Touched by Angels Page 0,32

up residence nearby.

Brynn Cassidy was everything Emilio had said. Bright. Intelligent. Pretty. Roberto feared his younger brother was half in love with her himself. But this spunky teacher was off-limits to the both of them, and Roberto knew it. It would be best if he never saw her again.

Funny how a woman could be so dangerous; but Roberto had recognized it from the first moment they'd met. Brynn Cassidy just might teach him to dream, too.

Friday evening Brynn arrived at the gymnasium behind St. Philip's. She walked into the gaily decorated room and stopped to admire the decorations. Red and green streamers were looped across the ceiling from one end of the room to the other. A refreshment table was set up alongside the folded bleachers.

"Hello, Miss Cassidy." The first one to greet her was Suzie Chang, who looked exceptionally pretty in a dark blue silk pants suit.

"Oh, Suzie, you look so nice."

The Chinese girl lowered her head and blushed. "So do you."

Brynn hadn't been exactly sure what to wear and had opted for a blouse and skirt and patent-leather flats. Although she'd attended a number of school dances at St. Mary's, she'd never actually served as a chaperone. Generally the girls' school relied on parents and members of the PTA.

"Miss Cassidy," Emilio called. He helped himself to a handful of cookies. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm a chaperone."

"Hey, that's cool. So's my brother."

Brynn hadn't recognized Roberto without his coveralls. She hadn't given Roberto much notice before, but now . . . caught by his piercing dark eyes, Brynn found it difficult to look away.

"Hello, Roberto."

"Miss Cassidy." He nodded politely in her direction.

The music started. It came from a sound system with large speakers that blared from the front of the stage. No one seemed to want to be the first one on the dance floor.

"Hey, you two," Emilio said. "Shouldn't you start the dancing or something?"

Hannah needed to talk to Joshua. It was important that she return the gloves as soon as possible. It was wrong of her to have kept them this long. Then to walk past him on the street and pretend that she didn't know him was a terrible insult. She'd witnessed for herself the surprise and confusion in his gaze. Yet she was forever grateful that he'd read her silent message and hadn't greeted her. Hannah didn't know how she would explain knowing him to her mother.

For herself, Hannah was both bewildered and guilty, and she felt like a coward. It was unfair to Joshua to lead him to believe that she was free to care for him. Unfair to Carl, who'd courted her faithfully these many months. She'd juggled with her conscience until she couldn't think straight any longer.

"I do wish we weren't doing this," Hannah said to her mother.

"Doing what?" Ruth questioned. "Buying my daughter a trousseau? Don't be ridiculous."

"We haven't set the wedding date yet."

"You will soon enough." In the eyes of her parents she was all but married to Carl Rabinsky.

"Your father and I have patiently waited all these years for a man who was worthy of you."

A lifetime of accepting what her parents felt was right was what helped Hannah hold her tongue.

"Such a wedding you'll have," Ruth promised, her eyes alight with excitement.

Hannah found she couldn't look at her mother.

"Your father's already talking about the food for the reception. I promise you it will be one that people will talk about for years to come. You are our only child. God's gift to us. Our joy."

"Mama, what if I don't love Carl?"

Her mother hesitated, but for only a moment. "Nonsense. I know you, Hannah, you wouldn't have agreed to be his wife if you didn't love him. Carl will make you a good husband. Every girl has doubts when it comes time to pledge her heart to one man."

"What if I'd met another man?"

"Who?" her mother demanded as if this were impossible.

"Someone I liked very much and would like to know better."

Her mother frowned and shook her head. "You won't. But if you do, then talk to Carl. Tell him your thoughts."

"I will," Hannah promised, but she had the feeling that it would be even more difficult to discuss this matter with Carl than with her mother.

"Now come along, we have lots to buy."

Hannah shuffled along beside her mother. Never had she dreamed that she would dread a shopping expedition the way she did this one.

It was in Saks Fifth Avenue that her mother stopped. "Shall we look at