Archangel Rafe (A Novel of The Seven Book 1) (13 page)

“It’s okay honey.” She practically ran out of the room, as she remembered the last time he’d hugged her.

“Hey Mom, can I go to Ty’s house after?”

“You’re still grounded.” She hadn’t forgotten. His hope, she could tell.

“Aw, Mom.” Brandt pouted. “Can I at least play with him on xBox?”

“Fine.” She wondered if she should be happy with his negotiation skills or disgusted with the way he’d played her.

Yeah, talking to the kids would get her out of her funk. Every second she spent with them reminded her she didn’t have time to be depressed. She had kids who needed her.

She slid on the skirt of the suit. Remarkably, the button fastened without trouble. Nothing like a diet of stress and grief to fit back into snug clothes. The cream colored cotton top hugged her breasts, and reminded her of the tree house. Not the time to go there.

She slipped on the jacket and fastened a string of very old pearls around her neck. She spritzed White Shoulders perfume at her wrists, rubbed them together and then swiped at both sides of her neck.

The sweet gardenia scent reminded her all over again of her Grammy.

Her eyes watered. The lump of sadness in her throat expanded and grew until she didn’t think she could breathe.

She tugged on the nylons. Grammy would be thrilled. But geez she hated nylons. They sucked.

“Moooommmm,” Lina wailed. She hopped into Angelina’s room on one foot, one nylon up to her calf the other only over her toes. “These things suck.”

“I know.” She giggled. A oddly light sensation floated through her, like helium from a balloon, and filled her with a lightness, a sense of happiness and joy.

“Grammy hated them too.” She had confided in Angelina once when she was getting ready to go out. She wore them every day. For years and years, she had endured the annoyance of panty hose. Remembering Grammy’s strength, her steadfastness, her sheer determination to get the most out of life, buoyed Angelina until she was brimming with the lessons she’d taught her and the example she’d set.

Angelina had been blessed with her presence.

“Then why do we have to wear them?” Lina asked as she tumbled to her bed.

“Because Grammy would have wanted us to.” Even though she knew they’d struggle through the entire day with them on.

Today was not a day for sadness or moping. Today was a day to celebrate the joy of Grammy’s life, to embrace the beauty of her spirit and to honor the lessons she had taught not only Angelina but passed on to her children as well.

An hour later, Angelina paused in the doorway and hoped she could get through her Grammy’s wake. The cherry casket was surrounded by sprays of gardenias, the entire room perfumed with their scent.

A whisper of perspiration gathered at the nape of her neck. She’d thought about wearing gloves but they would have looked out of place. Besides, when Brandt had hugged her, she hadn’t touched skin and she’d still done a face plant.

Janine floated toward her. Her skin was nearly translucent, but the shadows under her eyes would be noticeable to only Angelina. Everyone else would see the perfectly groomed, composed and competent woman.

Janine eighty-sixed the traditional air kiss and clutched her in a hug. She clung a little too long for the action to be perfunctory. A hint of moisture shimmered in her gaze. “How are you?”

And then Angelina realized she was touching Janine and she was fine. No vertigo, no nausea, no sudden loss of consciousness. Tension flowed from her. She had hugged Janine and been fine.

“I’m fine.” She struggled to figure out this emotional stranger. “You okay?”

Janine stepped back but still grasped Angelina’s shoulders. “I know how close you were.”

This would be okay. “I’m okay. I promise.”

“Excellent.” Janine beamed at Brandt and Lina, the shimmer of tears barely perceptible. “Look at how grown up you two are.”

At that point they squirmed. Lina rolled her eyes. “Thanks, Auntie Janine.”

Angelina surveyed the room. She had drifted through the meetings with the funeral home, and agreed to whatever Janine chose.

Tables, set up along the side of the viewing room, held bite-sized food and glasses for wine and beer. With the exception of the casket, the room looked like a party. Trust her sister to fully plan and accessorize the wake.

Angelina wandered the room, and looked at the pictures of Grammy from various years. She traced her finger along the lines of her face and said her own private goodbye.

The pumps that went with this suit looked great but after a while started to pinch her toes. The lights seemed to buzz brightly and suddenly it occurred to her that she couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten. But the thought of food roiled her stomach.

