Angels on Zebras, (Forever Friends, Book 4 of 4)

by Webb, Peggy

  She could have said anything but that, anything but regret. Joseph loved this woman. In spite of everything, he loved her. But he wasn’t about to be the cause of her regrets.

  He forced himself to smile. “If the shoe fits will you save the last dance at the christening for me?”

  For a moment she closed her eyes, her lips trembling. When she opened them he thought he saw the glisten of tears.

  “I’ll save the last dance for you.”

  He bent down and kissed her instep, then slipped the shoe onto her foot. Gold sparkles winked at him, and he held on a moment longer. She let out a sigh, and he didn’t dare look at her, didn’t dare let her see what was in his eyes.

  He left without speaking, and all the way to the door he kept hoping she would call him back. But there was nothing but silence in the room. Outside he sat behind the wheel of his Lincoln, still hoping she would rush toward the door and beckon him in. But the door remained shut.

  Joseph drove straight to his office.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Maxie slept in the gold shoe.

  The next morning when she woke up, she lurched into the kitchen on one shoe, tilting sideways, then stood at the kitchen window, looking out. The sun was shining, and three bluebirds swung on the lowest branch of the pecan tree, swooping down occasionally to hop among the daffodils.

  “Bluebirds of happiness,” she said.

  She was so miserable, she wasn’t fit company, even for herself. She called Claude and told him she was feeling under the weather, then she hopped sideways around her house, getting ready for the movies. If she had the other gold shoe, she’d wear them to the movies.

  Instead she put on fuchsia high-top tennis shoes, climbed into her Beetle, and went to the saddest movie playing so she’d have plenty of reason to cry. Afterward she consoled herself with a chocolate sundae, vowing that it would be her last, that tomorrow would be another day. She sounded just like Scarlett.

  o0o

  Joe thought he could lose himself in work and soon his life would be back to its normal pre-Maxie state. But at night, lying in his jungle bedroom, he realized the folly of his thinking. He couldn’t control love. It had happened, even when he didn’t want it to, and now it wouldn’t go away. No amount of rational thinking could change his heart. It had known magic, and true magic lasts forever.

  At the end of a miserable week, he picked up the phone.

  “Crash, I need to talk to you.”

  “If it’s about the partnership, I’ve already given my answer. B. J. and I are happy with our little country practice, and we won’t change our minds.”

  “You’re right. You’re where you belong, and I was an arrogant jackass to try and make you change.” Jenny came over the intercom to tell him a client was waiting. “This is not about business, it’s about the party. Can I drop by the house this evening to discuss it?”

  “Great. I’ll cook red beans and rice. Should we call and have Maxie come too?... Joe, are you there?”

  “I’m here. I was just thinking. Do you remember that game we played as kids, the one where we were Knights of the Round Table and rode stick horses?”

  “Every detail. In a few years I’ll be playing that same game with my son.”

  “Don’t call Maxie. Get out the stick horses, Crash, we’re going to lay plans to storm the castle.”

  o0o

  “Maxie, are you sitting down?”

  It was B. J., calling her at the office.

  “Yes.” Maxie was on the sofa, sipping tea and looking at her new coffee table ornament, the pair of gold shoes Joe had rescued.

  “Get this. Joseph came over last night, and he and Crash had a big secret powwow. When they emerged from the den you’d have thought both of them had received some kind of congressional award.”

  “B. J., does this story have a point?”

  “You’re certainly testy. What’s wrong?”

  “Chocolate overdose.”

  “Uh-oh, soul food. My original question stands: What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing that a few years won’t cure.” Her sister was silent, no doubt analyzing every word Maxie had said. “How did he look?”

  “Who?”

  “Joe.”

  “I thought as much.”

  “Nothing’s going on between us, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. In spite of the fact that both of you are as stubborn as that old mule in our barn, I think you’d be a perfect match.”

  “Is that why you called? To tell me I’m as stubborn as a mule?”

