Read Love in the WINGS for Free Online

Corbin’s lips into a smile. “No, she’s not old, silly. But she has a connection to—you know what I mean. To Heaven.”
    Corbin stopped. He turned to face Aria and took her arm to keep her from walking on. “Wait a minute. I think I know what you’re trying to say. Seems to me someone mentioned that old Hart talks to angels, or some such nonsense.”
    His words sucked the happy light right out of Aria’s eyes, and he wanted to kick himself for opening his trap.
    “Yes. I’m talking about angels. Mr. Hart does speak with them, and so does Zoe.” She tilted her head to the side, narrowed those dark chocolate eyes and studied his face. Corbin suddenly wanted to look somewhere else—anywhere but into her disappointed gaze. “Kinda sounds like you have doubts.”
    He pulled in a deep breath, tucked her hand through his arm and started walking again. Slowly this time, so they could talk.
    “I do have doubts.”
    She shook her head. “How can you claim to believe the Bible and not believe in angels?”
    He shrugged. “I believe they exist. I just don’t think they interact with humans.”
    “But the Bible clearly relates several situations in which they did exactly that.”
    “I know, but…that was then. This is now.”
    “Oh, I see.” A little of the previous warmth left her voice, and Corbin’s heart felt the change in temperature as if someone had dashed cold water in his face. “And you think God has changed from ‘then’ to ‘now?’”
    “Come on, Aria, that’s not fair. Of course I don’t think God has changed, but—”
    “There are no buts. God’s Word has to be taken on faith, Corbin. In whole, not in part. We can’t choose to believe the parts that seem logical, and write off the ones we find hard to understand.”
    He said nothing for a moment. How could he tell her that the very thought of angels left a sour taste in his mouth, a burning sting across his back, and the stench of alcohol in his nostrils?
    Now wasn’t the time to get into all that. A diversion—that’s what he needed.
    “Let’s talk about your name. I like it. And it suits your personality, you know. You’ve got the whole music thing going on, and Aria just fits right in there.”
    She said nothing for a moment, and Corbin knew she was debating whether to let him off the hook. Finally, she gave him a wry smile. “My parents are both music lovers. When I was born, they were really into opera—that’s why I’m Aria.” She chuckled. “Daddy mostly calls me Songbird. Aria being ‘song,’ of course, and Robbins…well, you know.”
    He chuckled, loving the unexpected note of shyness in her voice. “It’s perfect, especially since you have such a great voice. He must have made that happen by sheer force of will.”
    “Thank you. But let me tell you, growing up wasn’t fun with a name like mine. I took a lot of teasing in school.”
    He frowned. “I don’t understand.”
    “You don’t?” She stopped. Planting both hands on her slim hips, she gave him a saucy toss of her head and spat out a sing-song line of nonsense. “ Ar -ya. Ar -ya, are ya gonna tell the teacher we’re pickin’ on ya? Huh? Are ya, Ar -ya?” She rolled her eyes and kept going. “ Ar -ya. Are ya gonna be the teacher’s pet again, Ar -ya? Are ya, Ar -ya?”
    Corbin laughed. He chucked her under the chin and shook his head. “Kids are good at destroying beautiful things, aren’t they?”
    “I believe we’ve found something we agree on, Mr. Bishop.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder and stalked off, but her full lips were tilted in the right direction. After a moment, he hurried to catch up, thinking Pastor David’s secretary possessed just about the prettiest smile he’d ever seen. One up for God. He’d given Corbin something to like about his neighbor.
     
    ****
     
    Back in her own cottage, Aria prepared for bed in a contemplative mood. Corbin’s response to the subject of angels troubled her. She couldn’t buy into