Guests began to arrive.

With every clasp of hands, every shake or hug, Angelina braced for a shock of power. But she felt nothing. Rafe’s caution before he’d left had been to guard against healing until he could train her. But his instructions had been vague and just the tiniest bit insubstantial, and yes, a little more freaking direction might have been helpful.

As she continued to greet guests, her tension eased. It seemed as if her worry was unfounded. She hadn’t even had a twinge of the sensations that blindsided her the last two times that she’d inadvertently healed someone. Had she somehow lost the gift?

Mrs. Hooper shuffled up to her, leaning heavily on her cane. She’d been neighbor to her Grammy for years until Grammy had moved to the home. “Angelina, so nice to see you.”

In fact, Mrs. Hooper was ten years younger than Grammy, but right now she wasn’t sure who looked worse, Mrs. Hooper or Grammy.

“How are you, Mrs. Hooper?” She held out her hand, pleased to see her and dismayed by the deterioration in her physical condition.

“I’m gettin’ along.”

Crisp white gloves hung loosely on the old woman’s fingers as she held out her hand. As they connected, that sense of falling took over. Angelina locked her knees and held on, because if she fell, she would take this sweet old lady with her.

She let go of Mrs. Hooper’s hand as fast as she could without being rude. Where the hell was Rafe when she needed him?

Mrs. Hooper was sick. Angelina could see her constricted blood vessels. The disease was slowly killing her. As far as she knew, Mrs. Hooper wasn’t diabetic.

“How’s your blood sugar these days?”

“Oh, I sneak a sweet now and then, but I’m fine.”

She wasn’t fine. But maybe she could get her to go see her doctor. “Make sure you have your doctor check next time you go in.”

“I’m dandy.” Mrs. Hooper patted her shoulder, humoring her like the child she’d been when they first met. Angelina didn’t care as long as she asked the doctor to check her blood sugar.

Angelina searched for a plausible excuse. “I just read a very informative article on the subject and it worried me enough that I made an appointment with my doctor.”

“You’re sweet to worry.” She blew off Angelina.

“Do me a favor and check.” Angelina kept her knees locked against the pain of the constricted blood vessels and struggled to stay upright. “Please.”

Angelina’s plea must have convinced Mrs. Hooper. “I have a doctor’s appointment this week, I’ll be sure to ask.”

She grasped her hand one more time. “Thank you.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Mrs. Hooper hobbled away as fast as her cane could take her.

“Jeez, Mom, what was up with that?” Lina walked up to her from the opposite side and startled her. Angelina let out a little squeak of distress.

“You okay?” Janine flanked her other side.

She took a deep breath. “Fine.” She glanced at her watch. Only two hours and eighteen more minutes to go.

“Sorry I’m late.” Rafe slid up behind her and placed his hand under her elbow. Almost immediately the pain dissipated. Janine’s gasp effectively covered her sigh of relief.

“Who’s this?” Janine practically purred.

She struggled to focus on the conversation. The pain was gone but she still had that sense of disorientation. Janine just stood there with her hands on her hips, and eyed Rafe, practically beaming at them. Angelina introduced Rafe to Janine, grateful for the effects of his presence as he somehow siphoned away the pain.

“Ange, you really do not look well,” Janine said.

This caused her to get even redder in the face. “I’m fine. Really.”

Rafe leaned in closer. “You sure you’re okay?” His chest was behind her shoulder, the timber of his voice rumbled through her like a whisper.

“I’m fine,” she said faintly.

“Why don’t you take a break?”

“I can’t.”

“No one will miss you for a few minutes. Take a seat and re-power.” Rafe eased slightly closer.

“He’s right, Ange,” Janine agreed.

“Maybe just for a minute.” She backed up and sank into one of the chairs that lined the perimeter of the room. Rafe bent over her protectively, and while his attention was on Angelina, Janine gave her a wink.

“I’ll just man the receiving line.” Janine sauntered away.

“Why are you here?”

He blinked. “To help you.”

“Right. You just disappeared.”
After
. She flushed again.

“I’m sorry.” Rafe glanced around then leaned forward. “I had a situation. However, I’m ready to continue your training. And right now I’m here to help you get through today.”

