It's in His Touch

by Shelly Alexander

  Angelique would likely be homeless by then, because the firm was probably going to evict her in the next five minutes when she called them with the news. Even if they didn’t fire her on the spot, she was ready to quit, and she’d have to move out of the cabin anyway. Blake probably wouldn’t mind if she stayed at his place.

  “Sure thing, Ella.”

  “Great! You’ve been a real lifesaver, Angelique. So how much longer will you be in Red River?”

  “Um. Not sure.”

  “Any way we can talk you into staying permanently?”

  Angelique wouldn’t have thought so a month ago. But now? Staying here with Blake sounded dreamy. If she wasn’t in prison.

  She chuckled. “We’ll see.”

  A baby cried in the background. “Nap time is over,” Ella said, frazzled.

  When they clicked off, Angelique stared at the phone. Took a deep breath and dialed her office number.

  The receptionist answered on the second ring.

  “Hi, Marie. This is Angelique Barbetta. Is Clarence in?” She might as well start at the top with the senior partner.

  “Can I tell him what this is regarding?” The receptionist’s melodic voice streamed through the line.

  “It’s regarding the Red River Resort Development case.”

  The receptionist put her on hold, and Angelique braced herself for the firestorm.

  “Angelique.” Clarence’s voice boomed in her ear. Even though he was approaching seventy, his very presence still commanded authority and respect.

  “Clarence,” Angelique said.

  “I expected you to return my calls sooner. Our client isn’t getting good vibes. Says there’s been no communication from you. Typically, I’d take your side.”

  Sure. Like when you looked the other way after Gabriel turned the firm upside down by knocking up the Cheerleader.

  “But I have to say, I’ve been disappointed in the lack of updates from you.”

  “About that.” Angelique swallowed. Took a deep breath. “We’re going to lose this one, Clarence.”

  He went silent, and so did she.

  Finally he spoke, his voice low and threatening. “Do you want to explain how you’ve let this case spin so far out of control?”

  “The property owners are filing paperwork as we speak to have the buildings listed on the state historic register. They will be protected by historic preservation laws. There’s nothing we can do to stop it.”

  There’s nothing I want to do to stop it.

  “And does the property owners’ new momentum have anything to do with you losing your professionalism and getting personally involved with one of them?”

  Angelique closed her eyes. Gabriel had already ratted her out.

  It has everything to do with it almost slipped from her mouth, but she trod lightly. With any luck she wouldn’t end up disbarred on top of everything else. “Look, Clarence, I’ve been rethinking my career at Riggs, Castillo & Marone—”

  “As well you should. We gave you this case because it was an easy win. So you could ease back into work after the long absence you needed. It should’ve been child’s play for someone with your skills. But . . .” His tone took on a edge of condescension. “Let’s just say you’re still not up to your usual standards.”

  She stiffened. Cancer had changed her, but Red River had changed her more. In a way that the men at her firm would never understand.

  “I’d hoped the time away from Albuquerque would bring back the shark in you now that you’re healthy again. Get you back on your game.”

  “You mean this should’ve been an easy kill to get me enamored with the taste of blood again?” Her hands started to tremble.

  “Exactly. It appears I was wrong.”

  Totally wrong. Angelique was nothing like the woman they’d sent here. Instead of blood, her tastes now ran more for delicious German pastries and a certain country doctor who made her mouth water every time she looked at him.

  “I’ve made you and the partners a lot of money, Clarence, attracted high-profile clients to the firm, and when I was down, you let Gabriel kick me.” She seethed more with each word. “You wanted to get me out of the way so I wouldn’t make waves for your golden boy, nothing more. No matter how easy this case was supposed to be, you knew it was nowhere near my area of expertise. Tell me, Clarence, did you know Gabriel was screwing my legal assistant while he was engaged to me?”

  Clarence’s guilty silence set off her already shredded nerves. He wasn’t stupid. The reason he was senior partner was because he made it his business to know everything that went on in his firm.

