Enticing An Angel (21 page)

The came together and Brian caught Michael
with a hook to his eye while Michael tried ducking to avoid the
attack. It was a glancing blow but obviously made contact. Michael
ignored it, wrapped his arms around his brother and shoved him
backward slamming him against the door. A loud thud was heard as
Brian's back made contact and his head shortly thereafter.

"Stop it," Melanie yelled.

She came to the two men and began to
interject herself in between them. They were held tightly in a
wrestling hold and she found it tough to get in between them.

"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" she cried in a
loud shrill voice that caused the men to turn their heads to avoid
the sound. She continued to yell until their bodies quit moving.
They were still in a tight embrace, but at least they were not
trying to actively kill each other.

"Get away from each other," she cried, and
when the men didn't move, she yelled once more "NOW!"

Michael pushed backwards hard which slammed
Brian into the door again. Brian took the hard shove physically
well, but moved forward in an angry stance. He was unable to get
anywhere because Melanie had moved within the space.

"It's my fault, Brian," she said. She didn't
look at him directly. She was too busy keeping her arms spread like
wings in an attempt to keep the men apart. When Michael tried to
step forward, Melanie pointed her finger to him.

"Ah," she said curtly. "Not a single step,
Michael Angel."

Brian tried to move away from the door.

"Ah, that goes for you to, Brian Angel," she
said as she glared at him.

"Now you," she said to Michael. "Go take a
seat at the dining room table."

Michael eyed her warily but she returned a
look that did not allow for any defiance. She was angry and Michael
nodded his head. His face displayed his own animosity, but he
backed away and headed for the dining room.

"And you," she pointed a finger at Brian and
then poked him in the chest. "How dare you come into my house and
start this. Now, get in there and sit at the other end of the
table, and don't say a word until I tell you."

She turned sideways and pointed her arm while
extending a finger. Brian was at a loss for what to do. His eyes
were wide, and unlike his brother, his anger was gone, replaced
with confusion and wariness. When Melanie wiggled her hand as if to
shoo him along, he complied.

She marched in directly behind Brian in order
to ensure that the boys behaved themselves. They did. Brian took a
seat at one head of the table while Michael was seated at the
other. They stared icily at each other.

Melanie took a moment to look at Michael's
eye and frowned. He wouldn’t need stitches, but he needed ice.

"I'll be right back," she said. "Don't say
another word until I do."

"Asshole," Brian spat at Michael.

"Not in this house, Brian!" she yelled at
him, and her angry stare told him to shut up.

"Ah," Michael said as he cringed. He had put
his hand to his eye and winced in pain.

"Oh, don't be a baby," Melanie said as she
began to leave in order to retrieve the ice. Brian chuckled, and
she paused long enough to glare at him again. He stopped chuckling,
but kept a defiant smile on his face.

It was not long before she returned with ice
wrapped in a towel and handed it to Michael. He accepted it and
applied it to his eye. Melanie took a seat between them on the side
of the table and looked to each of them in turn.

"Brian this is my fault, not Michael's," she
said clearly.

"Oh really? You asked him to assault our
mother?"

"Assault?" she asked incredulously.

Brian just stared at his brother; Michael
returned the look.

"It wasn't that bad," Michael said
eventually.

"She said you almost hit her," Brian
said.

"Well she did hit me," was the reply.

"Oh, fucking grow up, pansy."

"Brian Angel, watch that mouth," Melanie
cried out. Brian didn't turn his head away from his brother but his
eyes turned to Melanie. After watching her icy stare, he gave the
slightest nod. Melanie then turned to Michael.

"Is this true?" she asked.

Michael shrugged. "I was very angry, but I
kept it in check." he stared at Brian, and then asked a curious
question."Brian, exactly what did our mother say to you?"

Brian paused for a second and then related
the story of the argument. It was as Michael expected—mostly true
but edited for content. That was a typical tactic of their
mother's, and Michael rolled his eyes as Brian finished.

