Free Arms of an Angel by Linda Boulanger Page A

angel.”
    He brought her hand to his lips and kissed
the back of her fingers. “So you’ll let me replace your mother’s
rings with a set of your own? No more doubts?”
    “ No more doubts…”
    “ But?” he asked. He could
hear the hesitation in her voice.
    “ Where’s Chloe’s mom,
Garrett?”
    He shook his head. Claire wasn’t sure if that
meant he didn’t know or he wasn’t going to answer her. Then he
began to talk.
    “ Elaine and I had been
married for five years when she got pregnant with Chloe. She’d
finished her education, my practice was just starting to really
take off… She loved the society life of the city having grown up a
mid-western country girl. Life seemed golden. The timing perfect,
so I thought. She was sick a lot during the pregnancy and, of
course, the constant barrage of parties and activities practically
ceased all together. I knew she was depressed but I also knew it
would pass. I tried to cheer her up with talk of how grand it would
be once the baby came.” He laughed, a low hollow sound, and shook
his head. “One day she yelled at me to shut up about the stupid
baby, telling me how the baby was ruining her life and would
continue to do so. All her hopes and dreams were over. She’d be
saddled with taking care of my brat for the rest of her
life.”
    “ Oh Garrett…how…hadn’t you
discussed children? Wasn’t Chloe planned?”
    “ Yes, she’d talked the talk
of wanting a house full of children. And maybe if she’d gotten her
fill of social climbing before she’d gotten pregnant it would have
been different. Chloe wasn’t planned. But five years…the timing
seemed right.” He shrugged.
    “ Where’s Elaine now? Doesn’t
she ever want to see Chloe?” Claire dared to ask.
    Garrett was again quiet for a few moments
before he began. “When Chloe was three weeks old she asked me to
take the baby to my parents’ for the weekend. She said she was
tired and needed the rest. It seemed reasonable. My parents were
elated to have us and Chloe responded amazingly under my mother’s
care. It was then that I realized how lifeless she’d been. I didn’t
know much about newborns. I’d figured her lack of interaction was
normal until I saw her with my mom. I was suddenly concerned about
Elaine. I knew I’d buried my head and all was not well.” He rubbed
his face as he looked out the window. “I tried to put down my
fears. I fought them all through the night. Then, when I couldn’t
reach her by phone the next morning, I told my mom I needed to
go.”
    He breathed deeply, trying to retain control
over his emotions. The tension on his face told Claire this memory
was one he’d worked hard to suppress. “Our unit was still quiet
when I entered and I full well expected to find it empty with a
Dear John note propped against my pillow just like you see in the
movies.”
    “ But you didn’t?” Claire
asked when he didn’t go on.
    He shook his head. Tears welled in his eyes.
“Claire, when I walked into your apartment this morning and saw you
laying on your bed with the wine glass on the night stand and the
pill bottles on the bed… I felt as if I’d walked back in time.”
    “ Oh my dear God,” Claire
whispered feeling as if she’d been punched in the heart and needed
the strength of a higher being.
    “ Only the scene was not
pristine and pretty. She looked a mess, her hair was snarled, her
face sunken. She’d put on ratty old pajamas, thrown up all over the
bed, and died. There was no happy ending for her and I blamed
myself. I should have known.”
    Quiet tears ran freely down Claire’s cheeks.
”I’m sorry, Garrett. I’m so sorry that happened to you and I’m
sorry it all came back to you this morning.” He nodded, not
expecting her to continue, though she did. “But I’m not sorry you
found me and that you firmly stood up and made me go with you to
your parents’. You’ve saved my life twice, Garrett. Did you know
that?”
    He looked at her with great