The others nodded their agreement. “Absolutely not,” Frannie said.
“No, indeed,” Cass said.
Todd stared at them. “Excuse me? What child?”
“What’s wrong with you, boy? You hard of hearing?” Daisy Harper asked. “I’m talking about Angel, of course.”
“You think she’s mine?” Todd asked cautiously.
“Well, of course she is,” Cass said impatiently. “Looks just like you.”
“Knew it the minute she and Heather turned up,” Frannie agreed. “It’s about time you acknowledged it, don’t you think? About time you made an honest woman of that little girl’s mama, too.”
“Absolutely,” Cass agreed. “Heather’s a lovely young woman. Very sweet. We’ve grown very fond of her.”
“Now, girls, we don’t know all the facts,” Daisy cautioned. “Could be there’s a good reason why he and Heather aren’t together.” She gazed up at him inquiringly. “Is there?”
Todd had had no idea the trio had been engaging in such wild—if accurate—speculation. He supposed it shouldn’t have come as such a shock, but he was taken aback just the same. Given their outspokenness, he probably should be grateful they hadn’t brought the subject up sooner.
“Ladies, I’ll go put in your orders,” he said, backing away from the table without responding to the probing and far-too-complicated question.
“We haven’t told you what we’re having yet,” Frannie pointed out.
“Meat loaf, mashed potatoes and peas,” he countered. “It’s the special and you always have the special.”
“Well, I declare,” Daisy said, looking dismayed. “Are we that predictable?”
“Boring is the word for it,” Cass declared. “Get back over here, young man. I’ll have a cheeseburger, thank you very much. With onion rings.”
“You won’t sleep a minute all night,” Frannie warned her. “You know fried food gives you terrible indigestion.”
“I’ll take my chances,” Cass insisted. “Now, what about the rest of you?”
“I’m sticking with the meat loaf,” Daisy said staunchly. “I happen to like it.”
Frannie looked torn. “Bring me a BLT,” she said finally. She met Cass’s gaze and seemed to take it as a dare. “With fries.”
“Have you got that?” Cass asked.
Todd grinned, thrilled to have the attention off him and focused on food. “Got it.”
He headed for the kitchen where Mack had already dished up three plates of meat loaf. “Sorry,” he said. “A slight change in plans. Only one meat loaf.”
“No meat loaf for the other two?” the cook said, looking stunned. “Henrietta takes off before the dinner hour. Heather disappears, and I am left with a television person to wait tables. What is going on around here tonight?”
“The times, they are a-changing,” Todd said.
If the cook looked vaguely disgruntled by the news, it was nothing to the panic clawing at Todd. He had a terrible feeling that when all was said and done, these changes were going to turn his life upside down.
Heather finally strolled back into the diner about six-thirty, when the dinner rush was well under way. Todd scowled at her arrival, but he was clearly way too busy to pause and tell her what he thought of her little disappearing act.
“Miss me?” she inquired as she sashayed past and grabbed an apron.
“Like chicken pox,” he muttered, only to barely evade Angel’s enthusiastic rush toward his legs.
“Hiya!” she called out cheerfully.
“Hi, kiddo,” he said, skirting her as he aimed for the kitchen with a tray of dirty dishes.
To Heather’s amusement, Angel toddled right after him.
“Whatcha doing?”
“The work your mother should have been doing,” he murmured.
“I heard that,” Heather called out as she moved on to take the orders of four new arrivals.
“I help,” Angel offered, toddling right back into the dining room in his wake.
“No, thanks, sweetie. Why don’t you sit down in that booth over there and color one of your pictures?”
“You hang it on your ’frigerator?” she asked hopefully.
“Sure,” he said absently as he briskly placed food in front of a group of tourists.
“Okay,” Angel said, retrieving her crayons and coloring book from behind the counter and scrambling into the only vacant booth.
