A Season of Angels Page 0,82

he'd asked was that she make room for him.

"Glen?"

"Yes." He reached for her hand, holding it lightly in his own.

Where she found the courage, she didn't know. Didn't question. All at once it was there, like the warming rays of dawn at the end of a long, cold night. "Would you like to marry me?"

At first her words were met with a shock-filled silence. Glen looked at her as if he suspected he hadn't heard her correctly. "Did you just say what I think you did?"

Jody had never been more embarrassed in her life. She hadn't a clue what had prompted her to ask such a thing. All at once the thought was there, and the words had tumbled from her lips like awkward chunks of ice over the edge of a pitcher. She wanted to reach out and jerk back the question, but before she had a chance to do or say anything more, Glen spoke.

"I would consider it the greatest honor of my life to be your husband and Timmy's stepfather."

"I shouldn't have - "

"You should have," Glen interrupted with feeling. "I just never dreamed this would happen so soon." He looked at his watch once more and she could see the regret work its way into his eyes.

"We'll talk about it later," she promised.

"Set the date, Jody. We can shop for an engagement ring this weekend." How eager he sounded, how pleased.

Maybe it wasn't such a crazy idea after all. She'd waited so long and here was an opportunity of a lifetime. Here was a chance of finding happiness and she was grabbing hold of it with both hands.

Yes, it was happening so fast, but that was the way she wanted it. If she had too much time to think about remarrying, she might find an excuse to change her mind.

"Let's get married in January, after the holidays," she blurted out, as Glen headed for the door.

He turned around and flashed her a smile that rivaled the noonday sun. "January it is."

"Yes!" Shirley did a leap into the air off the filing cabinet, both hands raised in jubilation. A stack of papers went flying in all directions and Jody whirled around.

"What was that?" she asked as the papers fluttered to the ground.

Another woman in the office said, "It's that damn heating vent. It sends out a rush of hot air every now and again." She rolled her chair over to Jody. "Here, let me help you pick those up."

Jody looked up and frowned. The heating vent wasn't anywhere near the filing cabinet.

Shirley stayed plastered against the ceiling, her hands covering her mouth. "Oops," she whispered.

"Don't you think we should contact the maintenance man?"

"Naw," the other woman said. "It doesn't happen that often."

"Hey," Jody murmured, "look at this. It's a feather. How do you suppose a feather got in here?"

"I haven't got a clue," her friend said, handing her a stack of papers.

Shirley left before she caused any further damage and ascended directly toward the golden light of heaven, exhilarated with this unexpected turn of events.

To her delight Gabriel was waiting for her.

"Come in, come in," he greeted her. He was a magnificent angel, tall and regal looking, an impressive sight after a steady stream of men of the earth. For a fraction of a second Shirley admired the strength and power exuding from him.

"You're here to report about Timmy Potter?" Gabriel asked in a no-nonsense tone.

"That's right," Shirley said, nodding. "My mission's accomplished, Timmy's mother became engaged to Glen Richardson this morning."

"Glen Richardson," Gabriel repeated. He walked over to the desk where the cumbersome volume was stored and flipped open the thick book. He ran his finger down the page until he found Glen's name, then looked up at Shirley and frowned.

"He's a wonderful man and will make Timmy an excellent father," Shirley hurried to say. She strained her eyes to read what Gabriel seemed to question, but wasn't able to see anything beyond the archangel's massive hand.

"You need to return to earth right away," Gabriel continued. "There's been some misunderstanding. Jody and Timmy are going to need you. The winds of trouble are brewing."

"You can't tell me anything more than that?" Shirley asked. She should have known it wouldn't be this easy, especially since she was so new at this.

"There's nothing more I can tell you," Gabriel said, and she heard the regret in his voice.

"But . . ."

"Go," Gabriel said, spreading his massive wings. "You have work to do."

For years Leah had avoided the infant