Heavenly Angel (11 page)

“Good morning, Angel. Merry Christmas.”

“Good morning, sweetheart. You coming over?”

“We’ll be there as soon as we can. Michael was so excited. He wanted to call you and tell you about the horse.”

“A cowboy’s first horse is a special thing. Sort of like first love. I’ll finish up here and get breakfast going. I love you.”

“I love you, Angel.”

Chapter Ten

Teresa stood beside the couch watching Michael trot around the living room dressed in his chaps, spurs, cowboy boots, and plaid shirt that looked so much like the ones Angel wore. Over the shirt, he wore the little denim vest Grace had given him. His cowboy hat was perched on his head as he rode his little stick horse. She looked up at Angel standing beside her, his arm around her and his hand resting on her hip. Her heart was so full it felt like it would burst.

Angel said, “Why don’t we take the little cowpoke in the backyard and let him run that horse a little. I want you to open my gifts now.”

“But Joaquin—”

“Joaquin will come out with us and keep an eye on Michael.” He gathered several boxes and twined her fingers with his. “Come on.” He pulled her to the back door that opened onto the covered porch built onto the back of the house. His backyard was fenced, and the fence was lined with mature trees and shrubs.

Joaquin found a rope and showed Michael how to tie it to the stick horse. While the toddler held the rope, Joaquin galloped in a circle around Michael, hollering “Yee-Haw!” Michael cackled ecstatically at Joaquin’s antics with the toy. She imagined what Michael would look like in years to come if he stayed within the loving shelter of Angel and Joaquin’s guidance here on the ranch, if Joaquin stayed. He’d probably grow up to be an expert horseman, strong and hard-working, just like them. Though she hadn’t seen him work with the animals yet, Joaquin’s reputation had preceded him on the ranch.

Teresa watched appreciatively as Joaquin interacted with her son, unable to ignore the strong, handsome lines of his muscled body or the noble profile that was currently turned to her. Like Angel, he was poetry in motion. He talked and joked with Michael easily, judging by their combined laughter at something Joaquin had said. She feasted her eyes on the way his faded blue jeans clung to the backs of his thighs as he bent to help Michael adjust the little chaps that were strapped on him. Her body responded to the sight, as well.

As her eyes roamed over Joaquin, Angel took a gift from the stack on the table near the porch glider. She turned her attention guiltily to him as he handed it to her, and her cheeks felt like they must be beet red. She wondered how she could act and think like that when the man she loved most in the world sat beside her. To make matters worse, she had a feeling that he
knew
what was going on inside her.

Grace lived a life of utter happiness with her three men, and Teresa had never questioned the rightness of it because of what Grace had gone through to find that happiness. She could admit to a spark of curiosity over what it would be like, and she knew about the unique family Angel was a part of.

But she’d met Joaquin less than twenty-four hours ago. She had no business thinking about him as anything other than a possible future brother-in-law down the road.

This attraction for him was the newness of his arrival, with some hormones thrown in for kicks and giggles. The fact that she was even daring to stare at his body appalled her. That was not like her at all. She turned her full attention on Angel, feeling inexplicably blue. Casting her eyes down, she smiled at the contents of the first box. She looked up at him, an eyebrow arched.

“Rosemary took you shopping, didn’t she?” She smiled up at him, thinking what a generous man he was.

“Yes, she did point me in the right direction. She said you liked that top. I agreed with Rosemary that it would look pretty on you.”

“I love it. Thank you, Angel. You spoil me.” She tilted her lips up to him as he leaned in for a kiss.

“I’m only just getting started, darling,” he drawled as he handed her another box. He smiled at her gasp as she opened the long, rectangular-shaped velvet box.

“Angel, this is lovely.” She touched the shimmering onyx facets on the teardrop necklace and earrings with her fingertip. “Just lovely. Will you help me put it on?” she asked excitedly as she removed the pieces from the box and handed him the necklace. He stood and clasped the necklace as she lifted her long hair from her shoulders. Then she put on the earrings. “How does it look?”