Coloring didn’t exactly rise to great art when Angel did it. She scrambled right back down three minutes later and handed Todd a picture that was little more than colorful scribbles. “All done,” she announced.
“Thanks, sweetie,” he said, tucking it under the tray he was carrying.
She regarded him hopefully. “You wants another one?”
“Sure.”
“Okay.”
Heather had to bite back a chuckle as the scene was repeated several more times. Suddenly Todd glanced down at the handful of papers he’d accumulated without realizing it.
“Enough for a gallery showing,” Heather observed. “She’s going to be expecting to see the entire display. Your refrigerator must be bigger than I remembered.”
Todd shrugged. “I’ll put up one or two. She’ll forget all about the rest.”
Heather laughed. “Obviously you haven’t spent a lot of time with a three-year-old. Angel has the memory of an elephant.” She glanced at the stack of drawings. “Offhand I’d say there are enough there to paper the whole kitchen. It’ll be really impressive when ‘Entertainment Tonight’ comes to do a feature on Megan’s hotshot executive.”
“Fortunately I’m a behind-the-scenes guy. Nobody cares about me.”
“Oh, I think I could see to it that that changed.”
He frowned. “You wouldn’t.”
“Publicity would be good for the show, especially now that you’re about to launch Peggy’s cooking spin-off.” She nodded. “Yes, indeed, I can definitely see the media possibilities. Maybe I’ll have a chat with Megan about them.”
She got the first nagging hint that she’d gone too far when he deliberately stepped out from behind the counter, his gaze locked with hers. There was an unpredictable glint in his eyes as he strolled toward her. Heather swallowed hard and backed up a step, then another. Todd kept right on coming, forcing her farther back until she felt the edge of a table against her bottom and realized she was very likely about to settle into the middle of some customer’s dinner.
“Um, Todd. Maybe this isn’t the best time to get into this,” she said.
“Really? You seemed anxious enough to get into it a minute ago.”
Heather stole a quick glance over her shoulder into the three upturned, fascinated gazes of Daisy, Cass and Frannie.
“Sorry,” she apologized.
“Oh, don’t mind us, dear,” Daisy said. “We haven’t had this much fun in years.”
“We’d all but forgotten what it was like to see sparks flying between a man and a woman,” Cass added. “It’s just not the same in the movies. The real thing takes me back.”
“Oh, yes, indeed,” Frannie confirmed a little breathlessly.
Todd regarded Heather with amusement. “How does it feel to be the main attraction in an unscheduled floor show?”
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” she asked, startled.
He winked at Cass. “Oh, my, yes. I’d almost forgotten what it was like to see those old sparks flying myself.”
He placed one arm on either side of her and grasped the edge of the table, pinning her in place. Heather’s breath snagged in her throat. She heard the faint, collective gasp of the three women in the booth. Her pulse ricocheted wildly. What had gotten into Todd, for heaven’s sake? He wasn’t an exhibitionist. She was usually the one who initiated any public display of affection.
“Whatcha doing?” Angel asked, peering up at them with obvious fascination.
“I’m preparing to kiss your mother,” Todd explained quietly, his gaze never
venturing from Heather’s face.
“Okay,” Angel said agreeably.
Once again, the three widows seemed to catch their collective breath.
Todd’s thighs were pressed against hers. The telltale bulge of his arousal was cradled by the heated juncture between her legs. She might have been able to escape by making a sudden, unexpected move, but she didn’t want to. Despite their fascinated audience, she wanted to see just how daring he was inclined to be, just how far he would take this. It might turn out that a little provocation was a very good thing.
His mouth settled over hers in a kiss as gentle as a spring breeze, but then the kiss turned greedy and the storm began. His tongue invaded. His teeth raked over her lower lip.
“Oh, my,” Frannie whispered.
“I declare,” Cass murmured.
Daisy only sighed.
Heather slowly came back to earth as Todd eased away. A little provocation could definitely turn dangerous. She thought the three women had it exactly right. Oh, my, indeed.
