Devil Mail (14 page)

             
“So what do you do, Kieran?” Judith’s tone came across casually, but Angela knew that the intention behind the question was anything but casual.

             
“Actually, I’m in the process of starting up my own computer repair business.”

             
“Oh, so you’re a technician,” Judith added real interest to her voice.

             
“Yeah. How about you?” Kieran asked as if just making polite conversation.

             
“I’m a hairdresser.”

             
“She’s being modest,” Julia interjected, “she
owns
the Style ‘n’ Smile hair salon just off Highway 50.”

             
“Wow! I know a few of your customers then. You have a great reputation.”

             
“Thank y….”

             
He unintentionally cut Judith off as he turned to Angela. “What do you do Angela?”

             
“I’m a court reporter.”

             
“Really? That has got to be one of the most interesting jobs out there,” he said lyrically.

             
“I enjoy it.” The enthusiastic whoop from the crowd ushered another artist on stage, and paused the conversation for a while. They all continued to converse intermittently whenever the program allowed. David informed Kieran that there was a technician at their church who ran a very successful repair business, so perhaps he might be able to help Kieran get his business off the ground. Kieran stated that he would be grateful for an introduction.

             
As the crowd from the coffeehouse spilled out into the street and dispersed quickly at the end of the evening, the crisp night air summoned the church group to linger.

             
“Where to now?” Kieran directed his question at Angela.

             
“I’m taking her home.” Judith linked arms with Angela and tugged her away. “We’ve got church tomorrow. Goodnight all.” With her robust stature, and propulsive, purposeful gait, one could be forgiven for mistaking Judith for Angela’s bodyguard. 

             
“Will you visit again tomorrow?” Angela called over her shoulder.

             
“I plan to, yeah,” Kieran replied.

             
“We’ll see you tomorrow then.”

             
“Okay, goodnight ladies,” he waved. The others shouted their goodnights also.

             
Angela wouldn’t have minded staying out for a while longer. She had thoroughly enjoyed herself and Kieran had taken her mind off Aiden. She briefly entertained the thought that her encounter with Kieran was fate visiting her again, so soon after Judith had stirred the atmosphere with her words about getting on with her life, having fun and someone special just showing up at the right time. “You don’t like him, do you?” she asked Judith in the car.

             
“I wouldn’t say that……I’m just wary of anyone with such flattering lips. The evening turned out to be a lot of fun though, right?”

             
“Yeah.”

             
“Glad you came?”

             
“Absolutely! I think we should have walked Julia to her car before leaving though.”

             
“I’m sure one of the guys will. They’re pretty good about taking care of the ladies when we go out.”

             
“That’s true,” Angela agreed. A good number of single men attended the REACH Christian Center, but Angela found that none of them spoke to all of the specifics on her list of ‘must haves’. They were either too old, too young, too arrogant, too intellectually challenged, too overweight, or there was simply no physical attraction.  Whenever an eligible bachelor came along, he was blood in piranha-infested waters.

Angela tried her best to pay attention during the Sunday morning service, but to no avail.  Her eyes flitted about constantly until they landed on Kieran sitting toward the back. He looked dashing in a burnt amber button-down shirt, which was the only item of his clothing that Angela could see from where she was sitting. Stopping herself from persistently turning around to look at him employed every ounce of self-control available to her.

             
After the service, as she stood pretending to listen to another of old Miss Nelda’s one-sided conversations, out of the corner of her eye, she viewed Kieran greeting people, smiling and shaking hands, all the while pursuing the sole objective of getting to where she was standing. If only Miss Nelda knew that Angela’s illuminated countenance had nothing to do with her or her random rambling, but had everything to do with the feeling of being desired and pursued.

             
“Oh, hi…..Kieran, right?” Angela acted pleasantly surprised to see him as he reached her side.

             
“Hi, how are you?” The sunlight highlighted a glimmer in his eyes that she hadn’t previously noticed. Judith was right – he had pretty hazel eyes. His scent filled her nostrils and tantalized her senses.              

             
“I’m good.”

             
Miss Nelda joined the conversation. “What a strapping young man you are. I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.”

             
“No, I’ve just started visiting.”

             
“Are you married?” Unashamedly, Miss Nelda scanned him from head to foot.

             
“No, not yet…”

             
“Me neither,” she chuckled.               “I’m sure someone will snap you up soon,” Miss Nelda continued. Kieran nodded as if he truly believed this to be the case. He found the idea of an eighty-year-old woman hitting on him at church highly comical. “I’d better move quickly. If you snooze, you lose,” she said as she hobbled away.

             
“Spunky, I like her,” he said, turning his attention back to Angela.             

             
“Go for it then. You’ve got nothing to lose.”

             
“I might just do that. Maybe she’ll stay out longer than you did last night. A few of us went to a late night restaurant for dessert, then hung out for a bit by Lake Eola. You were missed.”

             
“That’s the disadvantage of carpooling; you’ve got to go when your driver’s ready to go.” Angela tried to shield her disappointment at having left early. Julia and Trey approached as Angela finished speaking.

             
“True,” Kieran agreed. “So what do you all do on Sunday afternoons?”

             
“I go to my mom’s place for dinner, and spend more time with my darling sister here.” She placed her arm around Julia’s shoulder.

