Angel Mine (14 page)

Over the past couple of hours she had drawn comfort from his strength, but she could tell from the way he’d withdrawn ever since they got to the hospital in Laramie that he wasn’t nearly as calm and collected as he wanted her to believe. He was pacing from one end of the waiting room to the other, until she was sure he was going to wear a hole in the carpet.

“Todd?”

He was at her side in an instant. “Are you okay? You’re not feeling faint, are you? You’ve had a shock, but Angel’s going to be okay. The doc came out after the scan and said everything points to that, right? He’s going to release her in an hour or so and send her back to Whispering Wind with us. We have to believe he knows what’s best. And you have to admit, she was back to chattering a mile a minute by the time we got here.”

“I know,” she said. “It’s not Angel. It’s you I’m worried about.”

“Me? Don’t be crazy. I’m fine.”

“You are not fine.” Her gaze sought his, caught it for an instant, but then he looked away. “You’re blaming yourself, aren’t you?”

“What makes you think that?”

“The fact that you haven’t looked me in the eye once since we got here.”

His gaze locked with hers now as if to defy her claim. “It was my fault, okay? She came darting across that street to get to me. That’s a fact, Heather,” he said flatly.

“It’s also a fact that I was the one holding her hand. She got away from me. So, is it my fault she got hit?”

“Of course not,” he said fiercely. “You didn’t do anything careless.”

“Any more than you did,” she pointed out mildly. “If I could, I would never let anything bad happen to my baby. But there are going to be accidents that even the best parent in the world can’t prevent, and that’s what this was, Todd, an
accident.
It happened too quickly for either one of us to do a thing to prevent it.”

“I still say it wouldn’t have happened if she hadn’t come running to me.”

“And it wouldn’t have happened if I had held on to her hand a little tighter,” she repeated. “So we’re both to blame, okay? For that matter, so is Angel for darting across the street in the first place.”

Todd looked aghast at the suggestion that Angel was to blame for anything. “She’s just a baby. It’s up to us to protect her. Dammit, I should have realized what she was about to do.”

“So should I,” Heather countered, stubbornly refusing to let him heap all the guilt onto his own shoulders. “I’ve told her a million times in New York that she is not to cross the street unless I say it’s okay. But she is just a baby. Until today, I’m sure she didn’t fully understand the possible consequences. She was just excited to see you, the way she always is. And there wasn’t a thing you could have done from where you were standing to stop her from running across that street.”

He looked more angry than consoled. “Dammit, Heather, we could have lost her.”

She touched his cheek. “But we didn’t,” she reminded him quietly. “Can’t we just be grateful for that?”

He pulled away. “I don’t know. It’s not that simple.”

“It is,” she insisted. “No recriminations, Todd. Angel is going to be fine and that’s all that matters.”

He regarded her as if he didn’t trust her words. “That’s it?”

“That’s it,” she confirmed. “I mean it. I won’t have you blaming yourself for another, single second.

“She loves you, Todd, and she doesn’t even know yet you’re her daddy. Nothing that’s happened today changes that. You saw how she instinctively reached for you when she woke up. She trusts you. She’s certainly not blaming you for the accident.”

“She’s too little to understand,” he insisted, stubbornly clinging to his guilt.

Heather stared at him. Why was he so determined to claim guilt? Was this just the excuse he’d been waiting for to try to get rid of them? Or was it something more? Did it go back to that ridiculous claim he’d made that he was a danger to their daughter? Once again she realized how vital it was that she get to the bottom of that. But how, when he refused to talk about it?

“Stop it,” she commanded. “What happened was an accident. Stop dwelling on it and concentrate on Angel.”

She grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the door of the waiting room.

“Where are we going?”

“To the hospital chapel,” she said at once. “We’re going to thank God that our little girl is all right and then we are putting this behind us.”

She waited for him to balk at her plan, but when she glanced up, she saw an unexpected trace of amusement flickering in his eyes.

“I’d forgotten how bossy you are,” he said, his mood lightening ever so slightly.

“Only when it’s called for.”

“I’ll have to remember not to get you riled up too often,” he said, his expression relaxing at last.

He slipped an arm around her waist then. Heather paused just outside the chapel door and turned to face him, slipping her arms around his neck and burying her face against his chest. As if a dam had suddenly burst, sobs shuddered through her as the reality of the past few hours finally sank in.

