Devil Mail (6 page)

             
While lying in bed with scrambled emotions, staring at the popcorn ceiling, Angela reflected upon how quickly events had begun to unfold, presenting her with two men whom she found attractive and intriguing for different reasons. Yet, she couldn’t help wondering about ‘Boaz looking for Ruth’. That was the one that she initially thought held the most promise. Acutely aware of how vulnerable she had become by putting herself out there on the dating scene, she still chose to place her eggs in more than one basket, and get to know both Aiden and Matt better. Hopefully, God would reveal to her which one was the best pick for her, right after she strangled her sister.

CHAPTER FIVE

A
ngela’s telephone rang at seven o’clock the next morning. She was already up and dressed for work, having risen early following a sleepless night of tossing and turning, musing, and yearning. This morning, though, her salutation came forth with enthusiasm when she saw Aiden’s name on her caller ID display.

             
“Hi, this is Aiden Jacobs. You tried to steal my heart last night, and you almost got away with it. I’m just calling to encourage you to try again later today. Have a fantastic day. I’ll be thinking of you.” He hung up before Angela could respond, which wasn’t such a bad thing, since she was immobilized, oozing wordless adoration. She had never met anyone quite like Aiden Jacobs. His call fulfilled her desire to hear his voice again, but he must have known that such a call would send her into a dizzy fit.

             
Convinced that she could match, if not surpass, his romantic spontaneity, Angela called him back. His voice disclosed his smile. “West Crompton Home for the Unloved, how may I help you?”

             
“Hello, my name is Angela Craddock, and I have no intention of going to work today. I plan on dragging Aiden Jacobs out of that home for the unloved, because I don’t believe he belongs there. All he needs to do is to say when and where.” She hung up.

             
Aiden did not call back immediately, as Angela had anticipated or intended. The lull gave her time to think. What was she doing? Had she gone too far too quickly? The last thing she wanted to do was to chase him off by being presumptuous. It was silly to expect him to just cancel his plans to hang out with her, and it was irresponsible of her to just decide to take the day off work at the drop of a hat. Well, at least he would call her back to decline her offer, and she could save face by somehow intimating that she was only joking.

She
stood over the telephone, staring at it intently, as if willing it to ring. When it did, she snatched the receiver up in relief.

“Angie?” It was Julia
. She loved her sister with a sacrificial love; she’d do just about anything for her, but never in her life had she been so disappointed to hear from her.

“Hey, what’s up?” Ang
ela’s forced enthusiasm was telling.

“
What’s up with you? I left a message yesterday and you didn’t call me back. Mom called you as well, but you didn’t pick up. Everything okay?”

“Yeah,
everything’s great. I’ve lots to tell you. Call you tonight?”

“Okay, make sure you do.”

“I will. Bye.” Angela hung up, frustrated and certain that she had missed Aiden’s call. She’d feel like an idiot calling him back, but she had to elicit his response. The telephone rang again. She was careful to check the caller ID this time.

“You are one amazing lady
, and I don’t like what you’re doing to me, but if you want to meet me at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort at nine o’clock, I promise you a day you’ll never forget. Do you know where it is?”

“I’ll find it.”

“Well, give me your cellphone number so I can keep in contact with you on the way there.” Angela did so without objection.  She had lived in Orlando all her life, and had never heard of the Grand Floridian, but she liked the sound of it. After checking online for directions she took a sneak peek of the resort, which only served to fuel her excitement.

Without further ado, she
called the office to advise that she would not be in and needed someone to cover the trial for her. Sharon was not pleased at the short notice, but remarked, “Well, if you’re sick, I guess it can’t be helped.” Angela bit her lower lip, feeling a tad guilty. She hadn’t actually said that she was sick, but neither did she speak up and say anything to lead Sharon to believe otherwise. “Okay, feel better.”

“I will
,” Angela promised as she hung up.

With the whole day ahead of her and a sense of freedom unleashed, Angela practically skipped to her closet to change her clothes.
With no clue as to the demands of the setting, choosing appropriate attire proved difficult. After much contemplation, she settled on an azure sundress with spaghetti straps, and a large coral colored hibiscus flower on the side, that wrapped around from back to front, to hug her left hip. She donned her pink sandals, decided that the fact that they clashed with the hibiscus on her dress didn’t matter, and she was ready to go. Releasing her hair from a rear bun, she allowed it to fall freely, framing her heart-shaped face.

Rat
ional thoughts about her moving too quickly and the uncharacteristic nature of her actions were stifled by her justification – she was being smart and safe by driving her own car to meet Aiden; she could leave whenever she wanted or needed to.

             
Her arrival at the resort was early and she parked in the parking lot of the first entrance she saw. After a fifteen minute wait, and no sign of Aiden, she became concerned that she might be in the wrong place. She hadn’t thought to bring his cellphone number, so her only option was to sit and wait for him to call her. Within minutes, her cellphone rang. “Hi, I’m here, where are you?” It felt so good to hear his voice again.

“I’m in the parking lot
,” she replied.

“Where,
exactly? I don’t see you.” Angela’s description of her location indicated that she was in the wrong place, so Aiden gave her directions to get to him.  Ten minutes elapsed and Angela had not managed to find Aiden. “Stay where you are and I’ll come to you,” he instructed when he called again.

“Oh, I think I’m there now, hold on,” Angela retorted
, and hung up. She wasn’t there at all. This initiated a vexing twelve-minute search for her, during which time Aiden’s voice grew increasingly taut on subsequent calls.

