Redeeming-Love-By-Francine-Rivers

R E D E E M I N G L O V E
“He fell right on the floor by the bed, and there I was, helpless as a turtle
on its back and with my own work to handle.” She laughed softly. “He came
’round when it was all over.”
“Will it be very hard?” Angel asked, worried already. She remembered
one girl who managed to conceal her pregnancy until it was too late to have
an abortion. “Isn’t there a doctor in town?”
“I suppose there might be, but by the time he arrived it would be all
over. Ruth only took four hours to be born. This one may come even faster.”
Angel agreed reservedly to help when the time came. “If you’re absolutely
sure you want me to be the one.”
“I am,” Elizabeth said, hugging her. She looked greatly relieved.
Angel went out to Michael when the Altmans left. Leaning on the fence,
she watched him shoe a horse. “Elizabeth wants me to help birth her baby.”
She watched the lines deepen in his tanned cheeks as he smiled.
“Miriam told me she was going to ask you. She was a little annoyed that
she wouldn’t be the one helping bring her little brother or sister into the
world.”
“Elizabeth was worried that Miriam might be shocked,” she said. “I, on
the other hand, shouldn’t be shocked by anything.”
Michael heard the biting edge in her tone, an edge that had been missing
for weeks. He glanced at her. Was it his mention of Miriam that did it? Or
was she scared of this additional responsibility?
“If there’s trouble, I’ve untangled a few colts in my time.”
“She said John fainted.”
Michael laughed as he drove the last nail in and cut off the end.
“It’s not funny, Michael. What if something goes wrong? There was a girl
in the brothel back in New York who hid her pregnancy long enough so
Duke couldn’t force her to have an abortion. Sally talked him into letting her
stay, but when her time came, she screamed. I could hear her through the
walls. It was a Sunday afternoon, and the place was busy and—” She looked
at Michael’s face as he straightened, and she stopped speaking. Oh, why had
she brought all that up again?
“And what?”
“Never mind,” she said and turned away.
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