Earthbound Angels Part 1 (4 page)

He found himself saving these lowly beings because it was the only way he could be himself. However, much as he might despise their weaknesses and the frequent abandon with which they surrendered to them, he was incapable of being false to himself.

Being punished did not mean being guilty. He was here as a test. And, well, he did irritate the hell out of the Father.

Unfortunately, he could not yet see the light. He felt it would be a very long time before he could find the answers he sought.

But since meeting Hollianne, there had been a gradual change inside him.

It was like he was waking up...to something unexplored – for him, who had thought he had seen and known everything humans were capable of. The human side imposed upon his holy person was stirring, was that it? That part of him that exemplified being wholly human had never throbbed that way with any other woman in the past.

Erick swore under his breath.

Centuries ago - no, yesterday - he would have abhorred the possibility that he might have succumbed to the inevitable. However, he had been told he would eventually embrace his humanity and that would be the time that he would get his answers. He didn't hate the idea now.

In fact, if being human was the way for him to explore this awakening, he couldn't wait to start.

Was it because of Hollianne?

He saw those fiery eyes again, seeking for something they did not yet know how to see.

He would have to figure out and try to understand this new sensation, and whether he should resist or accept it. He would have plenty of time to do that with Hollianne moving into his home. There would be lots of opportunities to see how much stronger it could become.

Hollianne had definitely started tugging at his humanity.

He just needed to figure out why that was.

Hollianne wasn't able to sleep at all that night. It may just have been the after-effects of the wine, but every time she lay down, she could hear her heart pounding in her ear. Her mind was racing with every detail of that evening, reliving it, not to groan at some embarrassment or misunderstanding, as so often happened, but to puzzle out its meaning. After two hours, she wondered whether it had really happened, and was not just some fantasy she had devised to hide from the grim reality she had been faced with just that day. However, the impressions were too real, too vivid and complete, to be her invention. It had really happened, however impossible the whole thing seemed.

She finally got up around four AM; feeling light-headed but strangely alert, and made some coffee.

She had collected some boxes earlier that evening to help with the packing, and with the prospect that had suddenly opened up before her, the task was no longer a burden. Her furniture would go into storage now that she would be able to afford it. The only things she was taking with her were her clothes and personal items. Erick told her he would send people to pick up her things and deliver them to the storage facility of her choice.

He was also having a rental car delivered to her at his expense because he knew she would need one living so far outside of the city. She and Adam had moved into the city partly because they couldn’t actually afford a car of their own. In the city, they had plenty of access to public transportation when they needed it. Otherwise, they simply walked to most of the places they frequented.

Hollianne couldn't believe her tremendous luck in landing this job. It was just what she needed right now and it would certainly get her back on her feet financially. And Erick was phenomenally wonderful!

He wasn't hard on the eyes, either.

She felt her bones melting, all the tension and excitement of last night easing, as she envisioned him once again, closing her eyes.
His name fits,
she thought as she involuntarily hugged the pile of clothes she was about to transfer to an open suitcase.

Erick Angell really did fit her idea of an angel – not that she had ever imagined one specifically, but she suddenly knew that Erick was what an angel should be like.

She suddenly felt a little guilty about her reaction to him.

Adam had been her life and now here she was, looking at another man like he was a feast.

But this had never happened to her.

Not even with Adam. She was a bookish sort and it took a while before she had even noticed him. Adam hadn’t helped; he wasn’t the assertive sort and would probably never even have plucked up the courage to speak to her had she not made the first move, more out of impatience than desire. Their attraction had been gradual – thinking of themselves first as friends for weeks that turned into months, with meeting after meeting and one heartfelt conversation after another. But these conversations were never about what either of them felt, until late one evening as they were about to part. A sudden downpour had driven them to the shelter of a shop doorway. Adam had reached out to brush the rain drops from her hair without even thinking of anything more. Then, suddenly she was in his arms and her lips were pressed to his. But it had been another month before they slept together for the first time. He was so infuriatingly slow to take the hint. It had been magic while it lasted, but there was nothing quick about it, or about her other relationships for that matter, which as a consequence had been few in number. Since Adam she had not even looked at a man that way again.

However, when she first set her eyes on Erick, she had been completely mesmerized. Blushing furiously even as she thought it, seeing Erick was like seeing a real man for the first time in her life.

Hollianne shook her head to clear it, which turned out to be a mistake, as it only made her feel light-headed again, exacerbating the sense of dreamlike unreality.

It surely wasn't as bad as that. It was just a momentary crush, enhanced on by the plush surroundings and amazing food. She would get used to his attractiveness when she started staying with him, would start to notice those annoying quirks and faults that always started to emerge from behind the façade that men presented to women in order to impress them.

She just had to try to not think about him all the time. It was imperative that she be able to distract herself whenever she thought of him that way.

Mentally, she went through her plans for the coming days and went back to packing.

By ten AM, Hollianne was ready to take a quick shower and be on her way. As it turned out, she really didn't have all that much to pack.

Following her shower, she put her blonde hair up into a ponytail and donned some jeans and a t-shirt. She felt this was a much safer outfit to wear so that she didn’t perpetuate any misconceptions that she may have left with Erick last night. He needed to see that she wasn’t pursuing him in a manner unseemly to their employer-employee relationship. She looked decent enough, but certainly not overdone. Just as she had finished dressing, the doorbell rang.

The truck was here.

For the next half hour, Hollianne supervised the men loading her stuff into the truck and gave them the address for the storage facility. She had reserved the unit and the manager had instructions to lock it after her things had been delivered.

