Redeeming-Love-By-Francine-Rivers

R E D E E M I N G L O V E
“Not very,” Angel said. Ruth tugged her skirt, and Angel lifted her, setting
Ruth on her hip.
“Oh, no, you don’t.” Miriam dried her hands and took Ruth and set her
down again. “Mandy has to help me make a cake, and she needs both hands
to do it. Don’t stick your lip out at me, young lady.” She turned her around
and gave the little girl’s bottom a light swat. “Michael’s right outside. Ask him
to give you a piggyback ride.” She set out the bowls and glanced at Angel.
“Now, tell me what it’s all about.”
“What?”
“You know what. You and Paul. Was he in love with you before you married
Michael?”
Angel gave a sardonic laugh. “Hardly.”
Miriam frowned. “He didn’t approve.”
“Doesn’t,” Angel said. “With good reason.”
“Name one.”
“You needn’t know everything, Miriam. You know far more than is good
for you already.”
“If I asked him, would he tell me?” she challenged.
A wince of pain crossed Angel’s face. “Probably.”
Miriam brushed a strand of hair from her eyes and left a smudge of flour
across her cheek. “Then I won’t ask.”
Angel adored her. One minute she was a child like Ruth, full of excitement
and mischief, and the next a woman with a mind of her own. “Don’t
think too badly of him,” she said. “He was looking out for Michael.” She
gave the sifter a last tap and set it aside. “I knew a girl once who received a
chunk of amethyst as a gift. It was beautiful. Bright purple crystals. The man
told her it came from a stone egg he had cracked open and part of the outer
shell was still on it. Gray, ugly, and smooth.” She looked at Miriam. “I’m like
that, Miriam. Only it’s inside out. All the loveliness is here.” She touched her
braid and her flawless face. “Inside, it’s dark and ugly. Paul saw that.”
Tears welled into Miriam’s eyes. “Then he didn’t look hard enough.”
“You’re very sweet but very naive.”
“I’m both and neither. I don’t think you know me half as well as you
think you do.”
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