Arms of an Angel (8 page)

Garrett looked down at his own clothes. “And
I look like a bumpkin?” he muttered as he watched her slip into
calf-height high-heeled boots. “You’re the one wearing boots!”

“
Very funny!” she retorted.
“You’re quite the comedian.” There was no humor in her voice.
Garrett sighed and dropped his head as he followed her from the
room to the front door. This was going to be a long
drive.

* * * * *

An hour and forty minutes later they pulled
to a stop outside his parent’s home. It had been a silent trip.
Garrett wondered momentarily if she would even get out of the car,
though his mother stepping out onto the porch garnered both of
their attention. He glanced at Claire. Her stony expression had
changed to fear and humility. Garrett wanted to assure her, but he
knew his words would be unwelcome. Instead he got out of the car
and met his mom as she came forward.

“
Hi Mom.” He kissed her
cheek and she patted his.

“
It’ll be okay,” she
whispered as she walked on toward the car. “I’m glad you’re
here.”

Garrett didn’t look back, turning only after
he was on the porch.

Claire took a deep breath and opened the car
door as Garrett’s mom approached. She stepped out feeling
completely awkward and uncomfortable in her tight fitting, low cut,
designer dress, sweater, leggings, and boots. She pulled the flimsy
sweater tighter about her, trying to somehow hide what lay beneath.
Perhaps his mother wouldn’t see past her outer exterior, Claire
thought. Though women notoriously knew what was inside.

Margarette O’Bryan smiled a most welcoming
smile at the lovely creature that stepped from her son’s car. She
was every bit as beautiful as Garrett had said. Margarette took in
the high-brow glamour of her clothing. Everything about her spoke
of a woman of society and wealth. She looked like she might have
stepped from the pages of a high dollar fashion magazine.
Margarette knew it was a façade, though deep inside she was sure
there was a woman every bit as beautiful that simply needed help in
believing herself worthy.

“
You must be Claire.” She
extended a hand to the younger woman. “Garrett sent me a text that
said he’d invited you. We’re so very glad you decided to come.” She
kept Claire’s hand in hers as she began the journey back to the
house.

Claire eyed Garrett as he held open the door.
He smiled and shrugged. She was wondering how much about her he’d
shared. God, his mother seemed so kind. Claire saw no signs of
disapproval. Please, please she thought glancing up, please let her
like me.

“
James?” Margarette called
as they entered the house. Claire breathed in and held it for a
moment, foretelling her nervousness. Ah yes, the father test.
Margarette patted her hand reassuringly as an older version of
Garrett entered the room carrying a rather squirmy little girl. He
tickled her and smiled as he sat her down.

“
Daddy!” she shrieked in
excitement as she ran to Garrett.

He scooped her up in his arms and smothered
her with kisses as she giggled.

“
How’s my girl?” he asked
her as he glanced cautiously at Claire.

“
Happy,” she told him as she
grasped his face in her tiny hands and rubbed noses with him. She
then turned her cherubic face to Claire, “Hi!”

“
Hi,” Claire returned
quietly. Garrett’s mother released her hand and nudged her gently
in the direction of father and child. Margarette had carefully
watched Claire’s reaction as the scene had unfolded. She knew the
younger woman was shocked. She’d told Garrett he needed to tell her
about Chloe but he’d insisted she just needed to see. Too many
women were scared off from a man with another woman’s child.
Claire, on the other hand, needed that child as much as she needed
the man, if only she’d let herself realize that.

Claire glanced at Garrett as she approached.
“Daddy?” she whispered.

He nodded. “She’s all mine,” he said. “Chloe,
this is my friend, Claire,” he told the little girl. “I’ve been
wanting her to meet you.”

Chloe held out her hands for Claire to take
her, which Claire did, of course.

“
Chloe.” She tried the
child’s name. Chloe nodded and smiled as Claire ran a hand across
her silky, blonde hair. Chloe patted Claire’s cheeks, studied her
mass of dark curls then became fixated on the blue pendant around
Claire’s neck.