“Angela, just stop driving around, describe your surroundings and I’ll find you.” No grown person likes to be spoken to like a chil
d, and Angela was no exception. He had made her feel like a naughty little girl while she sat in her car waiting for him to find her.  Why had he become so agitated over something so petty? After all, he had not been specific about the meeting place to begin with. Although somewhat dejected, Angela was pleased to see him when he pulled in and parked his shiny black Infinity, in the space adjacent to her car. She liked that he drove a nice car, but did not appear to be too flashy.   

             
“You’re mad at me aren’t you?” Angela walked around to lean on the hood of her car.

             
“What makes you think that?” his tone mollified, but not without effort.

             
“The way you spoke to me just now.”

             
“I’m not mad. It was just a small hiccup. We won’t let it ruin our day,” his mouth said, while his eyes still showed signs of agitation. “You look pretty,” he continued, visually tracing her every curve from top to bottom and back to top.

             
“Thanks. You look great too.” He wore khaki shorts and a white polo shirt that hung a couple of inches over his waistband. Although not too tight, the shirt was close enough for her to make out the contour of his chest. His shorts gave away more than his pants did on the previous evening. She would appreciate a little more meat and muscle, but she could work with what he had.

             
Cognizant of the fact that they were standing in the parking lot gawking at each other’s body, Angela tried to restore dignity. “Okay, so what are we doing?”

             
“No questions. I’ll lead, you follow.” A decisively strong man had the ability to cause Angela to go weak at the knees, but to completely win her over, she had resolved that his character had to be tempered with patience and kindness that flowed from his uninhibited ability to express love. Aiden had already received a check mark for being strong and decisive, but whether or not he was patient and kind, and the manner in which he expressed his love remained to be seen.

             
He fulfilled his promise of giving Angela a day to remember. “Been horseback riding before?” he inquired.

“Never!” her jaw fell open with childlike delight. “I’ve always wanted to though.”

“Well, after today, you’ll be a virgin no more.” Angela flung him a side look, unsure of how to respond. She hated smutty jokes and double-entendres and counted his comment as borderline.

The ride through a backwoods trail among huge cypress and pine trees, with deer and peacocks roaming freely, soon cleared her mind of all that had been said and done earlier. Aiden, so nobly mounted on his horse, resembled a knight without the armor. He
didn’t talk much, except to check to ensure that she was okay and felt safe.

On one hand, Angela was saddened when the guided tour came to an end
. She had breathed in the beautiful fresh air and wonderment of her surroundings. On the other hand, her dismount released her from the grueling, incidental lower body workout.

Aiden had a solution for that.
Completely absorbed by the tranquility of the spa, Angela relaxed beneath the soothing force of the masseuse’s hands, wondering if this was all too good to be true. Could she really have landed a relationship with an intelligent, industrious, Christian gentleman who really knew how to treat a lady?

The hour floated by, and despite
acknowledging that she could have tolerated more of the luxury that the spa treatment afforded, she was eager to see Aiden again and to find out what else he had in store for her.

“Care for some afternoon tea?”
His attempt at an English accent was decent.

“Indeed, I do.”
The influence of the Edwardian period dramas that she enjoyed watching, speckled with what she was able to pick up of Sharon’s accent, gave Angela the edge. 

“Impressive!”
A glint in his eyes, as he smiled down at her, complemented his smile, reinforcing Angela’s initial opinion of him. Simply incredible! She could feel a rush of blood to her cheeks and knew that her thoughts were clearly spelled out on her face.

Over a light lunch in the tea room, surrounded by Victorian charm, Angela overtly gazed at Aiden. “I can hardly take this all in.”

“What?” His request for clarification was unnecessary; he knew exactly what she meant.

“You just seem too good to be true. Tell me, if I went digging, what skeletons would I find in your closet?”
Her tone and wide grin conveyed jest, but subliminally, there was a genuine desire to know.

“I don’t have any skeletons in my closet.” His answer was impassive.

“Everyone has skeletons.”

“Oh
, care to share yours?” Angela had backed herself into a corner with no obvious way out. Nothing came to mind, but to say that she didn’t have any either would sound insincere. “Hmm… suddenly I hear crickets,” Aiden teased.

“I have nothing to hide. I was thinking back and truthfully, my life has been sheltered and uneventful.”

Amidst the genteel collision of fine china crockery and cutlery that pervaded the tea room, an elderly lady sitting at a neighboring table leaned towards them to pleasantly interrupt their tête-à-tête. “You make a lovely couple,” she whispered.

“Thank you,” Angela
said as Aiden smiled politely at the lady and then at Angela.

“You’ve always followed the rules?”
He eagerly resumed the conversation.

“Pretty
much; except for one time in ninth grade when I skipped school and went to the mall with my friend. Back then, they didn’t have those automated messages that call home and snitch on you whenever you’re absent. The next day, I brought in a sick note that I had written and signed myself. My mom never found out about it.”

“Tut, tut, tut
,” Aiden slowed his speech to draw out the recrimination. “Truancy, deceit and forgery.” Angela would have resented his derision, but for his warm hand that unexpectedly overlaid hers. “That’s as bad as it gets? You really are a sweetheart.”

“Indeed, I am,” she replied in the English accent that she knew he liked, try
ing not to get swept up by his touch. Had she been in one of the period dramas, she would have swooned.

“Eat up, our
mini golf challenge awaits us.” He moved his hand and gulped down his tea.

“Challenge?” Angela cried, “I’ve never played golf in my life! Trust me
. I’ll be no challenge for you.”

“A golf virgin too? Wow, how many other things have you never done?”
Although Aiden was poised to grasp her answer as soon as she released it, she treated his question as if it were intended rhetorically. She took the last two bites of her lunch and stood up.