The Trouble With Angels Page 0,69

damn near put my fist through the wall."

"Angry? But why?"

"If Pam had been there, it never would have happened. I wouldn't be coming in from the barn and left to deal with dinner for Paula and me. It'd be on the table." His smile was filled with a wry sadness. "In my heart I know Pam didn't want to die any more than we wanted her to, but I still had to learn to forgive her." Thom raised the coffee mug to his lips and hesitated. "It might help you."

"What might?"

"Forgiving Brian."

Maureen stared at him, hardly able to believe what he'd said. "Forgive Brian? You've got to be kidding."

It might have been Joy's imagination, but even the air seemed to chill between her and Ted, trapped as they were in the elevator.

He hadn't spoken in ten minutes or longer. Those minutes were probably the most intense of Joy's life. Her legs were growing tired, and she wondered just how much longer it would take for the electricity to return so she could escape these uncomfortable circumstances. She wondered what had happened to cause the outage; her fears mounted.

"You can sit on my jacket if you like," Ted suggested, breaking the quiet.

"I'm fine," she returned, and then, because it had been a generous thing to do, she added, "Thanks for the offer, though."

A silence, then, "You're welcome."

Joy smiled into the darkness, and she had the distinct impression that Ted was grinning, too, although she had no way of knowing if that were so.

The elevator car remained pitch-black. It amazed her how much she could feel in the dark. How alive her senses were, sharing this compact space with him. Ted was as far removed from her as was humanly possible. She could feel his breath on the back of her neck, feel the heavy thud of his heartbeat.

"I wish I had a match," she said, thinking out loud. The lack of light was dangerous to her emotional well-being. Already she was moving closer to him, mentally, if not physically. After fifteen minutes alone with him, she was thinking that her steadfast rule about dating a man involved with someone else should be more of a guideline.

"Matches," Ted repeated. "Don't tell me you're afraid of the bogeyman?"

"No. Well, maybe a little," she conceded.

It grew tiresome to stand after a while, and her feet were beginning to hurt. "If you don't mind, I'll take you up on that offer," she said.

"The coat or the date?"

"The coat."

"Damn," he muttered.

Joy could hear the laughter in his voice. She wished she didn't find it so easy to smile when she was with him. A rustling sound followed as he removed his suit coat and spread it on the floor.

"It seems a shame to dirty your jacket."

"There's nothing here the dry cleaners can't remove."

Fumbling with her hands to find her way, Joy lowered herself onto his suit jacket. She sat with her legs scooted to one side and her weight leveled onto one arm.

Sitting, she soon discovered, meant being close was unavoidable. She didn't need their shoulders to touch to feel his presence. He was there, bigger than life.

"I apologize for snapping at you," she said, regretting her earlier behavior. It wasn't his fault the electricity had gone out, although she would have been happy to blame him.

"My temperament wasn't any better," he admitted, and then with regret added, "What's happened to us, Joy? We used to be friends, remember? Good friends. I've never enjoyed an evening more than the one I spent at the Lakers game with you."

"Yes, well - "

"When I'm with you," he said, cutting her off, "I feel everything more intensely. Hell, I don't even know what I did that was so terrible. Okay, okay, I know it has to do with Blythe - "

"I don't think it's a good idea for us to talk."

"Not talk?" He sounded incredulous.

"About us," she clarified. "I can't see beating the subject into the ground, can you?" Any further discussion would lead to more hurt, and she'd been miserable enough the last few days. In her heart of hearts she'd accepted that he was going to marry Blythe Homes.

"I see." His words were pensive. "If you'd give me an opportunity, I'd like to tell you about Blythe and me."

"Please, no," she said quickly before he had a chance to drag the other woman between them. Not that Blythe wasn't already there, as bold as could be. She had been since the beginning: suave, sophisticated, reminding Joy