Touched by Angels (Angels Everywhere #3)(70)

His hands clenched into fists. “I want you to leave New York,” he said, his voice strained. “You don’t belong here. You and all this nonsense about teaching these kids to wish for the impossible. Try filling Modesto’s head with that garbage now, why don’t you? He’s fighting for his life. We’re light-years away from anything more than survival. You’re beating your head against a stone wall, only you haven’t learned that yet. Personally I don’t want to be the one who’s left to pick up the pieces when you do.”

His words ripped open her heart, and just then she found it impossible to reply.

“There’ll be someone else for you soon enough,” he continued.

“Someone else?” She couldn’t believe he would suggest she was the type to leap from one relationship to the next in some crazy form of emotional hopscotch.

“Who you date is your own business. All I ask is that you leave me out of it.”

It, she reasoned, meant her life. He wanted nothing more to do with her.

Had she possessed a sliver of pride, Brynn would have turned and walked out. Instead she forced herself to stay, even when she knew that it meant more pain.

Her emotions battled with each other. She wanted to strike back at him, hurt him the same way he’d hurt her. And in the next millisecond she longed to throw herself in his arms and beg him to change his mind.

In the end she did neither. From some reserve of strength she knew nothing about, she scrounged up a genuine, heartfelt smile. “You’re right,” she told him, “there will be someone else.” In time. Then, because she couldn’t make herself leave without touching him, Brynn gently placed her hand against his cheek.

A muscle leapt in his face as he steeled himself against her.

“Good-bye, Roberto. Godspeed.”

She dropped her hand and was about to turn away when he reached out and grabbed hold of her shoulder and whirled her around. Crushed against him as she was, Brynn buried her face in his chest and clung. His kiss was hard and urgent, and she knew the moment he released her that he regretted ever having touched her.

“Good-bye, Brynn Cassidy. Have a good life.”

She nearly sobbed aloud, but she managed to hold the emotion inside. “You too, Roberto Alcantara.”

“How can you stand there and do nothing?” Goodness demanded of Shirley. “Roberto should have his head examined.”

“Personally, I agree, but unfortunately he has a free will to decide whatever he wants.”

“Free will? I’m telling you right now that’s the crux of the problem with humans. They can do anything they want, and they’ve let it go to their heads.”

“That’s the whole tamale in a nutshell,” Shirley concurred, then scratched her head, wondering why that sounded wrong.

“I have half a mind to shake up this city.”

Shirley wished Mercy were with her. She’d seen Goodness in this mood before, and it was downright frightening. The last time had been in Bremerton, Washington, when Goodness had gotten her hand on an aircraft carrier. The naval command was still trying to figure that one out.

“Goodness, are you thinking what I think you’re thinking?”

“Someone needs to shake up this town.”

“Personally,” Shirley said, trying to be as diplomatic as possible, “I wouldn’t advise you to mess with New York.”

Goodness appeared unconvinced. “Texas frightens the wings off me, but I can handle New York.”

“I still don’t think this is a good idea.”

“You don’t even know what I’m going to do.”

Shirley didn’t want to know. Oh my, where was Mercy when she really needed her? When Goodness was in this frame of mind, she was more than Shirley could handle alone.

Shirley glanced around her, searching for help.

“Staten Island.”

“No,” Shirley cried in a panic, leaping in front of her friend, “not the Statue of Liberty!”

Goodness pretended not to notice her, which frightened Shirley all the more. “Let me see,” Goodness mumbled, “what could I do to jar a few folks into realizing the error of their ways?”

“Don’t you think we should talk this out first?” Shirley asked hopefully. “I mean, just because matters are going poorly with my assignment, there’s no reason to take it out on the entire city. There’re plenty of good things happening, too.”

Goodness hesitated, and hope surged through Shirley that she might be able to reason her friend out of pulling some disastrous stunt.

“I’m sure everything must be going well with Hannah and Joshua.” As soon as she spoke, Shirley recognized the error of her ways.

“As a matter of fact, they’re not going well at all.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Hannah and Carl have set their wedding date for June sixteenth.”

“But I thought . . . didn’t you say that Hannah had fallen in love with Joshua Shadduck?”

“She has, and he’s head over heels crazy about her.”

Shirley assumed this would be good news. “I thought that was what you wanted.”

“It is.”

Shirley remained puzzled. “The last thing you told me was that Hannah had agreed to break off her engagement with Carl.”