Christmas Angel

by Amanda McIntyre

  ***

  Angel had whipped up a pot of spicy chili and hot cornbread for supper. Not what you’d call a Christmas Eve dinner, but it was one of Shado’s favorite meals, and one of the few things she knew how to cook. She’d spent the rest of the day tidying up the apartment and had slipped down the hall to return Miss Brisbee’s book. They’d spoken over a cup of tea.

  “You’re welcome to keep it if you like,” she offered.

  Angel smiled. “Thank you. I no longer have need for it. Your recipe is inside, right where you had it.” She searched the old woman’s face, claiming it to her memory, hoping no matter what happened, she wouldn’t forget her kindness.

  “Where will you go, my dear?”

  Angel sighed, glanced toward the door, and spoke from her heart. “I can’t say just yet.” She’d collected her few things and placed them in a paper bag by his front door, hoping to make the transition to the shelter relatively easy. Her visit with Burt had given her hope she was on the right path in achieving her dreams, but an important part—Shado’s feelings—remained unknown in the big picture. Everyone had choices, and thus far, his had been to remain alone. She’d hugged Miss Brisbee, thanked her for the tea, and returned to the apartment.

  Bored with television—especially Gunsmoke reruns as of late—she instead flipped on the radio. Startled at first by the enthusiastic announcer, she couldn’t help but be drawn into the excitement in his voice.

  “All right, Reno Billy Joel fans, I’m ready to make someone’s Christmas wish a reality. If you’re the ninth caller, you will receive not only concert tickets for two, but backstage passes to meet live and in person, the one and only—Billy Joel. Phone lines are open toll free at 1-800-555-8000, or 1-800-WIN-KKHY. Hurry and call now! We’ll take the ninth caller.”

  And there he was, Billy, once more on the radio singing directly to her the very song she’d spent hours learning to play on the piano. Confused, she picked up the phone and dialed, tossing fate into the air. How could this be a coincidence? Angel chewed on the corner of her lip. After three rings, the announcer answered. She pressed her ear to the receiver, attempting to hear over the music playing in the background.

  “KKHY Classic Rock—you are on your way to meet Billy Joel. What do you think about that?”

  How could this be? After all this time, she was finally going to meet the man of her dreams face-to-face? “You mean I actually get to meet him?” She was dumbfounded and not at all certain it was what she wanted, or needed.

  “Yes ma’am. Now if you’ll stay on the line, we’ll get your name and address.”

  Angel grasped the receiver in both hands, her heart pounding against her chest. Somewhere on the floors below she heard doors slam and loud voices, though her attention was pulled back to the voice on the other end of the phone.

  “Okay, hey, congratulations! Are you a big fan of Billy Joel?” This man sounded very happy to be talking with her.

  “I do like his music very much,” she responded carefully. Maybe Burt was right. She needed to be patient and the universe would work everything out in due time.

  “If you will give me your name and address, we’ll get this right out to you.”

  “Uh, my name is Angel Marie Sutter, and uh, well, I’m visiting a friend and I’m not sure of his address.”

  “Well, is your friend around?”

  “Not yet but he’ll be here any minute, I think.” Angel frowned as she heard another voice closer now—yelling at someone in the hallway. “May I call you back?”

  There was a moment of silence. “Tell you what, normally we would have to choose another winner, but because it’s Christmas Eve, I’ll give you ten minutes to call back. If you don’t then you forfeit your win. Does that sound fair?”

  Angel nodded. “Uh, yes, I think it does, thank you.”

  “Here’s the number again, you got a pen?”

  She wrote down the number, amazed at her good fortune.

  “Hey, Angel, you sound like a wonderful lady, and what a great name for this time of year. Be sure to call us right back. I’m sure Billy would love to meet you.”