“
Pretty… like you,” Chloe
told her.

“
It matches your eyes,”
Claire told her. It was obvious she was completely absorbed by the
tiny figure in her arms. Garrett looked at his mother. She inclined
her head toward the living room.

“
Let’s go this way,” he
whispered to Claire as he took her shoulders in his hands and
directed her to the other room. She didn’t resist. Chloe continued
to play with her necklace.

“
Here,” Chloe said pointing
to the big rug in front of the fireplace.

“
Chloe,” Garrett jumped in,
“Claire may not feel comfortable on the floor…”

“
It’s okay,” Claire
protested as she sat the little girl down and lowered herself to
the floor beside her. Delighted, Chloe reached for her toy basket
and began to share her favorites with Claire. Garrett went to sit
in one of the two big chairs across the end table from his dad.
James tried to ease his tension with general talk. Margarette went
off to start their lunch. Garrett could hear her humming from the
kitchen. He tried to concentrate on the conversation with his dad
though his eyes and attention wandered constantly back to the two
in front of the fireplace.

As they played, Claire occasionally touched
the tiny girl’s golden hair or ran a hand down her petite arm. Her
eyes were warm. She was savoring every moment.

Chloe returned time and again to the pendant
around Claire’s neck.

“
You like that, don’t you?”
a crossed-legged Claire asked the little girl who sat on her lap
once again fingering the bauble.

Chloe nodded, looked at it and then into
Claire’s eyes. “Your eyes. Same too.”

“
Sometimes,” Claire agreed.
“Though not as pretty as yours.” She tickled Chloe as she spoke and
they both laughed. Chloe rubbed noses with her, making Claire teary
eyed. Claire pulled her into a tight hug.

“
Lunch is ready,” Margarette
announce from the doorway. Claire felt suddenly embarrassed. She’d
been so completely mesmerized by the child she’d nearly forgotten
the others. She glanced at Garrett as he came toward them and held
out his hand to help her up.

“
Chloe girl, I’ll race you
to the sink,” James told his granddaughter. “Let’s get washed up.”
Chloe bounced up quickly and ran from the room with James in her
wake.

Claire stood before Garrett fighting back
unwanted, unexplained tears. They stared at one another until he
pulled her to him.

“
Why didn’t you tell me?”
she whispered against his chest as he stroked her hair.

“
I wanted you to see her
first.” He shrugged. “I guess I was afraid…” He tipped her chin up
to him. “I thought if you met her… maybe you’d realize we need
you.” He kissed her. “I’ve fallen in love with you, Claire.
With
you
, as is. I
think we compliment each other pretty well with what we have to
offer. I think it’s a pretty good fit.” He paused for a moment.
“Will you let us in?” He placed his hand over her heart. “Both of
us?”

“
I wanted to let you in for
a long time now. But I was so scared. You really want me… as
is?”

He nodded and smiled as his hand felt the
pendant.

“
Pretty,” he told her. “Like
you.” They both laughed. He kissed her again as she hugged him
tightly. “We’d better get in to lunch before they send out a search
party in the form of a 2 ½ year old.”

They walked from the room arm in arm causing
both Garrett’s parents to beam in approval as they entered the
kitchen.

“
Sit here, Claire,” Chloe
pointed to the chair next to her. “Okay Daddy?”

“
Of course.” He pulled out
the chair for Claire, then went to sit on the other side of the
table, across from his two girls.

Chloe seemed concerned as Garrett and Claire
began to prepare to leave.

“
You come back?” she asked
as she clung to Claire.

“
Oh yes, Chloe. I’ll be
back, and soon, I hope.” She wanted to tell Chloe she hoped it
wouldn’t be long before Garrett took her and Chloe to live with him
as a family, but she still wasn’t certain of his exact intentions,
even after all he’d tried to convey before the fireplace in his
parents’ living room.

“
You sure?” Chloe
questioned.

