The Trouble with Angels (Angels Everywhere #2)(87)

He smiled warmly when he saw Catherine and hurried to her side. Gripping her gently by the shoulder, he kissed her cheek with a loud smack. "Say, what’s going on around here?”

"We’re having our literary tea.” She didn’t want to ask him what he was doing there in the middle of the day, but by the same token she was curious.

"Where’s Joy?” he wanted to know, looking past Catherine. Without waiting for permission, he reached for a chocolate-chip cookie.

"Ted!” she chastised.

"Wasn’t that for me?”

"It most certainly was not.”

"Sorry.” But he sounded anything but. Catherine had rarely seen him in a more cheerful frame of mind.

"Do you know where I can find Joy?” he asked a second time.

"Why?”

"Because I need to talk to her. I’ll explain everything to you later, I promise.”

Catherine was of two minds. She didn’t want Ted abusing Joy’s heart, but she wasn’t willing to lie to him, either. "Joy arrived a few moments ago. She’s probably still in her office. But Ted, please, be good to her.”

"I plan on doing that for a very long while. Thanks, Grandma,” he said, and kissed her again. When her back was turned, he reached around her and grabbed a second cookie.

Joy yawned as she locked her purse in the bottom desk drawer. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this tired. After the literary tea, she could relax. She straightened, and her gaze collided with that of Ted Griffin. He stood in her doorway, taking up nearly the entire space. He crossed his arms and his ankles and was smiling at her with a wide, cocky grin.

"Ted?” She resisted the effort to rub her eyes. First she was hearing voices, now she feared she might be seeing visions as well.

"Yup, it’s me.” He moved into the room and sat on the chair across from her. She had a new calendar ready for the upcoming year on the corner of her desk, and he reached for that. After flipping several pages, he looked up at her. "What are you doing April twenty-seventh?”

"April twenty-seventh?” she echoed. "I don’t know. Why? Stop. Before you say another word, you’d better tell me what you’re doing here.” Standing required some effort. He had the most curious weakening effect upon her.

"First answer my question.”

The man frustrated her no end. She felt like tossing her hands in the air. "April. Nothing. I’m doing nothing.”

"Great. How would you like to get married that day?”

"Sure, do you have anyone in mind? Or are you going to pull some poor, unsuspecting stranger off the street and ask if he’d be interested in marrying me?”

"I wasn’t planning on anything that drastic. The fact is I was counting on you marrying me.”

Joy had no trouble finding the chair. She toppled straight onto it. "You?”

"The way I figure it, April should give you plenty of time to get together everything you need for a fancy wedding. Talk to your mother, and if you need more time, let me know.”

Joy couldn’t have managed an entire sentence had her life depended on it. "Blythe?”

"Ah, yes, Blythe. I suppose we’d best clear up that subject once and for all. She came to me, explained that she was pregnant.”

Joy sucked in her breath.

"Not to worry, I’m not the father.”

"But…”

"I know. She was desperate enough to lie about it and then had a change of heart. For all her faults, Blythe isn’t a bad person. She’s made a few mistakes, but then we’ve all done that.”

Joy nodded repeatedly.

"She knew I was in love with you.”

"You love me?” The question was barely above a whisper.

"I generally don’t propose to women I don’t love, with the one exception of Blythe. Now may I go on?”

"Please.”

"To her credit, Blythe realized she couldn’t continue with the lie. It took a tremendous amount of courage for her to break matters off when she did.”

"How’s she doing?” Joy asked.

Ted’s gaze grew sober. "She’s decided to have the baby. I went with her to a couple of local adoption agencies yesterday. She isn’t sure what she wants to do yet. I was pleased that neither agency pressured her. She’s agreed to counseling, which will help. I told her we’d help her any way we could.”

"We’d help her?”

"Do you mind?”

"No.” Joy smiled, more than willing to be generous to the other woman in spite of the problems she’d caused.

"So,” Ted said, and heaved a sigh, "what’s the verdict? Are you willing to put up with my irritating habits, love me for the next fifty to seventy years, and bear my children?”

Joy had the most incredible urge to cry. Nodding enthusiastically, she reached for a tissue. "I love you so damn much,” she choked out between sobs, and then noisily blew her nose.

Ted’s grin was slow and sensual. "Yes, I know.”

She waved her hand at him, and he laughed.

Joy didn’t know who got up first, but soon they were in each other’s arms. Their kiss was deep and heady. By the time they broke apart, Joy was convinced April wouldn’t be soon enough to suit either of them.