Angels Don't Cry. Amanda Stevens

was the deepest hurt of all, the hardest to forgive. For years she’d kept her life on hold, wishing and waiting for Drew Maitland to come back to her.

      Those long, empty years were like dust in her throat now.

      Ann held her hands out in front of her. They were still trembling. She squeezed them together, trying to stop the shaking, trying to block the torrent of memories flooding over her, drowning her, pulling her back to a place she did not want to go....

      * * *

      “Happy birthday, Angel.”

      “Oh, Drew, look! A shooting star. Do you suppose that was meant just for me, so I can have another wish?” Perched on the top rail of the fence, her face lifted to the star-studded sky, Angel felt the slow drift of the river breeze skimming across her skin. Drew stood on the ground facing her, his arms wrapped securely about her waist.

      She felt the smooth caress of his hand along her back as he smiled up at her. “Of course. Angels take care of their own, don’t they?”

      She bent down suddenly, touching her lips to his. He responded immediately, tightening his arms around her, deepening the kiss with his tongue. Angel let herself enjoy the sensations rippling through her body for a moment longer before she pulled back. Drew sighed heavily as he lay his head against her chest. Her fingers trailed softly through the thick strands of his hair.

      “I missed you so.” He breathed the words against her neck as his lips found her rapidly beating pulse. “I was miserable without you.”

      She smiled as she kissed his hair. “You can’t live with me and you can’t live without me.”

      “Only half that’s true.”

      “Which half?” Angel teased lightly.

      “You know damn well which half,” Drew growled roughly. His arms tightened around her, then lifted her off the fence. He hauled her against the hardness of his body, holding her captive in his arms while his mouth claimed hers once more. His tongue parted her lips, then dipped inside, exploring almost desperately the deep recesses of her mouth. Angel moaned softly, feeling the need of her body to respond, yet still holding back.

      “Drew, please,” she whispered softly as his mouth left hers to trail along her neck, his tongue skimming across her skin.

      “Angel, I want you so much. I need you.” His voice was an urgent whisper against her ear. “We can’t go on like this.”

      Angel swallowed past the rise of panic in her throat. “Do you think we should break up again?”

      “No. Breaking up was your idea, remember? I think we should get married.”

      She stared up at him in shock. “But...we still have the same problems, Drew. You want to live in the city, and I don’t. I can’t leave the farm, and I can’t leave Dad. He needs me. You know how he relies on me.”

      “Yes, I know,” Drew said, almost bitterly. “But don’t worry. I won’t ever ask you to choose between your family and me again. If moving to the city means giving you up, then it’s not worth it. We’ll stay. I’ll find a job here after I graduate. But I don’t want to wait to get married, Angel. I don’t think we should.”

      Angel felt a vague sense of unease at the urgency in his tone, but her elation soon swept it away. Wasn’t this what she’d always wanted ever since she’d first set eyes on Drew Maitland?

      She smiled through a mist of tears. “I don’t think we should wait, either. Oh, Drew, you won’t be sorry. I’ll make you so happy! We can be together at last...in every way,” she added shyly.

      Drew’s blue eyes blazed with an inner fire. “Are you sure about this? I don’t want to pressure you, Angel.”

      She laughed lightly, tilting her head to gaze up at him. “You aren’t pressuring me. I’ve wanted this forever.”

      He laughed, too, lifting her off the ground and spinning her around in the moonlight. He brought her back down to earth, then pulled a box from his pocket and handed it to her. “In that case, you’d better open your birthday present.”

      “Oh, Drew.” Ann’s hands shook slightly as she took the blue velvet box from his hand and opened it. The diamond that twinkled inside was as bright and beautiful as the stars overhead. “It’s beautiful!” she breathed.

      “It’s not very big,” Drew apologized as he lifted the ring from the soft bed and slipped it on her finger. “Someday I’ll replace it with a larger one.”

      “You’ll do no such thing,” Angel cried, appalled at the notion. “I’ll never take this ring off. Do you hear me? Never!”

      The house was quiet when Angel tiptoed in sometime after midnight. She climbed the stairs, knowing exactly which step to avoid to prevent a telltale creak. She slipped down the hallway, past her father’s darkened room, until she reached her own at the end. She paused. A thin sliver of light shone beneath Aiden’s door across the hall. Angel held up her hand to the moonlight flowing in from the hall window. The diamond winked at her.

      She had to tell someone. She knew she would burst with the news if she had to wait until morning. She knocked softly on Aiden’s door. “Aiden?” She cracked the door. “Are you awake?”

      “No.”

      Her sister’s voice sounded suspiciously muffled, as though she’d been crying. Angel pushed open the door and walked into the room. Her sister was lying on her side, her knees drawn up to her chest. A wet washcloth was draped across her forehead.

      “Are you sick?” Angel asked worriedly. “What’s wrong?”

      “I don’t know. I just don’t feel well,” Aiden mumbled, rolling onto her back. “What do you want, anyway?”

      In spite of her sister’s illness, Angel couldn’t help smiling. She sat down on the edge of the bed and held out her hand. “Aiden, I have the most incredible news. Look! Drew and I are engaged.”

      Aiden’s head turned slowly toward her, her gaze dropping to Angel’s extended hand. Aiden’s face crumpled suddenly, and she turned her head away, covering her face with the washcloth.

      “Aiden, what’s wrong? What is it?” But her sister’s sobs only grew louder. Feeling the first sliver of panic, Angel got up and closed the bedroom door. She came back to stand over the bed. “Aiden, you’d better tell me what’s wrong.”

      A pause, then, “I’m pregnant.”

      At first Angel thought she must have heard her wrong, but the words slowly sank in, and she felt her breath leave her body in a painful rush. Knees shaking, she sat down heavily on the bed.

      “Are you sure?”

      “I haven’t been to the doctor, but, yes, I’m sure.” Aiden’s sobs had subsided, but her voice still held a hint of hysteria.

      “Who—?”

      For the first time since Angel had entered her room, Aiden met her gaze. Angel felt a hard knot of apprehension twisting in her stomach.

      “Drew.”

      Angel’s heart contracted with the force and pain of a physical blow. Fear, as sharp and piercing as a knife, sliced through her veins. Stunned, she stared at Aiden, striving for breath. “You’re lying!” she finally gasped. “Why would you say such a thing? How could you be so cruel, Aiden?”

      “I’m not lying,” Aiden denied angrily.

      “How could you do this to me?” Angel screamed, jumping up from the bed and whirling toward the door. She couldn’t stand to look at Aiden’s face, couldn’t bear to think that there could be even a remote chance her sister was telling the truth.

      “You broke up with him two months ago. You said it was over,” Aiden said, her voice suddenly sounding calm. “I didn’t think you’d get back together. It just happened.”