She narrowed her eyes at him. “Never.”
“Cut the girl some slack. She’s just in a bit of shock.”
“It is her first assignment, Gabrielle.” Raphael added, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Her face softened. “Fine, just mind your tongue, Naomi.”
“I’m sorry,” Naomi said. “This just isn’t someone I expected to ever have to watch over. So, when do we leave?”
“We’ll need to head out right away,” Jeremy replied. “We can stop by the Room of Offerings so you can say bye to Lash before we head out.”
“Why would you say bye to me?”
Naomi spun around at the sound of Lash’s voice. His face was a mask. The pain in her chest resurfaced, and she found it hard to breathe. She turned away, unable to look at him.
“Michael has given Naomi an assignment,” Raphael said. “Jeremy is to accompany her. They’re leaving at once.”
Naomi could feel Lash’s eyes on her. She wanted to look at him. She wanted to forget everything he had told her. She wanted her Lash back. But, she couldn’t take those words away.
“I see.” Lash’s voice was cold.
Taking a deep breath, she looked to Jeremy. “I’m ready.”
“Don’t you”—Jeremy’s eyes bounced between her and Lash, puzzled—“uh, okay then, come with me.”
She stared down at his hand as he held it out to her. Her head turned slightly, fighting the desire to see Lash one last time before she left. She couldn’t look at him, not now, especially if she wanted to focus on the assignment she’d been given. Slowly, she placed her hand into Jeremy’s, and then they were gone.
It took every ounce of strength for Lash not to cry out to Naomi as he watched her place her hand into Jeremy’s. He kept repeating to himself that she’d been given an assignment, that Jeremy was just doing his job as an archangel. But with what Raphael had said about Jeremy wanting Naomi so long ago, and the way he’d looked at her last night, he couldn’t forget it.
“Lash, I would like to speak to you in private,” Raphael said. “Gabrielle, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course. I’ll be with Michael,” she said and then disappeared.
Lash slumped on the bench. “Did you know about this?”
“I was told about it some time ago. I didn’t think it would happen this soon. Something must have changed to speed up the events.”
“You knew Jeremy was to go with her? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Raphael gave him a stern look.
“Right. You archangel, me lowly seraph. You’d think I would’ve learned that by now.”
Raphael let out a breath as he sat next to him. “You told her about saving the girl.”
“She didn’t take it very well, and now she’s gone.” Lash leaned forward, placing his forearms on his knees. “She couldn’t even look at me.”
He dropped his head against his chest, not wanting Raphael to see the tears forming in his eyes. The look of pain and betrayal on her face was seared into his mind. She didn’t have to say goodbye to him—her silence said it for her.
“My son, she is not gone forever. She’s merely off on assignment. She will return to you.”
“I know she’ll come back, but will she come back to me? Can she forgive me?”
“Naomi loves you, and I have faith in her.”
Lash shook his head. He wanted to believe in her love. He wanted to so badly. He just couldn’t shake off that look.
He felt Raphael’s hand pat his back. “Think of it this way: she’ll have time to think this through, and I know she will understand that you meant no harm.”
“I don’t know if I can do it, wait so long without going crazy.” Even though time went faster in Heaven than Earth, each second seemed like hours to him.
“How did you do it, Raphael? How do you make it through all that time without seeing Rebecca? The thought of being away from Naomi for even a day leaves me breathless.”
Raphael swallowed thickly. “It is...difficult.”
Lash looked up at Raphael and wondered if he should tell him about seeing Rebecca. Would it hurt him more if he did?
Crap! I can’t tell him. Only Jeremy knew about them going down to Earth.
“Son, you’ll be with her again soon,” he continued. “Mark my words. And once you are, she will need you to be there for her. Just as you were tested, she too will be tested in her faith and loyalty to her Heavenly family.”
“Naomi is strong.”
“That may be, but I fear that Naomi and Jeremy’s assignment will test her limits. And she has been here for such a short time.”
“She gets along with everybody. I don’t think she’ll have a hard time with it. Who’s her assignment?”
“You and I know her well. You may know her just a bit more so than I.”
Lash’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“You have carnal knowledge of this person.”
“Who?” he squeaked.
“Megan. Megan Dalene.”
8
Jane Sutherland tapped a pen against the desk as she read her tenth newspaper that morning. She scribbled on her yellow note pad furiously as she read the opinion page. Each paper she went through bashed her position on environmental policies. Most of them even dared to claim that she didn’t care for families or the community and instead sided with big business. Being a senator, she’d thought she would get used to being questioned about her voting record. She even accepted the fact that she’d be scrutinized because she was a close friend with Luke Prescott. Regardless, it still stung to read what people thought of her and her closest confidant.
If only people could know the Luke she’d known almost all her life—kind, protective, sometimes overly protective. But saying she didn’t care about the people in her own home state of Texas—that was going too far.
“Jane, dear, how many times have I told you reading the papers will make you old before your time?”
She looked up from the paper to see a pair of kind gray eyes gazing at her.
“I know; I know.” She sighed. “I’m just working on my speech.”
“We have speech writers on staff for that. Use them.” Luke sat on the sofa across from her desk and placed a cup and saucer on the coffee table. “They’re the best in the field.”
“I’m sure they are. Announcing that I’m running for the presidency is very important to me. I want to get it right.”
“Even more reason to use a speech writer.”
“This is personal for me, Luke. I’m doing this because I truly believe I can make a difference. The American Federation party can make our country better for everyone.”
“Spoken like a true politician.” He grinned.
She rolled her eyes. “I mean it, Luke.”
“Then use what we have at our disposal. This is going to be a long campaign, and we’re fortunate to have plenty of financial resources.”
“That’s the problem.” She sighed as she picked up a newspaper from the stack in the middle of her desk and waved it at him. “How can I touch the hearts of the people in this country when the media portray me to be out of touch with Middle America? I have to figure out a way to make them see that what our party is doing is good for all.”
He tugged on the sleeves of his crisp white shirt. Small diamond cufflinks twinkled as the light hit them. “What are they complaining about now?”
“Fracking.” Jane searched through the pile of newspapers, pulled one out, and tossed it to him. “This one says that the fracking Prescott Oil is doing in North Texas is causing the earthquakes in the area.”
Luke laughed. “I was told on good authority that the seismic events barely registered. Besides, we have our own geophysicists, Harvard-based, mind you, who say it is a natural shift in the plates in that area.”