  She blew out a strained laugh. “Of course you knew. You just didn’t care.”

  “The other partners and I expect you back here by the end of the week,” Clarence said, his tone cold as the snowcapped mountain peaks outside her cabin. “You’ve got some explaining to do.”

  “What else can I say, Clarence? The resort isn’t going to happen. The case is closed.”

  “The case over our missing client files and money is just getting started. See you in a few days,” Clarence said, and the line went dead.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Ms. Nelson clung to Blake’s arm as he opened the door of exam room B and led her into the hall. Except for a short break so he could tell his business friends the good news, his entire Monday morning schedule was filled with Red River’s elderly female population. As much as he enjoyed hearing stories of their weekly pinochle shenanigans where they drank highballs and pretended it was plain Coke, he really wanted to get done with patients and call Angelique.

  After they spent most of yesterday in bed together, he was pretty sure she’d stay in Red River and give it a chance. Give them a chance. A smile crept across his lips. He wanted to seal the deal while she was being so agreeable. Plus, she said she was calling her firm this morning, and he didn’t want her to be alone all day.

  He had to be honest with himself. He just wanted to be with her, period.

  “Maybe you should take my temperature again, Doc? I’m coming down with something, I’m sure of it.”

  “We’ve taken it four times, Ms. Nelson. Drink plenty of fluids and stay warm. The temperatures are dropping. I hear our first snowstorm of the year is supposed to hit this weekend.”

  She sighed her disappointment as Nadine scurried down the hall and came to a halt in front of them.

  Nadine’s jet-black hair was pulled back into a severe top knot, and her thunderous expression was even more pronounced. And frightening. He stilled, Ms. Nelson still clamped to his arm.

  “Everyone is up in the apartment waiting.” Nadine nodded toward his office at the end of the hall and folded her arms with authority.

  “What’s wrong?” Blake couldn’t imagine what had Nadine so irritable this early in the morning, unless the Ostergaards ran out of sticky buns before it was Nadine’s turn to order. That usually caused a near riot.

  She tapped her foot. “Maybe Kaylee can help Ms. Nelson to the front?” Nadine widened her eyes at Blake and even stopped smacking her gum. Oh, no. It must be serious.

  “Kaylee,” Blake called to his assistant, who’d just stepped out of exam room A. “Can you see our favorite patient to the reception area, please?”

  “Sure thing, Dr. Holloway.” His exhaustingly enthusiastic nurse bebopped over. “Anything you need.”

  Nadine pried Mrs. Nelson’s bony fingers off of Blake’s arm and handed her off to Kaylee. “Okay, young lady, you have a seat out front, and I’ll be right with you.”

  Kaylee guided her to the front, chattering the entire way. When they disappeared around the corner, Nadine’s black penciled-on eyebrow rose so high it almost disappeared into her hairline.

  “What?” Blake asked, a little scared of the answer.

  “Better bring your neighbor some Kevlar when you get off work.” She pointed to the ceiling where the majority of Red River’s business owners were waiting for him. “They’re pissed.”

&n
bsp; Blake’s mouth turned to gravel. “Excuse me?”

  Nadine refolded her arms across her chest. “I knew something was off about her. I mean, really, she used the name Angie Marone here in your office, but at the volleyball games she goes by Angelique Barbetta. She really played us for fools, didn’t she?”

  Blake closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. How did they find out?

  Nadine smacked her gum twice. “It sucks that you’ve had to live next to her. I hope she didn’t sucker you into becoming her friend while she was stabbing you in the back.”

  When his eyes popped open, Nadine stared back at him with both penciled eyebrows cocked high.

  “It’s a long story.” One he’d hoped he’d never have to explain.

  “Okaaaay.” Nadine smacked her gum again and waited for more.

  He let his eyes drift shut again.

  “Oh, no. You like her. As in like her—like her.” Nadine’s scowl turned to compassion, and her voice changed to that tone he’d heard her use when her six-year-old skinned a knee. “What can I do to help?”