             
“Oh, you’re sisters. I didn’t realize,” he admitted, subconsciously making physical comparisons. “And who’s this little guy?”

“This is my son
, Trey,” Julia beamed. Of all the things she was most proud of in her life, Trey topped the list by far. The parenting plan formulated as a part of the terms of her divorce provided for Julia to have sole custody and Trent, visitation rights.  Julia grudgingly agreed to paternal contact during alternating holidays, with Trent being responsible for Trey’s traveling expenses. The details were of little significance now, since Trent had failed to exercise any visitation rights since the divorce was finalized. This substantiated Julia’s claim that Trent was not in the least bit interested in his son; the whole custody debate was a means by which he could indirectly maintain a measure of control over Julia.  Naturally, it was difficult for Trey to adjust without his father being a part of his daily life, but he talked about him less often as time elapsed. He formed quick attachments to the male members of REACH who showed interest in him; something that Julia worried about as she tried to ensure he had as stable an upbringing as possible.

“Well, h
i there, Trey.” Kieran gestured to high-five him, and Trey obliged. “He looks just like you, lucky boy.” His compliment made Julia blush.

From the odd silence that followed, Angela could tell that there was something on
Kieran’s mind that he was reluctant to express. Julia sensed it too, but didn’t have the decency to leave the two alone.

             
“Do you come to the mid-week service?” Kieran was evidently thinking ahead to the next time he’d be able to see Angela.

             
“Sometimes. Maybe I’ll see you there.” If she had admitted that she rarely attended, due to post-work fatigue, it would have been closer to the truth.

             
“Wednesday night, right?” he double-checked.

             
“Yep, seven o’clock.”               They said their goodbyes and parted company.

“Whoa, he is s
-t-u-c-k on you!” Julia kept her head straight as if she wasn’t speaking. She didn’t want him to know she was talking about him as they walked away; just in case he was looking. And he was.

“Anything to report?” Mrs. Craddock a
sked over the steaming hot roast beef, cooked with a side of garlic roasted potatoes and accompanied by steamed California blend vegetables.  Her look was perceptive, as if she already knew the answer to her question. Had Julia told her? Angela’s accusing glance at Julia was met by a discreet shake of the head.

“A
lot has happened this week, Mom.” Angela inhaled deeply, bracing herself for the colloquium that would inevitably follow her account of a disastrous week. She prepared herself to be subliminally treated like a spotty pubescent thirteen-year-old with little or no life experience, even though she had progressively emerged from that stage of her life over the past twelve years.

“I thought about what you said last week, so I decided to focus on just one person that I met online. It turns out that he wasn’t who I thought he was. He was mixed up in some things that I don’t want to be involved in.”

“And how did you find out?” Mrs. Craddock asked.

“I played it safe and
did my research.”

“So, what lessons have you learned from this experience?”
Bam! There it was! Mrs. Craddock’s version of, ‘I told you so!’ She’d never say it, but sometimes Angela wished that she would, to just get the matter over and done with. 

“Well, you were ri
ght about people pretending to be who they’re not,” Angela admitted, stroking her mother’s ego. “I guess I….” She should have prepared more thoroughly for an on-the-spot dissection and analysis of the situation, but she had learned that Aiden was a liar and quite possibly a fraudster; that’s all there was to it. “I guess I need to pay more attention to give-away signs that tell me about a person’s personality.”

“What were the signs that you missed?” Mrs. Craddock continued. Angela could easi
ly have exploded and screamed, ‘
Oh, for goodness sake woman, let me eat my beef in peace!
’ That’s certainly how she felt, but her mother only had her best interests at heart, as always.

“
I think everyone has something that they don’t want exposed to the world, and when I asked him, he said he had nothing to hide, which wasn’t true. I should have known then that he wasn’t an honest person. It would have been better for him to say that he didn’t want to talk about it, or that it was none of my business, rather than denying it altogether.”

“So what was he mixed up in?” Mrs. Craddock sounded more concerned for Angela’s safety than curious.

“Fraud.”

“Well, at least you nipped it in the bud at the online stage before
you started to physically date,” Mrs. Craddock said with relief. Angela and Julia exchanged glances and dug into their dinner simultaneously.

Julia’
s idea of helping her sister out was to bring up the events of the previous evening. Minute details oozed out of her as she took pleasure in telling Mrs. Craddock about the eligible bachelor who had popped up on the scene and shown keen interest in Angela.

“And he’s new to our church, you say?” Mrs. Craddock’s interest was piqued.
This was a far better prospect for her daughter than dating some wolf that the devil had wrapped up in sheep’s clothing and mailed to her online.

“Yes,” Julia continued, “h
e came last Sunday and he was there again today.”

“Wha
t do you make of him, Angel?” Mrs. Craddock glanced at Angela.

“Oh, Mom, we’ve only just met,” Angela sighed.

“I know, but never discount first impressions. They may not always turn out to be right, but they can often tell you a lot.”

“He seems okay.” Angela released the understatement of the week. She had thought about him all night. He was the last thing on her mind when she went to sleep and the first thing on her mind when she awoke.

Julia took over
the conversation again. “Angie, you should have seen our illustrious director – she was all over the guy at Lake Eola Park last night; I mean like flies on fresh poop!”