Walking on Air Read Online Free Page B

ornate gates to heaven, we felt a shack might be less intimidating.”
    Gabe didn’t like the fact that these two fellows seemed to know what he believed in and what he didn’t, but he was relieved to hear that they were there to save him. Hey, if anyone needed saving, it was definitely him. He wasn’t about to say so, though, and he sure as shootin’ wasn’t going to act cowed. “So, if your job is to save everyone you can, what do you have in mind for me?”
    The two angels resumed their perusal of Gabe’s life history, shaking their heads and clucking their tongues. The angel Gabriel glanced up. “Do you realize you have intimately consorted with one hundred and fifty-six women, all without benefit of matrimony or any feelings of genuine affection?”
    That couldn’t be right. Now they were insulting his manhood. Gabe grabbed the paper from the angel’s hand and scanned it. “This isn’t correct,” he said indignantly. “You left off a bunch of names. And for your information, I was damn good at it.” He ran his gaze down the list, then slapped the record with the backs of his fingers. “There, you see! You forgot to list the gal I made love to last night, proof that you might have left out others.”
    Michael’s dark brows snapped together. “We haven’t had time to add the name of the woman last night.” His expression grew accusing. “So we’ll make it a hundred and fifty-seven, and ask you again what you have to say for yourself. This isn’t something you should be bragging about, Mr. Valance. Your flagrant disregard of nearly all of the Ten Commandments is shocking.”
    Gabe couldn’t understand what they were so het up about. “I wasn’t bragging. I was being accurate. And I never touched a married woman in my whole life. No adultery. You can’t pin that one on me.”
    The angels sadly shook their heads. The golden-haired Gabriel took over the exchange. “Did no one ever explain to you that the seventh commandment encompasses far more than just adultery? Sexual intercourse with prostitutes falls under that rule, not to mention countless other things.”
    “Holy hell,” Gabe replied. “Next thing I know, you’ll be outlawing booze. Just because a man has the good sense never to get married, that doesn’t mean he wants to live his entire adult life without getting a little now and again.”
    The angel Gabriel sighed. “You are a challenging case indeed.” He turned another page of Gabe’s life history and once again did a head waggle. “Have you done nothing with your life to commend yourself?” he asked. “Did you perform no acts of kindness?”
    “Oh, hey, I’m good on that one,” Gabe said. He felt on firmer ground now. “Take the whores, now. I always paid double their rates, even if the service was bad. You two probably don’t have any experience with working girls, but that was definitely unusual, you know? A lot of men fasten their flies, bolt out the door, and don’t even pay the tab.” On a roll, Gabe stabbed a finger in their direction. “And let me tell you, that isn’t all they do! Most whores get knocked around more times than not, and even then the bastards who’re fond of beating on women don’t pay for the privilege. I not only paid that last gal’s fee, but I gave her twenty-three bucks extra. That’s a lot of money!”
    Michael’s brown eyes bugged slightly. A hooded expression slipped over Gabriel’s blue-eyed countenance. Gabe could tell this wasn’t going well. Shifting his feet quickly, he said, “And don’t be forgetting the ten dollars I tossed to that kid in the street right before I got shot. Hell, I was going to take him out for breakfast and stay over a day to see if the local preacher could get some family in town to take him in.”
    Michael lifted his hands. “For a man of your immense wealth, the paltry sum of ten dollars hardly offsets all the bad things you have done. Nor does the fact that you planned to give any family who would