Rocky Mountain Angels (13 page)

She chose a long black wool skirt for its ability to hide the boot on her right foot and a maroon georgette cap-sleeved blouse with a short, stand-up collar that buttoned down the back. A very feminine cut, it tucked in at the waist with a bias ruffle skirting the lower edge. She had one heck of a time getting the buttons buttoned, but she finally got it done. Black dot earrings and beads finished the look.

The synagogue she wanted to try out was an unusually simple building not too far from her new home. She was making her way slowly up the steps, using the rail to take the pressure off her toes, when she heard someone call her name. She paused, looking to her left then smiled and continued climbing.
Not an uncommon name, Mari.

But when she heard it again, closer, and the voice sounded familiar, she stopped and turned. Ben was at the bottom of the steps, waving.
What are the chances...
Joe was at his side. He gave her a small smile and a lift of his chin.
So much for a day out from under the Rhodes’ wings.
She smiled back and stood close to the rail to wait.

Ben was all smiles when he reached her and took her elbow to help her up the rest of the stairs. “I stopped by your house before we left to see if you wanted a ride anywhere. When you didn’t answer, I assumed you were still in bed because of your foot. How did you get here?”

“I called a cab.”

Joe pulled the door open and ushered them through.

“You should have just called us. Cabs are expensive.”

“I didn’t want to bother you boys again.” Mari chanced a glance at Joe, who was lagging behind a step on Ben’s left, but he seemed to be avoiding looking her way.

Ben gave her arm a squeeze. “It’s not a bother. I mean, Joe broke your toe. The least he can do is give you a ride.”

That comment brought Joe to life. “I did not break Mari’s toe.” Mari had to stifle a laugh at the indignant look on his face. He finally met her gaze, and all indignation slipped away. “I do, however, accept the responsibility and would have been happy to give you a ride.”

The two men hung up their coats on the racks along the wall, so Mari followed suit. When she turned back, she caught both of them staring. Ben’s eyes were glowing. “You look beautiful, Mari.”

“Thanks. You two don’t look half bad either.” She let her smile slide over to Joe, but he had already turned away.
Half bad? Oh my heavens.
She actually wondered how the two could go anywhere looking like they did in dress slacks, button shirts, and ties without having to fight off every female within a mile. They both wore shades of blue.
Did they coordinate, or do they just know that blue makes their eyes captivating?
Ben was wearing a paisley print tie while Joe’s was a very conservative stripe.

Joe stopped at a table to pick up a yarmulke for he and Ben; then the two guided her to the rack of prayer shawls. After they were properly garbed, Joe led the way into the sanctuary and down the aisle, heading to what must have been their usual spot. He stood aside like a perfect gentleman while she angled into the pew with Ben behind her. When she sat, however, Ben crossed to her other side, greeting someone in the row ahead and chatting for a few minutes before settling in close to Mari.

Even though Joe sat a good six inches away, Mari was all too aware of him. Ben was sitting close enough to be called cozy, but it was the space on the other side of her that hummed with tension. She reminded herself of the brother status he held in her life and turned her focus to the front of the sanctuary.

The synagogue she attended in Oklahoma City was very ornate with stained glass and rich architectural details. By comparison, this one seemed absolutely spartan, but who needed stained glass when the large windows captured the view of Pikes Peak covered in snow?

God’s handiwork on display.

She smiled and turned to Ben, but he was engaged once again in conversation. She turned to Joe —
was he looking at me?
— and felt herself blush. “The view... it’s spectacular.”

Joe nodded, smiling, and Mari turned back to the mountain vistas, trying to focus her thoughts and her thumping heart toward God.

Joe couldn’t deny that he was sitting beside a spectacular view of his own—Mari, who was beautiful in jeans and a t-shirt, but stunning this morning in her filmy blouse with pearl buttons running down the back. Joe inwardly groaned. There was something so sexy about buttons down the back whispering of the help required to button them.

Or unbutton them.

