MONTANA SKY 07.5: Angel In Paradise by Debra Holland

Author:Debra Holland [Holland, Debra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-02-24T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIVE

Sensing her inner turmoil, Rafe allowed Angel to sit in silence for the first twenty minutes of the ride, but studied her from the corner of his eye.

Finally, she gave a tiny shake, as if rolling something off her mind. She glanced up at him, her gaze friendly but impersonal. “Tell me about your business. How long have you been on the island?”

He decided to play the conversation her way. At least for now. “Fifteen years.”

She gave him a wide-eyed look.

“When I lit out from Sweetwater Springs, I wanted to drive as far away as possible and still be in the states. Florida, believe it or not, is good horse country. Lots of rich retired people who like to ride.”

“But you ended up on an island.”

“My parents met here, and my mother told us enough stories about the place….” He shrugged. “Sort of felt familiar.”

“I never knew that about your parents.”

“Imagine a soldier on leave. He’s from a wealthy ranching family with roots dating back a hundred and twenty-five years. He meets a shy eighteen-year-old orphan who grew up shuffled from foster home to foster home. They tumble into love and get hitched before his leave ends.”

“I imagine that marriage didn’t meet with your grandfather’s approval.”

“Nope. The two stayed away from Sweetwater Springs. By my mother’s account, they were deliriously happy.”

“Named their babies after angels,” she teased.

He slanted her a glance. “Look who’s talking, Angelina.”

She laughed.

“Then my father was killed, and everything changed. With a babe in arms and pregnant with another, my mother had no place else to go…and my grandfather never let her forget it.”

“What a mean old man.”

“I remember riding with him around the ranch…his pride in our land, a pride he passed on to Gabe and me. Learning to be cowboys…. He wasn’t all bad.” Rafe shook his head. “Stubborn, though.”

Angel laughed. “He’s not the only stubborn Flanigan.”

Ah, I’ve coaxed her out of her shell. Rafe raised his eyebrows. “How about narrow-minded? Or ruthless and controlling?”

“You’re not any of those!” Her response was obviously instinctual.

Hope rose in him.

Angelina paused. “Are you?”

He narrowed his eyes. “You couldn’t accuse me of anything worse than being like my grandfather.”

“Have you any idea what he had in mind for you and Gabe’s legacy?” she asked, daring to bring up the forbidden topic.

Something hot went through him, an old anger. “Leave it, Angel,” he said more sharply than he wanted. “Don’t ruin this…time we have.”

She sat back in the seat. “All right, Rafe. But I will be heard. Soon.”

~~~

The tables on the waterfront deck of Joe’s Cajun Seafood crowded each other and overflowed with locals and tourists alike. Rafe knew Angel wouldn’t try to talk business where they could be overheard, and he’d be safe to enjoy her company for a few hours, without the stress of having to deal with whatever brought her here.

Angel had never participated in a crawfish boil, and he taught her how to pinch off their heads and suck out the meat. After a squeamish attempt or two, she was soon peelin’ and eatin’ like a local.

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