  Claude came through the door in time to hear Maxie’s comment. “I couldn’t agree more,” he said. “Who is that on the phone?”

  She covered the mouthpiece. “It’s B. J.”

  “Tell her I’ll be at the party with bells on.”

  Claude could always make her smile. “Did you hear that?”

  “I heard it,” B. J. said. “The tent arrived this morning.”

  “What tent?”

  “That’s why I called. Didn’t you and Joe order a tent for the party?”

  “No. I thought it was going to be inside. Maybe Crash ordered it.”

  “No. He said you and Joe were taking care of everything. It’s a beautiful tent, a candy-striped big top. The man who delivered it specifically said it was for baby Joe’s christening party.”

  “Good grief.”

  “Oh, and there’s one more thing. He said the banner would be delivered right before the party.”

  Maxie wasn’t about to ask, “What banner?” She was beginning to feel like a parrot.

  After she’d hung up, Claude sat beside her and picked up the gold shoes. “Not that I’m complaining, but do you plan to leave these here forever?”

  “No, I’m going to wear them to the party.” Maxie picked up the gold shoes. They were her trademark, and in a sense symbolized everything she was, uninhibited, unconventional, unsinkable. Suddenly she began to feel like her old self.

  “Do you know what I was thinking, Claude?”

  “No, but I hope it’s wild and crazy.”

  “I was thinking that I might do another performance with these shoes. Who knows where they might land the next time?”

  o0o

  She was in bed, sans pajamas and sans chocolate, reading War and Peace when the phone rang.

  “Hello, Maxie.” Joseph’s voice sent shivers all the way down to her toes.

  “I hear you’ve erected a circus tent. Does that mean we can ditch the gray-and-white pinstriped decor?”

  His roar of laughter was genuine. “Maxie, that’s one of the reasons I called. I’ve done my part for the party. You can decorate with anything you like, with one exception.”

  “No zebras!” They said it simultaneously, and both of them laughed.

  “I’m making no rash promises,” she said. “That’s one. What’s the other reason you called?”

  “To see if you’re naked in bed. What are you wearing, Maxie?”

  He was the only man she’d ever met who could seduce her merely by the tone and pitch of his voice. She had to clamp her hand over her mouth so he wouldn’t hear her moan of sheer ecstasy.

  “That game is over, Joseph.”

  “You’re right. That game is over. Good night, Maxie.... Oh, one more thing. Don’t forget to save the last dance for me.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  They flanked Crash and B. J. and the baby, Joseph on Crash’s right and Maxie on B. J.’s left. Maxie was wearing purple chiffon with gold shoes, the ones he’d returned to her. In the midst of the staid First Methodist Church, she looked like a Mardi Gras parade, and Joe couldn’t take his eyes off her. She was worth having at any price.

  As the minister led them and the congregation through their promises to the child, Maxie glanced at him only once, and when she caught his eye she didn’t turn away for a long, breathless moment. If there was anyplace where prayers might be answered, it was the church. Joe was s
taking his future on today, and as he said a prayer for his nephew he also sent a petition winging heavenward for himself and for Maxie.

  o0o

  Claude drove with her to the farm in her little Beetle. He was in high spirits, humming snatches of songs, whistling, grinning.

  “Good grief, Claude. This is a happy occasion, but aren’t you overdoing it?”

  “There’s nothing I like better than secrets.”

  “What are you talking about?” She glanced at the hot pink tote bag sitting in his lap. “And what are you doing with that enormous tote? You’ve been wagging it around as if you’re carrying the contents of Fort Knox.”

  “Do you think anybody at church noticed?”

  “I think it’s safe to say everybody who saw you, saw the bag.”

  He held it up and inspected it. “It is rather garish, isn’t it?”

  Suddenly Maxie began to laugh. “No more garish than my shoes. You never said what was in the bag.”

  “You’ll find out soon enough.”