“Hey,” he said. “What’s this?” He tucked a finger under her chin.

Heather felt more tears welling up, but there was nothing she could do to stop them. “I was so scared,” she whispered brokenly.

His arms tightened around her then and his chin rested atop her head as he waited for the storm to pass. “So was I, darlin’, so was I.”

They stood that way for the longest time, until finally Heather felt the tension ease and the tears begin to ebb.

“You okay?” Todd asked eventually.

“I will be,” she said, her voice stronger now. “As soon as we say that prayer and get our baby home again.”

14

E
verybody in town seemed to be hanging around the Starlight Diner for word of Angel’s condition. It was apparent that even in their brief time in town, Angel and Heather had been accepted as part of the community. Todd supposed that shouldn’t have come as a surprise. After all, with her spontaneity and her vivacious demeanor, Heather had always attracted admirers.

Tonight, though, Todd wished she and Angel were a little less popular. He had envisioned getting Angel straight up to bed, then escaping to think long and hard about the negligence that had led to the accident. Despite what Heather said, he knew he bore some responsibility.

But rather than heading upstairs, Heather acceded to Angel’s plea to see ’Retta and have ice cream before bed.

“Ice cream make me feel better, Mama,” Angel said.

“I’m not sure I buy the medicinal powers of ice cream,” Heather replied. “But you do deserve a treat for being so brave today.”

The instant they entered, the customers immediately clustered around Angel, until Henrietta scolded them and told them to back off.

“Give the child some breathing room,” she blustered. “You’d think she was some sort of sideshow at the circus the way you’re behaving.”

Todd couldn’t have agreed more, especially since one of those most concerned seemed to be Joe Stevens, the cowboy who spent an awful lot of time flirting with Heather. Lately he’d taken to paying a lot of attention to Angel, as well.

“You two come right on over here and sit with me,” Stevens said, coaxing the pair of them toward the booth he’d abandoned at their entrance. He ignored Todd altogether.

Since the place was packed, Heather sent a regretful glance in Todd’s direction, then slid into the booth. Todd just barely restrained himself from shoving in after them. More disgruntled than he wanted to admit, he headed for the last available stool at the counter, instead.

“You okay?” Henrietta asked, pouring him a cup of coffee.

“I’ve had better days,” he confessed. “But Angel’s okay. That’s what counts. How’s the driver? She looked pretty shaken earlier.”

Henrietta shook her head. “Josie Warren has no business being behind the wheel of a car. She’s been told that by just about everyone, but the fool still has a license, so she insists on driving. ‘Just to the store,’ she says. Obviously, she’d be a menace just backing out of her own driveway.”

“It wasn’t her fault,” Todd said. “Thanks to me, Angel darted right in front of her.”

“Thanks to you? What is that supposed to mean? The child got away from Heather, the way kids do. Josie should have anticipated it, but the woman’s so short I doubt she could even see the child.” She scowled at the judge, who was seated at the other end of the counter. “I told Harry time and again he ought to yank her license. Maybe now he will.”

Despite his glum mood, Todd chuckled.

“What’s so funny?” Henrietta demanded.

“The way you’ve managed to make this the fault of a man who was two blocks away in the courthouse.”

Henrietta looked vaguely flustered by the amused accusation. “Yes, well, most things come down to being his fault sooner or later.”

“Is that so?”

She gave Todd one of her sassy grins. “It’s certainly best if he thinks so, anyway. Keeps him on his toes.”

Todd swiveled slightly to see how Angel was holding up, but his gaze landed on Heather, instead. She seemed to be basking in the attention of that poster boy for the rugged West.

“Jealous?” Henrietta inquired, now regarding
him
with tolerant amusement.

Todd gave a start. “Me? Jealous? Don’t be ridiculous. Heather’s a free woman. If she wants to make time with that rancher, it’s up to her.”

“Is it really,” Henrietta said, her tone skeptical. “And it wouldn’t bother you in the slightest?”

“Not a bit,” he said, hoping God wouldn’t strike him dead on the spot for the bald-faced lie.

Henrietta shook her head. “Men!” she muttered, and went off to pour coffee for her other, presumably more sensible customers.

