I had lost track of the days. I did not even remember what today was until I arrived at Freya’s house to find her laughing over a Valentine’s Day card that a friend had sent her in the mail. Today, for the first time since I became a full angel, the Cupids are in flight together, and I am not with them.
The realization filled me with a profound sorrow. I do not regret what I have left behind, but I have left it behind me, and today it struck me with force that I will not be a part of that magnificent rush of love and goodness that sweeps across the world on this day. I will never again work to bring two people to a kind of happiness that they never knew before. That is no longer my place.
I did not realize that my mood had affected Freya until she tossed the card across her table and scooped up Jolly to press his whiskered face against hers. “Oh, Jolly,” she sighed, sitting down on the sofa and letting him rest on her lap, “you’re the only Valentine I’m going to have this year.”
I settled next to her. “I am sorry for making you sad,” I said to her. “I wish I could reassure you that you will find love again. I almost wish that I could still help you to find it. But you must know that you are worthy of love, and you have all of mine.”
Freya smiled as Jolly rubbed his head against her chin—echoing my sentiment, I believe—and scratched his ears. “You’re right,” she said to him—to both of us, perhaps? “We’ve got other things to offer the world, and it has other things to offer us.”
She is exactly right, and I was given evidence of that not an hour later, when Taralom gave me warning that Alex was going up to Miranda’s door. He was not alarmed, though, and when I arrived, I found only a quiet anxiety in Alex’s spirit as he knocked.
Miranda, who has grown very wary in the past few weeks, peered through the peephole and did not open the door. “If you’re here from Hill, there’s no point,” she called out. “I don’t have anything for you—”
“I do work for him, ma’am, but I’m not here on orders,” Alex replied. “Could we talk for a moment? I have something for you.”
This was new—none of Mr. Hill’s workers have given Miranda anything. She hesitated, checked that Evan was in his room with his headphones on, and then opened the door, leaving the chain on it.
Alex studied her drawn face, and his resolve to help her solidified even more. Without a word, he held out a piece of paper.
She took it, read through it, and her eyes widened. “This is a receipt,” she said cautiously, her gaze lifting back to his face. “Four hundred dollars off the principal of our loan.”
Alex nodded. “That signature at the bottom is Hill’s own accountant. I told her I lost the first copy and she gave me another without any question. It’s official, and your new principal is on the back side.”
Miranda flipped over the page. “But I don’t understand,” she said. “I didn’t make any payment.”
“No, ma’am. But it’s been made anyway. And more payments will be made in the next couple of weeks. Not enough to cover the entirety of your loan, but enough to buy you some time and get them off your back.”
Miranda stared at him. “I don’t understand. Where did this money come from?”
He smiled a little. “Let’s just say that there’s plenty of corruption in an organization like ours. I just turned a little bit of it to your advantage.”
Her eyes narrowed. “And just what do you want in exchange?”
“Nothing, ma’am.” Alex glanced over her head—he knew that Evan was home. At my urging, he added stiffly, “I was a foster kid too.” And then he turned his back and started back down the hall.
“Wait,” Miranda called, and she closed the door and unlocked the chain. Alex glanced over his shoulder as she opened the door again and stepped outside. She wrapped her arms around herself and frowned at him, this time with curiosity and not fear. “What’s your name?”
“Alex,” he answered.
“Alex, how did you get mixed up with Hill?”
He shrugged. “Bad luck, bad decisions—same as your husband, I think.”
She studied his face, now seeing past the suit and the haircut to how young and thin he is—looking at him now with a mother’s eyes.
“Would you like to come in and have some supper?” she asked abruptly, trying not to think too much about the decision.
He was surprised and gratified by the gesture. “Thanks, but they’re expecting me. I have to get back.”
“Another time, then,” she said firmly.
Alex smiled. “Maybe.” He started back down the hall. “You should go back inside—it’s cold. Good night, Mrs. Spiller.”
Miranda watched him go, and her heart twisted with gratitude and pity for him. As for Alex, he was remembering that motherly gaze and was more determined than ever to protect her.
Love is everywhere in the world, and if people just have the courage to let it guide them, they can make such a difference. And I can make a difference, too, if I use what I know of love to keep people safe and help them protect one another.
While I may not fly with the Cupids today, still a part of me will always belong to love, and I hope that I never lose that.