  She forgot about Claude’s mysterious bag when she saw the tent. Though she’d spent all the previous day decorating, she never failed to thrill at the sight of a big top. Red-and-white striped with red flags flying from the center pole, it occupied a large portion of B. J.’s backyard. She’d strung colored balloons and streamers from every pole, and wisteria and clematis cascaded from hanging baskets, spilled from enormous urns, and flanked the pathway.

  “I’ve hired clowns,” Maxie said.

  “Did you now?” Claude grinned. “I always did say, give a man a paint box and there’s no telling what he’ll do.”

  “You’re incorrigible.”

  “I do hope so, dear.” Maxie parked the car and they stood together under a magnolia tree before going into the tent. Claude turned to give her a quick hug. “Maxie, may all your dreams come true.”

  “Thanks, but shouldn’t that wish be for baby Joe?”

  “It’s a wish for all of us. Do you have a handkerchief? I always get teary-eyed at celebrations.”

  “You’re speaking to the keeper of the linen.” She handed him a lace-edged hankie. “I don’t know what B. J. would have done without me all these years.” She was beginning to get a little teary-eyed herself. “Walk in with me, Claude.”

  “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  She took her friend’s arm and went down the flower-bedecked pathway and into the big top. In the center ring, surrounded by ginger and orchids and all manner of exotic flowers flown in from Hawaii, stood an antique carousel. Painted wooden animals spun round and round as tiny beveled mirrors caught the enchanted faces of children.

  Maxie stood dead still, her hand on her throat. “It has zebras,” she said. Then, as excited as any child, she grabbed Claude’s arm and dragged him across the sawdust. “Can you believe it, Claude? Painted zebras!”

  “I believe it.”

  As she raced toward the carousel, Maxie caught a glimpse of Joseph leaning against a tent pole, looking very much at ease wearing his tuxedo in a circus tent. A clown with huge pink shoes and a green bulbous nose helped her onto a zebra. Laughing, her head thrown back, her slender throat exposed, she rode the carousel until she was giddy.

  She closed her eyes for a second, reaching out for the clown. A pair of strong arms lifted her down.

  “Is it true that angels ride zebras?”

  Instead of setting her on her feet, Joseph held her against his chest.

  “I’m no angel.”

  “I could make a good case that you are.”

  He smelled crisp and clean, of starch and woodsy aftershave and sunshine and fresh air. Up close he looked even better than from a distance. She lolled in his arms, not caring whether he put her down or not.

  “The carousel was a stroke of genius. Isn’t that just like Crash to do something extravagant?”

  Crash and B. J. strolled by with the baby. “Wish I could take the credit,” he said, grinning. He winked at his brother and strolled on by.

  “You did this?”

  “Guilty.”

  “Baby Joe will always remember that his uncle rented a carousel for his christening party.”

  Joseph merely smiled, then set her on her feet. “Enjoy the party, Maxie.”

  Another meeting, another brush-off. She tossed her hair and stuck out her chin. “That’s exactly what I intend to do.”

  Fuming and plotting, she marched off. Just wait till the jazz combo she hired got there. She’d show him a thing or two. If he thought her act at Bogart’s was outrageous, just wait till he saw her next performance.

  Crash walked to the microphone to welcome his guests to baby Joe’s party, and Maxie was immediately ashamed of herself. She felt like a selfish beast, plotting her own revenge. The day belonged to baby Joe, not to her, and she was determined to make it the best christening party any little child ever had.

  “None of this would have been possible without Joe’s godparents,” Crash was saying. “Maxie, Joe, come on up here.”

  They came from opposite sides of the room, but Maxie was aware of every step Joseph took. Crash joined his wife, and they were on the stage together, standing side by side at the microphone. As Maxie smiled at the crowd, Joe leaned toward her.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” he whispered.

  “I’m no lady and you’re no gentleman.”

  “True, but you’re the one wearing the skirt.”

  Maxie took her place in front of the microphone. She had tried to write a speech, but everything came out stilted and formal, so she had decided to simply speak from her heart.

