Angel Baby (Heaven Can Wait)

by Laura Marie Altom

  Spending every night in a different town. Never belonging. Never fitting in. Never—

  Go away! Angel screamed at the voices zinging through her head. I’m not lost! I’m Jonah’s wife. Lizzy’s mother! I have friends! Lots and lots of friends!

  Angel squeezed her eyes shut tight, pressing her fingers to her temples, trying to ease the ever-increasing pain.

  Somewhere in another part of the house she heard footsteps. The kitchen tap being turned on and off. From town came a train’s lonely call. More footsteps and then Jonah was back, settling beside her, pressing a cool cloth to her fevered head.

  “Want some aspirin?” he asked.

  “No, thanks.” All I want is you.

  “Something to eat? Drink?”

  “No!” The word came out too sharp. “I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s just these headaches.”

  He got up again.

  “Where are you going?” Why won’t you stay with me?

  “I’m calling Doc. Something’s wrong with you, Angel. You’ve been acting strange.”

  “No, really, I’m fine. It’s just sinuses. Esther told me how, this time of year, they’re always bad, but the heat is making everyone worse.”

  “Then I should still call the doctor. Maybe he can prescribe something to help. You shouldn’t have to put up with this kind of pain.”

  Why not? Pain is the only thing I’ve ever had that’s been a hundred percent mine.

  She nodded. “I’m sure I’ll feel better if you’d grab me a couple aspirin.”

  “Good. Be right back.”

  While he was in the kitchen, she sat up, darting wild glances about the room.

  Think, Angel, think.

  She rubbed her forehead.

  What you have now is real. Who knows where all this crap in your head is coming from?

  Maybe a movie or book? One of those sappy made-for-TV movies? What you have with Jonah is the real deal. You share a child. No doubt countless happy memories that one day soon will all come floating back. Right along with the photo albums and dried corsages and other mementos of your life that, per doctors’ orders, your husband tucked away from your view.

  “Here.” Jonah handed her two white tablets and a glass of water. “Hope these help.”

  “Me, too.” She willed the tremor in her hands to still. After swallowing the pills and setting her half-empty water glass on the coffee table, Jonah scooped her off the couch and into his arms. Resting her cheek against his shoulder, she asked, “Where are we going?”

  “Upstairs. You’re going to bed.”

  “Alone?”

  He sighed. “I’ll stay with you until you fall asleep, but after that—” he kissed her nose “—you’re on your own.”

  Jonah kissed his sleeping Angel on her bare shoulder, drew up the sheets to cover the spot he’d kissed, then slipped off the bed, sneaking out of the room to ease the door shut behind him.

  Her headache must’ve been a doozy. She’d fallen asleep within five minutes of her head hitting the pillow. Five minutes after that, Jonah was on the phone with Doc Penbrook.

  He relayed Angel’s symptoms. The headaches and sudden mood swings.

  When he finished, the doctor said, “Think she’s regaining her memory? Some specifics she may remember from the accident could be frightening.”

  “She hasn’t said much about the accident or remembering.” Thank God, Jonah added for his own benefit. Was this it? How he’d lose her? One more headache and bam—she’d be back with her former husband, baby and life?

  “Hmm…” Doc stayed quiet for a moment, then said, “Sorry, Jonah, but without examining her, for all I know she could just be having sinus trouble. Lord knows, what with this weather we’ve been having, I’m hearing enough complaints. A fierce sinus headache’ll turn anyone into a bear.”

  “I know,” Jonah said.

  “Want me to have my nurse call you in the morning to set up an appointment?”

  Yes, said the man who loved Angel and was genuinely concerned about her health and well-being.

  No, said the selfish bastard who didn’t give a damn about anything other than his own happiness. With Angel in his house, in his arms, his life—Katie’s life—worked. He never wanted her to get her memory back. And, truth be told, every night he prayed Sam’s email and computer would stay permanently busted.

