Redeeming-Love-By-Francine-Rivers

F R A N C I N E R I V E R S
her a cabin just like this one, far enough away from a town so she wouldn’t
hear the noise and smell the stench, but close enough that she could get
what supplies she needed. She would buy a gun, a big gun, and plenty of
bullets, and if any man came around knocking at her door, she would use it,
unless she needed some money. Then she would have to let him in to do
business first. But if she was careful and smart, she could live a long time on
what she had already earned. She could hardly wait. She had never lived all
by herself, and it would be heaven.
You were left to yourself for an entire week, a small voice mocked her from
deep inside, and you were miserable, remember? Admit it, being by yourself isn’t
heaven at all. Not when you have so many demons to keep you company.
“You may have paid a lot of gold dust for me, but you don’t own me, mister.”
Michael studied her with patience. She was small and weak but possessed
an iron will. It shone from her defiant blue eyes and the rigid way she
was holding herself. She thought she had enough to overcome him. She was
wrong. He was doing God’s will, and he had plans of his own, plans that
kept growing, but he had said all he was going to say for a while. Let her
think on it.
“You’re right,” he said. “I don’t own you, but you’re not running away
from this.”
They ate at opposite sides of the room, she on the bed with her plate in
her lap and he at the table. The only sound in the room was the crackling
fire.
Angel set the plate on the side table. She was shaking violently but was
still determined not to lie down. She studied him. Sooner or later, she would
figure him out. He was a man, wasn’t he? He couldn’t be that complex. She
would take him apart piece by piece.
“They all have foibles, honey,” Sally had told her. “You just have to sort
out their messages and find out what it is they want from you. As long as
you make them happy, you’ll get by just fine. Otherwise, they turn mean.”
Like Duke when he was crossed. Angel had known all about Duke after
the first night. He liked power. He wanted immediate obedience. She didn’t
have to like what he wanted to do, as long as she did it. With a smile.
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