"It's part of the training," she whispered, her head hanging.
"What training? The CIA? FBI? Hell, are you some kind of spy in hiding? My God!" He slammed his hands down on the table and stuck his face in hers. "Where are you from?"
"Heaven," she repeated. "When we get our certificates, we work with mortals. I haven't—had not received mine yet. Electra did something bad and I was with her. Michael sent us here as punishment. Gabriel…" She took a deep breath and slowly let it out as she raised her head and met his eyes. "Gabriel said you wouldn't believe me. I thought you would."
Ty pushed away from the table and leaned against the counter. His breathing too rapid, his heart was about to pump its way right out of his chest. A raging headache had set up between his eyes.
"So we're back to this Gabriel person, are we? Give me his phone number. Address. Something. I want to talk to him. Now." He folded his arms over his chest.
"Archangel Gabriel. There are no telephones in Heaven." She looked up toward the ceiling. "He's watching, though. He said he would." She lowered her gaze and met his. "But there's nothing I can say to make you believe me, is there?"
Tears welled in her eyes, her lower lip trembled. Holy shit, she really expected him to believe this manure.
"No. I'm not going to believe you're some angel from Heaven. I think you need some serious psychological help." He headed for the doorway. "I'm exhausted. When I get up, I'm going to call someone who might be able to help you. Or at least point you in the right direction."
Shaking his head, he went down the hall to his room. An angel. He stripped down to his shorts and collapsed on the bed. An angel for God's sake.
* * * *
Michaela watched Ty's back as he left the kitchen. He thought she needed psychological help. She wasn't crazy, she thought. She wasn't. But he'd never believe that.
It was time to go.
Go Home.
Her chest felt empty. Like her heart, her very soul was missing. Perhaps it was. Maybe she wasn't truly mortal. Never would be. There must be something missing inside her that other mortal women had. All she wanted was to feel Ty's love.
She thought she'd glimpsed it when he'd come in and kissed her, his eyes so bright and happy. But then she'd opened her mouth, told him the truth, and it was gone.
Michaela went into her bedroom and gathered her few belongings. Her bag, the papers inside, and Trent Godfrey's paper. She straightened the covers on the bed, hung the bathrobe up in the bathroom where it had been when she arrived, and peeked into Ty's room. He lay on his stomach, softly snoring.
Fighting the urge to go to him, lie down with him, beg him to hold her in his arms just one last time, she turned away and went back to the kitchen. She put her white book in her black bag and set it on the counter next to the cookbooks and romance manuals he'd given her that morning.
She let out a shaky breath and swore she wouldn't shed one more tear. Not one. Not ever. Angels didn't cry. And in a little while she'd be back in Heaven, right where she belonged.
She picked up the phone and stared at the numbers on the paper, then started pushing the numbers on the phone, hoping she was doing it right. There were strange sounds, then different sounds. She waited.
"Unegi Sheriff's Department, Godfrey speaking."
"Trent Godfrey?" she asked.
"Yes, ma'am. That you, Miss Michaela?"
"Yes. This is Michaela. You said I should call you if I ever need anything."
He chuckled. "Here to serve. What can I do for you?"
"I am asking for a ride into Unegi. I need to see Electra."
"Of course," he said. "Not a problem. But why can't Ty drive you?"
"He's sleeping." She remembered that the horses hadn't been checked this morning. She'd do that before Trent Godfrey arrived.
"Sleeping? Is he sick?"
"Sick? No, I don't think so. He stayed out all night."
"Sonofabitch. He wasn't gambling was he?"
Michaela frowned. That word again; gambling. "I don't believe so, Trent Godfrey. He said he was drinking coffee."
There was a long pause of silence before he spoke again. "I'll be there in about twenty minutes. Are you sure you're all right?"
"Yes. I am all right."
"Okay. See you in a bit."
