A Season of Angels Read Free

nothing new to add, with nothing new to share, it was best shelved.
    â€œWhen will dinner be ready?” she asked, easing herself from the comfort of Andrew’s embrace. She managed a watery smile. “I’m starved.”
    â€œHave you seen enough?” Gabriel asked, standing directly behind Mercy.
    She’d seen more than she wanted. Slowly, thoughtfully, Mercy dragged her gaze away from the scene below. Compassion swelled and throbbed within her. “Leah’s hurting so terribly.”
    â€œShe hasn’t stopped and won’t until . . .”
    â€œUntil when?” Mercy prompted.
    â€œUntil she’s found her peace.”
    â€œPeace,” Mercy cried, folding back her wings. “The poor dear’s at war with herself.”
    Gabriel looked surprised by her insight. “Leah must fully accept her inability to bear a child before the invisible threads that bind her fall away,” Gabriel explained. “Then and only then will she be ready.”
    â€œThis is my mission, to show Leah the way to peace?” The tentacles of dread gripped Mercy’s tender heart. Gabriel was seeking the impossible. She longed to help this woman of the earth, longed to ease the pain of her loneliness and the desolation of her soul. Slowly Mercy shook her head, wondering how she, an inexperienced prayer ambassador, would break through the barrier of Leah’s misery and lead her to the warm, sandy shores of serenity.
    â€œYou may choose to refuse,” Gabriel announced formally.
    â€œI would never do that,” Mercy said, surprising herself with the strength of her fervor. She didn’t know how she’d manage but somehow, some way, she’d find a means of accomplishing her mission. One thing she’d learned since her appointment as a prayer ambassador. With God’s help she could forge a path where there hadn’t been one before. With God’s help she would make a way where there was none.
    â€œI can’t spare you any longer than three weeks, earth time,” Gabriel reminded her. “Not with the New Year coming on. You know what it’s like around here when people start making resolutions. By the middle of January, earthlings decide to take one last-ditch effort and try prayer.”
    â€œOnly three weeks,” Mercy repeated slowly. Even now she was having a difficult time pulling her gaze away from the scene between Leah and her husband.
    â€œYou’ll contact me with any problems?” Gabriel asked.
    Mercy bristled. The archangel’s offer insinuated that she’d encounter more than her share, which was an unfair assumption. It was true she’d had trouble with the last assignment, had gotten sidetracked a time or two, but she successfully managed to complete her mission.
    â€œThere’s no physical reason why Leah can’t become pregnant?” Mercy asked, wanting to be certain she had her facts straight. The last thing she wanted was to walk into the middle of a prayer request without adequate information.
    â€œNone whatsoever,” Gabriel stated matter of factly. “Leah and Andrew have been to see every fertility specialist on the West Coast.”
    â€œWhat about adoption?”
    â€œThey applied five years ago, but the waiting list is several years long. They were chosen by a birth mother and then bitterly disappointed when she changed her mind at the last minute. They withdrew their name shortly afterwards.”
    â€œHow very sad,” Mercy said softly.
    â€œThe Lundbergs are deeply in love.”
    â€œThat helps.”
    Gabriel’s chuckle caught Mercy off guard. She swiveled her attention to the archangel, who was clearly amused.
    â€œWhat’s so funny?” Mercy demanded, irritated and not taking time to censure the thought. Gabriel, after all, was an archangel and she was in no position to be questioning him.
    â€œNothing,” he said, smiling broadly.
    Gabriel wasn’t one