before she could change her mind.

  Now he could see what she looked like without her bulky coat—and he was highly impressed. She was slender without the anorexic look too many women seemed to prefer nowadays. She didn’t wear the bold makeup colors Renee preferred, but her coral lipstick suited her. Her tan wool, pleated skirt ended a couple of inches above her knees, while her orange crewneck sweater skimmed her hips. He noticed her tan leather flats were lying by the couch. She didn’t need to be flashy to get a man’s attention. She could do it just by being herself.

  Dammit, how could one woman be so cute?
>
  He walked into the kitchen and set the bags on the counter. As if he’d been there many times before, he hunted through the cabinets until he found the dishes. In no time, he had emptied the bags and placed food on plates.

  “How did you know where I live?” Libby asked, still standing by the door. She only closed it because of the cold air streaming in around her ankles.

  “What can I say? It’s a small town and it’s easy to find out anything you want to know if you know who to ask.” He set the two plates on the table. “Ready to eat? I got you the large fries. I wasn’t sure, but knowing most women prefer it, I got you Diet Coke.”

  Libby walked over to the table. “Why the gesture? Because I turned you down for a date?”

  She hid her smile as he gallantly pulled out her chair, waited for her to be seated, then carefully pushed it back toward the table.

  “You had to eat, didn’t you? And since you just moved in, you probably don’t have a wellstocked kitchen.” Tyler unwrapped his burger and bit into it.

  “Oh, and since you’ve obviously lived here all your life, your kitchen has everything known to man. You know—frozen dinners, cases of beer. All the necessities.”

  She gingerly lifted the bun to peer at the contents. She was surprised to discover there was no tomato. She had never liked tomatoes on her cheeseburgers and always asked for them to be left off. Libby had few eccentricities, but one was that tomato not even touch her meat.

  “Were they out of tomatoes for the burgers?” she asked casually.

  A slight frown creased his forehead. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why, but I asked for no tomato on your cheeseburger.”

  “That’s fine. I don’t like them on my sand-wiches.” She bit into her cheeseburger and chewed. She picked up her diet drink. “This is a very nice gesture. Thank you.”

  Tyler’s grin reminded her of the Big Bad Wolf right after he huffed and puffed to blow that house down.

  “Anything to please a lady.” He leaned back in his chair, hooking an arm over the back. “So tell me about Libby Douglas.”

  She thought for a moment. “Libby Douglas teaches preschoolers.”

  He shook his head. “No, that’s what Libby Douglas does for a living. Not what kind of person she is.”

  She took a deep breath before beginning her recitation. “Libby Douglas is twenty-nine, has taught preschoolers for five years, enjoys reading, going for walks, poking around antique stores, plays tennis badly and is better at softball and volleyball. She doesn’t like people who think too much of themselves or who are unkind to anyone, human or animal.”

  “My dog is expecting puppies.”

  “All that means is you allowed your dog to get loose at a certain time in her life,” she replied tartly.

  He nodded. “She was very popular that night. Came home tired but happy.”

  Libby wondered if this Tyler had a scar behind his knee. She remembered the day he’d had to climb a fence to escape a neighbor’s angry German shepherd and wasn’t fast enough to elude the animal’s sharp teeth.

  There were so many questions she ached to ask him, but she wasn’t sure she was prepared for his answers.

  Instead, she opted to finish her meal.

  “So, Libby Douglas, did you leave a loved one behind in Webster Falls?” he asked. “Someone who might show up at your front door and not understand why I’m here?”

  She shook her head. “Not really. But—” her gaze took on a crafty glimmer, “—Marie Bennett did offer to introduce me to two of her sons.”

  Tyler groaned loudly. He leaned forward, waving a french fry at her for emphasis. “That has to be Greg and Rick, and believe me, you don’t want anything to do with either of them. They don’t know how to treat a lady. While Mrs. Bennett is a great person and their dad a neat guy, Greg and Rick didn’t bother learning their lessons.”

  She ignored the twinge caused by the mention of her parents. “And you do know how to treat a lady.”

  “Damn straight.” He munched on his french fry and reached for another. “They wouldn’t have gotten you the large-size fries, I can tell you that.”

  “Oh, yes, you are a generous one, aren’t you?” Libby dipped her fry in a glob of ketchup. “And what about you? What is there to know about you other than the fact that you’re working on the school expansion?” And you think you’re God’s gift to women.

  Tyler took a sip of his cola to wash down the fry he’d just eaten. “I’ve lived here all my life. I went into construction because I like working with my hands. When my dad retired, my parents thought about moving to Arizona, where they’d have milder winters. I didn’t want to see the family house go to anyone else, so I offered to buy it from them. I have two brothers and a sister. They’re all married and live in the area. I’m thirty, in excellent health, and anyone in town would tell you what a great guy I am.” He flashed his wolf’s smile again.