There was a clicking sound, then nothing. Michaela replaced the phone on the wall hanger and picked up her bag. She took one of the brightly wrapped chocolates out of the paper sack Ty had given her and slipped it into her bag. She couldn't take it with her to Heaven—angels didn't eat—but she could enjoy it before she left.
She headed for the front door, but at the last moment went back into the kitchen, dug a piece of paper and a pencil from the drawer under the phone. With tears blurring her vision, she wrote Ty a short note. She hung it on the refrigerator with a magnet, then headed to the barn to check on the horses.
* * * *
"Are you sure everything is all right with you?" Trent Godfrey asked as he pulled the automobile to a stop in front of the Unegi Health and Wellness Clinic.
She nodded. "Thank you for the ride, Trent Godfrey. It was very nice of you to come get me."
"You can call me Trent."
She nodded. This was the last time she was going to see him. She wouldn't need to call him anything after today.
"Michaela." He turned slightly in his seat to look at her. "I hate to ask this, but did Ty hurt you in any way?"
"No." Only her heart. But that wasn't really Ty's fault. He couldn't help who he was, how his mind worked.
"Are you going to be needing a ride back to his place later?"
She shook her head. "No. Thank you for offering, but I won't be going back there."
"Shit."
She frowned. She never understood why the men seemed to say 'shit' when they looked upset.
"He was out with another woman last night, wasn't he?"
"I don't believe so."
"Then what happened? If he's not gambling or cheating on you… I'm sorry, I know it's none of my business, I just thought that you two were so perfect for one another. You'd seemed so happy together at Jess's party."
Michaela laid her hand on Trent's arm and gave it a little squeeze. "He did nothing wrong. I am the one who… I made a mistake. It's time for me to go."
She opened the car door before Trent could get out. "Thank you again for bringing me to Unegi." She shut the automobile door and went into the cool interior of the clinic.
"Michaela!" Electra screeched from behind the tall desk across the lobby. "I'm so happy to see you." She rounded the desk and came forward, wrapped her arms around Michaela in a hard hug.
Michaela stepped away from her and frowned. She didn't enjoy hugs from anyone except Ty. Not even Electra. "I have to talk to you Electra. I'm going Home."
Electra's eyes widened. Her hair was blue today, with parts of it pink. And it sparkled again. "What do you mean? Home, Home?" Electra looked upward. "Home?"
Michaela nodded. "Gabriel said I could go back. I just wanted to come and tell you I was leaving."
"No." Electra grabbed her by the arm and hauled her through a door, down a short hallway and into a small room with a strange looking bed and lots of shiny silver stuff. "You can't go."
"I have to. I can't stay here. I…I told Ty the truth, and he wouldn't believe me. He thinks I've got a mental defect."
Electra shook her head, her blue hair waving around her shoulders. "You don't have a mental defect. What possessed you to tell him the truth? You know we weren't supposed to."
"Gabriel said I could. I thought…" She sighed. "I thought he'd love me if I was honest with him."
"He loves you already."
It was Michaela's turn to shake her head. "No. He doesn't. I did everything I was supposed to from the romance manuals. Nothing worked."
Electra sputtered. "Romance manuals? Oh, no. Michaela, those weren't manuals, they were stories. It's called fiction. Made up. Some woman made the stories up.
It's not real."
Confused, Michaela leaned against the bed, clutching her bag. "No. You said it would instruct me on how to turn a man on. I did everything that I was supposed to. It didn't work. So when Gabe said I could tell him, I thought that's what I should do because he's always asking for the truth about where I'm from."
Electra's shoulders slumped. "You still can't leave. Come live with me. You can share my apartment." When Michaela just shook her head, Electra pleaded. "Please?"
"I can't. I don't want to ever see Ty Brock again. It hurts too much." She clutched her hand over her heart. "I want to go Home where I won't have these feelings anymore."
"Okay," Electra said softly. "Okay. I don't want you to hurt."
