The Trouble with Angels (Angels Everywhere #2)(44)

"You’re not a passing fancy,” he said for what seemed the hundredth time. "I like you. I want to get to know you better.”

"Then I suggest you get to know some other woman,” she returned in completely reasonable tones. For now she intrigued him, but when the time came, Joy knew beyond a doubt that he’d go back to Blythe.

"All right,” Ted said, ramming his fingers through his hair, "we’ll do this your way. One date, but I’m not going to waste it on an ordinary dinner.”

"Another basketball game,” she suggested.

"No.” He looked at his wristwatch. "Do you have time for coffee?”

"Coffee?”

"Yes. This is not a date, understand? I want the two of us to sit down together so I can ask you a series of questions.”

"What kind of questions?” Joy didn’t like the sound of this.

"Things that will help me know you better.”

"Why?” she asked skeptically.

His look was filled with wide-eyed innocence. "So I can decide what we should do for our one and only date.”

Joy didn’t understand why he had to make this so difficult. "Can’t we just go to dinner and be done with it?”

"No. If you’ll only agree to go out with me once…” He let the rest fade, implying that her stubbornness had brought this on.

"Oh, all right,” she said with a complete lack of graciousness. "There’s coffee in the dining room. They’re getting ready to serve dinner, so I suggest we take it into my office and talk there.”

"Whatever you say.”

Joy never could walk across the foyer without stopping to chat with the residents. Acting as advocate and ombudsman for the tenants, she felt it was important to know as much about each one as they were comfortable sharing.

Charles sat on the same chair he occupied most days and was staring sightlessly into the distance. Forgetting Ted was with her, Joy paused and sat down next to the old man.

"Hello, Charles,” she said softly.

He smiled, or perhaps it was wishful thinking on her part. "I met with the library committee this afternoon, and I was wondering if you might consider doing a small job for us during the literary tea? We’re going to need someone to collect donations. Do you think you might like that job?”

He said nothing, gave no indication he’d heard her question.

Joy leaned over and patted his hand. "You think about it, and we’ll talk in the morning.”

Ted was waiting for her just outside the double glass doors that led to the dining room.

"I’m sorry,” she said. "I needed to ask Charles something before it slipped my mind.”

"Did he hear you?”

"Of course,” she answered, knowing she sounded defensive. "Just because he didn’t clap his hands and sing ‘Glory, hallelujah!’ doesn’t mean he didn’t hear and understand me.”

Ted’s gaze narrowed as he studied her. "You really love these people, don’t you?”

"‘These people,’ as you call them, are men and women like your grandmother. This isn’t a nursing home, and the residents don’t need extensive medical care. They’re retired. They’ve lived productive lives and are determined to continue to do so. Charles is the exception. Sometimes his mind fades away into a time you and I will never know. Don’t judge him for that.”

"All right,” Ted agreed, "I won’t.”

Joy expelled her breath forcefully, regretting her outburst. "I was more touchy than I should have been. I apologize.”

"No problem.”

She led him into the kitchen, which bustled with activity. The scent of fresh bread baking mingled with roast beef and vegetables. She handed Ted a cream-colored ceramic mug and led him to the huge coffee machine. When they’d both filled their mugs, she returned to her office and sat behind at her desk.

"Okay,” she said, forcing herself to relax, "what is it you want to know?”

Ted settled onto the chair as if it had been custom made for him. He crossed his long legs, propping his ankle against his knee, and held the mug with one hand. "Have you ever been in love?”

Hot coffee spilled out of the cup and burned Joy’s chin. "What’s that got to do with anything?”

"Quite a lot, as it happens.”

In an effort to disguise her uneasiness, she sipped her coffee. "I fell in love three times when I was in high school. Unfortunately not a one of the boys knew my name.” Now that she thought about it, it was clear that her pattern of worshiping from afar had began early in life.

"I mean really in love?” he pressed.

She set the coffee on her desk with a deliberate show of impatience. "If these are the kinds of questions you’re going to ask, then the deal’s off.”

He grinned as if to suggest she’d have a much harder time getting rid of him than she suspected. "All right, there are a few other questions I can ask.”

She relaxed and reached for her coffee once more. All this was for naught, and she knew it. It irritated her that she was forced into this silliness.

For now she was the brightest, most appealing woman he’d ever met. All that, of course, would change as soon as he got over the becoming-engaged jitters. Billy, one of her brothers, had shown identical symptoms. Her parents had been ready to pull their hair out.