  He sighed. “Nothing. This is my fault. I’ll handle it.” He turned to go up to the apartment but stopped. “Nadine, it’s not what you think. Angelique isn’t what you think. I’ll explain later, but can I count on you to keep an open mind and maybe even give her another chance?”

  Nadine kept her tone neutral, but she gave him a you’ve-been-played-like-a-schmuck look. “Go have your meeting, Doc.” She turned and stalked down the hall.

  His stomach tightened as he climbed the stairs.

  This was supposed to be a victory meeting where he announced that they’d won the case. Red River would stay untouched, and their way of life would stay unchanged. And no one would ever know why Angelique really came here. All they needed to know was why she decided to stay. So who gave her up?

  He paused at the door and drew in a breath before pushing it open. He had to do some damage control with the owners. Their town, their buildings, their businesses being saved should soften their hearts. Maybe he could explain how they won, and this tight-knit community of people who argued one minute and then fiercely defended one another the next would forgive him and Angelique. But offering up that information could get Angelique in even more trouble than she was already facing.

  With his hand on the doorknob, he hauled in a deep breath.

  He’d handle this. Force them to see that turning on the woman he loved wasn’t necessary. Then he’d go see Angelique on his lunch break. She deserved to know that she’d been outed, and he didn’t want her to hear it from anyone but him.

  Thank God there were no cops around, because Angelique did twenty over the speed limit trying to get to Blake’s office. She might be facing a legal battle of her own, but after the phone call with Clarence, her future seemed so clear. Why hadn’t she seen it sooner?

  She sniffed under her arm. Okay, a shower would’ve been nice in her immediate future before she did zero to ninety to see Red River’s most eligible hottie. But after her morning run, she’d been distracted by her parents, then Ella’s phone call. Then she’d decided to get the call to the firm over with before she lost her nerve.

  Blake didn’t seem to mind any of her other flaws, so she’d make it worth his while if he could overlook this one lapse in personal hygiene. She had news!

  Blake was worth a risk. Her own heart was worth it, because her heart would be broken and useless without giving a relationship with him a chance. She had to hope and believe that they could face any obstacle together and overcome it. Together.

  Her heart skittered, and her eyes moistened. Cancer was in her past. Blake was her future. And if illness reared its ugly head again, she had faith in Blake to weather that storm with her.

  And losing? The call to the firm had sealed her first legal loss, but she didn’t feel like a loser. Her ambition had always driven her to the next goal, but no matter how many goals she reached, how many victories she claimed, they never seemed to fill her with contentment. Today she didn’t just feel like a winner. She felt like a champion, only not in the way she always thought she would.

  She was in love. With a man who loved her back, more than he loved himself. And somehow helping the small business guys in this little town seemed a whole lot more fulfilling than defending high-profile criminals and getting her name and picture on every news channel and paper in the Southwest.

  After a stop at the market for champagne—which raised a few eyebrows from the clerks since it was barely nine thirty in the morning—she’d grabbed a nonalcoholic bottle and headed to Blake’s office. She pulled into a parking spot against the curb in downtown Red River.

  Not long ago she’d sat in this same spot covered in poison oak and wondered why the people of this town were so attached to these dilapidated old buildings. Now she saw the charm. The history. The sense of community that flowed through this town, and she loved it. Wanted to be a part of it. Hopefully forever.

  She pulled down the visor and looked at her bedraggled hair, the ponytail hanging loose from her run.

  Gah!

  She tried to smooth it out, but gave up and dug into her purse for perfume. Rummaging through the contents, she grabbed the tube of breath spray. With two squirts to the mouth, she looked at the bottle.

  What the heck.

  Lifting one arm, she squirted the minty scent onto her microfiber sweatshirt, then repeated on the other side. She tossed it into her purse, grabbed the bottle of champagne, and hopped out of her SUV, clicking the remote over her shoulder.

