Page 46 of Kiss an Angel

She gulped and gave a terrified nod. The very tip of Tater’s trunk dipped delicately into the small space behind her ear.

“Tater’s crazy about ladies’ perfume.”

“What,” she gasped, “am I supposed to do now?”

Digger regarded her blankly. “Do about what?”

“T-Tater?”

“Well, I don’t rightly know, Miz. What do you want to do?”

She heard a rusty chuckle. “She probably wants to faint. Isn’t that right, Daisy?”

Alex came around from behind her, and she tried to summon up a bit of bravado. “Not—not exactly.”

“You must be wearing perfume.” He reached out and stroked Puddin’. Tater, in the meantime, emitted a happy snuffling sound and let the tip of his trunk nibble around the inside of the collar of Alex’s robe to the base of Daisy’s throat.

“N-nobody told me not to.” To her dismay, the baby elephant began to nudge lower, toward the red sequined flames that made up the bodice of her costume. She remembered the spritz of perfume she’d directed toward her breasts.

“Alex . . .” She pleaded with her eyes. “He’s going to—He’s getting ready to touch my—” Tater’s trunk reached its goal. “My breasts!” she squealed.

“I do believe you’re right.” He casually patted the elephant’s trunk and pushed it aside. “That’s enough, fella. You’re getting too close to my property.”

She was so startled by his statement she didn’t notice Tater backing off.

Digger gave a wheezy chuckle and nodded toward the elephant. “Looks

like Tater’s fallen in love.”

“ ‘Fraid so,” Alex replied.

“With me?” She regarded the men incredulously.

“Do you see him looking at anybody else?” Alex replied.

Sure enough, the elephant was regarding her soulfully. “But he hates me. This afternoon he took a swipe at me and knocked me down.”

“You weren’t wearing perfume this afternoon.”

Digger rose, his knees cracking, and headed toward the elephant. “Come on, boy. Yer girlfriend’s not interested.”

As Digger led him away, Tater gazed back at her over his shoulder, looking for all the world like a love-struck adolescent. Daisy was torn between fright and a fleeting sense of gratitude that at least someone in this awful circus liked her.

That night, she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the couch. She was dimly aware of Alex coming into the trailer some hours later, and as she drifted back into sleep, she felt him pull the covers up over her shoulders.

9

Daisy stumbled up the ramp at ten the next morning. Her leg muscles screamed in protest with every step, and her arms felt as if they’d been stretched on a torture rack. “I’m sorry, Digger. I fell asleep in the truck.”

Despite her exhaustion last night, she’d awakened sometime just before three from a dream in which she and Alex had been floating through an old-fashioned tunnel of love in a pink swan boat. Alex had kissed her, and his face had been so filled with tenderness that she’d felt herself melting into the boat, the water, into his very body. The sensation had awakened her, and she’d lain on the couch until dawn thinking about the painful contrast between her beautiful dream and the reality of her marriage.

When they’d arrived at this new lot in a High Point, North Carolina, strip mall, the trailer hauling the elephants hadn’t yet appeared, so she’d stayed in the truck for a short nap. Two hours later, she’d awakened with a stiff neck and a headache.

As she reached the top of the ramp, she saw that Digger had nearly finished mucking out the trailer. Mixed with a sense of relief, she felt a stab of guilt. That was her job. “I’ll finish up for you.”

“The worst part’s done.” He spoke like a man who had long ago grown accustomed to getting the short end of life.

“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

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