A Merry Little Christmas (35 page)

Angelique smiled and embraced the tall handsome man and paid no attention to his teasing. She knew Danny well enough not to take him seriously. He eyed her speculatively as Paris hung their coats up in the back of the immaculately clean shop.

“When did you say you’re due?”

“Christmas Day,” she said proudly.

He shook his head. “You’ll never make it to Christmas,” he predicted. Years of working, with women, plus being exposed to the gestations of his many cousins, made Danny uniquely qualified to speculate. “That baby is coming out before December twenty-fifth.” He looked at Angelique front, side and back and shook his head again. “You’ll never make it all the way to term.”

Neesha, a cousin of Danny’s who managed the salon, emerged from the shampoo room to hear his prediction. “Pay him no attention,” she said airily. “He sounds like he knows what he’s talking about, doesn’t he? Well, he doesn’t. As a baby predictor he’s a good hairstylist,” she said,
then
squealed as Danny grabbed her and gave her
noogies
. She rubbed her head as she sat down at the desk. “Seriously, Angel, just ignore him. He knows nothing about it, he’s just guessing.”

Angelique didn’t comment; she was busy getting her box of gingersnaps and a carton of fat-free Lactaid milk out of her tote bag. “Anybody
want
some?” she asked, waving the two items.

In a few minutes, Danny had her situated at the shampoo bowl, where she settled into the chair and sighed with relief. When he asked what she’d been up to lately, she smiled.

“Getting the nursery ready for the baby, of course, and getting the house decorated for Christmas.
I haven’t been this excited about Christmas coming since I was a little girl, Danny. It’s like all the joy and magic of the season have
come back to me,” she said happily. “I’m driving my poor husband crazy, but I can’t stop buying Christmas decorations. And all I put in
the CD player now is Christmas music.” Donnie was totally sympathetic. He loved the holiday, too, and always pulled out all the stops. “Have you been to
Bronner’s
?” he asked. “You’ve got to go there, you’ll love it.”

He explained about the store and then said, “Frankenmuth is only about twenty minutes away, and I don’t have any more appointments today, would you like to run over there?” Paris and Angelique had been awed and fascinated by the gigantic store full of the most exquisite decorations either woman had ever seen. Danny stayed with Angelique as they walked the store. “Ooh, Danny, look at that!” she exclaimed, pointing at a nearby display.

Danny suddenly grabbed her hand and stared at it. “I’m too busy looking at
this.
When is that man going to get you a ring? You’ve been walking around with a bare hand long enough, don’t you think?”

Angelique blushed to the roots of her hair—her shining, perfectly styled hair, thanks to Danny. “He already did,” she confessed. “It’s sitting at home in the little Tiffany box because it’s too big. And I never took it to have it sized because I don’t like it. The stone looks like a headlight and
it’s
platinum. It’s just not me.”

Danny looked disgusted. “Girl, I ought to beat you. Your husband buys you a beautiful platinum wedding ring and you’re too cute to wear it because the stone is too big? You should be ashamed of yourself. Have I taught you nothing about fine jewelry and the need to have as much as possible?”

Angelique had glanced at her
ringless
hand, and she had felt shame. Even before she had declared her love for him, Donnie was committed enough to buy her a big beautiful ring and she was too picky to wear it. “You’re right, Danny. I think I need to do something about that.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Danny’s words stayed with Angelique over
the next few days. He was right;
she was being ungrateful about Donnie’s gift. Maybe the rings weren’t to her taste, but the fact that he’d gone out and purchased them after their Vegas wedding made them special. And the fact that he never nagged her about them or even mentioned them in any way made him special. She went from feeling ungrateful to ashamed of her behavior, and said this to Lisette when she made a lunch date with her.

“I’m taking that ring to Tiffany’s today to arrange to have it sized to my finger. Lisette, I can’t believe that I’ve gone this long without doing anything about the ring. I’m so ashamed of myself.”

    
Lisette comforted her by reminding her that she’d had a lot to deal with over the past few months. “Give yourself a break, sweetie. I think it’s completely understandable. I’ll be glad to go with you, though. Where shall we go for lunch?” They had lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen before going to the Somerset Collection across the road from Somerset Mall. Lisette had the car valet-parked so Angelique wouldn’t have to walk too far in her very pregnant condition
and the two women went into the mall and found the Tiffany & Co. store.

Lisette sighed in happiness. “I
just
love this store. Everything looks better in a Tiffany box.” She laughed.

“I hate to disagree, but this thing is just not me. If it were a classic Tiffany setting in plain yellow gold, maybe, but this looks like he bought it for another woman,” she exclaimed.

Lisette had to agree. “But remember, Angel, he didn’t know you nearly as well as he does now. You have to give him points for trying, t
hough. It is a magnificent ring;
it’s just not
your
ring.”

Their salesperson was very accommodating and helpful. She had Angelique sitting on a tall stool so she wouldn’t put too much strain on her back. When
Angelique was comfortable, the w
oman examined the ring.

  
“We were wondering when you were going to bring this in for sizing, ma’am. It’s been exactly one year since it was purchased. Mr. Cochran didn’t want to have it engraved until it was properly sized,” she said warmly.

Angelique laughed and said there must be a mistake about the date. “My husband didn’t buy this ring until February of this year,” she explained. “We were married on Valentine’s Day and he got them after the wedding. We eloped.”

“No, I think you may be mistaken. He purchased this ring in November of last year. He even left the names he wanted engraved on the rings, Aneesah and Donnie. And you’re Aneesah, correct?”

“No. No, that’s not correct at all,” Angelique said faintly. Without another word, she rose from the stool and left the store without looking back
.”

