Tracie Peterson - [New Mexico Sunset 03] Read Online Free PDF Page B

much the martyr, Angeline threw herself across her bed and pounded the mattress in rage. Willa had warned her that this would happen and Angeline hadn’t believed it possible. Was the entire world blind to the needs of women?
    ❧
    Lillie’s astounded expression exactly matched her husband’s. When Daniel opened his arms to her, Lillie eagerly sought the refuge he offered.
    “She’s so different now,” Lillie said near to tears. “I thought maybe we could talk through it, but she just kept getting more upset with each thing I said.”
    “Shh,” Daniel soothed. “It has nothing to do with you.”
    “She thinks I’m stupid,” Lillie said, and a sob escaped her. “Stupid and oppressed and blind to my womanly rights.”
    Daniel smiled over his wife’s head. “Yeah, you seem real oppressed, Lillie. Have I managed to keep you chained to my side unable to achieve your God-given potential?”
    Lillie pulled back and looked at the amused twinkle in her husband’s eye. “Oh, Daniel,” she grinned and wiped at the tears in her eyes, “I’ll take oppression if it’s with you.”
    Daniel took Lillie’s face in his hands and kissed her soundly on the lips. “I feel the same way about you, my dear.”
    Lillie melted against her husband, perfectly content that after twenty-some years of marriage, they could still argue together, work together, and joyfully love together. They had weathered many storms and would undoubtably face many more.
    “What are we going to do about Angeline?” Lillie whispered the question against Daniel’s chest.
    “Give her time to cool off and come to her senses. Maybe she’ll get interested in one of the local causes and forget about her suffragist friend.”
    “I suppose you’re right,” Lillie said, wrapping her arms tightly around Daniel’s neck. “I hope you are.”
    “If not, there’s always my idea about a convent.”
    ❧
    Angeline’s tantrum was spent, and now she felt more determined than ever to leave Bandelero and assist Miss Neal. She pulled out a calendar and noted the day when Willa planned to be in Santa Fe for her first speech. With any luck at all, Angeline would find a way to join her.
    “I’ll show them that I’m more than a simpleminded female,” Angeline whispered to the room. “I’ll show them that I’m capable of bettering the cause for women! I’ll show them all!”
    ❧
    For the next few days, Angeline was the epitome of cooperation and genteel refinement. She didn’t utter a single word about suffrage or equal rights and went about her chores as a dutiful daughter. She was content in the fact that no one was wise to her plans. She reasoned away any feelings of guilt, telling herself that even people in the Bible often had to step out of line in order to accomplish God’s will.
    On what was to be her last evening at home, Angeline sat quietly sewing while her father discussed one of his cases. Her mother was quite engrossed in the conversation, adding her own thoughts on Daniel’s procedures. All in all, Angeline thought it a perfect evening. It was the way she wanted to remember her parents. It was the way she wanted to remember her home.
    Getting up and excusing herself for bed, Angeline went to her room and double-checked her suitcase. Everything was ready. She opened her window and cautiously lowered her case to the ground by using a rope she’d managed to hide beneath her bed. Then securing that same rope to the leg of her bed, Angeline prepared to descend in the same manner.
    She cast a quick look around the room and smiled. She was leaving a child, but when she returned, if she returned, she’d be a worldly, wise woman. She double-checked to make certain they would see her letter of explanation, then pulled on her jacket and hat, and climbed out her bedroom window.
    Reaching the ground, Angeline heard the train whistle blast it’s announcement that final boarding was taking place. She picked up the suitcase and ran for all she was