Kiss an Angel (36 page)

Cold rain trickled down his neck and blinded his eyes, wind plastered his slicker to his chest, and all the time he worked, he thought about Daisy.
You'd
better be in that truck, angel. You 'd better be keeping yourself safe. Safe for
me.

* * *

Daisy huddled in the center of Sinjun's cage with the tiger curled around her and the rain pommeling them through the bars. Alex hadn't trusted the safety of the trailer in the storm, and he'd told her to go to the truck until the wind abated. She'd been on her way there when she'd heard Sinjun's wild roar and known the storm had terrified him.

He'd been left outside, exposed to the elements, while the workers attended to the big top. At first she'd stood in front of the cage, but the lashing of the wind and rain made it hard to stay upright. He grew frantic when she tried to find some shelter beneath the cage, and that left her with no other choice but to climb inside with him.

Now he curled around her like a big old pussy cat. She felt the vibration of his quiet breathing through

her back, and the warmth from his body drove out the chill. As she huddled closer against his fur, she

felt nearly as peaceful as she'd been only hours before when she lay in Alex's arms.

* * *

Daisy wasn't in his truck.

She wasn't in the trailer.

Alex ran through the lot, frantically searching for her. What had she done this time? Where had she gone? Damn it, this was all his fault! He knew how scatterbrained she could be, and he should have watched her better. The moment the storm broke, he should have carried her to the truck and tied her to the wheel.

He'd always prided himself on having a cool head in a crisis, but now he couldn't think. The storm had eased soon after they'd gotten the top down, and he'd spent a few minutes making a cursory check for damage. Some flying debris had hit the windshield of one of the trucks, and a concession wagon had overturned. They had some ripped nylon, but they didn't seem to have suffered any serious harm, so he set out to find her. When he'd reached his truck, however, she hadn't been there, and that was when his panic had set in.

Why hadn't he watched her better? She was too fragile for this life, too trusting.

God, don't let anything happen to her.

On the other side of the lot, he saw a flash of light, but one of the semis blocked his view. As he ran toward it, he heard Daisy's voice and his muscles went weak with relief. He rushed around the front of the semi and thought he'd never seen anything more beautiful in his life than the sight of her holding a flashlight and directing two of the workmen as they loaded Sinjun's cage into the back of the menagerie truck.

He wanted to shake her for frightening him so badly, but he resisted the urge. It wasn't her fault that

he'd turned into a lily-livered wimp.

As she caught sight of him, her mouth curled in a smile so full of delight that warmth spread all the way

to his toes. "You're safe! I was so worried about you."

He cleared his throat and took a calming breath. "Need some help?"

"I think we've just about got it." She scrambled into the truck.

Although he wanted nothing so much as to carry her back to the trailer and love her until morning, he understood her well enough by now to know that no amount of bullying on his part would get her out of that truck until she'd made certain all the animals under her charge were safely tucked in for the night. If he let her, she'd probably read them a bedtime story.

She finally emerged and, without a moment's hesitation, stretched out her arms and threw herself off the top of the ramp into his arms. As he caught her against his chest, he decided this was what he liked the most about her. The way she didn't hesitate. She'd known he'd catch her, no matter what.

"Did you stay in the truck during the storm?" He planted a rough, desperate kiss in her wet hair.

"Ummm ... I stayed warm, I'll tell you that."

"Good. Let's get back to the trailer. Both of us could use a hot shower."

"First I need to—"

"Check on Tater. I'll come with you."

"Don't glower at him this time."

"I never glower."

"Last time you glowered. It hurt his feelings."

"He doesn't have—"

"He does, too, have feelings."

"You spoil him."

"He's spirited, not spoiled. There's a big difference."

He gave her a pointed look. "Believe me, I know all about the difference between spirited and spoiled."

"Are you implying—"

"It's a compliment."

"It doesn't sound like one."

He bickered with her all the way to the elephant trailer, but not for one moment did he let go of her hand. And not for one moment could he manage to wipe the smile from his face.