  “Baby Joe, you are a child created in love and welcomed into the world by adoring parents, and you already have everything you need. But your aunt Maxie has a special dream for you: I hope that you will always keep the childlike wonder that allows you to see magic.”

  While the crowd applauded, Joseph slid his arm around her waist and whispered, “I’m seeing magic, Maxie.” Then he was at the microphone. It had been such a brief encounter that Maxie thought she might have dreamed it. If she let herself, she could start to dream big dreams, but she’d been burned enough not to get excited by Joseph’s flirtation.

  “I’ve never been a godparent before, and I can tell you that I’m more than a little nervous.” He was a man who knew how to play to a crowd. The minute they laughed, they were his. It was one more bit of evidence that he was formidable in the courtroom. He turned toward his brother with all the ease of a seasoned actor. “Next year we’re swapping roles: You be the godfather up here making a fool of yourself, and I’ll be the father.”

  Maxie turned hot and cold all at once, and she hoped her face didn’t betray her turmoil. Though her heart was beating double time, she wasn’t about to get her hopes up. All good litigators were good actors.

  Maxie wasn’t a bad actress, and she called on all her skill to stand on the stage as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening while Joseph finished his speech. As he ended there was a commotion at the tent’s opening. The crowd parted, and down the pathway came a clown wearing an enormous purple wig. And behind him trotted two animals.

  “Zebras,” said Maxie. She looked at Joe.

  “For angels,” he said.

  The clown stopped in front of B. J., and Crash lifted her and the baby into the saddle of the first zebra. Then the clown stopped in front of the stage.

  “This one’s for you, Maxie,” the clown said.

  “Claude?”

  “Guilty.”

  “You knew about this.”

  “You didn’t think I could keep a secret, did you?”

  Suddenly she found herself lifted into the saddle. Joe leaned close and whispered, “Save the last dance for me, Maxie.”

  They rode the zebras around the big top to cheers from the crowd, then Claude brought the impromptu parade to a halt underneath a banner that read “Reserved for Angels.” The band struck up “Thank Heaven for Little Girls,” with the bandleader at the microph
one changing the gender to little boys.

  Crash led B. J. and the baby in the first dance, and Claude swept Maxie onto the floor. Joseph was nowhere in sight.

  “When did you know about the zebras?” she asked.

  “Only a couple of days ago. Joseph called to apologize and ask for my help.”

  “Apologize for what?”

  “He was pretty bearish the day he discovered his bedroom suite.”

  Maxie groaned. “That was not one of my better impulses. I still don’t know what to do about that, Claude.”

  “Don’t worry about it. It’s Joseph’s house. If he wants it changed, he’ll tell you.”

  “You’re a good friend.”

  “So you are, Maxie.”

  As they swept around the dance floor, Maxie scanned every nook and cranny for Joseph, but he seemed to have disappeared. She thought about the life she had—the loving family, the good friends, the charming house on Maxwell Street, the thriving business—and she was content.

  “For two mavericks, we’ve done all right, haven’t we, Claude?”

  “Yes. In some ways we’re two of a kind. You won’t forget me when your prince comes to claim you, will you?”

  “Never. What prince?”

  “Look over your shoulder.”

  The song ended, and as the band began another, Claude handed Maxie over to Joseph.

  “Claude deserves the first dance, but I’m selfish. I’m claiming all the rest.”

  “What new game is this?”

  “This is no game. This is your life, and mine.”

  They danced just as they had loved, as if they were made for each other.

  “Thank you for renting zebras, Joe.”

  “Do you know what they mean, Maxie?”

  “If I were bold I’d say they mean you changed your mind about me.”

  He laughed. “You’ve never lacked boldness, and you would be exactly right.” He pulled her closer and cradled her head against his shoulder. “I’ve changed my mind, but not my heart.”

  She tried to pull back and look up at him, but he held her fast.

  “The thing I didn’t know until I thought I had lost you is this: You’ve always had my heart, Maxie. Always.”