He grinned. “Guess not. Oh, I’ve tried, but mediocre and I just aren’t a match.”
“Neither is humble,” Mia teased.
Ted trotted up through the back door. Mia walked around the house and waited until Murphy had finished.
“Why don’t you and I take a little walk?” she suggested.
Murphy looked up and scowled.
“Come on, it’ll do you good. Cid can finish this.”
Murphy nodded and moved beside Mia who was headed in the direction of the woods. “I’m sorry I ruined the porch.”
“No need to apologize for taking out some bad boards,” Mia insisted. “I’m sorry that you had to deal with them in the first place.”
“I wasn’t there for her,” he said quietly. “She had no one on her side.”
Mia was surprised by the guilt the farmer was carrying. His wife was an adulterer and probably aided somehow in his death.
“She came here expecting an easier life. Chastity wanted parties and party dresses, but all she got was work and more work.”
“Life was harder back then, Murph,” Mia pointed out.
“We tried and found out that we couldn’t have children. My mother moved in, and instead of providing company for Chastity, she was always critical. It couldn’t have been a good life. I had my farm and my trees. All she had was me, and I was too busy.”
“Did you love her?” Mia asked.
“Not at first. I didn’t know her. Our marriage was arranged by our families. But I grew to appreciate her. She was beautiful, Mia. Like a fairytale princess. She had little bones, and her feet were so small. I felt oafish next to her.”
Mia chose to be silent. She waited for him to open up to her. There was something holding him back. She watched again and again as he looked over at her and tried to form the words, but instead, he remained silent. They had crested the hill and were wading through the long grass when he lightly touched her arm. Mia turned.
“I’d like to see her grave, please.”
“I’ll call Father Santos. I don’t know exactly where they buried her,” Mia admitted. She pulled out her phone, but shook her head as she was in a dead spot. “I’ll call when I get back to the farmhouse. We’ll go together…”
“No. Cid will take me,” Murphy insisted.
Mia tried not to be hurt. “Okay, I’ll ask Cid.”
“I’m sorry, Mia,” Murphy said and disappeared.
Mia looked around her and saw she had traveled about a mile and a half from home. She sat down on the grass, lay back and let the tears flow. She cried for the injustice of Murphy’s short life. She cried for the cloud that had moved over her marriage and was taking its damn time moving off. She loved her husband, but she worried that he no longer adored her. He had to work through the damage that Beth and Judge Roumain had done to them. She had to push away Angelo’s words regarding the lack of love that had kept the curse from setting in.
“It’s not fair!” she screamed and pounded the ground beside her.
“Life isn’t fair,” Sariel voiced in her ear.
Mia turned her head to see the archangel, in human form, lying beside her. He was dressed in casual clothes, not unlike what she was wearing.
“Why are you here?” she asked, trying to keep her voice even.
“Mia, I sensed you were upset, and I thought I’d offer you my wing to cry on,” he said, dripping with sarcasm.
Mia laughed and rolled back onto her back.
He rolled to his side and leaned over her. “I take it you don’t want a guardian angel?”
“Um, that’s several paygrades below you, sir.”
“Indeed. Actually, I’ve been waiting to talk to you alone.”
“Well you have me… You have me alone that is,” she clarified.
He lifted an eyebrow. “I admit to being puzzled by your circumstances.”
“Puzzled. Why?”
“You’re a very powerful woman, Mia, yet you choose to lead an ordinary life.”
Mia laughed. “You call what I do ordinary? I’d hate to see what you would think of as exciting.”
“Are you content to clean up the paranormal world? To mop up the lost and protect the victims of the angry?”
“I think that’s why I was given these gifts. To help someone to cross over and to take the fear away from a family that is haunted. It is very rewarding.”
“How about your personal life?”
“I have beautiful son, and I had a husband who adored me.”
“Had?”
“Geeze, now you’re acting the shrink,” Mia said and sat up. “I’ve discovered the problem, but I can’t seem to return to how things were before the… interference.”
“Mia, you never can go back. You have to make things better in the present time.”
“Any suggestions?”
“I’m a warrior not a marriage counselor, but I’ve learned a few things today in speaking to you.”
“And that is?”
“You’re not ready to fly yet. Don’t go with Angelo. Don’t let him further divide you and your husband. Angelo wants you for his own, Mia. Just as I do.”
Mia’s eyes opened wide. She was suddenly aware of her present state of vulnerability.
“In his case, there may be a carnal issue. In mine, I’m looking for a fellow warrior. I’m not interested in being inside of you.”
“This is making me very uncomfortable,” Mia said, getting up.
“There is a war coming. I want you to fight beside me,” Sariel said, putting his hand on her chest.
“I already have a fighting partner, Sariel, but thank you for the offer,” she said, trying to lift the angel’s hand off of her body.
“Are you talking about Stephen Murphy?”
“Yes.”
“Not Angelo Michaels?” Sariel clarified.
“I don’t trust Angelo, or you for that matter,” Mia said as Sariel pulled her closer to him. “This isn’t helping,” she said, pushing at him.
“You have so much demon in you. I can understand your need to lie with a male. Is that what it takes to win your allegiance?”
“That is none of your business. I’m a married woman. I lay with my husband.”
“I can give you the pleasure you seek,” he said huskily.
Mia raised her
