Free Heavenly Angel by Heather Rainier

one handed. She allowed him to kiss her before he got up to lose the condom and take a shower. He appreciated that she didn’t try to make small talk, nor did she become clingy or sentimental. She jumped in the shower after he was finished and then got ready while he checked on their horses.
    When she was ready and the hotel room was cleared out she said, “Well, cowboy. Maybe I’ll see you again sometime. You’re always welcome in my bed if we cross paths again.” She leaned in to kiss him but made no move to hold him or hug him. It was just too intimate now.
    “You drive safe, darlin’, all right?”
    “You bet. You, too.”
    He appreciated the clean break. No promises or requests to call. She called him cowboy, he called her darlin’, they never exchanged phone numbers, and he had no idea where in Colorado her ranch was.
    Joaquin climbed into his truck and headed southeast to Divine. His tumbleweed lifestyle was uppermost in his mind on the lonesome drive. His pretty face and easygoing, flirtatious manner got him all the free pussy he wanted on the circuit, but he had grown weary of living out of a horse trailer and a duffel bag, even if the lifestyle did have its perks. He hadn’t seen Angel in a couple of years and looked forward to stopping for a while, see if any roots took hold in Divine.
    * * * *
    “Purty, purty,” Michael whispered in awe when Angel opened the small, leather-covered box and showed him the pretty platinum and diamond engagement ring and wedding band he planned to propose to Teresa with the following morning. Michael sat comfortably in the crook of his left arm and reached out a chubby little hand to touch the rings. “Mama loves you. You be my Dad. Everybody’s happy!” he crowed enthusiastically. Clay and the other female showroom employee grinned at the little boy’s happiness.
    “Proposing tomorrow?” Clay asked him in a deep Texas drawl.
    “Yep. Lord willing, she’ll say yes.” Angel handed him his debit card. He’d been saving for that ring for a while and hoped she would like it.
    “Ride the horsies now?”
    “In a little while. Let’s go see Rosie and get Uncle Joaquin a little something.”
    “Yeah! Go see Rosie! Wah-keen needs a cowboy hat, too?” Then he very dramatically clapped his hand over his mouth.
    “Uh-oh, kid. I think you let the cat out of the bag, didn’t you?” Angel chuckled at the look of consternation on the boy’s face. He was too smart for his own good. He put his chubby little hand over Angel’s mouth and put his other index finger to his lips and said, “Shh! I in big trouble now.”
    Angel and Clay both had to fight laughter when Michael not so subtly changed the subject. “Then we go see Gracie?”
    “Sure. We can stop in if you want to.”
    “Good. We go see Rosie and ‘Dette now?”
    “Yes, Rosie and Bernadette can help us out. So you think he needs a hat, huh?” Angel asked as he waved to Clay and his sales clerk and strode out the front door into the mild December chill.
    At Cheaver’s, they found a nice, black felt Stetson for Joaquin. Angel set Michael down for a moment and whispered to Rosemary to wrap up a set of spurs and authentic leather chaps for itty-bitty boys they had on display, for Michael.
    “Anything else we can’t live without, Rosemary?”
    “Well, now that you mention it. Let me show you something that I happen to know Teresa likes. Come with me.”
    Angel smiled, knowing he’d asked for it.
    Rosemary led him to another rack and lifted a top from the rack in her size and said, “This would be gorgeous on her with her long black hair and dark brown eyes. I know she liked it but wouldn’t buy it for herself because it wasn’t on sale. It will go perfectly with the skirt she purchased.”
    He smiled and nodded. “And of course, there’s a necklace or some other trinket that is perfect with it also, yes?”
    Rosemary’s eyes twinkled with merriment. “I like how you think, Angel. Of course, I have just