Angel's Hero

Chapter 7

Angel was fuming.
She had made an absolute fool of herself, and she blamed Sienna. She blamed Bo, too.
Storming into her bakery, she turned towards the chef washing up at the back.
"Bo, I'm so mad at you!" The door opening to the back alley where the dumpsters were kept, and another back door for the coffee shop swung open and Sienna stepped through, drawing the finger Angel had been shaking at Bo towards her. "And you too!"
"What happened?" Sienna, all serious in her maternal role stepped forward. "Did he hurt you?"
"No!"
"Did you have a bad time?" Bo said as he returned to washing his cookware. It looked to be on the last of that day's dishes.
"No!"
"Ah, so you had a great time, then?" Sienna, looked mighty pleased with herself as she leaned against the doorframe.
"No, again!" Angel stormed from one end of the kitchen to the other.
Was that electricity in the air? She could swear the ends of her hair were standing out at right angles.
"Tell us what happened to make you so mad?" Sienna sighed.
Without going into too much detail, Angel told them about the Railway Park, and how she'd laughed at how silly Conner had been, and at how sweet it was to see his face light up at some of the carriages on display. When they'd first pulled up to the entrance, Conner had straightened his spine, sitting forward in his seat, and eagerly looked around at anything and everything. His smile had split his face, and she'd seen the dimple in his cheek.
She still hadn't been able to determine the color of his eyes, as every time he looked at her, she'd instinctively dropped her gaze. Even through the relative safety of her sunglasses, the color was a guess. Brown? Blue? Black? She desperately wanted to know.
She did know that he had a transformative smile. His face, usually rugged and intimidating, changed to adorable, dimpled, and far too appealing.
"Like a little kid," she said softly, to herself. To the others she said, "he looked around wide-eyed, and it melted my heart." She smiled as she said it, then remembering the other thing. "The ass!"
"Oh, for the love of all that is good and holy. What happened to make you detest him so much?" Sienna shifted her weight as she threw her arms out.
She'd been hopeful at the play of emotions on Angel's face. The girl was like a second daughter to her, and she wanted only happiness for the younger woman.
There was definitely something here though; she'd never seen Angel so animated before!
Angel fidgeted with the hem of her smock. "He, uh, he hugged me."
Sienna laughed. "That's all?"
"What?" Bo dropped the baking sheet he's been scrubbing. "Did you not want him to? Did you tell him to stop?" He said mock seriously. He, too, only wanted the best for the woman who had given him a job that he so thoroughly loved.
"No, I liked it. I wanted him to keep hugging me. I just didn't expect it at first."
Giving in to her emotions, Angel engaged her hands as she rambled on and marched around the kitchen. "But wow, the man smells great, and then he cupped my face and held me so gently, and he caressed my cheek." She let out a long sigh. "He held me so close, and I thought, maybe, will he? But then nothing! Nada!" Her hands lifted and dropped at her sides.
"Huh? Is the boy brain-dead?" This from Bo, as he folded his soapy hands against his navy T-shirt; he'd removed his chef's jacket to do the wash up.
He had eyes in his head. He knew a fine looking woman when he saw one. And this one had a heart of gold. A real Angel.
"Well, why didn't you kiss him?" Sienna asked as a voice called from the front of the store.
"Huh? What? Kiss who? What'd I miss?" Michelle dropped her gear off to the side of the kitchen near to where the office door was.
The black backpack was specifically designed to carry a camera and various lenses in separate compartments. The long, narrow, heavy looking bag that carried collapsible stands for mounted flashes hit the floor with a thud as Michelle dropped it, placing the camera bag with more care.
"The Sheriff and Miss Angel here had a date, and then he didn't kiss her, after holding her oh-so-close," Bo teased.
"WHAT!?" Michelle spun around to look at Angel, her gear forgotten. "You had a date? How did this happen?"
"Ask them! I blame them." Angel, arms still folded, indicated Sienna and Bo standing there, looking slightly sheepish. "And it wasn't a date."
"I'd hoped it would be," Sienna admitted.
"Mom!"
Sienna held a hand to her cheek and looked from one woman to the other. "When Michelle told me about how you had gushed about this guy last night, I saw an opportunity this morning, and took it."
Michelle had been shaking her head vigorously and dragging her hand across her throat trying to shut her mother up. Angel saw the movement out the corner of her eye.
"Oh really?" Angel turned her eyes onto her friend, baring her teeth, and nostrils flaring. "So, you're actually to blame?"
Michelle shrugged and laughed, deciding to forgo acting innocent. "You like him. I could tell."