He mentally gave himself a slap.
Okay, Rhodes, let’s get your head into this synagogue and out of her bedroom, unbuttoning her buttons.
He gave himself another and wondered at the coincidence that brought her to their synagogue.

She probably just picked this one because it’s the closest to home.
Joe knew this particular congregation was more liberal than most—it even had a female Rabbi—so he hoped that Mari would find it too radical and go somewhere else next week.

Then he scolded himself for that thought and told himself he didn’t care at all what synagogue she went to.
Why wouldn’t I want her to come here? She seems to be settling right in to be part of the family.
He looked over her head to Ben.
And with both of the boys after her, maybe she will be.

Joe ground his teeth and looked at his watch, wishing the service would start. He needed something other than Mari’s rose scent to occupy his mind. Facing straight ahead with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, he wasn’t aware of the group trying to join their pew until a hand was laid on his shoulder. “Joe, are you asleep already?” Joe’s eyes snapped open, and he turned to look into the hound dog eyes of an older gentleman, who was leaning in.

Joe smiled and stuck out his hand in greeting. “Not yet, Mr. Biderman. I’m counting on you to give me a jab if I need it.”

The old man laughed. “You know very well, I’m the one who needs the jab now and then.” He motioned toward the center of the pew. “I don’t suppose I could get you young folks to scoot down a bit, we have the kids and grandkids with us this week.”

“Oh, no problem.” Joe reached behind Mari to tap Ben on the shoulder. “Ben, scoot to the middle. The Biderman’s need more room today.”

The three scooted then scooted some more, and by the time the whole Biderman troop was seated, Ben was smashed against the center divider, and Joe could only fit comfortably if he put his arm across the back of the bench. That floral scent coming off Mari’s hair was shooting straight up his nose, and Joe knew this was going to be a very long service.

***

Mari was trying to breathe normally, but with Ben’s arm snug against hers on one side and being practically tucked under Joe’s arm on the other, she was finding it difficult. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that Joe was keeping his face angled slightly away from her, and she wondered what he was thinking.
Does he think of me as a sister?
She was having a really hard time thinking of him as a brother right now pressed against his rib cage.
This is far too cozy for Shabbas.

Just when she felt certain she was going to have to excuse herself and find another place to sit, someone at the front welcomed the congregation and announced a song. Joe grabbed the hymnbook with lightening speed and was on his feet in seconds. Ben rose a bit slower, giving Mari a hand up. Joe thumbed through the book to the right song as the prelude played then handed the book to Mari to hold for the three of them.

With the men angling themselves around her, it wasn’t as tight of a fit, but she still felt surrounded and a bit overwhelmed. The song, though, was one of her favorites, and with Ben’s tenor on her left and Joe’s baritone on her right, she soon relaxed. Closing her eyes, she felt transported into the rest she so desperately needed, and giving in to it, she let her voice find a harmony of her own. She sensed the brother’s leaning in, and the three of them made heavenly music together.

When the song ended, she opened her eyes and looked shyly to Ben, who grinned and whispered, “You have a nice voice, Mari.”

She whispered back, “So do you.” She stole a peek at Joe, but he was standing with his eyes closed. The next song was already starting, so Mari hurriedly found the page. This one wasn’t as familiar to her, so she needed to keep her eyes on the words. Ben was singing out, but she didn’t think that Joe was singing at all. After a verse went by, she glanced at him again. He was looking ahead and his lips were moving, but they didn’t seem to match the song.
Maybe he’s praying
.

When they sat again, Ben tried putting his arm along the back of the bench before Joe had a chance, but Ben’s height didn’t match Joe’s, and Mari didn’t fit next to him in the same way. After a minute where they were all uncomfortable, Ben brought his arm down, and Joe’s went up. She wondered if she had missed a signal between them. Mari scooted to accommodate the shift and felt even more pressed against him than she had before. And Joe seemed to be done looking away from her. She felt as if his nose were practically in her hair.

Mari closed her eyes and tried to focus on the reading coming from the front. It was getting harder and harder to think of Joe as a brother figure when her insides were churning with his nearness, but she would not embarrass herself by letting him see any of her confusion. She clenched her jaw and forced her thoughts to the reader.

