Intercepted by Love: Part 2 (Playing the Field #2) Read Free

grimaced as he nodded, seemingly eager for her to continue.
    “David loved Michal and wanted to make sure Saul didn’t renege on his promise for her hand.” Andie picked a piece of lint from her father’s face.
    He raised one eyebrow, in the disbelieving way he always played to get her to go on and fiercely defend her theories.
    “You’re doing it again, Dad. I bet you want to challenge me, don’t you? You want to say what everyone else believes, that David only married the princess Michal for political reasons, that he was a crafty guy, and he used Saul’s daughter to weasel his way into the kingdom.”
    What appeared to be a nod and a half smile glided across Dad’s face.
    She was amusing him. Good. She could use some theatrics both to distract herself from the pain deep in her heart and to bring her father toward recovering from his stroke.
    “I say it was true love.” She wagged her index finger and tilted her chin up. “Back in the day, if a man were to behave inappropriately with a maiden, such as touching or kissing, and maybe even sleeping with her, he was required to marry her and pay the double bride price.”
    Dad’s forehead wrinkled as if to say, Indeed ?
    “Yes, indeed. Who knows? Maybe David was able to sneak around with Michal in that big, big castle and pull her into a dark corner and have his way with her. Probably not, but by bringing double the bride price, and having King Saul count it out in front of his court meant that he was essentially implying to the world that he’d slept with her.”
    The frown on Dad’s face was dangerous, as if he’d caught Andie disgracing herself. If he could speak, he’d be questioning her about Cade and whether he should be paying double or not.
    Andie’s face heated, but she stood and stretched, looking out the window. Yesterday at this time, she’d been giddy and hopeful about Cade, in the throes of a new relationship. She’d grabbed the day, carpe diem , like her mother had said, and opened her heart full force to Cade.
    Now? Her innocence was lost.
    Behind her, Dad made a grunting sound.
    “Oh, sorry, Daddy. I didn’t mean to drop off at the most interesting spot.” She smoothed the creased sheets on his hospital bed and sat at his side. “Obviously, I haven’t proved that he loved Michal when all he did was smear her reputation, and the argument could be made that she was the king’s last daughter and David’s only chance to become son-in-law to the king, and hence in line for the throne.
    Dad’s eager nods showed her that was exactly what he believed. Like a modern day Scheherazade, Andie held onto that information for another day.
    “I’m still working on my theory, but later events, including an obscure passage in the Bible show what David’s true feelings about Michal were.”
    Andie kissed her father on the forehead, even as he rattled the rail of the hospital bed, clearly displeased with her cliffhanger.
    “Get well, Daddy. Get well, so we can go to the library and explore this romance together, and you can try and disprove my conjecture.”
    “Andie? Gollie’s back.” Her mother cracked the door open. “Someone rang the doorbell, and when I answered it, Gollie was sitting on the porch.”
    The golden retriever collie mix skipped down the hallway and into her father’s sickroom. Andie bent and gave the dog a big hug. Gollie’s fur was matted with twigs and dirt from all her adventures, but she was back.
    Behind them, her father grunted with approval and reached for the dog who approached him and licked his hand.
    “Did you see who brought her back?” Andie’s heart thumped as she rushed to the living room window. It had to be Cade.
    “No one. Whoever it was must have rang the bell and walked off. I guess they didn’t want the reward. Speaking of which, did you invite Cade to dinner? I want to thank him for offering the reward on the lost dogs. He must be a very generous man. And you didn’t tell me how your date went. Is