  She hung up and held the remote receiver to her chest. She could barely breathe. All day her mind had been plagued with facing her feelings for Shado. But she’d reluctantly concluded that if he truly cared for her, beyond his sense of duty, beyond their mutual physical attraction, he’d have somehow made it clear. Certainly, they’d shared intimate moments, and her body tingled with the memories, but she had to be realistic. Was this the sign she needed to move on and pursue her dream with Billy? A knock broke her from her reverie, and she opened the door to find a mammoth green pine filling the entryway.

  “Merry Christmas, Angel,” a familiar voice called from the other side.

  She recognized it as Shado, but couldn’t see him.

  “Back away. I have to get this thing inside. Already half the building is calling the landlord with complaints.”

  She stepped back and pulled open the door as wide as it would go.

  “I thought maybe….” He grunted, tugging one way and then another with the tree and finally grabbed it around the middle in a bear hug as he lifted it over the threshold. “We could at least have a quiet Christmas Eve celebration.” Covered in needles from head to toe, he waddled with the evergreen into the corner of the room. Stumbling once, he clung to it desperately and then propped it lop-sided in the corner next to the Bowflex machine. His joy caught her off guard, and for a moment, she forgot completely about meeting Billy.

  “I don’t have a stand, but we can improvise. You’re good at that.” He turned to her with a grin. And we can’t have lights. I made a promise to the landlord.” He shrugged. “Really, who needs them, right? We could make our own ornaments out of my old T-shirts or something.” He held out his arms and grinned. “Hey, but by God, we have a tree! Merry Christmas, Angel.”

  His happiness reminded her of her own good news. “I found Billy.”

  Like a gray cloud passing over the sun, she watched the joy disappear from his face. The light faded from his eyes.

  “Well, hey. Isn’t that just…something?” He looked confused for a moment and turned away as he peeled off his gloves and threw them at the base of the tree.

  “So, uh, is this guy coming here to meet you?”

  Angel’s eyes widened. “No, the man said he’d give me directions to meet him.” “What man are you talking about?” Shado’s gaze narrowed.

  “The man on the radio.”

  “On the radio?” he repeated. “I don’t understand.”

  Angel held up the note with the number written on it. “You need to call this number and tell the man your address, and he will send us directions for how to meet Billy.”

  Shado eyed her with a curious look, but there was a glint of amusement in his eyes. “Okay, give it here and let’s see what this is all about.”

  His smile widened as he spoke on the phone. “Yeah, they don’t have this sort of thing where she comes from, but thanks for being understanding. We’ll look forward to getting those tickets.”

  Angel clasped her hands, anxious for him to finish. “What did he say? When do

  I meet him?”

  He took her hand, led her to the couch and sat next to her. “Honey, you do realize these are tickets to see Billy Joel—Billy Joel, the famous entertainer?”

  “He’s the man who can play the piano?”

  His brows raised in surprise. “Yeah, he’s pretty good at it, in fact.”

  “Well, then it’s him. He’s the man I’ve been looking for.”

  “Really.” He continued to study her face. “Billy Joel is the Billy you think you’re supposed to be with?”

  He sat beside her, his hands still holding hers, which she found a bit strange. But more confusing was his lack of enthusiasm about her good news. Fate had finally showed her the way home. She squeezed his hands. “Don’t you see? Things have worked out as Burt said they would.”

  “Bu
rt? You spoke to the old man? Where?”

  “This morning at the antique store. It was exactly where you said it was. I took the necklace back, and I needed to ask him some questions about things I didn’t understand.”

  Shado searched her face. “It was there?” He frowned and looked away then met her eyes. “Like what?” “You mean, what questions?” He nodded.

  She smiled and touched his face. “It doesn’t really matter now.”

  “Oh, but it does, Angel.” His eyes held hers. “What didn’t you understand?”

  She eyed him, tamping down the conflicting emotions inside her. “I didn’t understand why I was brought here. Why I would end up under your protection and why…how I could have feelings for you when I was supposed to find someone else.”

  He shut his eyes and paused a moment before he spoke. “May I ask what makes this guy so special?”

