Enticing An Angel by Leo Charles Taylor Page A

out, "Stop!
You must not hop on Pop."
    The kids laughed and she smiled as she opened
the novel. Nathan rolled to the ground and grabbed his kids,
tickling them as he did so. The climbed on him and began to bounce
as Melanie began the story properly.
    From the dining room, Joshua watched the
affair. He glared at Melanie, but then smiled as he watched the
kids jumping on their dad. Nathan was a fantastic father, and that
was something every Angel knew.
    "She's good people," Michael said again, as
he came alongside Joshua and watched Melanie read the story.
    Josh turned to his brother and refrained from
answering. Michael was watching Melanie, and Joshua looked between
the two of them. It took him a moment to put the puzzle pieces
together, and when he did, he had to speak.
    "My God, you're in love with her," Joshua
stated.
    Michael startled and turned to his brother.
He became contemplative. His response was slow and accompanied with
a shrug.
    "Maybe," he said. "I don’t know. But she's
fun and I like being with her."
    "Well, the kids seem to like her. So, maybe
she's not all bad," Joshua said carefully.
    Melanie made a funny face as she read out
some of the lines, and Katherine giggled and returned the funny
face. Both men suddenly chuckled at the scene. Michael was shocked
by his brother's response, but like hunting a deer, he didn't want
to spook Joshua. He just let the scene play out, and hoped Melanie
could work her magic on his brother. He didn’t wish for a miracle.
He just prayed that Melanie would demonstrate to Joshua that not
all women were evil.
     
     
    Dinner was served, grace was said, and food
was passed around. Conversation was entertaining and certainly
interesting; at least Melanie thought so.
    The boys were well behaved; their mother saw
to that, and it wasn't long before conversation turned to
Melanie.
    "So Melanie," Mrs. Angel asked. "Do you have
any long term plans?"
    "Not really," she replied with a shrug.
"Being a paralegal is okay, but I prefer my art."
    "Oh, you're an artist," Mrs. Angel replied
with judgment.
    The comment's meaning was not lost on
Melanie, but she just shrugged and agreed that she was an artist.
She then talked about some of her work.
    "She's actually very good, Mom. You'd be
impressed," Michael said.
    Melanie glared at Michael for a second. She
knew he was trying to defend her, but she didn't want it.
    "I'm sure she is dear," his mother replied,
and Michael rolled his eyes at the condescension in her voice.
    "So do you ever want children, Melanie?" Mrs.
Angel asked.
    "Oh, maybe," Melanie replied. "I haven't
thought about it much."
    "You can have children can't you?" was the
next question, and Michael's eyes widened at the nerve of his
mother.
    "Oh, I'm sure. All the plumbing works as far
as I can tell," Melanie replied as she scanned about the table for
something.
    Michael looked to his brothers who returned
his silent entreaty with dumb stares. The looks all said one
thing.
    Hey, at least it's not us getting
grilled.
     
    "Mom, that's not really an appropriate
question," Michael stated as he turned back to his mother.
    "Oh, Michael relax," Melanie said as she
reached for the roll basket and began to pick out a roll she
wanted. The basket had several varieties and she couldn't
decide.
    "Besides, it's not like she's asking if we've
had sex," Melanie said as she finally picked out a roll.
    "Have you?" Mrs. Angel asked directly.
    "Yep," Melanie replied without taking her
eyes off the roll she had chosen. She smiled at it and began to
open it as if she didn’t have a care in the world.
    Brian had been taking another sip of his beer
and for the second time today, he choked on it. He began to fight
his laughter and attempted to keep from choking at the same time.
He stood quickly and headed to the kitchen, pausing long enough to
grab his brother by the shoulder and whisper in his ear.
    "Damn, Michael," he said with a laugh.
    He then left for the kitchen, and Michael
could see by the