  Blake turned the doorknob and walked into his old apartment. All of Main Street’s proprietors stood around the bar that separated the kitchen from the den. Fred Tipton’s case file was open on the counter. Empty. The pages distributed among some of the business owners, the others looked over their shoulder and studied the documents that had Angelique’s name all over them.

  Shit. This was even bigger trouble than Blake thought. He had outed Angelique.

  Early that morning, he’d run up to the apartment to make sure it was presentable for the meeting. He tossed the file onto the counter and went to check the bathroom. That’s when Kaylee popped in and told him the first patient of the day was having trouble breathing. He rushed downstairs, and sure enough, one of his elderly regulars was having an asthma attack.

  He put the nebulizer on her, got the attack under control . . . and never thought about the file again.

  Mr. Ostergaard was the first to speak, his German accent thickened with grief. “Zhis cannot be true. Angelique vas such a nice young voman.”

  Blake rubbed the back of his neck and went to stand by the window. He leaned against the sill. This was going to be bad, and it was his fault.

  “I can’t believe she pretended to be here on vacation.” Page in hand, Cooper Wells looked up. “Ang was my friend. We went to high school together.”

  “Coop, come on,” Blake said. “You know she’s still your friend.”

  The owner of the Shear Elegance Salon across the street tapped a manicured nail against the Formica countertop. “With friends like that we don’t need enemies. Frenemy, that’s what she is.”

  A murmur of agreement circled the room.

  Blake adjusted the stethoscope that was draped around his neck and shoved both hands in his pockets. “It’s not what it looks like. I called this meeting to tell you the new resort isn’t going to happen. Our buildings will be listed on the State Register of Cultural Properties. We have a new attorney filing the papers right now. Every building in Red River’s business district is safe. Our businesses are safe. Our lives are safe.”

  He would’ve thought his friends would be happy. Crazy happy. But no, their expressions told him they felt betrayed and wounded on the most personal level. That’s how Red River was. They stuck together. They treated newcomers and even tourists like their own, until someone made the mistake of crossing them.

  “She iz not velcome in my store anymore,” Mr. O said.
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  Blake raked a hand over his freshly shaved jaw. How could he fix this without giving up even more information that could damage Angelique’s future? “Look, I felt the same way when she first moved here—”

  “You knew all along?” Coop’s look of shock turned to suspicion. “Oh, wow,” he finally said. “You two are . . .”

  Gasps rippled through the small crowd.

  “You didn’t tell us because you’re sleeping with her?” the owner of the seamstress shop said.

  His brain whirred to find a way to make them understand that Angelique had become one of the good guys during this whole ugly mess.

  “How convenient that she lives next door to you,” Joe said.

  He turned to look out the window. “I didn’t tell you for a few reasons.” He couldn’t break doctor-patient confidentiality, but if he played the sympathy card, maybe they’d give Angelique a break. “Angelique had a lot of the same health issues my mom had. I am a doctor, so don’t hold it against me for having sympathy. I thought I could help her through the mental and emotional block that goes with her particular health problem. You know, get close to her.”

  “Um, Doc,” Coop said from behind him.

  Blake didn’t turn around. “No, let me finish. It’s time I tell you guys the truth.” He kept gazing out the window at the people ambling down Main Street and tried to explain from the beginning. Then he’d explain all the way to the end about how she was a wonderful person and how much he loved her. “I wanted to give it some time, see if I could change her mind. Our attorney wasn’t exactly a legal genius. He didn’t stand a chance against a lawyer of Angelique Barbetta’s caliber, and I was trying to tip the scales in our favor.”

  “And you did a magnificent job.” Angelique’s voice was lethal.

  He spun around.

  There she was, standing in the doorway with a bottle of champagne. Beautiful. Hurt. And angry as hell.

  Angelique’s heart hit the floor like a brick. There was Blake, the man she loved. The man she thought loved her back. Telling Red River why she’d come here, how he felt sorry for her, how he really did use her.