  “Jonah? What about that appointment?”

  He cleared his throat. “Um, thanks, Doc. But she seems fine now. I’ll call you in a couple days.” Clenching his jaw, Jonah stared at the phone.

  Score one more for the selfish bastard.

  Tuesday morning, during the lull between breakfast and lunch crowds, Jonah left Angel and Katie with Leon, Pauline and Chevis to run down to the IGA for vanilla. When he’d been making pies, there’d been nearly a full bottle that he’d arranged to have an accident with, to provide him with a cover story to leave the diner.

  New bottle in his back pocket, he doubled back through the alley to the police station.

  Already the temperature hovered in the high eighties. The forecast for their part of the state said temps could hit record-breaking mid-nineties by the end of the day.

  His navy T-shirt soaked up the sun and his back started to sweat. But then, that probably had more to do with the crow he was about to eat than anything to do with the weather.

  “Hey, stranger,” Thelma said when he walked in the police department’s door. She put her half-eaten Snickers bar beneath an open procedure manual. So much for the mayor’s new health plan. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”

  He flashed her a weak grin. “Been busy.”

  She winked. “I’ll say. That Angel of yours is a real looker. The whole town’s smitten.”

  “Thelma!” Sam called from his office.

  “What?!”

  “Quit harassing our customer!”

  “It’s only Jonah.”

  Sam strolled out of his office, leaned against the doorjamb and crossed his arms. “You showing up on my turf mean I’m forgiven?”

  “Depends…”

  Sam straightened, ushering Jonah into his office. “Let the negotiations begin.”

  Jonah relayed the specifics of Angel’s odd behavior, then leaned forward on a rickety wooden chair, resting his elbows on his knees. “Look, Sam, I know I’ve been pretty much a jackass over the past few weeks.”

  “Yeah.” His friend cracked a grin.

  Jonah flipped him a bird. “I’m serious. I need your help. I don’t know how or when or even why, but I’ve fallen for her, man—hard. And now…” He straightened, flopping his hands on his lap.

  “Now, you don’t know what to do?”

  “Right. That’s it exactly.”

  “Tell me something I don’t already know—hell, Jonah, the whole town knows you’ve fallen for her.”

  “So what do I do? What if these mood swings are connected to her memory? What if she wakes up tomorrow remembering her real husband and real kid?”

  “I don’t mean to be cruel, but you knew the risks going into this thing.” He rifled through the short stack of dead-end leads on his desk. “This is all I’ve found on her. It’s like she’s ghost.”

  “What does that mean? In general, is it good or bad when a person’s untraceable?”

  Sam shook his head. “Jonah, I—”

  “Tell me.”

  His old friend dropped his stony gaze.

  “Great. That’s all I needed to know.”

  “Truly, I’m sorry, man. But I’ve only ever seen this happen when a person doesn’t want to be found. For all we know, Angel could’ve been fleeing an abusive marriage, but that raises the question of why would she leave without her child? The fact that she was able to breastfeed Katie tells me that somewhere out there, while she may not have a husband, she one hundred percent has her own baby. Either way, Jonah, once she regains her full memory, you’re gonna be dealing with one helluva mess.”

  Upon his return to the diner, ar
med with no more information than he’d left with, Jonah wasn’t in the best mood. But then he caught sight of Angel, seated in the rocker in his office with Katie at her breast, and he felt nothing but a surge of protective love.

  He knew loving this woman was wrong, but couldn’t help himself.

  Even worse, he didn’t want help.

  Oh, sure, he’d gone to Sam looking for answers. But the sad truth was, far from being put off by Sam’s negative take on there being no info on Angel, Jonah was chosing to take the no-news-is-good-news route.

  “Hey, handsome.” She looked up, drowning him in her aquamarine pools.

  “Hey, yourself, gorgeous.” He sauntered her way, kissing Katie on her cheek, then her new momma on her lips. To hell with Sam. Jonah figured what he and Angel shared felt too good to be wrong.