Weeks later, Todd still wasn’t sure what had come over him that night in the Starlight. He’d all but declared his intentions toward Heather in a very passionate way in a very public place. If he didn’t make an honest woman of her after that kiss, he could think of at least three women who would likely tar and feather him. Four, if he counted Heather. Five, if he counted Henrietta. Sweet heaven, what had he been thinking?
Fortunately he didn’t have time to think about it, because someone pounded on his office door, then jerked it open without waiting for him to reply. Peggy’s husband came barreling in, looking mad enough to spit nails.
“This is your fault,” Johnny Blakely accused, hands palm down on Todd’s desk, a scowl fixed on his face.
“What?” Todd asked cautiously.
“You’re ruining my marriage, that’s what. This cockamamie scheme to make my wife into a TV star is turning my life into chaos. I want it to stop.”
Todd sighed. He’d been afraid of this. “Does Peggy know how upset you are?”
“Do you think she’ll listen to me? You and Megan have dangled this carrot in front of her and she can’t stop thinking about it. It’s all she talks about. Every time I point out that she has other responsibilities, she about takes my head off.”
Todd sympathized with the man, but he had no intention of getting caught in the middle. He reached for his phone.
“What are you doing?” Johnny demanded.
“Calling Peggy. She’s the one you need to talk to.”
Johnny’s anger deflated immediately. “Don’t call her,” he pleaded. “Things are bad enough without her knowing that I’m down here trying to get her fired.”
“Is that what you want?” Todd asked. “You want me to fire her?”
Johnny raked a hand through his hair, which had been mashed flat by his John Deere baseball cap. Now his hair stood up in spikes. His expression was a mix of frustration and misery.
“I just want my wife back, that’s all.”
“Talk to her,” Todd suggested.
“And say what?”
“The same thing you just said to me, that you want her back. Peggy loves you.”
“Then why is she doing this?”
“Because she’s good at it,” Todd said. “You should be proud of her, Johnny, not trying to derail her. Just because she has a career doesn’t mean she doesn’t want her marriage to you. She can have both, if you’ll let her. I’m not saying it won’t be difficult, that it won’t take some compromises, because it will, but Peggy’s worth it, don’t you think?”
“Well, of course she is,” Johnny replied fiercely.
Todd nodded. “Then tell her that, too.”
His door opened again and Peggy stuck her head in. When she saw her husband, some of the color drained out of her face. “I heard you were here, but I couldn’t believe it,” she said to Johnny, then turned an apologetic look on Todd. “I’m sorry.”
“Not a problem,” he said at once. “You two talk. Besides, I’ve got to get into town.”
And on the way he had to figure out how to deal with his own relationship problems. It was one thing to reach a rock-solid, logical decision when he was all alone. It was quite another to cling to it when he had to share a stage with the woman in question night after night as they rehearsed a play.
Naturally Heather was never satisfied with a dutiful peck on the cheek or even a chaste kiss on the lips. Oh, no, she threw herself into their on-stage kisses with the same passion with which she’d delivered that kiss in the diner. The woman generated enough heat to keep that drafty old barn warm during a midwinter blizzard. In mid-August they were sizzling. He left the rehearsals each night with his body aching with unfulfilled desire.
He made it a point to be the first one out the door, so he wouldn’t be alone with Heather. Resisting temptation was one thing. Sainthood was quite another.
So far, she hadn’t challenged him, but he knew the day was rapidly approaching when the questions would start flying.
“Todd,” she called out when he tried to make his escape following that night’s dress rehearsal.
So, he thought, this was it. He hesitated at the barn door, then turned back reluctantly. “Yes?”
“Could I see you for a minute?”
Refusing in front of the few lingering cast members was not an option. “Sure,” he said a little too brightly. He walked slowly back and stood by as she gave Flo some last-minute encouragement.