18

During the months of June and July, Quest Brothers Circus reached the heart of its tour, winding its way west through the small towns of Pennsylvania and Ohio. Sometimes they followed the rivers, large and small: the Allegheny and the Monongahela, the Hocking, Scioto, and Maumee. They played the little towns that the big show had forgotten: coal-mining towns with empty mines, steel towns that had been abandoned by the mills, factory towns where the plants had closed. Big industry might have forgotten the everyday people of Pennsylvania and Ohio, but Quest Brothers remembered, and the show traveled on.

By the first week of August, the circus had crossed into Indiana, and Daisy had never been happier. Each day was a new adventure. She felt as if she were a different person: strong, confident, and able to stand up for herself. Since Sinjun's escape, she'd earned the respect of the others and was no longer an outcast. The showgirls traded gossip with her, and the clowns asked her opinion of their newest tricks. Brady searched her out to argue politics and bully her about improving her muscle tone by lifting weights. And Heather spent time with her every day, but only when Alex wasn't nearby.

"Did you ever study psychology?" she asked one afternoon in early August as Daisy treated her to lunch at a McDonald's in the eastern Indiana town where they were performing.

"For a while. I had to change schools before I finished the course." Daisy picked up a french fry, took a nibble, then set it back down. Fried food hadn't been settling too well in her stomach lately. She cupped her hand over her waist and forced herself to concentrate on what Heather was saying.

"I think I might want to be a psychologist or something when I grow up. I mean, after everything I've been through, I think I could help a lot of other kids."

"I'll bet you could."

Heather looked troubled, which wasn't unusual. There was little of the carefree teenager left about her, and Daisy knew that the stolen money still weighed heavily on her conscience, although she never mentioned it.

"Does Alex—I mean, does he ever say like what a dork I was and everything?'

"No, Heather. I'm sure he doesn't even think about it."

"Whenever I remember what I did, I could die."

"Alex is used to women throwing themselves at him. To tell you the truth, I don't think he even notices anymore."

"Really? You're just saying that to make me feel better."

"He likes you a lot, Heather. And he definitely doesn't think you're a dork."

"You sure had a cow when you walked in on us."

Daisy repressed a smile. "It's very threatening to an older woman when a younger woman goes after her man."

Heather nodded wisely. "Yeah. But, Daisy, I don't think Alex would ever screw around on you. Honest. Jill and Madeline and all of them were talking about how he never even notices them anymore, not even

if they're lying out in their bikinis. I think it pisses them off."

"Heather...."

"Sorry. It annoys them." She absentmindedly shredded the edge of her hamburger bun. "Can I ask you something? It's about... well... when you have sex and everything. I mean, aren't you embarrassed?'

Daisy noticed that Heather's fingernails were bitten to the quick, and she knew it wasn't worry about sex that had done that to her, but a guilty conscience.

"When it's right, it's not embarrassing."

"But how do you know when it's right?"

"You take your time and get to know the person. And, Heather, you wait until after you're married."

Heather rolled her eyes. "Nobody waits until they're married anymore."

"I did."

"Yeah, but you're sort of—"

"A dork?"

"Yeah. But a nice—" Her eyes widened with the first sign of real animation Daisy had seen on her face

in weeks. She set down her Coke. "Oh god, don't look!"

"At what?"

"The door. By the door. That boy who hung around to talk to me yesterday just came in. He's—oh god, he is so cute."

"Where?"

"At the register. Don't look! He's got on a black tank and shorts. Hurry, but don't let him see you looking."

Daisy perused the area near the registers as casually as possible. She spotted the teenager studying the menu. He was about Heather's age, with shaggy brown hair and an adorably dopey expression on his face. Daisy was delighted that, for once, Heather was acting like a normal teenager instead of someone with the weight of the world on her shoulders.

"What if he sees me?" Heather wailed. "Oh, shit! My hair—"

"Don't swear. And your hair looks fine."

Heather ducked her head, and Daisy knew the boy was approaching.

"Hi."

Heather made a great business out of stirring the ice in her Coke before she looked up. "Hi."