When Angel didn't say anything, sending daggers with her narrowed eyes, Michelle sighed again.
"Come on Angel, lets go get a big cookie and a cup of hot chocolate, and you can tell me all about it."
Angel frowned at her friend.
She was still prickly from her recent humiliation, but sorely needed to vent to a sympathetic ear. She dropped her shoulders in defeat. "Fine."
Just then, Jackson burst through the back door.
"Auntie Angie! Auntie Angie! Catch!" He flew across the kitchen, past his grandmother and Bo, and launched himself at her.
She caught him easily, and immediately spun and dipped him, head towards the ground, pinning his legs to her side with her elbows, so her hands were free to tickle his sides.
His squeals of laughter brought smiles to everyone's faces.
"Come on, monkey," she dropped him to his feet after planting a kiss on his forehead and a quick squeezing hug. "Let's go consume ungodly amounts of sugar while I tell you about the new Sheriff." She threw daggered looks at the other three, before laughing it off, and hooking an arm through Michelle's and the group moved next door.
She spent the rest of the afternoon discussing her 'date', using coded language when Jackson paid attention, and fielding questions he asked about the hero.
When she'd told the boy the man was the new Sheriff, and a volunteer fireman, his eyes had widened, and he'd said reverently, "He's a hero."
Clearly the boy had a new idol.
When the coffee shop began it's close down routine at four-thirty, the weekend hours different to the weekday, Angel jumped in to help, easily slipping into her previous role as server-slash-waitress before she'd opened her bakery.
They'd decided on a barbeque at the Winters' house for dinner that night, and Angel promised to tuck Jackson into his bed, and read him a story.
He wanted three, but she struck a deal, and swore that she'd take him swimming the next day in compromise.
It was a great evening, the earlier breeze having dropped off completely to leave them with a breathless evening with clear skies.
Bo had joined them, and had brought his family along. His wife, Shelby, was the hostess at the seafood place in the harbor. Their three girls, Annabelle at fourteen, Marlene in the middle at ten, and Grace, the baby at six, were also included. Their giggles filled the night air as they spent the evening running around the garden with Jackson.
Smoke from the barbeque, and music from the house added to the ambience that made this a perfect evening.
She'd almost forgotten about her mortification, only revisiting the embrace that had so tied her in knots once she was on the drive home that night.
She wanted space to collect her thoughts, so had only had one beer with dinner, and declined the offer of a sleepover.
The Winters' lived a few miles from the harbor, so her drive home was quick. Less than ten minutes.
As she pulled up to her drive, she saw a light on in her house through the trees.
Angel frowned.
She drove up and around, pulling into the parking spot she'd made by pouring stones over the grass, intending to make a gravel driveway.
It hadn't really worked out well as the stones, pushed down by the tires, had spread out, disappearing into the grass. She made a mental note to fix it and build something that would work.
Getting out of her car, she moved to the front door.
Unlocking and opening it slowly, she went to the kitchen automatically, to put the kettle on, but the light from the end of the passage froze her in place.
The door to the spare room stood wide open, and the light poured into the hallway.
Grabbing a knife from the rack in the kitchen, Angel made her way to the room, and moved quickly.
She jumped around the corner and saw nothing. She didn't really expect to find anyone in there, did she?
The light was on, and the door to the closet was open.
Had she gone in there before leaving that morning?
She saw the towels they'd used for their swim the previous night hanging over the back of the chair that was pushed in to the desk against the back wall.
Not feeling completely safe, she moved around every room, and checked every window and door. None of her fancy gadgets were missing, and none of the windows were broken. The back door was locked, so she didn't think that someone had broken in.
She did another sweep through the house, checking everything; pulling on handles and turning all doorknobs.
Maybe she had better reconsider that alarm system Sienna had tried to get her to install before moving in.
Angel had said it wasn't necessary, as they lived in a safe town.
Once she was satisfied everything was locked and secure, she made her way upstairs and settled in for the night with her tea.
She took her phone from the side table, and after popping a message to Michelle that she was all tucked in, she locked the screen.
Warring with herself, and eventually giving in, she lit the screen up again, and opening the popular social media app, she searched for Conner.
She didn't know what she expected to find, and unhelpfully, eight Conner Grayson's popped up, two with no pictures and minimal information, with the remaining six being other people. The light from her phone began to burn her eyes, and she yawned loudly, her eyes watering.
Too tired to get into some serious snooping, she shut the app, set the alarm on her phone, and then finished her tea.
She fell asleep with Conner's scent in her mind, and the feel of his arms around her.