“I’m so nervous, I’ll probably throw up all over the stage tomorrow night,” Flo said. “I’ve never done anything like this. I don’t know what I was thinking. You talked me into it. It’ll be your fault if I ruin your play.”
“You are not going to ruin anything. There’s no need for you to be nervous,” Heather assured her. “You know your lines. You have a great voice. You’re going to be wonderful. You’ll knock Joe’s socks off.”
“It’s not his socks I’m trying to get him out of,” Flo said, then blushed furiously when she realized Todd had overheard.
“Pretend you didn’t hear that,” she begged him.
“What?” he asked, grinning at her. “By the way, I think I saw the man in question lurking outside in the shadows. Is he waiting for you?”
Flo nodded. “He’s giving me a ride home.”
“Still dropping you off at the front door?” Heather asked.
“I got him inside for coffee last night. I have real high hopes for tonight.”
Heather gave her hand a squeeze. “Don’t rush it, Flo. Let Joe set the pace. Remember the goal—long-term, not a one-night stand.”
Flo nodded. “I know. It’s just that I’ve never talked so much in my life, not to a man, anyway. I’m afraid he’s going to get bored.”
Todd chuckled at her concern. “That expression I caught on his face when you were doing your scenes tonight was definitely not boredom.”
Flo regarded him gratefully. “You really think so? I hope you’re right. He’s the most decent guy I’ve ever known. He’s real sweet to Tess, too. She told me she likes him. When the three of us are together, it makes me realize what I missed not doing things right years ago and having a real family. Not that Tex O’Rourke would have considered marrying me, but I had other chances. I guess I was just too scared to take them. I’ll shoot myself if Joe gets away.”
She glanced toward the door. “I’d better go before he gets tired of waiting.”
“Flo,” Heather said, stopping her rushed departure.
“What?”
“Slow down. You’re worth waiting for.”
A smile spread slowly across Flo’s face. “Yes, I am, aren’t I. Thanks for reminding me.”
Once again Todd was impressed by Heather’s uncanny ability to make people feel special, to instill confidence.
“You’re a good woman, Heather Reed.”
She gazed at him, clearly surprised. “You think?”
“I know it.”
Her gaze
locked with his. “If you honestly believe that, then why have you been avoiding me?”
20
Now there was a sixty-four-thousand-dollar question, Todd thought as Heather stared at him expectantly. Why had he been avoiding her?
Because he was smart? Because it was the right thing to do? Because he was terrified of what would happen if he didn’t? It was all of those things and a whole lot more.
“It’s complicated,” he began.
“Well, at least you’re not denying it,” she said.
“Did you think I would?”
“To be honest, I haven’t known what to think. Ever since the night I told you I loved you, ever since you kissed me senseless in front of God and everyone at the diner, you’ve acted as if I were contagious. The only reason you get close to me on stage is because you’re too good an actor to ruin the play over something personal.”
The accurate criticism stung. “I know how important the play is to you,” he said stiffly. “I would never do anything less than my best.”
“And your best is better than most of the people winning Tony Awards.”
“Don’t go there,” he warned. He wasn’t in the mood to listen to another lecture on how foolish he’d been to abandon his art.
“Okay, right. As a topic of discussion that’s off limits. You and I are off limits, too, I suppose. That must be why you haven’t given me a straight answer yet.”
“Like I said, it’s complicated.”
“It doesn’t have to be.”
Oh, how he wished that was true. But Angel’s mere existence complicated things. He could never make Heather see that without getting into things he hated remembering, much less talking about.
“There was a time when you didn’t hide from your emotions,” she reminded him.
Ironically, she really believed that, because with her—and only her—it had been true. She would never understand how rare it had been for him to allow himself to be in touch with his real feelings, how he’d closed himself off emotionally from the moment his baby sister had died while in his care. It was as if for a couple of years, he had experienced an incredible, never-to-be-repeated freedom to truly live his life without fear.
Angel Mine Page 23