“It’s a pale shadow compared to the one who wears it.”

“You are such a sweet-talker.” She hugged him and kissed his chin.

“You’ve met my dads. You know where I get it from.”

“Thank you. You must have spent a fortune on it.” She touched the stones that rested at the base of her throat.

“To see you look so radiant and happy, it was well worth the cost.”

Teresa wondered if he would still think that if he knew what her earlier thoughts had been about. The guilt gripping her heart twisted a little further.

He handed her another box, which contained a spa gift set from Madeleine’s Day Spa.

“I love gardenias!”

He smiled. “Grace told me you would like this.”

“Thank you, Angel. I don’t know what to say. I feel like you’ve showered us both with so many gifts.” She gestured out to Michael in the yard, still running happily, the fringe on his chaps flapping in the cool breeze. His little straw cowboy hat bobbed on his dark head as Joaquin chased him. Her hands caressed the glittering stones at her throat. She felt so unworthy of this man.

Angel’s fingertips lifted her chin, and she looked up into his loving eyes. “There’s one more.” He reached into his jacket pocket. He took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles before placing a little square box in her hands. His eyes never left hers as he spoke to her.

“Everything in my life that is good, you make even better just by being here.” He rose from the glider and got down on one knee as the tears brimming in her eyes overflowed in a sudden flood.

“Marry me, Teresa. I promise I’ll devote myself to loving you, caring for you, and protecting you and Michael.” He lifted her hands, which still held the unopened box, and kissed them again. Her heart burst with love for him, and she cupped his cheek with one hand and kissed him tenderly.

“Yes, Angel. I’ll marry you. I want to be your wife, and I want you to be the man who helps me raise Michael into the man he is supposed to become.”

He kissed her cheek and wrapped his arms around her, brushing his lips over her throat. Her body quivered at the sensation, which reminded her, as her husband, he would do much more. “I can picture you coming down the aisle to me in a white wedding dress.”

“You’re very romantic.” She would have thought most men would want to go to the courthouse and get it over with as soon as possible. “We could have the wedding here. Maybe Grace could help me.”

“We’ll talk to her tonight and see what she thinks. My mother is going to be beside herself.” He paused and chuckled. “You haven’t even seen your rings yet. You may not like it and decide you don’t want to marry a bum like me.”

“I doubt you could ever be a bum. I already know you have excellent taste in jewelry.” She touched the necklace she wore again and thought of the locket he’d given her for her birthday. She opened the box, gasping at the beautiful diamond engagement ring and wedding band that were nestled in the box. The engagement ring had a large, square-cut diamond with two smaller diamonds on either side, set into a wide, polished platinum band. The narrow wedding band was studded across its top with smaller diamonds. “It’s simply beautiful.”

“You’ve made me a very happy man.” His voice hitched with emotion as he looked into her brimming eyes. He lifted the engagement ring from the little box and slipped it on the ring finger of her right hand. They were startled from their cozy little bubble by cheering from the backyard and Michael screeching.

“She said yes! She said yes!
Angel’s gonna be my Daddy
! Yeah! My
Daddy
!” he yelled at the top of his lungs as Joaquin cheered along with him. He lifted the happy boy to his shoulders and trotted up to the porch. Teresa smiled up at them happily, noting the genuine warmth in Joaquin’s eyes for her without a trace of envy. He squatted down and let Michael off his shoulders so he could hug his mommy then his daddy-to-be.

Joaquin leaned down to her, and she was disquieted by the way her heart leapt in her chest as he came near. She could feel his body heat as he kissed her cheek. His scent was clean like soap and his own masculine essence combined. His kiss, pressed up against her upper cheekbone, did not feel like a brotherly peck. It felt like the caress of a lover. It sent a shot of shameful desire straight through her core. Heat tingled in her cheeks and she gave herself a mental kick to not read anything into that sensation quivering inside of her. It was the excitement of Christmas and becoming engaged. She was in overdrive. Yeah, maybe overdrive to have him
kiss
her again. She looked up in time to see Angel nod slightly at Joaquin.