  “We were starting to worry about you. Have to run to Little Rock for that vanilla?”

  He took the small brown bottle from his back pocket. Gave it a shake. “Just took me a while to find it—and this.” From his other pocket he withdrew a small sack of those peppermints she’d liked so much on their way home from Little Rock.

  Her face lit up at the simple gift. “Thank you. Is it my birthday?”

  “Nope.” He unwrapped one and popped it into her mouth, letting his fingers linger on her soft, moist lips. Instantly hard, he took a swift breath and backed away.

  “Admirable attempt, though, of trying to weasel information.”

  “Can’t blame a girl for trying.” Smoothing Katie’s hair, she noted, “You were gone an awfully long time.”

  “Uh huh.”

  “Go anywhere else?”

  “Sam’s.”

  “What for?”

  He sat on the sofa. “I know you and Sam aren’t exactly best friends, but—”

  “Friends? The man all but accused me of being an ax murderer—oh wait, I allegedly used a hatchet.”

  Making a face, he said, “Aw, now, I’m sure he didn’t really think you were that crazy killer lady. He was—”

  “He was what, Jonah? Protecting you? From what?” Katie had fallen asleep at her breast, so she fastened her bra and tugged down her scoop-necked white tee. “Your wife?” Standing, cradling Katie close, she said, “Yep, I’ll bet folks for miles around have been locking up their kids, warning them away from that dangerous Angel McBride.”

  “Cut the drama. Nobody thinks that.”

  “The funny thing is, Jonah, I wouldn’t care if anyone did think that—anyone but you.”

  “And I’ve already told you, I don’t. So can you and Sam call a truce?”

  “Is that what he wants?”

  Cupping her cheek, he said, “That’s what I want.”

  “Okay, then. That’s all you had to say.”

  “Just like that?” No negotiations? No, if I buy you perfume, you promise to play nice?

  Eyes tearing, she nodded.

  He pulled her into a hug, his emotions swelling. What had he done to deserve her? She was everything he’d ever dreamed of finding in a woman and more. Even though he couldn’t yet legally make her his, he could publicly stake his claim. And as luck would have it, she’d unwittingly given him the perfect tool with which to do it.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Saturday night, Jonah stood beside the diner’s cash register, surveying a crowd of about forty of Angel’s newfound friends. “Okay, now,” he said, “when she walks in, is everyone clear on what you’re supposed to do?” Instead of the nods of agreement he’d hoped for, he got about forty blank stares.

  He arched his head back and groaned.

  No way were they going to pull this off. Something was bound to go wrong.

  Esther had probably already blabbed about the surprise. Earl would dig out the center of the cake before Angel even got to see it. Angel was going to call from home and say she was too tired to come. Or that Katie was too cranky to come. Or that Katie was already sleeping.

  I have to get hold of myself. Jonah forced a deep breath. This night’s gonna be perfect because by sheer will I’ll make it perfect.

  That fact established, he posed his question again. “Are we clear? ’Cause if not, we can go over it one more time.”

  Precious, face hidden behind her phone screen, ready to video it all, cracked her gum. “Like, we know, Jonah. It’s not too tough, you know, just yelling surprise.”

  He made a face for the camera. “Cut me some slack. Is there a law against wanting this night to be special?”

  “What’s the occasion again?” Esther asked from her end seat at the diner’s counter.

  See? This was just the kind of thing that had him most worried. Referring to the twenty-foot banner strung between the back wall’s row of booths, he read, “Happy Birthday, Angel. Everybody got that?”

  Esther scratched her head. “But how do you know it’s her birthday?”

  “I don’t,” Jonah admitted. “It’s kind of her birthday.”

  “This the anniversary of the first night she came to town?” Pauline asked.

  “In a way.”

  “Whaddayou mean? In a way?” Ed asked. “Is it or isn’t it?”

