Redeeming-Love-By-Francine-Rivers

F R A N C I N E R I V E R S
slightly and saw him staring at her, she knew what was wrong. She had seen
that look on men’s faces often enough to know what it meant. Was that all
that ailed him? Well, why hadn’t he said so?
She straightened, lowering her arms slowly so he could look at her. She
gave him her old smile.
A muscle jerked in his cheek. He stood, took his hat from the hook by
the door, and went out.
She frowned, perplexed.
Angel prepared his breakfast and waited for him to come in. When he
did, he ate without so much as a word. She had never seen him in such a
foul mood before. He looked at her darkly. “Have you decided whether
you’re going to pick those nuts?”
Her brows flickered up. “I’ll pick them. I didn’t know you were in such a
hurry.” She scraped her chair back and went out to the barn for the gunnysack.
It took several hours to fill it. She dragged her load back and dumped
the nuts. She shook out the sack, proud of her work.
Michael was splitting logs. Pausing, he wiped his brow with the back of
his hand and nodded toward the heap. “Is that all?”
Her smile evaporated. “Isn’t this enough?”
“I thought there’d be more.”
She stiffened. “You mean you want all of them?”
“Yes.”
Tight-lipped, she went back. “Maybe he’s part squirrel,” she muttered
under her breath. Maybe he figured on selling them along with the vegetables
and smoked venison. Stubborn and angry, she kept at it right through
the noon meal. Let him fix something to eat for himself. If he wants nuts, he’s
going to get nuts.
It was near dusk when she dumped the last sack in the barn. Her back
was a mass of pain. “I sniffed all through the leaves and couldn’t find anymore,”
she told him. She longed for a long, hot soak, but the thought of toting
one bucket of water made her give up that idea.
He smiled. “We’ve got enough there to share with neighbors.”
Share? “I didn’t know we had any neighbors,” she said angrily, pulling a
wayward strand of blonde hair out of her mouth. She hadn’t done all this
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