Michaela nodded and followed her out of the room. When they got to the front door, Michaela hugged her. This time she clung to her just a little bit. She'd never feel the contact of a mortal again. Tears rushed to her eyes. "I have to go now." She sniffled and wiped her watering eyes. Forcing a smile she said, "Try to stay out of too much trouble." With that, she pushed the door open and stood on the hot, dusty sidewalk, taking one last look at the little town of Unegi.
"All right, Gabriel. I'm ready to come Home."
Chapter Twelve
The clock read four in the afternoon when Ty finally rolled out of bed. Still groggy and lethargic, he stumbled into the bathroom and splashed icy cold water on his face. He needed a shave. "The hell with it," he muttered as he went back into his room and pulled on jeans and a clean shirt.
First things first. He needed to get out to the barn and check on the horses. Then he was going to set up an appointment with Benny's wife, a therapist in a women's clinic, to talk to Michaela. He shook his head as he searched for a pair of socks. No way in hell was he going to confess to falling in love with her if she was delusional. If she wasn't delusional, she had even bigger problems than he was ready to tackle. He didn't know what he'd do if she was a compulsive liar.
After pulling on his boots, he went to find Michaela. She wasn't in her room. The kitchen looked like a dry goods store exploded in it. Still no Michaela. He opened the front door. Stryker was lying there across the top step looking decidedly…sad.
"Hell," Ty muttered as he headed for the barn after stepping over the dog, who didn't move. Now he was thinking his dog was depressed. Too much psychobabble between him and Benny last night.
Michaela wasn't in the barn, but the horses had fresh water and grain. He frowned. Where the hell was she hiding? "Stryk!" he called as he stepped back into the hot afternoon sunshine.
Stryker didn't move anything but his eyes. He glanced at Ty, then went back to staring down the road.
"Shit. Shit, shit, shit." He jogged back to the house. "She left, didn't she?" he asked the dog, who of course didn't answer, just laid there looking dejected. He checked her bedroom again. Her black bag was gone. The bed was made. He went into the kitchen. He couldn't see that anything had been moved since that morning, though he'd been a bit out of it, so he couldn't be sure. The white book wasn't on the table. As he turned to leave, a piece of paper fluttered off the fridge to the floor.
He picked it up. She'd obviously left it for him but it was unintelligible, written in whatever language the stuff in that book she always read was written in. He tossed the note on the table and headed out the door. He had to find her.
* * * *
"Where is she?" Ty demanded as he threw open the door to the clinic and stormed up to the desk where Electra sat.
Electra glanced up from some papers, her eyes wide. "Who?"
"Who. Michaela, that's who. I know she'd come see you, and since she wasn't on the road from my place to here, she's already been here."
Electra visibly swallowed. "She's gone."
"Gone where?"
"Home."
Ty ground his teeth. "Where…is…home?"
Electra didn't answer, just stared at him.
"So help me, if you don't start talking—"
"What's going on, Ty?" Stephen asked as he came from the back of the clinic.
"Have you seen Michaela today?"
Stephen shook his head. "No. But Electra said she was here earlier."
"I knew it. So where is she?"
"She went home." Electra shuffled some papers and stood up.
Ty's blood pressure skyrocketed, his heart thudded in his ears. "Give me a phone number, an address, something to go on."
Electra shook her head.
"You know where she is?" Stephen asked Electra.
Electra nodded.
"Why won't you tell Ty?"
"He knows where she is."
"For the love of— I wouldn't be standing here right now if I knew where she was! So for the last time, where the hell is she?"
Stephen put a protective arm around Electra. "I think you need to calm down, Ty."
Calm down. Calm down? Michaela thought she was some ethereal being. How could he be expected to calm down? Didn't they have a clue how much trouble she could get herself in if someone wasn't looking out for her?
"She tried telling you," Electra said softly. "She said you didn't believe her. That's why she left. She said it hurt too much."
Ty's gut clenched. No. No damn way. "Do you think…are you living in the same little dream world she is?"
"That's about enough out of you." Stephen released Electra and rounded the desk toward him. "You've been drinking, haven't you?"