***

  Warren came home to find a very upset wife waiting for him. “What’s the matter, baby? I can see something’s upset you, what is it?”

Lisette went into his comforting arms and allowed him to hold her and stroke away some of her concern. “Oh, Warren, this has been the most horrible day!” She explained to
him
about going to Tiffany’s with Angelique to have the ring sized and Angelique’s discovery that, despite what he’d told her, Donnie had bought the ring for another woman.

“Warren, if you could have seen her face, it would have broken your heart. She turned around and walked out of the store in a daze; she left her purse, the ring, and me. I had to grab everything and go out to find her—she was just sitting next to a fountain, looking like her heart was broken. Why on earth would he do something like that, Warren? Why did he lie to her about that ring? And how could he pretend to be in love with Angel when he was ready to marry someone else not two months before they got married? What kind of man is he?”

“A stupid one, I’m afraid. He’s not a bad man, honey, but he did handle this badly,” Warren said sadly. “He never intended to hurt Angelique, and I know for a fact that he truly loves her, but he made a horrible mistake. I knew this was going to blow up in his face one day.”

Lisette drew away from her husband as though he were a total stranger. “Are you telling me you knew about this? You knew he was involved with another woman?”

Warren held up his hands in supplication. “Hey, don’t shoot the messenger! Come on, honey, let’s sit down while I explain this to you.” He led Lisette into their living room, which was now fully and beautifully furnished, thanks to his wife. He sat down in the big armchair she had purchased solely with his comfort in mind. Taking her onto his lap, he held her closely and breathed in her fragrance for a few moments. Then he looked around the room and took a deep breath.

“Every time I come home, Lisette, I think about how lucky I am to have you. My life was pretty meaningless before you came into it and
I
thank God every day that we have each other. You made my
life complete and you made my house a home. And believe it or not
, Angel did the same thing for Donnie.”

Lisette was mellowing until he mentioned the name of the enemy. She pouted and crossed her arms tightly.

“Honey, listen to me. Donnie and Aneesah were college sweethearts. They dated for a few years before she decided to go to California for her graduate studies. When she moved back to Michigan last fall, she and Donnie started dating again and he decided to ask her to marry him. She turned him down flat because she knew he wasn’t in love with her. She told him that he was in love with the idea of her and it ticked her off to no end.

“She was right, though, because I will admit that he had this laundry-list approach to matrimony,” Warren said.

Lisette looked puzzled and she asked him
what he meant. “A laundry list,
you know. She has to be this tall, this old, this size, this degree, this, that, the other thing. He was more interested in finding a type of woman than finding the right woman. She told him so, I told him so, his brother told him so and we were all correct. When he connected, I mean
really
connected with Angel, it was perfect. He is really in love with her, Lisette, I mean in love for the first and only time in his life.

“That is so ironic and sad, Warren. When Angelique first started acknowledging that she was interested in Donnie, she said it would never work out, that he would never be interested in her because she wasn’t his type. She didn’t think she was smart enough or accomplished enough for him and it seems she was right.”

“No, no, honey, you’re wrong. He really does love her. He adores her, that’s for real. Whenever I’m around him it takes him about thirty seconds to start talking about his Angel. He
think
s she’s the most incredible woman in the world. He talks about her constantly and brags on her to anyone who’ll listen. All he does is think about ways to make her happy. He’s truly in love, Lisette.”

“But Warren, the ring!
How could he have deceived her like that?”

Warren shook his head and held up a hand. “When she had that temporary memory loss, she noticed she didn’t have a wedding ring
and she began to think they weren’t really married and
he was making it all up; she was really upset and scared. And genius boy whipped out this ring I told him to return—I told him that more than once,” he muttered. “He takes it out and says, ‘
Don’t
cry, sweetie, here’s your ring.’ I told him he would come to rue the day he did that, and, unfortunately, I was once again right.”

He held his wife and they kissed a few times, sweet reassuring kisses meant to take away the pain they felt for their friends. “How is Angel doing? It’s not good for her to be upset right now. Is she at home by herself?”

A tear-clogged but resigned voice answered him. “No, Warren, I’m here,” Angelique said wearily. “And I’m not going back to that house. It’s not my home anymore.”

Despite Warren and Lisette’s protests, Angelique insisted on leaving their home. She had called A.J. from the guest bedroom and he was on his way to pick her up. “I need to be by myself for a while, to decide what to do next. I can’t go back to that house. I never want to see him again,” she said in a voice so full of pain it was hard for Lisette to hear.

Lisette jumped from Warren’s lap and went to her friend. “Oh, Angel, please don’t do anything rash. At least talk to him, let him tell his side of the story,” she entreated.

Angelique went from sad and listless to coldly furious in seconds. “I already know his side of the story. I was just some kind of play toy for his amusement,” she said savagely. “He must have gotten some good laughs out of
me,
fooling me into
thinking
he wanted me to be his wife when I was just a last-minute substitute for Miss Perfect, Aneesah Shabazz. He let me go to that museum every week, working with her and thinking she was a friend and all the time she was the woman he wanted! He must have been trying to get back at her for some reason. I don’t know why he did it, I don’t care why he did it, but I’m through with it,” she said fiercely.

Just then the doorbell rang and Lisette went to answer it. She led A.J. into the living room and Angelique fell into his arms. “Take me away from here, A.J., please.”

A.J. looked at Warren and Lisette and his confusion was obvious, but so were his feelings for Angelique. “Come on, Angel,
let’s go. You need to lie down;
you shouldn’t be upset like this in your condition.” He took the coat Lisette handed to
him
and put it on Angelique. Nodding to Lisette and Warren, he led her out the door to his waiting car.