“
Cross my heart.” It was an
assurance she’d received often from her own mother. Her finger
caught on the pendant chain as she made the criss-cross on her
chest. She sat down on the chair nearby with Chloe on her lap and
removed the necklace. As she placed it around Chloe’s neck she
asked her, “Will you watch this for me until I come
back?”

Chloe nodded as she fingered the bauble.
“Gram! Look!” She held it up for Margarette to see.

“
Come show me, baby.”
Margarette held out her hands and Chloe scurried off Claire’s lap
giving Claire the opportunity to finish getting ready to
leave.

“
Bye, Daddy.” Chloe kissed
her dad as he hugged his mother and his child. “Call
me.”

“
Every day. Just like
always.”

“
Claire, thank you for
coming. Our door is always open,” James told her as he helped her
into the little sweater.

“
Thank you. It was my
pleasure. I’ll look forward to returning.” Claire looked from James
to Margarette with gratitude. She blew a kiss to Chloe as Garrett
ushered her out the door.

The couple rode in silence for about fifteen
minutes before Garrett ventured a comment. “This isn’t going to be
like it was on the way up, is it? That was a really long trip.”

Claire had been staring out her widow. She
turned to look at him. “How can you bear to leave her?”

Garrett thought for a
moment, trying to find the words to explain what he felt in his
heart. “I love her enough to know she needs more than I alone can
give her. What kind of life would that be for her with me in the
city? Spending the better part of her days with a sitter of some
sort so I could satisfy my desire for a few short hours with her
every evening? I want her with me, Claire… but not without the
right woman to share our lives. Did you hear what I said? Not
just
any
woman -
the
right
woman.”

“
You’re sure? You’re really
sure, Garrett?” She was suddenly fearful. Her inability was still
there. It hadn’t gone away. Neither had the pain embedded by the
years of rejection by her father.

He reached for her hand. “I’m satisfied with
what I have, Claire. I don’t need a son to make me whole. I want a
good life for Chloe. I’d like to see you as a contented part of our
lives. Besides,” he gently squeezed her hand a couple of times, “I
could attempt to fill a house full of children and there’d be no
guarantee I’d ever have a son anyway. I’m happy with what I’ve been
given. I’d rather spend my time helping others and knowing that
gift is what makes me live on. Not my name or my blood line. People
that can’t see beyond their own selfish desires are not happy
people, Claire. I don’t want to live my life lamenting with what I
can’t do or don’t have. I want to enjoy what I do and spread that
joy to others who need it.”

Claire was silent again for a few moments.
“You really are an earthly angel.”

He brought her hand to his lips and kissed
the back of her fingers. “So you’ll let me replace your mother’s
rings with a set of your own? No more doubts?”

“
No more doubts…”

“
But?” he asked. He could
hear the hesitation in her voice.

“
Where’s Chloe’s mom,
Garrett?”

He shook his head. Claire wasn’t sure if that
meant he didn’t know or he wasn’t going to answer her. Then he
began to talk.

“
Elaine and I had been
married for five years when she got pregnant with Chloe. She’d
finished her education, my practice was just starting to really
take off… She loved the society life of the city having grown up a
mid-western country girl. Life seemed golden. The timing perfect,
so I thought. She was sick a lot during the pregnancy and, of
course, the constant barrage of parties and activities practically
ceased all together. I knew she was depressed but I also knew it
would pass. I tried to cheer her up with talk of how grand it would
be once the baby came.” He laughed, a low hollow sound, and shook
his head. “One day she yelled at me to shut up about the stupid
baby, telling me how the baby was ruining her life and would
continue to do so. All her hopes and dreams were over. She’d be
saddled with taking care of my brat for the rest of her
life.”

“
Oh Garrett…how…hadn’t you
discussed children? Wasn’t Chloe planned?”

“
Yes, she’d talked the talk
of wanting a house full of children. And maybe if she’d gotten her
fill of social climbing before she’d gotten pregnant it would have
been different. Chloe wasn’t planned. But five years…the timing
seemed right.” He shrugged.

“
Where’s Elaine now? Doesn’t
she ever want to see Chloe?” Claire dared to ask.