  Angel smiled. “Have you listened closely to the words of his songs? All my life I’d only known men who treated me like one of your paper napkins used once and then tossed away. I’ve never known a man who could respect a woman and not be afraid to show her how much he loves her.”

  Her statement hit Shado like a two by four. Could he deal with a woman with a past like hers? What if he wasn’t enough for her? Doubt niggled at his brain.

  “They said they would play more of his music.” Angel jumped up and turned up the dial on the radio and sure enough, there was Billy Joel cranking out one of his love ballads. Her effervescent joy made him smile. If she could show a man like him love and compassion and make him feel ten feet tall after years of not feeling she deserved love, then certainly he could accept her. After all, this was the season of second chances, of miracles, and her arriving in his life—no matter how or why, no matter what she did or didn’t do in the past—was his miracle. He wasn’t going to allow her to slip through his fingers now, not when she’d traveled so far to find him. Oh he’d convinced himself quick he was what she needed, despite everything. He just needed to get his ego out of the way, so his heart could beat again. “Come on, dance with me.”

  He pulled her to him and encircled her waist, drawing her to the small patch of open space in his tiny living room. For a moment, he closed his eyes, breathing deep the scent of her hair near his face, appreciating how perfectly they fit together. What mattered most was this moment, holding her close to his heart. Right there in his arms was where she belonged. She just didn’t realize it yet.

  He rested his chin on the top of her head and found himself humming along with the music.

  “You can sing?”

  Angel’s pleasant surprise bolstered his ego. He cleared his throat, having not attempted a single note outside of a shower since his choral group in high school. He sang a few of the words to the song then held her at arm’s length. “You know, you really ought to see what’s right under your nose, Angel. This guy is an entertainer. Granted, he can sing, but hell, I can sing—sort of.”

  She opened her mouth to speak, but Shado pushed on, determined to have his say. “He plays piano—big deal. I’ve been known to play a little acoustic guitar.”

  “Really?” She regarded him with a curious smile.

  Set on making his point using whatever means necessary, he continued, toying with the buttons on one of his dress shirts she wore. “The guy’s a legend in the industry, but honestly, Angel, you have about as much of a chance with him as—”

  “As with you?” she interjected. Her challenging gaze was the final impetus for him to go all-in. “What are you trying to say, Shado?”

  “I admit I’m no prize, Angel. I’m stubborn, a true slob of a bachelor. I have one toe that bends the wrong way.”

  “You have one or two redeeming qualities, however.” She smiled, touching his cheek.

  He raked his hand through his hair.

  She reached up and grabbed it. “Tell me you’re the Billy I’m looking for. The Billy of my dreams.”

  With trembling hands, Shado drew the small box from his pocket and opened it to show her a thin silver band with a simple diamond. He dropped to his knee and looked up as shock registered on her face. Blinking away emotions threatening his composure, he marveled at them, realizing how sequestered he’d become—how he’d not been living—until the day she walked into his life.

  She held her hand over her mouth.

  “So listen. This is how I see it. My full name is William Reynolds Jackson. They called me Billy when I was young—worse, Billy the Kid. I hate it. I always have. No offense to Mr. Joel. The name never worked as well for me.”

  It was as though someone had turned a switch in his dark life and he needed to tell her everything. “When Danny and I worked together at the station, the guys could tell us apart by our personalities. Danny was the social one, into sports, loved being around people.” He rambled on. “He spent his free time on community basketball teams, doing charity events, going out with the guys. I wasn’t into the same things. I preferred being at home, reading, maybe catching a movie, listening to music. That’s when they gave me the name Shado— the silent guy, who hangs in the shadows, Mr. Non-social.” He blinked, realizing how the words had simply spilled out of him. He could only pray she understood—that it would be enough. “Wow, I realize that’s a lot to swallow in one night, but there it is.”

  Her blue eyes welled. “I’m not proud of my past. But it was the only way I could survive being abandoned by my family.”

  His heart squeezed, and he swallowed hard against the lump in his throat. “Your profession isn’t who you are. You taught me that, Angel. That and so much more.”

