by D. F. Jones
“I was scared during the attack, but not anymore. Good grief, how are we supposed to protect ourselves from something we can’t see? I think Ralph needs to teach me how to spot a demon. I get some bizarre people in the ER, for real. Surely, they’re not all possessed. Now that is a scary thought.” Anna shivered at the possibility.
“Are you in much pain?”
Anna grabbed the remote for her VCR and pushed the pause button. “Nah, not really. But hey, I’m on sick leave for four whole days. Can you believe it? I haven’t had free time since before med school. Can you fly down? Please, please, please,” Anna begged. Ruby would come if she could get away from the store.
Anna could just picture the wheels beginning to turn in her best friend’s mind. Ruby had bought the Everglade General Store from Mr. Burns and had three full-time employees, plus a manager. She had added a café and covered outdoor patio where the local musicians jammed on the weekends.
Ruby said, “Hmm, I guess I could see if Rose could cover me for a few days. Want me to call Sandy?”
“Oh, Ruby, that would be totally awesome.” Anna giggled. Ever since the movie Valley Girl had hit the theaters, med students and nurses were constantly saying “totally” and “for sure.”
Ruby took another deep breath. “Look, I’ll talk with Sandy and check the available flights and call you later with the details. Hopefully, Sandy will be able to get off early from the TV station. Did she tell you she’s up for an AP award for one of her investigative reports?”
Anna propped her elbow on the arm of the couch. “No, she didn’t. That’s awesome. Do you need me to pick you up from the airport?”
“Nah, I’ll rent a car when we get to the airport.”
Anna hesitated, then said, “Ruby, have you talked to Jerry? Did he tell you I called him?”
Ruby sighed. “Yes, I talked to him. I know I should’ve kept my big mouth shut, but I just hate to see him make a mistake. He still loves you.”
Anna held her breath for a second, and she said, “He has a funny way of showing it. I’ll see you tomorrow. Love you.” Anna hung up. Did Jerry still love her? Could he marry someone else? She had to quit thinking about him and pressed play on the VCR.
Chapter 11
Sunglasses at Night
Anna tossed and turned for most of the night due to bad dreams about Jerry and Rachel. The first rays of sunlight burst through her bedroom window. She sensed Ralph before he sat on her bed and shook her foot gently. Anna threw her pillow at him. “Leave me alone, Ralph.”
Ralph began to tickle the bottom of her foot, and she shoved him off the bed. He said, “Anna Faye Kelly, I’ve watched you from a baby to adulthood, and I’ve never seen you wallow around feeling sorry for yourself. Get up.” He shook her again, and she bolted up and tried to open her eyes, but they were too swollen.
Ralph gasped. “Saints preserve us. Lie back down. I’m going to make it all better, and then you’re getting in the shower while I cook crepes for breakfast.”
Anna giggled at the mention of crepes. Ralph didn’t eat human food, but he loved to show off his culinary skills and the art of great food presentation. Crepes sounded delicious, and since she was depressed, her body craved sugar.
“Crepes with strawberries and cream cheese?” she asked with her hands in prayer mode.
“Yes, with strawberries and cream cheese and my secret sauce. Now lie back down.” Anna lay back, and Ralph placed his hands over her eyes. The same energy Anna used to heal others was now being used to heal her.
Less than a minute later, Ralph removed his hands, and Anna blinked a couple of times. She didn’t feel any pain, and thank heaven, she could see. Anna threw her comforter off, ran into the bathroom, and looked into the mirror. It blew her away how the healing energy worked. Anna had no signs of her injury or any swelling from crying during the night. She stepped back into her bedroom to thank him, but Ralph had already left to cook. She could hear him banging pots and pans in the kitchen. Her guardian angel rocked. Anna did a little dance because she had three more days off, and her best friends were coming into town this afternoon.
Anna’s master bedroom and bathroom were nearly as big as the whole guest house. The bedroom had a mahogany pineapple four-poster bed, two end tables, an armoire, and a dresser with a full-length mirror. The interior walls were painted a soothing sage green, and the trim was painted white. The adjoining bathroom had clear glass shower doors and a Jacuzzi tub in the corner. She had two oval sinks with white cabinets, and the mirror had beveled edges that went all the way to the ceiling. Anna loved her bedroom oasis and often came home from work and went straight to the shower. Afterward, she would crawl into her big, beautiful bed to read before falling asleep.