After another survey—or two—Todd deliberately turned his back on Heather and Angel and concentrated on his coffee and the piece of apple pie he’d managed to snag on Henrietta’s last huffy pass-by. But even as he did his best to ignore Heather, he could hear the tinkling sound of those blasted bracelets, the uninhibited sound of her laughter, which seemed to be counterpointed by Angel’s giggles. The whole jolly trio were clearly having the time of their lives not hours after Angel had almost gotten herself killed.

Angel should be upstairs, in her bed, getting some much-needed rest, he thought darkly. What was wrong with Heather, anyway? Had she forgotten all about the trauma the child had been through? Her tears and the prayer of thanks they’d given in the hospital chapel? Was this Stevens guy so fascinating that she couldn’t tear herself away? Maybe it was up to him, Todd, to remind her what was important. That wasn’t jealousy talking, he assured himself. It was concern for the child’s well-being, plain and simple.

Scowling, he was about to stalk over and explain a few facts of parenting when the absurdity of his plan struck him. Who was he to be giving advice to anyone about taking care of a child? Just then, Flo slid onto the vacant stool next to his. He noticed the glance she gave to the scene in that booth; she didn’t look one bit happier about it than he was.

Her gaze sought his in the mirror opposite the counter. “I’m real glad Angel’s okay,” she said sympathetically. “It must have been rough on you seeing her lying in the road like that. I know my heart leaped into my throat when I looked out the window of Jake’s office and realized what had happened.”

“It was. It was a close call.”

She snuck another glance at Stevens. “Joe seems like he really cares about her and Heather.”

“Mmm-hmm,” Todd said tightly, then something in Flo’s tone made him realize that her feelings for the rancher were deeper than he’d realized. “You okay?”

“Fine,” she said unconvincingly.

By Todd’s assessment, Flo had changed a lot in the months since she’d come bursting into Megan and Jake’s life. After abandoning Tess with Megan’s grandfather, Tex O’Rourke, Flo had wanted Tess back once she realized that her daughter stood to inherit a big chunk of Tex’s wealth. Jake and Megan had put a quick stop to those ideas, but then, in her usual take-command way, Megan had set out to reform the woman. Jake hadn’t exactly been overjoyed, either with having Flo around Tess or in his office, but he’d indulged Megan.

Ironically, Flo had proved herself to be more than capable of running his office smoothly. More important, she was trying to form a new bond with Tess. After a lot of years of rough breaks and bad decisions, she was doing her best to straighten out her life, and Todd had to give her a lot of credit for that. A little voice inside nagged that if Flo deserved a second chance after her past mistakes, maybe he did, too.

“Seeing Joe with Heather and Angel really bothers you, doesn’t it?” he asked, deciding to focus on someone else’s problems. It helped drown out that voice in his head.

“I hardly know the man,” she said, denying the truth that was plain on her face. “We’ve never even been on a real date.”

As denials went, it wasn’t very effective, not with the way her gaze repeatedly strayed back to Joe’s reflection in the mirror.

Todd recalled the way he’d fallen for Heather in less than a heartbeat when they’d met. “Time’s not always a factor where the heart’s concerned.”

She turned her attention back to him. “Hey, you’re looking at the queen of love-at-first-sight,” she said wryly. “But I’m here to tell you that that kind of romance burns itself out just as fast. You want something lasting, you’ve got to give it time and you’ve got to work at it.” She gave a little self-deprecating laugh. “Not that I’ve personally tried that part yet, you understand.”

Todd glanced at the rancher in the mirror. He was slouched down in the booth giving Heather a lazy once-over, accompanied by a crooked grin. Obviously some women found that sort of thing sexy. Heather certainly looked as if she was lapping up the attention and Flo looked envious enough to shoot daggers into the competition.

“What is it about the guy?” he muttered. “I don’t get it.”

“You wouldn’t,” Flo said. “It’s the way he looks at you, the way he listens as if every word you say is important. It doesn’t hurt that he’s got a butt just made for a pair of tight jeans, either.”

Todd rolled his eyes. It was the damned western mystique, he supposed. Some women were apparently suckers for it. He just hadn’t figured Miss Broadway herself would be one of them. She’d always professed to like the sophisticated, smooth, yuppie type. Hell, she’d fallen in love with him, hadn’t she? And he and Joe Stevens couldn’t be more unalike if they’d come from two different universes.

He cast another disgruntled look at Stevens, then decided it was way past time to call it a night. If Heather didn’t have sense enough to know when to take Angel home, he’d explain it to her. Excusing himself to Flo, he crossed the room in three long strides, then had to wait to catch her attention, since she was so busy hanging on to Joe’s every word.

