Fallen Angel (10 page)

“Hey boss,” Luke straightened quickly and turned toward the door and Tom.  “There is a baling crew coming in from the west. They want to know if we are in need of their services.” 

“Yeah, I think we should bale those few acres we cut.” Luke sighed and stepped away from her. “I’ll ride out and talk to them.”  Angelica took advantage of the temporary reprieve and turned and walked out the open door.  Luke looked back and was surprised to see that she had left.

Angelica walked swiftly, she knew Luke wasn’t behind her and yet she still felt the need to keep going. She didn’t know what he was doing but it felt like she had exposed her weakness to him and he had promptly exploited it. She didn’t know what to feel, if she should be angry or hurt.

“Where are you going in such a hurry?” Angelica stopped short and gasped at the unexpected sound.

“I don’t have a destination, I was just walking.” She said trying to force her heart rate to slow back to normal as she focused on James standing under a tree. “What are you doing out here? Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

“I should be, couldn’t. If you’d like I can show you a destination.”

They walked up a narrow trail that barely seemed to be wide enough for game.

“I can’t get ov
er how beautiful it is out here, it seems I am constantly seeing something I didn’t see before that amazes me.”

“Yeah, it doesn’t look quite the same in the dark.” He laughed.

“No I suppose not.”

“The night has it
s qualities too though.” The trail dropped downward considerably and curved around a large bolder. Angelica stopped when she saw what was on the other side, it was a large alcove that seemed to be carved out of a limestone outcropping.

“Oh my.”

“Yeah it sure beats a lineman’s cabin.” He motioned at the panoramic view of the fields surrounding them. They were full of blue bonnets stretched out like rich violet carpets.

“It sure does.”

“You should see this place at night the stars are amazing.”

“I am sure they are. You come here often?” Angelica sat on a rock beside the remnants of a campfire ring.

“Not real often, only sometimes in the winter when the cattle are grazing in these fields.” He sat down on a nearby rock.

“So what is your story?” She asked, focusing her attention on him.

“My story?”

“Yeah, where are you from, how did you end up here?”

“Oh that story,” He took his hat off and ran his fingers through his dark hair, “I am not much of a story teller I’m afraid, that’s Tom.” 

“That’s okay, I wanted the non-fiction version anyway.” She laughed and he did too.

“The non-fiction version,” he sighed “well let’s see I grew up near Delaware along with five sisters.”

“Oh well that explains it.”

“Explains what?”

“Why you’re just about the only one who doesn’t look at me like I am a complete foreigner or something.” James laughed at that.

“On a cattle ranch way out here, you might as well be from a foreign country. You’re just not the type of woman they are used to dealing with frankly they are afraid of you.” Angelica frowned.

“What type of woman am I?” James looked surprised at the question.

“You’re a lady.”

“Really James, both you and Lu
ke I don’t know what it is that you are seeing. Look at me I am sitting in the dirt, I don’t mind sleeping in a barn, what did I ever do to make you think I was such a snob?”

“I never said yo
/’u were I snob.” James interrupted, “I said you were a lady, it’s not the same thing and it is meant to be a compliment. Most of these guys are rough necks, their only experience with women aside from their mothers has been with, pardon my frankness, with working girls. Clearly you don’t fall into either category. They just don’t know how to behave around you, therefore it is easier to avoid the situation altogether. Please don’t take it personally.” Angelica thought about what he said and tried very hard not to blush, it was almost as if he had been inside her head when she was wondering if it were possible that she had been a saloon girl.

“Your sisters are ladies?”

“They are.”

“Where are they now?
”

“Four are married with kids and scattered around Delaware.”

“And the fifth?”

“The fifth, my only younger sister died in an accident several years ago.”

“Oh I am sorry.”

“That’s alright
, it was a long time ago.” He said softly. She looked into his dark eyes for a long moment.

“That is what brought you to Texas isn’t it?”

“You are very perceptive.” He smiled. “Yes, we were very close and when she died I wanted to be as far from her memory as I could get. Funny thing about memories though, they go with you, you can’t get away from them.”

“And sometimes you can.” She said throwing her hands up in the air and he laughed
.

“Sometimes it’s better not to remember.
”

“Yes but I don’t know what I’ve forgotten so how do I know I don’t want to remember.”
James smiled and shrugged,

“I can’t help you there.  Maybe you do want to remember.  Maybe you have a husband and five kids somewhere.” Angelica felt her stomach drop at the idea.

“Don’t say that, that’s not funny.” She said quietly.

“Don
’t worry,” He said seriously, “You’re not wearing a ring and you’re awfully young to have five kids.” She couldn’t even force a smile, the idea that she could have children that she abandoned even accidentally, made her sick. “What do you think you’ll do, if you don’t remember I mean.”

“I’m not really sure
,” She took a deep breath, the memory of Luke telling her to find her bliss rose up in her mind. “How do you just start a life when you have no idea what you can do? And can I really just start over without knowing what I’ve left behind?”

“Well if you really have to know what your past is I am sure you could find out.”

“How?”

“Well you have been here what almost a month? Someone is missing you, someone is looking for you.” That seemed logical, if she had any family or friends at all they would have noticed that she had been gone for a month.

“I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

“It won’t be too much longer before Luke will be ready to head into town to resupply, a couple of weeks, a month maybe. I would say you start there, go talk to the Sherriff.”

“That’s probably a good idea. Assuming I’m not wanted for anything.” She laughed and he grinned.

