The Boss Lady's Man

{Chapter} 19

{Chapter 19}

Toni rolled over in bed to face Erik lying on the floor across the room. She had heard a sigh from him so guessed that he wasn’t asleep either. He lay on his side with an open book on the floor in front of him. The white light of the moon shone through the window behind him like a midnight lantern and lit the pages of the book.

“What’re you reading?” she asked him nonchalantly.

“Song of Solomon” Erik muttered. “Trying to read this Bible through in a year. I’m inconsistent.”

“Isn’t that one of them romantical books?” Toni asked.

“Yep.”

“What’s romantic about a bunch of rules?”

Erik flipped a back a page or two and put a finger on the page. “The Bible isn’t all rules. There are miracles, parables, love stories, pretty much everything.”

“Love stories?”

“Yeah, like Ruth and Boaz, or like these here verses in Song of Solomon,” Erik explained.

“What verses?”

“These here. You know, I do believe it’s possible to win over a woman by just using Bible verses” Erik smiled.

Toni laughed. “I don’t believe that.”

“Here, listen to this. Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead. Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them. Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks. Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men…”

“Okay, stop it” Toni laughed and saw Erik smile. “If anything that’ll drive a woman away from you. Women in Solomon’s day might have wanted hair like a flock of goats, or teeth like sheared sheep, or necks like towers, but women these days’ll be happy for a simple ‘you’re as gorgeous as a Magnolia blossom in July’ or somethin’ simple like that.”

Erik laughed. “You’re probably right. Have you ever read any of the Bible?”

“Now don’t go all Preacher man on me, McBride” Toni grumbled, fingering the sheets.

“I’m not, I just asked you a simple question” Erik defended.

“Not much to speak of. Momma made me read to her every day when I was little, but after she died, I’ve never touched another book since. She taught me to read a little bit, otherwise I’d never know much of anything,” Toni said in a reflective voice.

Those long, two-hour reading sessions. The thought made her cringe.

“Mother made sure I had an education before she let me go gallivanting out west to find work. Guess we’re both lucky to have an education” Erik sighed. “Tell you what. If you read through this Bible, and still think there is no God, I’ll leave you alone about the Lord, is that a deal?”

Toni thought a moment. Reading the blasted book was better than being hounded by Erik for the rest of her life. Yet reading the book might make her look at her life differently, and she liked herself just the way she was.

Oh, just shut up, Toni. You know you’re miserable when you don’t let people in. You’ve been miserable for the past eight years.

What would it hurt to just read a little? It might be interesting, at least.