Touched by Angels (Angels Everywhere #3)(92)

“What do you say, Miss Cassidy?”

Frankly, Brynn was left speechless.

“Say something,” Emilio urged.

“I don’t know . . . I just don’t know.”

“Give the girl some room to breathe.” Parents and teens parted so Father Grady could make his way to the front.

“Father Grady!”

“You didn’t know I was here? My dear, I was the one who drove the bus.”

“You brought the church bus?” Brynn placed both hands over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

“Roberto’s driving it around the block, looking for a place to park now.”

“Roberto.” Brynn whispered his name.

“I’m telling you right now, Teach,” Emilio advised from the corner of his mouth, “you have to be patient with my brother, but once he learns something, you’ll never have to teach him again.”

She caught sight of Roberto just then, hurrying down the corridor, breathing hard. He slowed his pace when he saw her.

“Will you stay, Miss Cassidy?”

Brynn reached out and touched Yolanda’s face. Then, because it seemed to be so important to everyone else, she nodded.

A loud cheer went up, and Brynn’s next-door neighbor opened the door and stuck out her head. “Ralph, I told you there was a party going on in the hallway. Come and look.”

“Hello, Mrs. Camden,” Brynn called, and waved.

“Is everyone invited?” her neighbor asked.

“Of course,” Father Grady answered. “Come with us. We got what we came for.” One by one they filed down the hallway. Lorraine Camden and her husband joined the line, chattering as they went.

“Where are we going?” Brynn heard the older woman ask.

“To the bus,” someone answered.

“Ralph, they have a bus.”

“Yes, Lorraine, I heard.”

Soon only Brynn and Roberto were left. She led him inside her apartment and closed the door. With her back pressed against it, she studied him.

Finally, when she couldn’t stand not to know any longer, she asked, “You want me to stay, too?”

He avoided eye contact. “It’s a dangerous neighborhood.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Yes!” he shouted, as if it made him mad to have to say it. “I want you to stay.”

“Why?” She wasn’t going to make it easy for him.

“Because you’re a damn good teacher and there isn’t a student in your class who didn’t protest when they learned you were leaving.”

She took two steps away from the door. “I’m not talking about my students. I’m asking why you don’t want me to leave.”

“Me?” He swallowed uncomfortably, then pointed to the door. “Father Grady might have a problem driving the bus. It would be better if we continued this conversation some other time.”

She laughed softly. “Not on your life, buster.”

To her amazement, Roberto broke out laughing. “Buster. That’s exactly why I love you so damn much, Brynn Cassidy. The worst you can think to call me is Buster.” He whispered something in Spanish.

“If you love me, then why were you so eager to be rid of me?”

He channeled his fingers through his hair and sighed audibly. “Because I love you. This neighborhood has a way of dragging people down. Eventually it would happen to you, and I couldn’t bear to sit by and watch that.”

“As long as you’re with me that’s not going to happen. We can help one another.”

He buried both hands deep in his pockets. “I’d like to be self-sacrificing and send you back to that fancy girls’ school, but I can’t. The problem is I need you as much as Emilio and his friends.”

“That’s a start,” she said, smiling through her tears. She held her arms out to him.

Roberto reached for her and kissed her gently.

“I need you, too, Roberto . . . so much,” she whispered, kissing him freely and fully.

Roberto groaned and forced her lips to part beneath his. His tongue probed hers in a silken dance, then plunged forward, unleashing a fiery passion.

At last, groaning, he broke away. “Come with me.”

“Where?”

“Onto the bus. Father Grady can’t drive worth beans.”

“Where are we headed?”

“Church,” he told her. “Do you mind?”

She laughed. “No, I don’t mind. It seems like the perfect place for us to be on Christmas Eve.”

The weather was perfect for such a night. Trey glanced at the clear, bright sky as he made his way from the house to the barn. When he’d finished feeding the horses and settling them down for the evening, he planned on stopping off at the Lancasters’ for some of Dillon’s wassail. It had become tradition that he join Jenny’s family for the Christmas Eve celebration.

He’d eat dinner with them, and then they’d attend church services together. The last couple of years the family had invited him to stay for the gift opening, but Trey had refused.

He’d often spent time with the Lancasters on the off chance they could tell him something about Jenny. This year he knew everything there was to know. He’d go for dinner and attend the evening church service, and then, as always, he’d head home. Alone.