An Angel for Emily Read online

  “It’s a shame the way your mortal history can get twisted about. Everyone thinks that Captain Madison was horrible for marrying that young woman but really…” Michael gave a great sigh. “But I guess you’re too upset over Donald to want to hear anything about Captain Madison.”

  Emily had to bite her tongue to keep from asking but she wasn’t going to allow him to distract her. “This is all a joke to you, isn’t it? My life is in shatters because of you but all you can do is make jokes.”

  “All right, no more jokes. You want truth, then the truth is that your life was a mess before I showed up. As always, you choose dreadful men to fall in love with. Your Donald? He chose you because he thought you were too boring to ever give him any trouble. He saw that the way you looked at him was akin to worship and he knew you’d run a tidy house, put on hundreds of dinner parties and basically work yourself to the bone for him. Yet you’d ask for little or nothing in return. On his side he could do what he’s been doing forever, and that’s have affairs with every woman he can get into bed with him, which, considering his job and looks, is a considerable number.”

  Pausing, he looked at her. “You want more?”

  “I didn’t want that much,” she said under her breath. “I just wanted…”

  “To live in a dream. All mortals do. None of you want to know the truth. Emily, I know you’re angry at me right now but if you had married him, your life would have been miserable.”

  She glared at him. “You’re my guardian angel so why didn’t you fix it? Isn’t that what you guys are supposed to do?”

  Michael took a while before he answered and she could tell that he was choosing his words carefully. “An angel can’t interfere on earth unless given permission to do so by God. Oh, an angel can find a mortal the occasional parking space.” He paused to smile at this idea. “But an angel can’t end a life or prolong a life without God’s permission.

  “And an angel cannot interfere in love! Big taboo, that one. Guardian angels are sickened to see those in their charge marry wife beaters and child molesters. But they are forbidden to prevent love from going where it wants to go because, you see, God loves love.”

  Michael paused to see if she’d stop him but at her silence, he continued. “However, angels can make things happen to allow a person to see the truth about the one they love. But, unfortunately, it’s true that love is blind and rarely does anyone actually see the truth even when it’s presented to them. Fathers used to prevent daughters from marrying horrible men but today love has even vanquished fathers.

  “Love is the only thing on earth stronger than evil. It is stronger than money and sex and all sin. Whenever anyone truly loves someone else, God gets stronger. God is brought to earth by the pull of love.”

  Again he paused to look at her. “You didn’t love Donald and you never would have. You shouldn’t settle for what you can get, Emily, because you deserve the best.”

  At that she stood, hands on hips, and glared down at him. “You know, lectures like that make me crazy. Everyone these days spouts holier-than-thou statements about the wonderful man a woman deserves but what I want to know is, Where is this man? Where do they grow these fabulous men who are kind, considerate and worth a woman’s love? Where’s the man like my father who came home from work on time and whose whole life revolved around his family. I only seem to find men who think I’m boring and angels who make love to me then leave without a backward glance.”

  Instantly, Michael was on his feet and reaching out his hand to her, but she didn’t take it. He moved to stand in front of her but she looked away. “Last night I was wrong,” he said softly. “If it will make you feel any better I’ve spent the morning being bawled out by Adrian. It seems that I committed a serious breach of ethics and I’m going to be…” He took a deep breath. “Demoted. When I get back I get sent down a level. I’ll have…”

  When he spoke his voice seemed to catch in his throat. “I’ll have new clients, new people to look after.”

  “Then you won’t be my guardian angel,” Emily said, her eyes glittering angrily.

  “No,” he said softly. “I won’t be watching over you.”

  “Good! Then I can choose my own lovers, my own friends, my own everyone and everything without your interference.”

  “Yes,” Michael said. “You’ll go through life without me.”

  Emily cocked her head at him. “So why are you still here? You got bawled out, told you’ve done a really bad job of everything, so why weren’t you recalled?”

  Michael shrugged. “I have no idea. Adrian has tried to get through to Archangel Michael but…”

  “He was put on hold?” Damn! she thought. She hadn’t meant to make a joke.

  But Michael didn’t smile. “In Heaven, being put on hold could mean waiting for centuries.”

  Emily wanted to bite her tongue to keep from laughing but she couldn’t. “You are the worst possible angel,” she said, but there was no animosity in her voice because finally, after all the ugly happenings of the morning, last night was beginning to come back to her. “Did Adrian say anything about…”

  “Last night?” Michael asked and he had such a cocky grin that Emily had to turn away. “A bit. In fact he said more than a bit. He said, well, days’ worth. He had to expand earth time to fit it all in. While you were telling Donald what you thought of him, I was being yelled at for what on earth time would be about ten and a half days.”

  “My goodness. Adrian seems to like to talk.”

  “He seems to like to talk to me anyway.” Michael raised his head. “Speaking of which, did you find out anything?”

  “Find out anything about what?”

  “About who’s trying to kill you? Did your former lover have any ideas about who was after you?”

  “Well, we didn’t really have time to discuss that. He was—” She looked away.

  Michael took her chin in his hands, then tilted her head up to look into her eyes. “What was that skunk trying to do to you?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” she said, moving away from him. “I just want to go home and—”

  “Your home is no longer safe. When Donald corrects his mistake the men who put the bombs in your car will know you’re still alive. They may know already. I’m feeling that your apartment isn’t safe.”

  “But where am I supposed to live? How do I go to work? How do I—?”

  Michael put his arms around her and held her close to him; she could feel his heart beating against her cheek.

  “I don’t want to touch you,” she whispered. “You’re not real. You’re not going to stay here. I just lost one man I loved and I can’t bear to lose another one. It’s not fair!”

  “That’s just what Adrian said,” Michael told her, holding her close, stroking her hair. “He didn’t care what I did to myself but what I had done to you was beyond the rules. You see, once a woman falls in love with an angel, no mortal man can live up to him.”

  “What?!” Emily sputtered, pulling away to glare at him. “You think you are so good that a one-night stand with you will ruin me for all men for all time? You are the most unangelic person I have ever met. You’re vain, conceited, and you know nothing whatever so you are a bloody great nuisance. I could adopt six children who’d be less trouble than you are. You can’t even—Would you mind telling me what you’re laughing at?”

  “I’m glad to see you’re back to yourself,” he said, laughing, then he took her arm companionably in his. “I think we should find out who’s trying to kill you, don’t you? You know, Emily, I was thinking that if you did find out maybe you could write a book about whatever has led up to this and maybe you could sell it. I do feel that I owe you a story because Captain Madison swore some dreadful curses if his story was published.”

  “I guess I could write, but how do we find out who’s trying to kill me?”

  “You didn’t believe me but I told you that Donald was the source of the problem.”

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