The Trouble with Angels (Angels Everywhere #2)(17)

Then Charles smiled briefly, but his gaze didn’t leave the large picture window that gave a panoramic view of Wilshire Boulevard.

Joy leaned in closer and gently squeezed his hand. "I’ll see you in the morning.”

She’d turned away before she heard him speak. His voice was low and scratchy, as if it had been a long time since he’d used it.

"Night, Joy.”

It was the little things like Charles wishing her a good evening that caused Joy to love her job so much. Whistling a favorite Christmas carol, she hurried out to the parking lot. If she didn’t hurry, she’d be late for the opening tip-off.

After tossing her purse onto the backseat of Edith, her ’57 Chevrolet, Joy started the cranky engine. She knew she should have traded in this car for something more modern years ago, but she really loved antiques.

"Come on, old girl,” she said when the battery didn’t immediately fire to life. "One more time for the Gipper,” she encouraged.

Edith responded with a low whine.

"You were just fine this morning,” Joy reminded her. "Remember, I fed you gas and oil and promised you a wax job this weekend.”

Edith’s only answer was another sick-sounding whine, followed by an even sicker choke.

"All right,” Joy muttered, "be that way. I’ll call triple A, and those big men with the large mean truck will come and want to know all about your private parts.”

Disgruntled, Joy climbed out of her car. She couldn’t imagine what could possibly be wrong. Her father, who happened to be the world’s greatest mechanic, kept Edith in top running condition. Unfortunately her father had tickets to the basketball game that evening, and she’d be stuck calling for a tow truck.

Joy was walking back toward the retirement center when a flashy red spots car pulled up. The door opened, and Ted Griffin got out.

Joy hesitated, wondering what Catherine’s grandson was doing back so soon.

"I’ll only be a minute, sweetheart,” he told the woman inside. He straightened and glanced casually at Joy. His eyes widened, and all at once he started running toward her.

Ted Griffin grabbed Joy around the waist and pulled her out of the path of her very own vehicle. Edith, apparently under her own power, merrily plowed into the side of his car, then sat there purring as if her engine were as finely tuned as an expensive European model’s.

5

"Oh, my goodness. Oh, dear.” Joy raced to Ted’s fancy sports car to examine the damage. "Edith,” she cried, angrily slapping her hand against her vehicle’s shiny trunk, "what’s gotten into you?”

"What the hell happened?” Blythe leaped out of the passenger side and glared indignantly at Joy.

"Darling.” Ted dashed to her side. "Are you all right?”

"I’ve just been struck by a runaway vehicle,” she raged. "How do you expect me to feel?”

"Would you like me to call a medic?” Joy asked, wanting to do what she could to help.

"Don’t be ridiculous.”

"I think maybe you should sit down a moment,” Ted suggested, leading Blythe safely inside the retirement center. Once she was seated in the foyer, Ted knelt in front of her.

Blythe held herself stiff and stared angrily at Joy, as if Joy had intentionally rammed her car into Ted’s. "Exactly what were you trying to do? Kill me?”

"No-o-o,” Joy said quickly, stammering in her rush to reassure the woman. "I can’t tell you how sorry I am. I don’t know what came over Edith. I had the car keys in my hand. See?” She held them up for Blythe’s inspection. "How Edith’s engine could have started up on her own that way is beyond me.”

"Do you always refer to your car as Edith?” Blythe made the practice sound juvenile and silly.

"She’s like a friend, you see.”

"Friend or not, you’re going have to pay for this,” Blythe insisted, her voice high and hysterical.

"Of course. There was never any question of that,” Joy was quick to assure her. She didn’t want to think what this small accident would do to her insurance premiums, but she had no choice. Edith was responsible.

"That was my car you slammed into.”

"Blythe,” Ted said, his voice calm and reasonable, "settle down. The important thing is that no one was injured.”

"What about my car?” Blythe screeched in a most unladylike fashion. "It’s only been out of the showroom two months. I knew we should have taken your car.”

Ted pinched his lips together. "I’ll check the damage myself.”

"I’m going with you,” Joy said, and followed Ted, unwilling to be left alone with Blythe, who no doubt would find more reasons to lambaste her.

Outside, the two vehicles were parked perpendicular to each other. Edith’s nose rested gently against the driver’s side, as lightly as if she were giving the highly polished red door a peck on the cheek. Joy noticed her car’s engine had stopped as mysteriously as it had started.

"I’ll back Edith away from your vehicle,” she volunteered, "but she wouldn’t start earlier. That’s why I was headed back to my office. I’m terribly sorry, but I can’t explain what happened.”

"Don’t worry about it. These crazy things sometimes happen.”