  “I see. And what would your minister say about you?”

  “Well,” he hedged, “he would probably tell you a few escapades from my wild youth.”

  “So since growing up, you’ve been a model citizen?”

  “I can be good when I want to.”

  Libby felt out of her depth with this Tyler. He obviously enjoyed making women blush. She could feel heat warming her cheeks and only hoped it didn’t show. Judging from the look on his face, it did.

  She gathered up the food wrappers and stuffed them in the bag. Holding on to that, she stood up, snagging Tyler’s empty plate and her own.

  “Thank you for dinner,” she said in her best schoolteacher’s voice. “I hate to be rude and chase you out, but I have lessons to prepare for tomorrow.”

  Tyler leaned back in his chair and watched her. “C’mon, Teach, what kind of lessons can you come up with for that age? The kids can’t be so difficult it would take you all evening to figure out how you’ll teach them the alphabet.”

  “I can see you have no idea what goes on in teaching the young.” She gave him a pointed look. “You should be careful, Tyler. They might show you up one day.”

  He heaved a sigh and pushed himself out of his chair.

  “Teach, you are one tough lady.” He pulled his keys out of his jeans pocket and jingled them in his hand. “Don’t worry, I’ll leave quietly.” He strolled toward the door with lazy grace. He opened the door and before walking out, looked over his shoulder and winked. “This time.”

  The moment the door closed, Libby collapsed against the kitchen counter.

  I would say you handled that quite well.

  She closed her eyes. “Show yourself. I refuse to talk to the walls.”

  Matthias appeared the moment she finished speaking. He was seated in the same chair he’d been in earlier.

  “Is this better?” He wore pained look of resignation that spoke volumes of what he had to suffer with dealing with humans.

  “Yes.”

  “What do you think of your Tyler?” As Matthias raised his hand, his wineglass reappeared.

  “The man here tonight was not my Tyler. He’s Renee’s Tyler.” Libby turned and picked up the dishes, rinsing them before putting them in the dishwasher. “He was obviously hoping for an invitation to spend the night. As if I’d give in that easily.”

  Matthias widened his eyes. “My dear, I am appalled to hear you say that. After all, you teach little ones. That you would actually entertain the idea of having a young man you barely know stay the night is reprehensible.”

  “You’re talking about the man who happens to be my husband. At least, I always knew him as my husband.” She wiped off the counters with a damp cloth even though they didn’t need it. “I don’t like your idea of games, Matthias.”

  “This game is yours. If you want to find the Tyler you love then you need to bring him out. You abandoned him, Libby. You left him alone. You never stopped to think that he might have been grieving, too. You didn’t want to see how much he needed you to help him work through the loss of your child. You w
ere so engrossed in yourself you never noticed his pain.”

  Libby flinched as if he’d struck her.

  “And that’s why I’m here,” she whispered. “I wanted a world without them, so here I am in a world basically without me. What I’m finding out is that they didn’t need me. Tyler is a freewheeling bachelor instead of a husband with a new house, a mortgage and a grieving wife. My mother has a close friend and lots of outside activities, since she doesn’t have any daughters to worry about. Even Miss Regina was able to go on without my being at the school.” Libby’s brow furrowed in pain. “You showed me I really wasn’t necessary.”

  Matthias held his hand in front of him, examining his nails. “I told you this was a learning experience.”

  “Then what do I do next?”

  “You’re a smart girl. You can figure it out.” With that, he disappeared.

  “It would be nice if you made it easy just once,” she muttered.

  Not a chance.

  TYLER NEVER WORRIED about falling asleep. Usually, he’d fall into bed and be out the second his head hit the pillow.

  Tonight he found it more difficult. Because of Libby Douglas. He hadn’t planned on-stopping off to pick up burgers and take them by her place. And he couldn’t remember ever putting in a special order for someone he didn’t even know. How could he have known she didn’t like tomatoes on her burgers?

  He knew it sounded corny, but he viewed her as someone special. She didn’t have the flash Renee had. Maybe because she taught rug rats. Her reserve didn’t seem to matter, since it suited her so well.

  He crossed his hands behind his head and looked up at the ceiling, where he could see shadows chase themselves across the smooth surface.

  Even though the air was chilly, he had the window open an inch or so. From outside, he could hear the muted sounds of the Gundersons’ collie barking at the Harkers’ cat, who enjoyed teasing him by prowling the top of the fence. And it sounded like the Smiths next door were at it again. He swore they only fought so they’d have the pleasure of making up—and they weren’t quiet about that, either. He didn’t envy them the fighting, but he sure envied them the loving.