"No I haven't been drinking. Has Electra told you what—"
"Ty," Electra said, laying a restraining hand on Stephen's arm before he could physically remove Ty from the clinic. "Listen to me. She's gone. She won't be returning. It would be best for you to forget her."
Stephen turned surprised eyes on Electra. "What are you talking about? Where did she go?"
"She went home."
"Back to Iceland?" Stephen asked.
Ty growled. Electra held his gaze, ignoring Stephen. "You know the truth, Ty. It is up to you to choose to believe it or not."
"For crying out loud." Ty spun on his heel and slammed through the door. Across the street Trent was locking the door to the sheriff's office. "Trent! Hold up!" He jogged across the road. "Have you seen Michaela today?"
Trent, standing by the police cruiser, gave him one brisk nod.
"Do you know where she is?"
Trent shook his head. "She called me this morning about ten. Asked me to come out to your place and pick her up. I brought her to the clinic and haven't seen her since."
Ty's legs nearly buckled. He leaned against the cruiser. "Oh, God." She really was gone.
"You wanna tell me what happened out there?"
Ty shook his head. "I don't have any idea. She started telling me these things, crazy things. I'd been up all night, stoked on caffeine. I said some things…" He rubbed his hand over his face. "I went to bed. When I got up she was gone. Electra said she went home."
"Back to Iceland?"
Ty glowered at Trent. "She's not from Iceland."
"Where's she from?"
"Hell if I know."
* * * *
Forget her.
The words echoed in his head all the way home. Forget her. Forget her. Like hell. She was the only woman he'd ever loved. Ever wanted to love. She was sweet and strange, thoroughly intriguing. Why had she come up with this ludicrous story of being an angel? Had he treated her so badly?
Yes.
He'd treated her like crap. At every turn he'd pushed her away. Even when he couldn't keep his hands off her, he'd turned around and shoved her out of his heart. Or at least he'd tried as hard as he could to do just that. But it hadn't worked. She'd burrowed in and wouldn't move. Right there, he thought as he rubbed the aching spot on his chest. Right in his heart.
Ty pulled up outside his house and sat there for a few minutes staring at the old, semi-dilapidated building. It still needed a lot of work. He'd spent the last year, in the spare time he had when not chasing cattle or breaking horses, fixin
g the inside. The outside still looked like a run-down shack.
Michaela had never complained about it, though. Not one word about the fact that the refrigerator was close to forty years old, or that the stove only had one working burner.
He clamped his teeth together and shoved open the truck door. The hell with it, he decided. She was gone. She wasn't coming back. Forget her.
Christ, he'd try.
* * * *
Michaela stood in the library staring up at the walls of books. Her favorite place to be. A place of knowledge. It held no appeal to her now.
"Hello, Michaela."
She turned and nodded at Jacob, one of the many angels she took lessons with. "Hello."
"Have you seen the new tome about mortal genetic engineering?"
Michaela shook her head.
Jacob handed her a thick text. "It's very interesting. They are beginning to believe they can scientifically reproduce." He shook his head. "They are such silly creatures."
Michaela looked down at the book. Mortal science had always fascinated her, how they thought they could pinpoint the origins of the mysteries of life. She didn't care anymore. She handed the book back to Jacob. "Thank you, but I'm not in the mood to read right now."
"Mood?" Jacob asked.
She shrugged. She couldn't explain. She'd been gone from Heaven for two full mortal weeks, and she'd adopted the mortal way of speech. But in Heaven, her absence hadn't even been felt. Time was irrelevant. Nonexistent. She didn't even know how long, in earth time, she'd been back. All she knew is that if she were mortal, she'd call herself miserable.
"Michaela."
She turned to see Gabriel gliding toward her. "Come with me, child," he said as he walked past her and faded through the stacks.
Michaela nodded a farewell to Jacob and followed Gabriel. They were whisked into a room she'd never seen before. There were no seats or tables, just a gold stand with a large crystal orb hovering over it.
Grounded: Michaela Page 13