Chapter Thirty-Four

By the time I turned into Harmony Cemetery, the heavy rain had slowed to a light drizzle. There was an assortment of old and new vehicles lining both sides of the paved road that led to the hilltop site where Ethel was apparently being buried.

My Lincoln crept up the hill. The further it climbed, the better the view I had of the graveside mourners huddled together outside and beneath the canvas canopy.

As I reached the flat, I shifted the gearshift up into park, but left the engine idle. At this point, the huddle was beginning to spread out. "Looks like I missed that final prayer," I said to myself.

Then I debated if I should leave the car running while I hurried over to say my final good-bye, or if I should get it out of the way so people behind me could leave. The latter of the two seemed the most sensible. The Lincoln was moving again when I spotted the empty space next to the shiny deep, blue-colored hearse. I pulled in and turned the car off. When I reached for my umbrella, I caught a side angle of Allen.

There was no doubt about it, he was aging nicely. If possible, he had grown more handsome each year. I inhaled deeply, on the verge of going off on a quick fantasy of the two of us together again. He pulled me into those powerful arms of his. Then our...

"Hey, wait a minute."

I cut the fantasy short myself. Or I should say, what I witnessed snapped me back to reality.

Angel had joined Allen. Joined hips with him would more accurate. Allen was actually starting to run his hand up the backside of her tight skirt when Joe stepped into the picture.

Just because I was calling Allen every name in the book under my breath didn't mean I was going to hop out of the car and pounce on him. Not that I didn't want to. But being the mature woman I am, I decided to act the part.

By the time I did step out of the car and head in their direction, Angel was leading Joe off in another.

"Fay, I was hoping you d show up," Allen greeted me with, along with that charming smile of his. Then his expression got serious.

"Have you heard from Alicia?"

"No. Have you?"

"Not a word. I made more calls last night. Nobody knows anything."

"Yeah, well, somebody knows something. They just aren't saying."

"Are you sure she said she was getting married? I mean, maybe you heard wrong."

"I may be getting older, Allen, but there is nothing wrong with my hearing."

I started to storm around him so I could step up to the casket that was about to be lowered into the ground. My umbrella caught the edge of his and stopped me in my tracks. Though I think his seductive tone and the words he chose next, could have had more to do with my dead stop.

"Fay, I am sorry. And I do miss you terribly."

I looked up into eyes that tried so hard to reveal sincerity. But somehow I managed to see through them. Or perhaps it was the incident I saw between he and Angel that made me see him for what he really was.

"Cut the crap, Allen. I saw you and Angel."

"Angel," he repeated with a little laugh.

"The two of you looked really cozy, real familiar together."

"Well, we are."

I knew he recognized the look I was giving him. The mean one where my eyes and mouth draw in. He immediately defended his own words with new ones.

"Not the way you're thinking. Angel worked for me for a while. She was a temp while Cherie was on maternity leave."

"Angel worked for you? When?"

He shrugged his shoulders." I don't know. Probably a month or two ago."

"Does Joe know?"

"I guess. I don't know. Why the third degree?"

"Never mind," I told him, and was about to be on my way again when I got a glimpse of Angel and Joe. Then I took a closer look. They were down the hill from me. Their backs were to me as they stood sharing an umbrella at a fresh grave.

I looked away when Angel looked over her shoulder, directly up at Allen and me. There was another reason I looked away so quickly, other than not wanting her to catch me staring. Even from this distance, which was several yards, her eyes belonged to that same soulless creature I had seen before.

"It's great about Joe and her," Allen was saying, as I tried to chase out the eerie feeling that crept down inside of me. "Joe is playing the part of the proud papa who has just been told he had a daughter."

"How long have you known about Angel being Joe's daughter?"

"Joe told me today."