  “It is,” Jonah said. “Yes. This is what? Week five since she’s been here?”

  “I can’t remember her not being here,” Esther said. “She’s a lovely girl.”

  “Here, here.” Earl raised his third beer.

  His third beer? The diner didn’t yet have a liquor license, but Jonah was working on it. Jonah hustled across the room to cut Earl off, on his way giving Esther a quick hug.

  “Drink this…” Jonah replaced Earl’s Michelob with a tall glass of iced tea.

  “Thought this was a party,” Earl grumped. “I don’t want no stinkin’ iced—”

  The bell over the door jingled. Angel walked in, Katie in her arms. “Hey, everybody,” she said. “What’s going on?”

  “Surprise!” half the crowd yelled. The other half was still watching the drama unfold with Earl.

  “Sing!” Jonah shouted.

  As the crowd launched into a heartfelt rendition of “Happy Birthday”, Angel put her free hand to her mouth. Before settling on him, her aquamarine pools filled with tears.

  In that instant all the confusion, all the fear, was gone, distilling the true heart of the matter—their love—into one enchanted island in time that, no matter what, the two of them would always share. “I love you,” he mouthed.

  “I love you, too,” she mouthed back, cuddling Katie.

  Gazing upon his girls made Jonah teary too.

  His plan to prove his love to Angel—shoot, the whole town’s love—had worked. Now all that was left to do was party—and wait for Angel’s final surprise.

  After the crowd finished singing, Frank, as previously instructed, fired up a newly installed jukebox. The only way Angel was going to be providing entertainment at her own party was if she chose to—not because she felt pressured in any way by a need to help him.

  The whole time they’d been together, he’d fought that damn voice in his head accusing him of using her. But, no more. Starting tonight—here, now—they were forging a partnership.

  True, he might not be able to legally marry her but, in his heart—and if she could talk, he assumed in Katie’s—in every sense of the word, Angel had become his wife and his baby’s mother. For all he knew, maybe tonight was her birthday. Or maybe her real birthday had been the night he found her huddled on the bathroom floor.

  Precious filmed like crazy, trailing Angel through the human sea of laughter, well-wishers, and warm smiles. Across the room, Jonah waited patiently for Angel to hug her way to him. It took longer than he’d hoped, but that was okay. They had all the time in the world and she was certainly worth the wait.

  “Thank you,” she said, finally in his arms.

  “You’re welcome…” Enough talk. Time for kissing and claiming.

  As the party roared around them, to the accompaniment of some crazy alternative rock only Preci
ous and her friends would’ve picked, Jonah cinched Angel close, nuzzling the curve of her neck, loving it when she scrunched her head and giggled.

  “That tickles,” she said.

  “You’ve never much minded before.”

  “You’ve never done it in front of so many people.”

  “Mmm…” he kissed her again and again. “An audience only makes it that much more interesting. Happy birthday, Angel.”

  Leaning into him, loving him, Angel could’ve melted with happiness.

  In a million years her husband couldn’t have found a more perfect way to make her feel cherished and adored. All her crazy visions, all her confusion and fear, all of it had just been bad dreams.

  This was real.

  These people were real.

  This wonderful man kissing her and hugging her and laughing with her was real. And tonight was her birthday. Her birthday!

  The only possible way Jonah—or any of her friends—would know this was the day she’d been born was to have been there—or, at least, have known when and where the event had occurred.

  Gazing up at Jonah’s fresh-shaven, sexy-as-sin face, she asked, “How old am I?”

  He shook his head. “You know better than to ask something like that. Remember what the doctor said? You have to remember everything on your own.”

  “Then how come you’re throwing this party?”

  “Because I love you.”

  She thought about pouting the information out of him but decided the act would take more energy than it was worth. Besides, why waste one minute even pretending to be sad when the night still held so much fun? “Come on…” She took her husband by his hand, leading him to the room’s center where tables had been cleared for a dance floor. “I like this song.”