Jerry’s impending marriage popped back into her mind. He’d gotten awfully upset with her for someone who was about to be married. He shouldn’t even care what she thought. It gave her the tiniest bit of hope he might rethink his decision before it was too late. At least, he knew she still loved him whether he married Rachel or not. Anna was glad Ruby and Sandy were flying in later today so she could talk to them about Jerry.
Anna pulled on a pair of white cotton shorts and a pink polo shirt and walked out of her bedroom. She stopped in the foyer long enough to quickly sort the junk mail from the actual bills in the mail basket. Anna left the bills in the basket and made her way into the kitchen, opened the pantry door, and threw the junk mail in the trash. Suddenly ravenous, she inhaled the sweet aroma of crepes with strawberry sauce.
“Ralph, you’ve outdone yourself. The food smells divine, and the arrangement is beautiful.” Ralph had arranged a beautiful tropical bouquet mixed with large and medium heliconia and big red ginger with pieces of deep green foliage and placed them in a glass vase in the center of her kitchen table.
Ralph was busy folding the crepes, and he said, “Grab yourself a cup of coffee and I’ll make you a plate.” Anna poured a cup and sat down. She held the coffee cup in both hands and peered out through the sliding glass doors to the swimming pool. The water shimmered from the brilliant sunlight. It was going to be another gorgeous day in paradise. Anna glanced over at the main house and didn’t see any movement from Cary.
Cary normally piddled around the yard in the morning. She loved Cary’s old Floridian plantation home with its swaying palm trees and huge, moss-draped oak trees and gorgeous pink oleanders. The luscious landscape around his oceanfront property offered the illusion of seclusion while being in the midst of a subdivision.
Ralph set a plate of strawberry cream crepes in front of her. “Bon appétit.”
“Ralph, you cook like a French chef.” Anna took a bite and moaned with delight. “God, this is wonderful. I wished you’d taste it. It’s superb.”
Ralph sat down at the table. “It pleases me very much you enjoy my cooking. You look much better now that you’ve showered and no longer have those horrendously swollen eyes. Anna, your eyes are the color of the ocean on a bright, sunny day.”
Anna cut into her crepe. “Aw, Ralph, you’re sweet. You must have some pretty bad news if you’re buttering me up with crepes and compliments.”
Ralph leaned back against the chair and placed his hands on his thighs. “After your attack, I had a meeting with Seneca, Baldric, and Luwenia, the guardians of Campbell Ridge.” Ralph had explained to Anna early in their relationship that every human had a guardian, although most humans never acknowledged them. The guardians assigned to Anna and her friends were part of an elite force of angels sent to protect the Wards of the World.
Anna took a big bite of crepes while she continued listening to Ralph.
He said, “You’ve heard Ruby talk about Seneca. He’s the leader of our team and has great wisdom. Baldric is Sandy’s guardian, and the lovely Luwenia is Jerry’s. We placed new shields of protection over each of you. We frequently change the shields’ coordinates with a pattern of numbers based on the golden ratio overlaid with our energy fields. For now, you’re safe. Your de
tection by Luc’s bootlickers is nearly impossible.”
“That is so over my head. Wait a minute. You just said the lovely Luwenia? Ralph, you sound like you’re in love. Oh, is a bootlicker the same thing as a brown-noser?” Anna asked before taking another bite of her crepes and licking the sauce from the corner of her mouth.
Ralph flushed and stammered, “L-Luwenia? She’s beautiful, but I’m not in love with her. I’ve never been in love with anyone.” Anna smiled to herself. Ralph was in love, but he didn’t realize it yet. Hmmm, that brings up some more interesting questions.
Ralph leaned over the table and nervously began to fiddle with his flower arrangement. “Bootlickers and brown-nosers both kiss ass. The bootlickers I’m referring to are demon angels, and they do whatever Luc commands them to do. See, when wards use their power, it releases a light invisible to the human eye, and that light beam radiates toward Heaven. It’s how demons detect and track wards. I did receive confirmation from the AAF that Luc is actively recruiting wards. If a ward refuses to work with Luc, he strips their power until they pass away into Heaven. There’s also a rumor Luc is enslaving the stronger wards.”