“Tell me how you manage to take the pain away so easily.” She moved in closer to him so that no one could overhear their conversation. Heat rolled off his body in waves, the light musk of his unique scent pleased her.

“We have complimentary energy. You’re positive.” Rafe leaned down so that his mouth was near her ear. “I’m negative. My negative draws the positive away from you so you can function.”

She shivered as the warmth of his breath shimmied through her body. “How did you know I needed you?”

He frowned. “I could sense your distress.”

“That was fast.”

“When you touched the old lady, your thoughts came through loud and clear.”

“So you can sense my thoughts?” She thought about what she’d just been imagining. Could he have sensed her sexual thoughts? And how sick was that? She was having sexual thoughts at her Grammy’s wake. Her voice trembled just the tiniest bit with lust or embarrassment. She wasn’t quite sure.

His look turned knowing. “Sometimes, yes.” He’d not only heard, he’d reacted.

“Oh.”
Shit
.

“Hello, Angelina.”

Oh, shit again. Even bigger shit. She mentally apologized to Brandt for the swearing. And then she faced the new arrival to Grammy’s wake. “Hello, Gary. Candy.”

Her ex and his girlfriend were here.

TWENTY

“Why are you here?”

Rafe’s eyebrows rose at her hostile tone. But she couldn’t help it. Gary looked good. Better than he had for the last two years of their marriage. And she was the one who’d given him the catalyst to get back in shape.

Candy still looked like a swizzle stick with giant boobs and wrinkled, over-tan skin.

“Just thought we’d pay our respects.”

That was a crock. Gary and Grammy had never gotten along. Grammy had never approved of Gary. He was the only subject she and Grammy had ever disagreed over. Angelina should have listened to her.

“She didn’t have any money,” Angelina said baldly. That was the only reason Gary would be here. He was pissed about the support hearing.

Candy’s botoxed lips tightened, sort of. Her dress was perfect for a cocktail party. It missed the mark as a mourning dress.

Gary smoothed a hand down the front of his conservatively striped tie. “You look....”

She waited for a subtle put down.

“Great,” he said lamely. “Really great.”

At that Candy glared at him.

Rafe inserted himself into the conversation smoothly. “You haven’t introduced us.”

She tilted her head at him. What was he up to? The shock of his presence hit her anew. His six five frame, wide shoulders, small waist, lean muscles. Big and intimidating with a glint in his eye that said he could be dangerous if you pissed him off. But what got her was the wave of black hair that fell over one eyebrow, the knowing smile on his beautiful mouth, and the heat in his silvery gray gaze.

“I guess I had other things on my mind.” She let her gaze linger on the contours of Rafe’s face before she smiled. Then she turned and introduced them.

“Rafe, this is Gary, my ex, and his girlfriend, Candy.” Angelina then said smugly, “This is Rafe. My...friend.”

Candy’s face held priceless shock. And okay, yeah, she was shallow enough that the way Rafe looked next to her tweaked her confidence.

“How long have you known each other?” Gary eyed them speculatively.

“Old friend of the family,” she interjected before Rafe could answer. In an obvious act of dismissal, Angelina turned to greet the next person in the receiving line. She took a thin breath, and hoped Gary wouldn’t notice her relief that they were out of her proximity.

She pasted a smile on her face, but the sudden shift caused a rush of dizziness. Rafe’s arm was around her before she fell.

“When was the last time you ate?”

“Yesterday? Maybe. I’ve been under a little bit of stress.”

“It’s imperative that you eat well and stay healthy.” Rafe sounded like a mother hen. “Your gift will take an incredible amount of personal energy to heal and you must be ready at all times to perform your duties.”

She had to look out for her kids, her sister, the house, the finances, before she took care of herself. The greater good could just get in line. She was pretty sick of the whole gift thing. All these vague suggestions, no concrete action or reaction, no specific rules to follow.

“What the hell do you want from me?” she whispered harshly.

He leaned in closer to her, his breath hot on her face. “Nothing I can have.”

His unique scent assaulted her senses, and flooded her brain with erotic images. She remembered his taste on her tongue the last time they were this close. “Well, you’re driving me crazy.”

“Yeah. Me too.” Rafe leaned up into her until they almost touched. The heat from his body scorched her, and his breath feathered along her neck.