“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now my eyes will be—”

The reading went on, but Mari was stuck in thought.
God forgives when we turn from our wicked ways.
She thought of Eli.
Shouldn’t we forgive, too? Because if the “good girls” can’t forgive, are they really good? And if no decent girl will have him, what will he be left to?
He had promised to be true to her.
Lord, can I trust him?
She wasn’t sure of the answer yet, but she felt herself softening toward her dark-eyed angel.

At least thinking about him kept her from thinking about Joe.

***

Eli was more than a little surprised to hear Mari’s voice mingling with his brothers’ when they came in the door in the early afternoon. Ben was trying to talk her into staying for cheesecake, and Mari was saying something he couldn’t make out. Eli put a bookmark in the book he’d been reading and made his way to the stairs. Mari looked up as he started down, and Eli thought she looked a bit harried. She turned her attention back to his brothers, who were now in the kitchen, as she moved to the door. “I’ll just be a few minutes.”

Eli met her at the bottom of the stairs. “Leaving already?”

“Ben invited me in for dessert, but I realized I need to feed Tawny.”

Eli grabbed his wool coat. “I’ll walk you.” He expected her to protest; when she didn’t, he opened the door and ushered her out before Ben got wind of what he was doing.

She blew out a breath with her brow pinched as she stepped off the porch.

“Foot hurt?”

“Yeah,” —she continued down slowly— “pain meds have worn off. I should have put them in my purse this morning.”

Eli grabbed her arm to halt her descent then scooped her up. Carrying her across the lawn, he was once again surprised when she didn’t protest. She dug the key out of her purse, unlocked the door, and turned the knob, still in Eli’s arms. Turning sideways, he carried her through the doorway and shut the door with his foot. He didn’t set her down.

“Mari—” “Eli—” they said at the same time. Eli looked deep into her eyes, and she didn’t look away. “Mari, unless you tell me not to, I’m going to kiss you.”

As it turned out, the day was just full of surprises.

Mari wrapped her arms around his neck, leaned in, and kissed
him
, her lips soft and sweet. Eli felt a surge of emotion along with a wave of passion. He carried her to the settee and sat, still holding her.

“This is really going to hurt your butt.”

“With you on my lap, I could sit on nails and not feel a thing.” While he was grateful for this change over yesterday, he was puzzled and almost afraid to breathe for fear it wasn’t real.

Mari must have read his expression. “I can see you’re confused, and” —she paused and licked her lips— “I’m a bit confused, too, but I guess I’ve decided to give you a chance.”

“You guess.”

“Everything about today just sort of led up to it, although it didn’t really form as a coherent thought until a moment ago.” She slid off his lap. “Your butt has got to be hurting.”

He gave her a lop-sided smile. “Well, it is now.” He rose and started in on the buttons of her coat.

“I told Ben I’d just be a few minutes.”

“Yeah, well, I want those few minutes.” He pushed her coat off her shoulders, and she let it fall to the floor. He slipped out of his and tossed it back on the wicker bench then stepped close, running a hand down the side of her face. Tracing his thumb along her bottom lip, he slid an arm around her waist and pulled her close. Settling his lips on hers, he let his hand slide into her long, loose curls as he kissed her gently and sweetly.

He let his lips drift to her ear. “Can I come back later?” he whispered. She nodded, and he gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Okay, sugar, go feed your cat, and I’ll get your meds. Are they in your bedroom?”

“Yeah,” she said limping toward the kitchen. “On the chair by the bed.”

Striding to her room, he grabbed the prescription bottle and paused a moment beside her bed. He kissed his fingertips and brushed them lightly over her pillow.

Exiting the bedroom he crossed back to his coat and picked hers up as well. Meeting her at the kitchen door, he handed her the bottle of pills. She took it and opened it, looking concerned. “There’s something I have to know before we start seeing each other.” She paused and stepped back into the kitchen to get a glass of water.