Anna coughed and nearly choked on her crepe. She took a sip of coffee and said, “What are we going to do?”
Ralph went over to the stove, grabbed the crepe dish, and offered another one to Anna, then left the plate on the table. “We’re going to fight, Anna. That’s what we’re going to do. Luc uses human weakness. You need to get a handle on your jealousy regarding Rachel.”
Anna snapped. “Wonderful. Just freaking great. That’s why those freaking demons attacked me. I had worked a long shift, and at the end of the day I couldn’t shake the feelings of hatred and jealousy against Rachel, and I felt sorry for myself. So I guess I opened myself up to them.”
Ralph knelt down before Anna and turned her to face him. He held her hands and said, “The Demons of Jealousy are from one of Luc’s most powerful divisions. Be careful, because those nasty beasts will dig their claws in deep. Let it go. Let it all go. It’s when you allow those emotions to consume every waking moment that the demons take hold. Once inside your soul, they’re extremely reluctant to leave. Even those humans who classify as The Order of the Ever After have to fight demons. No human is immune. Oh, well, except during the time when the Prince of Peace walked the Earth as a human.”
Anna frowned and broke away from Ralph’s grasp. She walked over to the fridge and took out the OJ. She glanced over her shoulder before pouring herself a small glass of juice. “Prince of Peace. You mean Jesus?
Ralph rose from the table and walked over to the sink to wash dishes. “There are some humans who refer to the Prince as Jesus. There’s been a war going on between Heaven and Hell since the birth of mankind, and it’ll continue until the bitter end. Most humans turn a blind eye to it. It’s like watching one of Jerry’s high school basketball games. We’re the home team. Every time a human offers a kind word, a lending hand, a generous heart, our team adds points to the board for the home team.”
Anna joined him at the sink and took a dish towel out of the drawer to dry while Ralph washed. He said, “The home team is playing a cunning and ruthless competitor who likes to lie, cheat, and steal. He takes cheap shots, and his players are deceit, revenge, greed, jealousy, hatred, vanity—the list is endless. When their team gets the ball and makes a basket, it racks up points by taking pieces of a human soul little by little, day by day, chipping away until nothing’s left but a mere shell of what the human used to be.”
Anna stopped and stared at Ralph. He was right. Something inside her knew those aspects of life that destroyed a soul were part of a much larger and darker picture. Ralph had given her insight, and she intended to be more careful. But she was only human, after all.
Anna opened the cabinet above her head and neatly stacked away her dishes. “I always try to do what is right and you know it. But it’s going to take me a while to get over the fact that the man I thought I would spend my life with is marrying someone else. And don’t look at me like that. I know it’s been a long time since we’ve been together, but I never got over Jerry. I still love him.” Anna scraped the remains of the food down the garbage disposal and flipped the switch while the water ran into the drain. “Ralph, do angels have relationships in Heaven?”
Ralph shoulder-bumped her and said, “There are some things the human brain is not equipped to understand. Our relationships are different from yours. There are no tears in Heaven, no chances of a broken heart. Maybe being witness to great love is why I love coming to Earth. And maybe true love is why some angels choose to stay. I hate seeing you suffer, but to love someone so much it still hurts years later, just thinking about them, is a gift. Besides, Jerry isn’t married yet. So what are you waiting for?”
Anna leaned against the kitchen cabinet. “It doesn’t feel like a gift. And what am I supposed to do, drop everything and go to Tennessee? Should I throw myself at Jerry’s feet and beg him not to marry Rachel?”
With compassion, he said, “If I ever have the chance at true love in my life, like you’ve had, I’d do anything to keep it. You humans can have such thick skulls. Dates back to your primitive beginnings. You never grow out of it.”
Ralph took off the yellow plastic gloves and replaced them back under the sink. “You have to clean your house for your guests and then go for a walk on the beach. It’s beautiful today.” Ralph was right. She had guests coming to visit, and Jerry wasn’t married yet. Maybe Anna still had a chance to get him back. She walked into the den and whirled around to say something to Ralph, but he’d disappeared again.
