Kiss an Angel(103)

He drew back just far enough to speak, and he had to force the words past an unaccustomed tightness in his throat “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you.”

“It’s not important,” she whispered back.

He knew she meant it, and his heart felt as if it would burst.





20




Sheba stood in the shadows of the marquee fighting back her misery as she watched Alex and Daisy laughing together by the floss stand. He picked a blade of straw from her hair and then touched her face, the caress as intimate as if he’d stroked her breast.

Bitterness spread through her like a parasitic vine, choking everything else. It had been four days since they’d learned the truth about the stolen money, and she couldn’t bear watching his happiness. Somehow it had been earned at her expense, and he had no right to it.

“Give it a rest, Sheba.”

She spun around to see Brady coming up behind her. Ever since the night they’d spent together, he’d been strutting the circus grounds like a rooster. She half-expected him to tuck his hands under his armpits and crow. In typical Brady Pepper fashion, he’d also decided that having been her lover once entitled him to run her life.

“Leave me alone.”

“That’s the last thing you want from me.”

She hated the look of pity he gave her. “You don’t know anything.”

“Let him go, Sheba. Alex is part of your past. Just let him go.”

“It figures you’d say something like that. You’re a champ at letting things go, aren’t you?”

“If you’re talking about Heather—”

“You know I am.”

She glanced toward the elephant truck where Heather was trying to wrestle a wheelbarrow loaded with manure through the doorway. They had given her the worst duty, the one Daisy had been assigned to. Sheba regarded it as a fitting punishment, but Brady wasn’t satisfied. He’d made arrangements to send her back to his sister-in-law Terry, just as soon as Terry returned to Wichita from a visit with her mother.

“Heather’s my business. Instead of worrying about her, why don’t you think about how good we were the other night.”

“Good? We almost killed each other!”

“Yeah. Wasn’t it great?”

He grinned at the memory, and she felt a traitorous warmth inside her. It had been good: the excitement of it, the thrill of coming together with someone as hot-tempered and demanding as herself. She couldn’t wait to make love with him again, so she planted one hand on her hip and curled her lip at him. “I’d rather have a root canal.”

“And, baby, do I ever have the drill to do the job.”

She nearly smiled, and then she saw Alex lean down to kiss the tip of Daisy’s nose. How she hated him. She hated them both. He had no right to look at her like that.

“Just stay out of my way, Brady.” She pushed past Brady and stalked away.



Three days later, Daisy made her way to the menagerie with bag of produce treats she had bought when she and Alex had stopped for groceries. Tater trailed behind, and both of them stopped to admire the somersault Petre Tolea’s three-year-old son was doing for his mother, Elena. The Rumanian flyer’s wife spoke little English, but she and Daisy exchanged greetings in Italian, a language in which they were both fluent.

After speaking with Elena for a few minutes, Daisy went on to the menagerie where she spent a few minutes with Sinjun.

Tell him.

I will.

Now.

Soon. She turned away from the reprimand she was almost certain she saw in Sinjun’s eyes. Alex had been so happy lately, like a kid really, and she hadn’t been able to spoil it. She knew it would be difficult for him to adjust to the idea of a baby, so it was important for her to pick her time right.

She carried the plums she’d brought for Glenna into the tent only to discover that her cage was missing.

She hurried outside. Tater abandoned his hay and trotted happily behind her as she made her way to the truck that carried the menagerie animals. Trey napped inside, and she leaned through the open window to shake his arm.

“Where’s Glenna?”

He hit his battered straw cowboy hat on the rearview mirror as he jerked upright “Huh?”

“Glenna! Her cage is missing.”

He yawned. “Somebody came for her this morning.”

“Who?”

“Some guy. Sheba was with him. He loaded Glenna into a van and drove away.”

Stunned, she released her hold on him and stepped back. What had Sheba done?

She found Alex inspecting the big top for tears. “Alex! Glenna’s gone!”

“What?”

She told him what she’d learned, and Alex regarded her grimly. “Let’s go find Sheba.”

The circus owner was in the red wagon, sitting at the desk doing some paperwork. She wore her hair down, and the scooped neck of her persimmon cotton-gauze jumpsuit was outlined with Mexican-style embroidery. Daisy pushed past Alex to get to her. “What have you done with Glenna?”

Sheba looked up. “Why do you want to know?”

“Because I’m in charge of the menagerie. She’s one of my animals, and I’m responsible for her.”

“Excuse me? One of your animals? I don’t think so.”