Joaquin said, “Michael told me he’s hungry and wants to try using the potty like a big boy. I’m going to fix him a snack and help the little dude out if he needs it. You two stay out here. You probably have a lot to talk about and want to be alone for a while. Don’t worry about us. Right, Michael?” He held out his palm to Michael as he walked to the back door, and Michael slapped it with his open palm.

“Yeah,” Michael nodded casually, pulling up his britches, “we got this,” and stepped over the threshold as Joaquin opened the door for him.

She nodded and watched silently as Joaquin smiled at her again then closed the door behind them. Angel returned to his seat beside her.

He stroked her knuckles. “I’ve been watching you, beautiful.” Her heart hammered with unease. “I can see that you’re feeling… conflicted.”

She ducked her head, and a hitching sigh escaped her lips. He’d noticed her reaction to Joaquin. She was now his wife-to-be. Was he about to lay the law down?

As if he sensed her sudden nervousness, Angel tilted her chin with a fingertip so she had to look into his eyes. His gentle gaze chased the fear away that had leapt in her heart. He was a totally different sort of man from any other she’d ever known. He caressed her chin with the pad of his fingertip. “You feel something stirring between you and Joaquin. Like there’s an attraction there?”

Her eyelids slipped closed, no longer able to gaze at his handsome, loving face. Pain stung her chest, and tears flooded her eyes as she nodded. A hitching sob escaped her, and Angel quickly took her in his arms and held her tight as another sob came and shushed her before he continued. “Now, now. None of that on our happy day. The
last
thing I am is upset with you. You haven’t done a thing wrong. What you feel doesn’t upset me, although you probably think it does. Do you feel as if you are being disloyal to me?”

He cupped her cheek in his palm and waited until she looked up. She shook her head negatively because her love and loyalty to him were without question. Then she nodded because her attraction to Joaquin was undeniable, and given time, she knew she would feel as loyal to Joaquin. He was kind to her, but that budding loyalty was driven by the way he treated her son and the easy way he had with him. It put her at ease with him as much as any particular kindness he paid her.

“Remember, meeting my parents at the hospital? You know that our dads are brothers. Eleazar met and fell in love with my mother first. Being very close to his brothers, he could tell when they met her that they fell in love with her also. Loving all three of them, he proposed the unique arrangement. Joaquin told me he laid eyes on you and knew he loved you, standing there in the doorway last night. I could see it happening for myself. He could sense last night that you were uneasy. The last thing he wants is for you to be uncomfortable around him. I have no problem with the attraction Joaquin obviously feels for you, neither do I take offense that you feel the same way.

“It’s my right to tell him to back off, as his elder. But I confess that I’ve always wondered what it would be like to raise a family and love a wife with the brother I’ve always been so close to. He hopes you’ll permit him to spend time with you, to allow you to get to know him. He tells me that what he feels for you is completely different from a passing physical attraction. He’s never put down roots anywhere, but he’s seriously considering making Divine his permanent home. If you allow him into your heart, he would make a lifelong commitment to you and Michael.”

He paused a moment and studied her face, she assumed to see how well she was handling everything he’d told her so far. “It might help you to talk with Grace about this. She probably experienced a lot of the same feelings after meeting Ethan and Adam. She could give you insight that she’s been keeping to herself, not wanting to shock you. You know there’s not a thing those men wouldn’t do for her if she asked.” Teresa smiled and nodded at that thought. Those men were unquestionably devoted to Grace. What must that be like?

Angel’s eyes twinkled as he said, “It would be the same for you with both of us. You’d have two men to help with Michael and two men to protect you and provide for you.” His lips brushed her cheekbone and kissed her temple before murmuring, “Two men to love you.” A soft shudder rippled through her as the mental image of both of these handsome men holding her and loving her together swam through her mind. Her core throbbed at his words and his touch.