Kiss an Angel(95)

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.”