* * *
Anna glanced at the clock on her bedside table. Ruby and Sandy were due to arrive any minute. She felt like a teenager again waiting on her best friends. Anna had worked like a dog all day cleaning her house, and it sparkled. She couldn’t remember the last time her house was this clean.
Anna had vacuumed her silk drapes and dusted her plantation shutters. The cherry coffee table and end tables gleamed from the furniture polish. Anna could even see her reflection in the black granite counter tops and appliances. She left the vertical blinds opened to the sliding door. It offered a splendid view of the pool and main house. Last, Anna arranged the overstuffed cushions on the chintz sofa.
* * *
Anna wore a strapless, coral tea-length sundress and paired it with a white sweater. She grabbed her pearls out of her jewelry box and clasped them around her neck. The pearls had been a gift from Jerry the last Christmas they had spent together.
Anna made an eight o’clock reservation at the new Temps Restaurant and Beach Club. The five-star restaurant had opened on Valentine’s Day. Temps offered excellent Floridian cuisine, and their bar had spectacular views of the ocean with direct access to the beach. Anna had only been once with Amy and Gator. They had gone for drinks one Friday after work.
The doorbell rang, and Anna flew out of her bedroom to open the front door. All three girls screamed and hugged each other tightly. Anna showed Ruby and Sandy inside her house, and they went through the short foyer to the living area. Anna said, “Ruby, I’ve placed you in the downstairs guest room, and Sandy, you’re in the loft. The loft has a wonderful little deck with views of the ocean.”
Ruby grabbed Anna’s hands and stretched out her arms. “Anna, you look wonderful. I thought you were hurt?”
Sandy grabbed Anna’s chin and turned her left, then right. “Ralph does good work.”
Anna sat down on the arm of the couch. “Yes, he does. You guys go ahead and leave your suitcases in your rooms. I have reservations at the swankiest joint in town, and if we leave right now, we’ll have time for cocktails before dinner.”
Sandy looked down at her work clothes. “You have to give me fifteen minutes to change clothes and freshen up.”
Ruby removed the strap of her purse off her shoulder and set the purse on the end table. “Me, too. Swanky? I’ve never known you to be an uptown girl. But what the hey, we
only live once. Where’s your phone? I have to call Reed, so he doesn’t have a fit. I’m so married.”
Anna playfully shoved Ruby and giggled. “You’ve been so married since the day you locked lips with Reed.” Ruby crossed her eyes at Anna and stuck out her tongue. Anna pointed to the kitchen. “There’s a cordless on the counter just inside the kitchen door on the right, or you can use the one in my room for privacy.”
Ruby snorted. “Privacy around you two? Get real.” Ruby stepped over to the kitchen, grabbed the phone out of the dock, and dialed. “Reed, honey, I’m here… Yes, sweetie, I’m fine. We’re heading out for dinner and drinks, and I’m sure we’ll be late getting back… No. I’m not drinking. For heaven’s sake. And I love you, too. I’ll phone you tomorrow. And hey, don’t get too trashed with Jerry tonight.” Ruby hung up and turned to find both Anna and Sandy laughing at her.
Sandy leaned against the couch and slipped off her Valentino pumps. She held them by the straps with one hand while rubbing the arch of her foot with the other. “Why’s Reed so adamant about you not drinking? It’s not like you’ve ever been a big drinker. What gives?”
Ruby’s face split into a big grin. “I’m pregnant.”
Anna and Sandy both screamed. Sandy dropped her shoes, ran to Ruby, and hugged her.
Anna placed her hand on Ruby’s belly. “You do have a special glow going on. How far along are you?”
Ruby placed her hand over Anna’s. “I’m seven weeks or so, and I’ve just started having morning sickness. I sure hope you have saltines. If not, we need to stop at the store before we come back home tonight. I brought my herbal tea.”
Anna took a step back and said, “I have plenty of crackers. A baby, a sweet baby. I can’t wait. Who’s your OB?”
Sandy rolled her eyes. “I’m starving. We can talk all about our baby over dinner. Besides, we’re going to spoil Ruby’s kid rotten.”