"Did she tell you that she called Melanie a
tramp?" Michael asked.

Brian sat upright. This news obviously
shocked him. Before he could settle, Michael began to speak
again.

"Now, little brother, let me tell you my
side," he said, and then proceeded to give an unedited version of
the argument. Melanie had not heard this much detail, but she knew
it was true. Michael was just as hard on himself in this version as
he was on his own mother. When he was finished, Brian nodded his
head; he was much calmer.

"I owe you an apology, Melanie," he said as
he shook his head.

"I think you owe it to Michael," she
replied.

Both men suddenly burst into spontaneous
laughter, and Melanie sat stock still in shock. The men continued
to laugh and suddenly the tension was gone. For the life of her,
Melanie couldn't understand what was happening.

"How about a beer, Brian?" Michael asked as
he stood.

"Absolutely."

Michael went to fetch the beer and Melanie
tilted her head oddly back and forth at Brian. He just watched her
amusedly. It was not unlike how Michael watched her.

"I don't want to get between Michael and his
mother," Melanie said quietly.

"Don't worry about it," Brian said. "That's
her choice, not yours or his."

"Do you believe Michael?"

"Of course," Brian said. "What I don't
believe is how I fell for that stupid game. I'm thirty-three and
should have known better. Oh, well, I'll forgive her for her
one-sided version, mostly because she does it out of habit."

Michael returned with a beer and handed it to
Brian who took a quick swig and put it down.

"Not there!" Melanie said as he was about to
place the bottle on several pieces of paper that were laid out for
viewing purposes.

"Those are our wedding ring designs," she
said.

It was a good thing that Brian had finished
swallowing or he would have choked. As it was, he stammered in
shock.

"What?" he asked. He didn't wait for a reply
as he began to laugh and then looked at Melanie.

"Your house?" he asked, and then picked up
one of the sketches.

"Wedding rings?" he stated as much as
asked.

"Hell, Michael," He said as he picked up his
beer and remarked flippantly. "I told you to marry the woman. I
didn't mean right away."

"We're not getting married," Michael
said.

Brian just shook his head while finishing his
sip.

"Yeah, right," he said. "Anyway, we're having
a family lunch on Sunday. Are you going to make it?"

Michael tilted his head and offered a raised
eyebrow and a skeptical look.

"Bro, you still need to apologize," Brian
stated.

"I told you, she's the one that needs to
apologize."

Brian started chuckling, took a large swig of
his beer, set it down, stood from the table, and patted his brother
as he passed him.

"Yeah," he said. "Let me know how that works
out for you."

He left without so much as a good-bye or a
thank you for the beer. Michael just shrugged his shoulders as if
to say,
That's Brian
.

Once he was gone, Melanie climbed up into
Michael's lap and he held her with one hand as the other one was
busily holding the ice to his eye.

"Well, I suppose you should go on Sunday,"
she said.

"Oh, you think I'm going solo do you?" he
replied.

"It may not be a good idea for me to be
there."

"Tough, you little pipsqueak. I need you
there for support." he began to laugh as he thought about it, and
Melanie had to once again ask what was so funny.

"Tell me, sweetie," he said to her. "A week
ago when you were worried about your past, did you for once think
that would be the easy part and my family would be the real source
of trouble?"

Melanie saw his point and chuckled as well.
However, she believed she could live with this sort of trouble.
After all, she was dealing with Angels.

The Sunday lunch arrived quicker than Melanie
expected, and she wrung her hands as they sat in the car while
waiting to exit and join the Angel family.

"Melanie, you don't have to do this," Michael
said.

"Yes, I do," she answered.

"No, you don't"

Michael was serious and she knew it; he
wouldn’t make her interact with his family, and if she asked, he
would put the car in reverse and take her home. However, she would
not ask; she was stronger than that.

"Come on," she said with false bravado and
opened her door.

They walked up to the house but didn’t make
it far before the little angels spotted them, or more to the point,
spotted Melanie.

