Forever My Angel by Kelly Walker Page A

enough that the door sticks, not wanting to open easily. Something under the hood is whining as if the car itself is in pain, but I don’t smell gasoline or smoke.
    Angel is clawing at her seatbelt while holding her head with her other hand. Vaguely I hear Eva shouting behind me that she’s called 911 and help is on the way.
    The slowly deflating airbag from the steering wheel complicates Angel’s attempts to free herself.
    She flashes me a panicked look.
    “You’re okay,” I tell her, keeping my tone soothing, even as I’m inwardly freaking.
    “I’m stuck.” Her lip trembles as she tries again to undo her seatbelt.
    I put my hand over hers and she stills, her tear-filled eyes locked on mine.
    After a bit of prodding the seatbelt clicks free, and she flies out of the seat and into my embrace, her arms fastening around my neck while she buries her face against me.
    I imagine she can feel my frantically beating heart as I clutch her tightly. I’m a hurricane of conflicting emotions, but relief is the one that prevails. Thank God she seems to be okay. Sirens wail in the distance, while white flakes swirl angrily around us, sticking in Angel’s dark hair. “What were you thinking?” I whisper against the top of her head.
    She lifts her head to peer up at me, sucking her bottom lip in between her teeth before she answers. “The ring box. You forgot it...it’s the first time you’ve left without leaving me a note...and then I realized I hadn’t given it back to you so you could. With everything this morning, I didn’t think about it until you’d left, and then it just, I don’t know. It felt important. I know it’s silly.”
    I smile, my anger ebbing. She wasn’t following me because of a lack of trust. She wanted me to know that even though we were arguing this morning, nothing has changed. I hate that she put herself in jeopardy, but love her more for her intent.
    “It isn’t silly. It’s sweet.” The serenade of the sirens is closer now.
    I can tell the exact moment she remembers what made her crash. I wince as she steps back, putting space between us, cutting me with the sharpness of the pain in her eyes. All her tenderness is gone. “You kissed her!”
    “No. She kissed me . I pushed her away.” An ambulance rolls to a stop nearby, and a paramedic leaps out. “And as soon as you’ve been checked over and I’m sure you’re okay, I’m going to walk back over there and fire her for unprofessional behavior.” I point across the street to where Eva is standing, looking unsure what to do.
    “I don’t need to be checked out. I’m sure I’m fine.”
    “Until I’m sure, you need to be checked. If nothing else, do it for my peace of mind.”
    “Your peace of mind?” she snarls. “You came out and met your pretty, young realtor, and when I show up you're kissing her, or she's kissing you, and you're worried about your peace of mind?”
    “Ma’am! Sir! Are you both okay?”
    A paramedic rushes to our sides, and I step back to give him room. “I wasn’t in the car, it was just her.”
    “Don't touch me!” Angel snaps as I reach for her. She turns her attention to the paramedics. “I’m fine, really,” Angel says, but she sways on her feet, then freezes, a look of terror on her face as both paramedics and I all try to catch her. She's got that deer-in-headlights look.
    It's all I can do to keep my hands to myself. If she wants to seek shelter from me she can, but I can't push her. Even if it kills me.  “They're trying to help,” I say quietly, hoping that even through her anger, I can get through to her.
    She swallows hard, some of the wildness draining from her expression.
    “She needs to be examined. She was holding her head before she climbed out of the vehicle,” I tell the paramedics.
    Angel shoots me a dirty look as they lead her to the back of the ambulance and help her sit so they can take a look at her. I don’t want to leave her side, but clearly she doesn't want my