“Don’t you think it’s time Angel went to bed?” he asked when finally he had her attention. He nodded toward the child who was curled up in the corner of the booth, her eyelids at half-mast. Before Heather could respond, he reached across her and gathered Angel up. He considered it a preemptive strike, since Joe looked as if he might be about to volunteer for the task.

With a nod in the cowboy’s direction, he headed out the door, figuring Heather would follow, if only to lecture him on his rude behavior. Sure enough, the tinkling sound of her bracelets trailed him up the outside staircase. When they had both reached the landing, there was no mistaking the fact that she was ticked off at him.

He waited while she turned her key in the lock and pushed the door open, then he brushed past her to deposit Angel in her room. For the next few minutes, Heather’s attention was focused on getting Angel into bed. Todd couldn’t get out of that room with its mounds of stuffed animals fast enough. It reminded him all too vividly of another nursery that had been decorated in a Peter Rabbit theme and crowded with bright toys and a plush menagerie by indulgent parents thrilled to have a second baby after so many years.

While Heather was occupied with Angel, he walked back into the living room, then glanced around at the touches that were purely Heather—the colorful scarf draped over a lamp to create a soft glow, the scented candles, the glass with a bouquet of wildflowers. She had turned the small apartment into more of a home in a few weeks than he had managed with his in months. She had a gift for making a place her own, usually through imaginative and inexpensive decorating such as this. It was a knack that might translate well into a television show, he thought, then dismissed the idea. The last thing he needed was to make a suggestion like that to Heather or Megan. He wanted her gone, not even more deeply entrenched in his life.

He moved to the window and stood staring out at the deserted street below, remembering with a shudder just how dangerous it could turn in the blink of an eye. He was still lost in that awful moment when Heather joined him.

“Would you mind telling me what that was all about?” Heather asked, her tone more curious than angry.

Todd didn’t waste time trying to pretend he didn’t know exactly what she was asking. Even an idiot would have seen his behavior for the actions of a man driven by jealousy, not concern for his daughter. He turned slowly, prepared to offer some sort of honest response, even prepared to admit that he’d been ridiculously and inexplicably bent out of shape by the attention Joe Stevens had been showering on Heather and Angel.

Instead, his gaze locked on Heather’s, his pulse slammed into overdrive, and all he could think about was kissing that sassy, knowing expression off her face.

Hours of stress and adrenaline kicked in as he reached for her and dragged her to him. His mouth claimed hers with deep, dark, drugging kisses that blocked out weeks of sound reason and noble intentions. Her fingers tunneled through his hair and her body molded itself to his.

He didn’t hesitate, didn’t ask by so much as a glance. He just took what he needed—the heat, the closeness, the passion that he’d been missing for four long years.

They tumbled onto the sofa in a tangle of arms and legs and desperate need, stripping away clothes when they got in the way of the desire to touch bare skin. It was just the way Todd remembered, every uninhibited, urgent caress, every slick inch of her satiny skin.

She was writhing beneath him when he finally paused to draw breath, when he finally stopped to consider her pleasure along with his own. But Heather was impatient, her needs linked to his own, apparently, because she drew him inside her with the same urgency that was rocketing through him.

“Now,” she pleaded. “Don’t stop. Don’t think.” She smoothed his forehead as if to coax away the sensible thoughts she knew were suddenly crowding in. “Love me.”

Todd couldn’t have resisted if he’d wanted to, which he didn’t. Her pleas were all he needed to run his hands over sensitive flesh, to pound away inside her until muscles tightened around him and shudders washed over her and then, in a swirl of dark, delicious urgency, claimed him as well.

How had he ever forgotten that it could be like this? How had he blocked it from his mind?

And now that he remembered, how could he ever let her go again?

Heather came back to earth slowly, resisting the fall, wanting to savor every incredible second. When she finally dared a glance into Todd’s eyes, she expected to find them filled with regrets, expected the apologies to start tripping off his tongue in a tumble of words like “sorry” and “mistake” and “never again.” She was prepared for that. She wasn’t prepared for the utterly lost, utterly hopeless expression she found, instead.

“Don’t you dare say you’re sorry,” she told him, trying to gauge his mood.

“I’m not sorry.”

“Don’t tell me it’s not going to happen again.”