Free Earth Angels by Bobby Hutchinson Page A

out. Go back to wherever the hell you came from in the first place.”
    His eyes sorrowful, Nathaniel looked at Joseph for what seemed a long time. His voice was filled with love and compassion when he said, “If that’s what you truly want, then so be it, my beloved friend.”
    In an instant, Joseph was alone, more alone than he’d been since the death of his parents and the woman he’d loved so long ago.
    With a cry of utter anguish and despair, he picked up the crystal water pitcher from the table and sent it flying across the room, straight at the spot where Nathaniel had been only a moment before.
    The pitcher crashed against the wall and shattered into millions of fragments, and to Joseph they seemed to represent the broken shards of his life. He fell to his knees on the carpet, and for the first time in years, he wept.
     
    Emma had hardly slept last night, and for the first time since Valentine’s Day, she left Granny’s magic locket on the dresser when she finished putting on her clothes. Her eyes were heavy and swollen from crying, and she hated to go downstairs and open the store. She longed for her father
    Unfortunately, one of her first customers was Oscar, and his mindless, cheerful chatter about the dance grated on her raw nerves.
    “For gracious sakes, haven’t you anything else to do but hang around here?” she finally snapped at him. “Some of us have work to do.”
    His face fell. “Sorry, Emma,” he mumbled, heading for the door, his shoulders slumped. “Didn’t mean to bother ya.”
    Emma felt ashamed, but only for a moment. The next customer, always slow at making up her mind, had Emma pursing her lips and tapping her foot impatiently. The transaction was made in strained silence, with no cheerful goodbyes exchanged when the door finally closed.
    As the morning progressed, each and every customer was an irritation, and Emma’s bad mood didn’t go unnoticed. One woman asked if she was feeling unwell, and suggested Emma ought to go to Doctor Gillespie for a tonic. Emma wanted to holler that Doctor Gillespie was the cause of what ailed her, not the cure.
    George Rankin came in just past noon, a wide smile on his narrow face and a book clenched in his hands. “I ordered this volume of limericks, and it just arrived. You simply must hear this one, Emma, it’s hilarious.” He began to read aloud, something about a young woman named Emma.
    “Oh, George, for pity’s sakes not now.” She knew she sounded like a witch, but she just didn’t care. Someone had spilled oatmeal from the bin, and she grabbed a broom. “Look at this disgusting mess, you’d think people could be a little more careful.”
    George swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. He turned scarlet and hurried out without another word.
    Emma knew she’d hurt him and she was too miserable to care. But it just wasn’t fair to treat her friends and customers this way. She closed the store and stumbled upstairs, feeling wretched. Joseph had become the centre of her life, and his harsh, unfair words had destroyed her. Now he was gone, and she didn’t know what to do with herself.
    She’d loved him with her whole heart and soul, but how could she stay with a man who didn’t trust her, didn’t respect her? Didn’t believe in her integrity and honesty? He’d accused her so vilely of wantonness.
    She’d never been with any man but him in an intimate fashion, didn’t he know that? She felt that he wanted to isolate her, to rob her of her spirit. It hurt that he hadn’t ever discussed with her his feelings, but instead had lashed out at her, hurling cruel, terrible accusations.
    Tears coursed down her face, and she felt sick to her stomach. Difficult as it would be, she would rather be alone than suffer his suspicions and insults. She didn’t want a man who treated her as if she was his property, who wanted to control her every move. She picked up Granny’s charm and dropped it in the drawer under her handkerchiefs.