  “It is you, isn’t it? You’re Billy…you’re the one.” She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly. “Somehow I knew. Deep down inside, I knew. I was afraid to believe it because I thought it was like you said, one of those things where the victim falls in love with her protector,” she said. “After I spoke to Burt, I realized it wasn’t enough for me to believe it—we both needed to. He said we were the masters of our own fate. That’s the true miracle in all of this.”

  He shook his head. “I’ve been so stupid.”

  She touched his mouth. “No you haven’t. You’ve just been waiting for me.”

  He brushed his lips to hers and a fire sparked inside him, rushing through him, wanting more as he always did with her. He held her face between his hands. “Stay with me, Angel. This Billy loves you and wants to grow old with you. Have mercy on me. Tell me yes, you’ll stay.”

  “Yes.” Her smile was wobbly. “Without question, yes.”

  He slipped the sparkling diamond ring on her finger and hugged her tight. “Poor Billy doesn’t know what he’s losing.” He chuckled.

  She leaned back in his arms and looked up at him. “We can still go see him, right? For the music, of course.”

  “Sure, if that’s what you want for Christmas. We’ll go see Billy.”

  “Oh, I almost forgot.” He pulled out a card and handed it to her. “It’s from Madam Lee at the Imperial hotel. It’s a weekend package for two in the bordello fantasy suite. I thought maybe, with New Year’s coming up, we’d go see if the rumors are true.”

  “Rumors?” She looked at him, her blue eyes curious.

  “That you feel like you’ve been taken on a journey back in time to the days of the Sweet Magnolia.”

  She chuckled. “Trust me. The Old West has got nothing over bubble baths in your claw foot tub.” Her hands snaked under his sweatshirt, drawing it over his head.

  “Fair enough, I’ll give it to one of the guys at work.” Her lips touched his skin, and his body leapt to life. He held her face and claimed her mouth, even as he reclaimed his life and stepped over the threshold of his loneliness into a lifetime of adventure with Angel.

  A strange rushing sound, like water spilling over a falls, caught his ear and he opened one eye in time to see the giant Fraser fir plummeting toward them. He turned his body, dropping to the floor to protect her and braced for the impac
t of the tree. A groan escaped as the full brunt of it landed on his back. He looked down at Angel and smiled. “Merry Christmas.”

  A loud pounding sounded immediately from his neighbor next door. “Keep it down in there,” he yelled through the paper-thin walls.

  “There’s the pot calling the kettle black,” Angel responded, with a short laugh.

  Shado reached out and pushed the tree to the side laughing as it landed with a loud thud to the floor. “We could move, I suppose.”

  Angel looked at him. “And leave Miss Brisbee? We can’t.”

  He stood, pulled her to her feet and led her down the hall. “Then I suppose you leave me no choice but to make our neighbor’s life a living hell—starting tonight.” He grinned wickedly as he slammed the bedroom door behind them.

  Dear Readers,

  I hope you enjoyed Christmas Angel. And I hope that if you’ve enjoyed reading about the “tales” of the Sweet Magnolia that you’ll drop me a line. Look for more from this series in the future! Coming in 2016: A Knight at the Sweet Magnolia!

  Amanda

  ~ABOUT THE AUTHOR~

  Amanda McIntyre’s passion is telling character-driven stories with a penchant for placing ordinary people placed in extraordinary situations. A bestselling author, her work is published internationally in print, E-book, and audio. She writes sizzling contemporary romance and erotic historical romance and believes no matter what, love will find a way.

  Learn more and join her social networks:

  WEBSITE /www.amandamcintyresbooks.com

  FACEBOOK

  TWITTER

  GOODREADS

  AMAZON AUTHOR/www.amazon.com/author/amandamcintyre

  NEWSLETTER

  Other Books by Amanda McIntyre you might be interested in:

  Historical Erotic Thriller:

  The Dark Seduction of Miss Jane

  Historical Time-Travel series: