Hours later, bathed in a happy birthday glow, Angel snuck another piece of her yummy chocolate birthday cake. Good thing she had connections with the chef. With any luck, she could con him into making her another even when it wasn’t her birthday.
“Having fun?” Esther asked from atop the same stool she’d been on all night.
Angel nodded.
Esther grasped her hands and squeezed. “I’m glad,” she said above Precious’s current techno blare. “You’ve been good to me. Accompanying me to all my sales, saying my rubbery old pineapple upside-down cake tastes good. I’m so happy for you. You’re gonna love the gift me and Pauline helped Jonah cook up.”
Angel gave the dear woman a hug. “Thank you, Esther, but you’ve already given me the best gift of all in your friendship.”
The old woman snorted. “That sounds like a goddamned Hallmark commercial—but I’ll take it just the same.”
Finally used to Esther’s unique way of stating things, Angel didn’t even blink.
“See that guy?” Esther asked, pointing across the room to a heavyset man dressed in a black suit that looked far too hot and formal for the weather and occasion. He sat alone in one of the back booths, nodding his head to the beat, taking it all in.
“Who is he? Do I know him?”
Esther shook her head. “I don’t know him either, but anyway, he’s your present.”
Angel frowned. “What do you mean?”
Esther winked.
“You mean like he’s a male stripper? And if that is the case, wouldn’t he be more suited to you?”
Esther swatted Angel’s forearm. “Don’t be fresh. What I meant is that he’s here for you—to listen to you.”
“Listen to me what?”
“Sing, stupid. One of Pauline’s pageant people knows him. He’s a part-time celebrity-type reporter, part-time talent scout for some hoity-toity LA agency.”
“But, Esther, I—”
Putting her thumb and forefinger to her lips, Esther whistled loud enough to get everyone’s attention. She made a mysterious hand signal to Jonah, then he flicked on the lights and offed the music. The added light brought attention to an area of the room Angel hadn’t even noticed, that used to house a booth big enough for eight. The booth had been removed and in its place was a small stage, complete with lights, upright piano and red velvet curtains.
“What’s this?” Angel asked Esther, still confused. “The stage is Jonah’s gift, the piano’s mine, plus he helped me and Pauline track this talent fellow down. Had to call him in three different states. Cost more than a new washer and dryer to fly him out here from California.”
Suddenly Jonah was at Angel’s side, leading her toward the stage. “Jonah, I—”
“Shh…” he said in her ear. “Relax. This is for you. All for you.”
“But—”
“All I ask is that you give this your best shot. I don’t want you to ever feel you’re here in Blue Moon out of any obligation to either me or Lizzy. I want you here because you want to be.”
“Jonah…” She searched his dear face for signs as to what could’ve brought this about. “I am here for you. Why would I ever want to go anywhere else?”
He shrugged. “The other day, when you accused me of using you—your talent—to keep this old place alive—I thought long and hard about that. And the conclusion I came to I didn’t like. Maybe you’re right. Maybe—”
Placing her fingers to his lips, she shook her head with tears in her eyes.
“You’ve got to be sure,” he said. “I want you to see where this singing of yours can go. In short, I want you to see if you can fly.”
Was this finally it? The root of why their marriage had almost been torn apart? Had she dreamt of pursuing some crazy dream of Hollywood while he had wanted her here? Was that what all the visions meant? Had her subconscious been telling her what a mistake chasing that kind of life could be?
“Don’t you know anything?” she asked. “All I want is you, Jonah. All I’ve ever wanted is you.”
“Excuse me,” the man in the suit said, eyeing her unnervingly close. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but I’ve got to head back to Little Rock as soon as possible. Tomorrow I’ve got an early flight home.”
“Sorry,” Angel said. “But I’m afraid my husband’s dragged you all this way for nothing.”
The man raised his eyebrows, looked to Jonah, then again to Angel, staring extra hard, almost as if he was trying to place her.
“You’ll have to forgive my wife,” Jonah said. “She’s had way too much punch.” He gave her a light shove and suddenly she was onstage.
The overhead lights were out again and she was immersed in the wonderland of a whirling disco ball, scattering the stage’s blue lights on all four of the diner’s walls.
Someone set a mike stand in front of her.
She tapped it and found it hot.
Surprised, she jumped back with a nervous giggle, which made everyone else in the room laugh, too.
“Sing, already!” Earl hollered. “We’ve been waitin’ all night.”
“Yeah!” someone else cried out in the dark.
“Um, okay,” she said shyly into the mike. “Does anyone have a request?”
The suit was back to eyeing her funny. He made her nervous, so she concentrated on pretending he wasn’t even in the room. After all, it wasn’t as if he was likely to declare her the next singing sensation and whisk her off to LA.
“How ’bout Patsy Cline?” shouted Esther’s friend, George.
“I like her Judy Garland better!”
“Linda Ronstadt!”
“Karen Carpenter!”
Precious ducked out from behind her phone to shout, “Gwen Stefani!”
“Wow,” Angel said. “That’s a lot of requests. Don’t know if I can handle that many.”
The suit stepped forward. “How about Rebel Blue?”
“Excuse me?” She wrinkled her nose. “I’m not familiar with any of her songs.”
“‘Fallen’. ‘High Tide’. ‘You’. Any of those ring a bell?” He was looking at her again. Staring. Staring so hard he made her itch.
Was this stage fright? Was she about to break into hives?
Her only response was another nervous giggle. “Let’s leave songs like those to rock and roll professionals. I’ll stick with the sentimental oldies.” Before he could tell her anything different, she launched into Miss Patsy Cline’s Crazy, and the crowd went wild.
Everyone that was, except for the suit. He stood, arms crossed, right hand holding up his phone, which he’d pulled out midway through her song.
Ignoring him and his toy, she sat at the piano, quickening her pace with Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna to Dance with Somebody”. That especially got the younger crowd going and, surprisingly enough, her too. It’d been a while since she’d sung anything fast—what was she saying—like she’d ever sung anything fast!
On and on she sang, pounding on the piano’s keys until her voice grew hoarse and her fingers ached.
By that time, the suit had vanished just as mysteriously as he’d appeared, and her spirits soared. Performing like this, in front of Jonah and all of her friends—perfect. The night had been absolutely perfect. She didn’t need validation from the outside world when everything—everyone—she’d ever wanted was right here in this room.
Laughing, eyes pooling from the amazing outpouring of love, Angel finally said, “Really, you guys, I’ve got to stop.”
“Aw, come on,” Randy, the UPS guy, hollered. “Just one more!”
“Really…” Angel curved her hand around her aching throat. “I’m flattered you asked, but I can’t—not tonight, anyway.” She winked, blew the still cheering crowd a big kiss.
“You did it, babe!” Grant shouted above the still roaring crowd. “Not only did you fill your first arena, but you blew them away! This crowd loves you!”
Caught up in the excitement, she stepped into his outstretched arms, lovin
g it when he hugged her tight, lifting her off the stage to spin her round and round.
“After tonight,” he said, “you’ll never want for anything. You’re set, baby! You’re a star.”
“Really?” she asked once he set her back on the stage floor. “You really think so?”
He laughed. “Look at them.” He nodded to the still cheering crowd. “Do you even have to ask?"
She did as he’d suggested. Really looked at them. At the teens screaming their love for her in the front row. At the hundreds of phones flashing, blinding even after over a two hour show. The banners, offering anything from free joints and coke hits to marriage after her performance. This was it. All her life, this was that mysterious, elusive something she’d always been missing—love. Finally, finally, she had a family—fifty thousand moms and dads and brothers and sisters.
“Come on, Rebel! Surely you can do at least one more?” The male request came from the back of the room. Angel put her hand to her forehead, shielding her eyes from the lights. She needn’t have looked too hard, though, as the man in the suit made his way to the stage.
“Sorry,” she said. “But it’s been a long night, and...” What was it about the man’s accusing stare that made her feel as if her stomach had been turned inside out?
“And you’re afraid if you keep this up too long, someone might guess your dirty secret?”
“E-excuse me?”
Jonah stepped to one side of the man, Sam to the other.
Jonah said, “I think you’d better leave.”
The man held up his hands, slowly reaching into the chest pocket of his suit to pull out a press ID. “Hey,” he said with a sharp laugh, “last thing I want is trouble. But seriously, you all can’t be buying this woman’s scam? She’s no innocent country princess, singing for her supper. This is Rebel Blue, Queen Bitch of rock and roll. No one sings harder or parties harder than her.” He laughed again. “Hell, Rebel, even I can’t imagine why you’d be hanging out in this hick town.”
“M-my name’s Angel…” Her voice held less conviction than she would’ve liked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t even know who you’re talking about.”
He grinned. “Go right on believing that, babe. I know the truth.” He searched the angry faces surrounding him. “Come on,” he said. “Can’t you all see she’s just here killing time? Duping you until the roar of her latest scandal dies down? I know she’s changed her look, but how could none of you recognize her when her disappearance made the cover of every tabloid?”
Sam picked up where Jonah left off. “For a man claiming not to want trouble, you sure have a funny way of avoiding it. Mind telling us what that last statement was supposed to mean?”
Angel felt sick. This stranger meant more than trouble. He meant her outright harm. She couldn’t fathom how or why. The knowing was nothing more than an uneasy roar behind her eyes. Nothing less than the feeling that she was standing at the edge of a cliff with nowhere to go but down. “I’ve got to go,” she said, not realizing her mumbled words had been spoken directly into the mike.
“No.” Jonah stepped onto the stage beside her, putting his arm about her shoulders. “The only one leaving is this guy.”
“Look,” the stranger persisted, “if you’d drop the loyal protector routine and let me talk, I promise I can—”
“That’s it…” Jonah hardened his jaw and fists, stepping off the stage and back to the floor. “Sam, help me get this creep out of here.”
Sam sighed before releasing the man.
Under his breath, Jonah said to his long-time friend, “What the hell are you doing? Can’t you see how badly this guy’s upsetting my wife?”
Sam’s gray eyes turned to stone.
“Come on,” Jonah pleaded. “Help me. Help me get him out of here.”
Sam looked to his friend, to Angel. “I’m sorry—to both of you—but Jonah, this has to end. You knew eventually it would.”
Tears streaming down her cheeks, Angel shook her head, digging her fingertips into her throbbing temples. “Please, Jonah. Please, make both of them leave.”
Jonah was back at her side, wrapping his arm about her shoulders, leading her down from the low platform and across the crowded room. “Sorry, folks,” he called over his shoulder, “but the show and party are over. My wife needs rest.”
“You all go on.” Esther patted Angel’s arm as they passed. “We’ll clean up and look after Lizzy.”
“Stop it, Esther,” Sam called out. “The baby’s name is Katie. And she isn’t Angel’s daughter, but Geneva’s. Just like Jonah isn’t her husband.”
Free hand clenched, Jonah said to Esther, “We appreciate your offer of help, but my wife and I will be taking our baby home.”
Angel glanced at the cluster of her gaping friends. Why were they all just standing there, instead of helping her husband defend her against Sam and that horrible man in the suit?
The teens formed their own animated circle, eyeing her with a combination of awe laced with fear. As if she were someone to look up to, but also someone to be wary of.
“Precious…” Angel softly said. “Why are you looking at me that way?”
“You really are her…” Precious and her friend, Heather, both had their hands over their gaping mouths.
They know, Angel’s voice said. Give it up, honey. Before this night is out, everyone’s gonna know all your dirty secrets.
Angel shook her head, hiding her face against Jonah’s very solid, very real chest.
This is my reality, she fought, railing against the demon in her head. This man, this baby, all my friends. Why would any of them host a birthday party in my honor if they didn’t even know my real name?