Both of them flushed and Daisy could see each of them searching for something brilliant to say. The boy finally plunged in. "What's up?"

"Nothing."

"You, uh, going to be around today? I mean, like, over at the circus."

"Yeah."

"Okay."

"Yeah, I'll be there."

Another long pause, this one broken by Heather. "This is Daisy. You might remember her from the

show and everything. She's like my best friend. Daisy, this is Kevin."

"Hello, Kevin."

"Hi. I, uh, liked you in the show."

"Thank you."

Having exhausted that path of conversation, he turned back to Heather. "Me and this guy Jeff—you

don't know him, but he's pretty cool—we were thinking we might hang around there for a while."

"Okay."

"Maybe we'll see you."

"Yeah. That'd be cool."

Silence.

"Okay, see you."

"Yeah, see ya."

As he stumbled off, a dreamy expression came over Heather's face, followed, almost immediately, by uncertainty. "Do you think he likes me?"

"Definitely."

"What am I going to do if he asks me out tonight, like between shows or something? You know Dad won't let me go."

"You'll have to tell Kevin the truth. Your father's very strict, and you're not allowed to date until you're thirty." Once again, Heather rolled her eyes, but Daisy didn't let it put her off.

She considered Heather's dilemma. It would be good for her to have a romance, even a twelve-hour one. She needed to behave like a normal teenager for a while instead of someone doing penance. Still, she knew Heather was right and Brady would object.

"How about if you show Kevin around? He'll like that.

Then if you go sit over by the trucks, your father will be able to keep his eye on you, but you'll have some privacy."

"I guess that'll work." Heather's forehead wrinkled with entreaty. "Will you talk to Dad and make sure

he doesn't embarrass me?"

"I'll talk to him."

"Don't let him say something stupid in front of Kevin. Please, Daisy."

"I'll do my best."

She dipped her head and poked her index finger at her empty french fry container. Once again her shoulders slumped, and Daisy could see the guilt cloud descending.

''When I think about what I did to you, I feel like such a shit—creep! I meant creep." She looked up. "You know I'm sorry, don't you?"

"Yes." She didn't know how to help her. Heather had tried to atone for what she'd done in all the ways she knew how. The only thing she hadn't done was go to her father with the truth, and Daisy didn't want her to do that. Heather's relationship with Brady was already difficult enough and that would only make it harder.

"Daisy, I'd never ... I mean that thing with Alex was just because I was immature. He was so nice to me, but I'd never come on to him now or anything, if you were worrying about that."

"Thank you for telling me." Daisy busied herself collecting their trash so Heather wouldn't see her smile.

The teenager wrinkled her nose. "No offense, Daisy. He's sexy and everything, but he's really old."

Daisy nearly choked.

Heather gazed over at the registers where Kevin was finally placing his order.

"He is so cute."

"Alex?"

Heather looked horrified, "No! Kevin!"

"Ahh. Well, Alex is no Kevin, that's for sure."

Heather nodded solemnly. "That's for sure."

This time Daisy couldn't help it. She began to giggle, and to her delight, Heather joined in.

* * *

When they arrived back at the lot, Heather went off to work with Sheba. Daisy unpacked the groceries she'd picked up and collected the produce treats she'd bought for the animals, grateful that Alex had

never once protested these expensive additions to their grocery bill. Now that she knew he was only a poor college professor, she'd tried to be even more careful about their expenses, but she would cut back on their ov/n food before she'd short the animals.

As had become her practice, she stopped first by the elephants to collect Tater, and he trailed her to the menagerie. Sinjun generally ignored the baby elephant, but this time he picked up his proud head and regarded his rival with haughty condescension.

She loves me best, you annoying infant, and don't ever forget it.

Lollipop and Chester were tethered outside the tent, and Tater took his customary spot nearby, where

a pile of clean hay awaited him. Daisy walked over to Sinjun and reached through the bars to scratch behind his ears. He found animal baby talk demeaning, so she didn't coo to him as she did to the others.