"Melanie!" they screamed as they ran to
her.

Nathan had been leading them somewhere
through the yard, but they quickly abandoned him and went to their
newest playmate. Melanie smiled and scooped up little Joey and
began to give him raspberries on his stomach. He laughed
hysterically, and then Katherine ran away when Melanie threatened
to do the same to her. And, just like that, the initial tension
dissipated as Melanie began to run around the yard with little
children in tow.

Michael observed her for a moment, and soon
his other brothers joined them. They watched as well and had to
admire the energy of the kids and the woman that kept pace with
them. After several minutes of running around, the kids themselves
were too pooped to run anymore. They decided it was more fun to hop
on pop and insisted their dad lie down on the grass so they could
sit on him. Nathan, who had remained at the edge of the yard, of
course, complied.

"You must be Melanie," a dark and brooding
man said as she left the grass and walked to the driveway. He was a
lone figure, watching her carefully as the other men had moved off
to the area of the garage.

"Yep, and you must be David," she said.

David nodded slightly. He didn’t return her
smile, but he did scrutinize her.

"I've heard good things about you," he said
sternly and with a raised eye.

"Oh," Melanie said. "From whom?"

David took a thoughtful breath. His intensity
was almost a depression, but that was not quite it, and Melanie
couldn’t put a finger on it. She had a sudden flash to Charlotte
Bronte's Heathcliff on the moors, and she prayed he was not
possessed with that dark a soul. He was certainly handsome like his
brothers, and Michael had been correct, he was shorter than all the
boys, save Joshua, but he still towered over her.

"Josh mentioned you to me," he said
directly.

"Joshua?" she asked with surprise. She didn't
understand how the youngest Angel, and one who had been so cruelly
treated by a woman, could say anything nice about her. It wasn't
that she was undeserving of kind words, but the youngest Angel
possessed a jaded personality towards women, and one that was well
earned.

"Yes, he said you were 'Good people.'"

Melanie smiled warmly and nodded her
head.

"Well, that is high praise coming from him,"
she replied.

"Yes," he stated as he continued to watch her
coldly. "It is."

Her attention suddenly arrested by the sight
of Mrs. Angel exiting the house via the front door. Melanie stared
intently, and David turned with her. Michael, who was still talking
with his brothers, quietly broke off his reverie with them; they
had been standing next to the garage drinking beer and laughing
about something. He approached his mother and she waited for
him.

"What's this?" David asked.

"Michael has to apologize."

"Ah," David stated, "enough said."

Michael approached his mother, they exchanged
a few words, and Mrs. Angel hugged her son and led him into the
house.

"That's it?" Melanie gasped.

"Yep," David said and left her standing there
in wonderment.

The lunch itself was fine and merriment the
norm. Laughter filled the air, and the fight between Michael and
his mother never became a topic of conversation. It was as if it
had never transpired. Mrs. Angel was pleasant enough to Melanie,
and if she held any animosity towards the girl, she hid it well
enough that it was undetectable, even with active searching.

It was still an uncomfortable arrangement,
but not one that Melanie avoided. When they cleaned up from lunch,
the men milled about, and Melanie helped in the kitchen. She felt
like calling to the men and demand they assist, but Mrs. Angel
contentedly let her boys play. Melanie came to believe this time
was meant for the two of them.

It was an odd situation. There was no mention
of their lunch at the deli, or of the argument with Michael, or
anything that would indicate any trouble had transpired over the
past few weeks. They talked about the little angels, Melanie's
work, Michael, and even the upcoming weather. The biggest surprise
was when Melanie addressed the woman formally and Mrs. Angel
corrected her.

"You can call me Susan," she said.

Melanie's eyes widened, but she took the
compliment in stride, and they continued their awkward
conversation. More than once, Melanie spotted Michael with his
brothers, and each time she spied him, he was spying on her. She
felt very loved during these moments, and knew that if she gave the
slightest nod he would be there to save her. However, she just
smiled at him and blew him kisses. He always smiled back.