Redeeming-Love-By-Francine-Rivers

R E D E E M I N G L O V E
Paul heard her call. He drew rein and waited, wondering what she wanted.
She was probably going to tell him to bring something back for her with
Michael’s gold. Or maybe she was going to beg him to leave things alone.
Well, let her. A lot of good it would do her.
Angel was flushed and breathless when she reached him. “I need a ride
back to Pair-a-Dice.”
He covered his surprise with a curt laugh. “So you’re running out on him
already.”
She smiled derisively. “Were you hoping I would stay?”
“Get on up,” he said, not even reaching out a hand to help her.
“Thanks,” she said dryly and climbed onto the wagon seat with him.
Paul had spent the better part of last night wondering what to do about
Michael’s soiled bride, and here she had solved the problem for him. He
hadn’t thought she would leave so easily. No bribe. No threats. She was
going of her own free will. He clicked the reins, and they set off.
Paul glanced at her as she dabbed her face with the hem of Tessie’s shawl.
It was all he could do not to tear it off her. “How do you think Michael’s
going to feel when he finds you gone?”
She looked straight ahead. “He’ll get over it.”
“You don’t care about his feelings much, do you?” She didn’t say anything.
He looked straight ahead and then at her again. “You’re right. He’ll get
over you. In a few years’ time, California will have plenty of suitable girls for
him to choose from. Women have always been after Michael.”
She looked off toward the forest as though she could care less. Paul
wanted to cut her so deep she would bleed the way Michael was going to
when he found she had deserted him without so much as a backward
glance. Hadn’t he warned him? But she ought to feel something. It was only
right.
He was curious. “What made you decide to leave?”
“No particular reason.”
“I suppose you got bored with the quiet life Michael leads. Or is it just
having the same man all the time?” She didn’t respond. Michael would see
now he was right about her. In time, he would accept what a mistake he had
made. Women loved Michael. Besides his good looks, he combined a
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