“Christ on a cupcake, Jonah.” Stepping in front of him, Sam shook his head. “What’s it gonna take to get it through that thick skull of yours? The game’s over. I don’t know who this guy is,” he thumbed toward the suit. “But whoever he is, he obviously knows a helluva lot more about our mystery woman than we do.”
“Jonah…” Angel tucked her face against his chest. “Please, take me home.”
“Move,” Jonah said to Sam.
In Esther’s arms, Lizzy began to cry.
Angel reached for her child, cuddling her close. “It’s past your bedtime, isn’t it, sweetie?” Why wouldn’t the man leave? Why was he insisting on ruining her party?
The suit narrowed his eyes. “Fess up, Rebel… What kind of drug are you on?”
“That’s it!” Jonah released Angel to rear back his fist.
Sam stepped between him and the man hurling insults at his wife, clamping a hold on both of Jonah’s wrists. “You don’t want this.”
“The hell I don’t,” Jonah thrashed to break free.
“Screw you people,” the suit said, shaking his head on his way out the diner’s front door. Shuffling the last few feet backward, he said, “You think you’ve got trouble now, Rebel Blue—what with losing your baby and finding out your kid’s father was shacking up with about a dozen other women. Then not showing up at that rehab center? You just wait till I leak this to my tabloid buddies. They’re gonna have a field day. They’re gonna—”
“Stop!” Angel cried, ducking her face against Lizzy. “Please, Jonah, make him stop!”
Her request was all it took to give Jonah extra strength. Wrenching free of Sam, he lurched across the room to let the bastard have it, punching him clean in his jaw.
The guy stumbled back. Rubbed his already bruising face and bloodied nose, he ground out, “You’ll be hearing from my attorney.”
“Good,” Jonah said. “I’ll tell him how you slandered my wife.”
Hand on the door, the suit shook his head. “You pathetic country hick. Get a life.”
Jonah’s friends released what sounded an awful lot like a collective growl.
Probably to ensure the guy didn’t get lynched on his way out of town, Sam followed the suit outside.
Jonah, mouthing good rid
dance to both, ushered Angel and Katie toward the office, again shouting along the way, “Party and show’s over, folks. Time to call it a night.”
Everyone began talking at once. Speaking in low rumbles, as if nothing they’d just heard dared be spoken aloud.
Jonah rubbed his forehead, mind reeling from the implications. What if the suit was at least partially right?
Leon clapped his hand around Jonah’s shoulder. “You go on back to the office. Me and Pauline and Chevis gonna clear everyone out. Everything’s gonna be all right. Jest you wait and see.”
On autopilot, Jonah said, “There’s going to be a few needing rides. Earl in particular.”
Leon nodded. “Don’t you worry ’bout a thing. I’ll take care of it.”
“Thanks, man.” Jonah searched his long-time friend’s expression for any sign as to what he’d thought of the suit’s outburst, but his face was a mask. One of sympathy and kindness, but a mask just the same.
Jonah wasn’t sure how but before Angel quit sobbing on the office sofa they had the place to themselves.
“Why did that guy do that?” she finally asked. “What could he gain by digging at me that way?”
Hugging her with Katie in between, Jonah said into the fragrant fall of her hair, “I don’t know, sweetheart. I couldn’t begin to tell you.”
She pushed back, staring up at him with a haunted, tear-stained stare of the purest shimmering aquamarine. “And all that stuff about poor Lizzy—and you. All of it was downright mean.”
Was it? the old nag in Jonah’s head asked. Or could the guy have been telling the truth? You’ve known from day one Angel has secrets. How could any of what that stranger said be more bizarre than the days you’ve already shared?
And what if even a fraction of that stuff was true? What if your so-called Angel could’ve given Geneva lessons on the true meaning of bad to the bone? And, if that is the case, how does it feel knowing for the second time m your sorry life that you and your longing to play house have led you down not the road to bliss but humiliation? Because face it, bud, in your heart of hearts you already know the woman you thought you loved is gone—that is, if she was ever even here.
Angel Baby (Heaven Can Wait) Page 24