When they had left, Hollianne stood in the middle of the bare living room.

Looking around one last time at the home she had shared with Adam, she brushed away tears. They had not had a long time together, but for a while they had been happy in their own quiet way. For the first time ever, she had looked forward to returning home, knowing that she would find him there and that they would spend the evening doing nothing in particular, just glad to be close. Then it all ended suddenly, the shock like a slap to the face that her ears seemed to have stopped ringing from only now. It was over, and she felt able to say goodbye.

Taking a deep breath, feeling that she was taking a crucial and final step into the next phase of her life, she placed the key to the townhouse on the kitchen bar and walked out the door, closing it firmly behind her – forever.

She gave an involuntary gasp when she saw the rental car waiting for her at the curb. It was no penny-pinching hire – it was a BMW coupe in sky blue with red leather upholstery. The driver got out and handed her an odd-looking device that reminded her of a mini remote, explaining to her that it was a keyless car. What he handed her was a device that allowed her to open the doors and the trunk. She only needed to push a button inside the car to start it. Then he showed her how the security and entertainment systems worked, and told her that the GPS had been set to take her where she was meant to go.

Thanking him, she got into the car, started the engine wearing a huge smile of anticipation on her face, and drove away. Hollianne drove for nearly an hour in a direction that brought her outside of Moon Bay. Before long, she was in a rural area where she had rarely ventured in the past. It was good that Erick had the GPS set for her. She would have gotten lost without it.

She came to a gravel road, long and flanked on either side by low-hanging willow trees. It might have been a little spooky at night but right now, it was just a beautiful place to be.

About a mile later, she reached a paved driveway that encircled one of the largest homes she had ever seen. By all appearances, it was a 19th century mansion that had been extended at some point in a way that did not damage the overall proportions, but rather served to increase the sense of imposing grandeur. It recalled the residence of an ambassador, except that it did not wear the same sense of self-importance. The owner needed no pomp and circumstance to advertise himself. There wasn’t even a name plate on the gatepost bearing some pretentious title, no indication whatever of what lay beyond. There must be dozens of rooms in the place. It appeared to be the kind of house where each bedroom was a self-contained apartment, and where 60 people could live full time without it seeming in any way crowded.

She pulled up in front of the house and simply stared, drinking in the phenomenal beauty of this structure. As she sat there, the heavy red door, decorated with ornate ironwork, opened and Erick appeared. He smiled and waved at her as he bounded down the steps toward the car. She opened the door and get out so that she could greet him properly.

“You made it!” Erick exclaimed.

“Yes, I did,” she said, smiling at his enthusiasm. “Why didn't you tell me that you lived in a mansion?!”

“I believe I hinted at it,” he said, chuckling. “I believe strongly that you're going to love it here.”

“Well, I most likely will as long as I don't get lost.”

“Here, let me take that for you.” Erick reached for her laptop and tote bag. “I'll send someone down to get the rest of your luggage for you.”

“Oh! Well, thank you, Erick. I have to tell you that I'm not used to this type of treatment,” she said, a little seriously. “Normally, I kind of take care of myself.”

“I understand. But consider this part of the perks of the job.”

Hollianne just laughed and shook her head. Then she followed him inside where her jaw dropped. She was standing in a foyer that could have held her entire townhouse. On either side was a curving staircase leading up to the next floor. A chandelier sparkled in the domed ceiling. She took in the elegant candelabra, the wood-paneled walls, the grand piano, and the huge fireplace. She could imagine an entire ballroom in here, complete with gowns and suits, wine and hushed laughter, as elegant people danced while musicians played.

“Wow...” she breathed.

“You'll get used to it soon enough. After a while, you won't even notice.”

She laughed as she shook her head. “I seriously doubt that, but I hope my jaw doesn't drop every time.”

“I'll give you the grand tour later then,” he said, chuckling. “But let me show you to your suite first,” Erick said, as he started to climb one of the staircases.

With nothing to do but follow him, Hollianne tried to see as much as she could before reaching the next floor. Erick led her down a long wide hallway. The floor was covered with a deep red carpet so thick, her feet made hardly any sound. He stopped at a set of double doors. He stopped, opened them, and stepped back so that she could enter.

“Welcome to your new home-for a while at least,” Erick said, smiling.

Hollianne's jaw dropped once more. This couldn't possibly be all hers for the foreseeable future.

She had never lived anywhere so spectacular!

It was not just a room. It was a suite of rooms. The one Hollianne was standing in consisted of a sitting area with a large stone fireplace. Two love seats and matching overstuffed chairs sat in front of it. A coffee table and end tables completed the ensemble.

Just beyond this grouping was a very nice dining table with four chairs around it. A doorway went into the bedroom itself. The bed was enormous with a canopy and curtains tied back. Off the bedroom was an en-suite that could comfortably hold a dozen people.

On the other side of the main room was another entrance leading into a small but efficient kitchen. The overall impression, surprisingly enough, was not one of overindulged and expensive luxury, but one of comfort, well planned and tastefully furnished. It was an apartment designed to make life as comfortable as possible for the guest.

“So what do you think?” Erick asked after she had walked through the entire suite.

“I think I can't quite believe that this is all for me,” Hollianne said, her hand flat on her heaving chest.

“Well, I did think about putting you out in the guest cottage, but I really felt having you under the same roof would be more convenient for us both.”

“You have a guest cottage?”

“Yes, actually I have three of them on the grounds, plus a housekeeper's cottage. My housekeeper and her husband live there. You'll be meeting them a bit later, by the way.”