Page 43 of The Rancher's Jilted Bride

Was this why, he wondered dully,he had been feeling wrong all this fucking time?

Mikey grabbed his hands in a fit of desperation. "Don't break your parents' heart, Hale."

Was it his parents doing their best to warn him from the other side not to make the biggest mistake of his life?

Hale swallowed hard. "Heaven..."

"Where is she right now?"

"The chopper..."

"Give me your phone," Mikey urged, "and I'll take care of everything."

Mikey gave him another hug after taking his phone. "It's going to be okay, Hale. I promise."

Hell

HEAVEN'S HEART FELTas if it was encased in ice while she waited in numb silence for the H.R. manager to come back.

The voices outside the manager's office were loud enough for her to hearexactlywhat everyone was saying.

They were all talking about her, of course.

And laughing at her.

It was enough to drive one insane, and she was certain she would've indeed lost her mind...if she were still her old self.

But she wasn't.

And that was what kept her from breaking down.

The knowledge that she wasn't alone.

Never was.

Never would be.

Fear not, Heaven.

Fear not.

For I AM with you.

The ice around her heart didn't just melt at the warmth of His voice. Her heartbeat also slowed down, and she was able to breathe more easily as His presence invited her to rest. Thepeace she felt was so tremendous that by the time she heard the door open—-

Micah.

It was God alone who kept her from fainting, God alone who even enabled her to rise to her feet as she watched the other woman walk towards her.

"We meet again," Micah said with a curl of her lip."Unfortunately."

"Hello, Micah. You look good," Heaven said softly. The other woman no longer had gaunt cheeks or dark bags under her eyes. And best of all, there wasn't the faintest scent of booze clinging to the other woman's frame.

Micah told herself that she was just imagining the sincerity in Heaven's voice. They were all the same. Women always hated her for no reason, and she would be a fool to pretend Heaven was different.

"Spare me, please," Micah spat. "You know I've never fallen for your goody-two-shoes image. And anyway—-"

She let a moment pass, but only so she could hold Heaven's complete attention as she spoke her next words with vicious relish.

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