A Season of Angels Page 0,81

tell her dead son what a terrible wife Jody was?

Somehow it did.

It unsettled her that Gloria's opinion of her was so important. Jody had been a good wife. No woman could have possibly loved Jeff more. No woman could have grieved harder, or longer - except, possibly, his mother.

Because of Timmy it was impossible for Jody to isolate her life the way Gloria had. Because of Timmy she was forced to deal with the present. She'd done a good job, or at least she assumed she had until her son had written his letter to God. Timmy needed her, not to look back and weep with her pain, but to stand tall and proud and to point the direction of their future.

Jody had no more than settled down at her desk, her thoughts more confused than ever, when Glen Richardson arrived. She looked up at the attorney's warm, concerned face, and felt an immediate sense of serenity.

He had a calming affect on her and had from the first. It hadn't taken long for him to become a good friend, and she'd never needed one more.

"How'd it go with your mother-in-law?" he asked, sitting on the edge of her desk.

Jody averted her gaze. "Not good."

"She's a lonely old woman."

"I know," Jody said, "but somehow that doesn't make this any easier."

Glen's eyes were sympathetic. "I'm sure it doesn't. How's Timmy?"

"Great. He's checking the water in the tree stand every morning just the way you said. I swear, he's brought every kid in the neighborhood home to show them the Christmas tree he cut down by himself."

"Hey, don't I get any credit?"

"Apparently not. He's got the neighborhood believing he's a regular lumberjack. He wanted to wear his plaid shirt and boots to school this morning. It seems he's got an image to live up to now."

Glen chuckled, but then his eyes grew serious. "I hope you don't mind, but I bought Timmy a baseball mitt for Christmas. I realize it was presumptuous of me to do something like that without talking to you first."

Jody wasn't sure how she felt about Glen giving them presents. It was thoughtful, yes, but baseball mitts were expensive and it seemed to imply that there was something more than mere friendship.

"The mitt he showed me is too small for his hand," Glen explained. "I'm surprised his coach let him play with it. If Timmy's going to pitch, and he certainly seems to have his heart set on that, then he'll need a properly fitting mitt."

"It was very kind of you, Glen."

"But?" He scooted off her desk, and seemed to be waiting for her to chastise him.

"Timmy will think he's in heaven." Jody couldn't make herself berate Glen. She wouldn't have known Timmy's mitt was too small if Glen hadn't told her. If anything, he'd proved Timmy's point. Her son needed a father's loving guidance.

Glen looked at his watch. "I better get back to my office. I have to be in court later this morning."

"Thanks for stopping by."

"No problem. How about dinner one night this week?"

Before Jody even thought about what she was doing, she nodded.

This was a pivotal moment for her.

She'd welcomed another man into her life, calmly accepted his companionship. She had taken for granted that she would see Glen again and soon. More earth-shattering was how much she was looking forward to spending more time with him.

Some of what she was feeling must have leaked into her eyes, because Glen didn't leave. Slowly, he walked around to her side of the desk, claimed a second chair, and sat down next to her.

"What just happened?" he asked, leaning forward and bracing his elbows on his knees. "Something clicked in your mind just now. I could see it as plain as day. Tell me what it was."

"I realized how pleased I was that we're dating."

He laughed, and Jody was certain he didn't understand the significance of what she was saying. For the last seven years she'd lived her life in limbo. The still, shadow-filled existence had become a shelter to her. It had protected her from exposing her heart to any additional pain. What she had missed in all those years, wrapped in a cocoon of safety, didn't bear thinking about.

Now here, out of the blue, like a miracle, was a man who'd gently pushed and prodded his way past the barriers of her resolve. A man who hadn't asked her to stop loving Jeff. He hadn't attempted to push her dead husband out of her life. All