Walking on Air Read Online Free PDF Page B

downward. “It’d take me a month just to clean up that rat’s nest.” Then, hearing what he’d just said, he backtracked. “I’ll take him. No worries. I found a dirty, stinky dog once that I learned to love real quick. He up and died on me, but it wasn’t for lack of caring on my part.”
    “Don’t choose hastily,” Michael interjected. “There are many lost souls in Random. We’ve selected three for you to consider, and then you can reach a decision.”
    With a flick of his fingers, Michael changed the scene below, and Gabe saw the boy who now spent half his life huddled under the whorehouse stairwell, waiting for his mother to return. Before he thought, he said, “He’d be a tough one to save in thirty days. He’s bitter, suspicious, and been done wrong so many times he has no faith in human kindness. Boys like him don’t normally turn to melted butter just because somebody’s nice to them.”
    Michael nodded. “He is a difficult one, if not impossible. Which is why we’ve given you three lost souls to choose from.”
    The angel Gabriel flung his hand to change the scene below. “Here is our final lost soul for you to consider. Nancy Sullivan, now using the surname Hoffman.”
    Gabe almost lost his balance when he looked down and saw the young woman who had stood at the hat shop window, watching him as he lay dying. Now she was in her bedroom, wearing only a thin chemise, bloomers, and corset as she prepared to change dresses for church. Shooting a furtive glance at the angels, Gabe inched closer for a better look. Great legs, tight little ass, breasts to make a man’s mouth water. She had a very interesting freckle—or maybe a small mole—on the swell of her right breast that peeked at him over the low scoop of her chemise. Without intending to, he leaned so far over the parting in the clouds that he nearly lost his footing.
    “That’s the one!” he proclaimed loudly. Hell, if he had to save a lost soul, he might as well have a little fun while he was at it.
    The angels frowned in disapproval. Michael spoke up. “You’re free to choose whichever mission you like, of course, but looks can be deceiving. Miss Sullivan, currently known as a widow, doesn’t exactly cotton to gentlemen, and of all the souls you might choose, she will probably be the most difficult to save. She distrusts men, has sworn never to let herself love one, and abhors the institution of marriage. In short, she is a lonely, unfulfilled spinster who has denied herself the joy of marriage and bearing children because she is terrified of letting a man, any man, have authority over her. She has no true friends and ventures from her shop only for necessities and to attend church. She also has a weak sense of humor. Her only pleasures in life are her little sister and her work, the latter of which she engages in from dawn until well after midnight, seldom taking a moment for herself, not because she enjoys being exhausted, but because building her business has been a constant struggle and she is afraid to sleep.”
    Gabe shrugged. “I have great respect for people who work hard, and I’ve yet to meet a person who can’t learn to laugh. Why the hell is she afraid to sleep?”
    “Nan Hoffman may not give you an opportunity to teach her how to laugh. She lives in fear of discovery. And if you take her case, you will learn only from her why she has trouble sleeping.”
    “Discovery of what?” Gave demanded. “You say she lives in fear?”
    Michael sighed. “It’s a long story. Nan wrongly believes she has a murder charge hanging over her head, and she is consequently running from her past, which will make it extremely difficult for you to gain her trust. Are you still interested?”
    Gabe gave Nan Hoffman’s tantalizing figure another long look and flashed a grin. “I love a challenge, especially when it comes packaged like that.”
    The angels folded their hands and studied Gabe with somber intensity. Michael said, “This