Angelica felt much better by the time she returned to the barn. She hadn’t found the time to think alone that she had been looking for but the conversation with James had been nice, and it had taken her mind off the emotional turmoil Luke was causing. Of course now that she was back in the barn she couldn’t help but think about it and it was just as gut wrenching as it had been before, the mere memory of him standing so close to her, touching her face and talking about desire filled her stomach with queasy butterflies.

“She looks good.” The sound of Luke’s voice made her jump and yelp guiltily
, as if she had been talking about him instead of just thinking about him.

“You startled me.” She breathed putting her hand over her pounding heart.

“Sorry.” He smiled at her and her heart picked up tempo beating even faster.  “How ‘bout that ride?”

“Didn’t you just get done riding?”

“Yeah.”

“Well shouldn’t you be tired of riding?”

“I never get tired of riding. Besides it just makes it easier, Blaze is already ready to go.”

“Layla isn’t.” She smiled, he shrugged
,

“So ride with me on Blaze.” Angelica felt her breath catch, she knew she should refuse, she should just laugh it off but it was just too tempting, the idea that she could be close to him, and touch him without the guilt.

“Alright.” She heard herself say instead.

Angelica was starting to doubt the wisdom of her decision once they were underway. She was riding behind him with her arms around his waist and she could feel the movement of all of the muscles in his back
, his shoulders were so broad it was like she was hiding behind a wall. She had to resist the urge to lay her head against him. He rode for a while, he took her in a new direction, showing her a part of the ranch she hadn’t seen before.

“See that tree over there?” He said over his shoulder. “It has a great view of the sunset.”

“What makes that tree have a better view than anywhere else?” The terrain was mostly flat, even from where she was sitting she could see the sun sinking ever closer to the horizon.  He looked over his shoulder at her again and smiled.

“Not a thing.” She laughed and reluctantly slid down off the horse. He stepped down immediately after her. They walked together the short distan
ce to the tree he had indicated.  When they got there she noticed there was a low branch jutting out from the side, it was so wide it looked like it could be another trunk. Unexpectedly Luke gripped her waist and lifted her, setting her on the branch. She gasped both from the unexpected movement and from the effortless way he lifted her. She gripped his shoulders to steady herself. They were hard under her fingertips, she lessened her grip once she was seated but she didn’t move her hands. The little bit of added height meant she was looking right into his eyes instead of looking up at him. The dusk light did funny things to the color they looked like deep crystal pools. She couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away even though she knew she was staring. 

“You can’t even see the sunset from there.” She whispered. He still had his hands on her waist facing her, his back was to the sun.

“I like the view where I am at.” He whispered back. She felt herself warm at the compliment and smiled. What he had said about desire ran through her mind, she wondered if he would change his mind if she touched him, would that cross a line? Make her too forward? The temptation to try was too overwhelming and she moved her hand from his shoulder and softly touched his face, it was rough from stubble but the sensation made her tingle. Summoning all of her courage she leaned forward slightly and softly pressed her lips to his. She felt his hands tighten on her waist, she started to pull away but he followed her not letting her break the connection.  She slid her arms around his neck instead deepening the kiss.  His arms encircled her and she felt her stomach lurch.  She felt like she would be willing to give anything to just stay right there with him, in that moment who she had been didn’t matter this was where she wanted to be. She heard him growl quietly as he broke the connection and she laughed, it sounded breathy in her ears.

“I tried to warn you. I could be a temptress, a Jezebel.” She smiled at him but her tone was serious.  He brought his hand up and softly caressed her cheek
.

“A temptress yes, but certainly not a Jezebel.” He softly kissed her, “What makes you think I give a damn what you were before, you’re here now.”  She smiled and her heart leapt
, nothing could have sounded better in that moment.  She heard the same soft growl of frustration just before he pulled out of her embrace.  “We should probably head back before I forget that my actions should be honorable.”  He smiled at her and lifted her off the tree branch. He twined his fingers with hers as they walked and she wondered if her feet were even touching the ground because it really didn’t feel like they were.  There wasn’t much light left now that the sun had slipped below the horizon, she hadn’t seen the sunset at all but she didn’t care. Once she was mounted behind him she wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his back closing her eyes and hoping that the trip would be a slow one.

A snarl and the scream of a horse cut through the air and Angelica jerked upright, she couldn’t even tell what she was seeing. She could only see a
shadow on top of the light colored prone form of Ice. She screamed then she heard a deafening shot near her head. The shadow slumped to the ground and she saw that Luke had his rifle against his shoulder. She hadn’t even felt him pull it from the scabbard.  She leapt off of Blaze running toward Ice.

“Angie, no don’t!” She heard him but it didn’t register until she had almost reached Ice and she felt him grab her arm and jerk her backwards.  Pain shot through her shoulder and brought her back to
reality.

“Stop, stay right here and do not move!
” He hissed close to her face. She nodded numbly then watched as he slowly moved forward with his rifle trained on the dark animal lying on the ground.  He pushed the animal with his boot then stepped back and waited. When it didn’t move he stepped forward and flipped the animal over.  Suddenly he brought the gun up and fired it again immediately cocking it. She followed the direction of the aim and saw another animal on the ground and one more running into the darkness. He finally lowered the rifle and she took that as a sign that it was safe she rushed to Ice who was still on the ground. She had a gash across the front of her shoulder close to her neck. Angelica pressed the hem of her skirt against the wound and looked for any more, Ice was clearly spooked, she could feel her heart pounding and her eyes were wide. Angelica felt tears slip out of her eyes as she gently stroked the horse. She spoke softly telling her she was going to be okay and praying she was right.  Luke returned from insuring that the other animal was dead and looked down at Ice.