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"We were in love by then Long before that day of infaether"

"What were you doing in Sarah’s Orchard?"

"What all San Francisco heiresses did in those days, attending finishing school Because of the war in Europe, stateside boarding schools were popular, and new ones kept cropping up Rogue River School for Girls was in its second year when I arrived that Septeue River School for Girls"

"But you know the building well After the war, it became the Orchard Inn"

"Which is a short walk to MacKenzie’s Market"

"Where Granddad helped his parents on weekends and after school"

"And where a Rogue River schoolgirl happened by?"

"A classmate and I loved the apples ere served at lunch One day, we decided to buy some for snacks One day beca for me, shined to a mirror finish on his shirtsleeve His parents were a by the store for apples--or whatever else was in season--for a while But he’d never taken an interest in any of them the way he was interested in me And, of course, he was my one and only love"

"And you were his"

"We knew it His family knew it"

"And your family?"

"I’d planned to tell the to San Francisco for New Year’s to askBut everything changed, the world changed on December 7 I went to Portland with hi vows--privately, just to each other" She closed her eyes for a ress had declared war on Germany and Italy, too, by then, and that’s where he went"

"How long was he gone?"

"Three years, eight months, six days He came home a month after VE Day"

"You missed him desperately"

"Every second of every day I was lucky to have his parents, and this town They welcomed me and my babies, your twin uncles"

"And your family?"

Clara shook her head "They didn’t want any part of a daughter who’d gotten pregnant out of wedlock with a country boy whose dream was to carry on the tradition of his family’s store My parents threatened to disown me, to cut ht, unless I went into hiding until after I’d had iven them away"

"They were serious?"

"Oh, yes And so was I I didn’t threaten to disown them I just did it"

"That must’ve been difficult"

"I won’t pretend it wasn’t Not the decision--that was easy But it hurt me deeply that they hadn’t even wanted to iven him a chance"

"Mom’s not that much of a snob But," Elizabeth said, "I wonder if Matthew is"

Six

April 13, 1942 Midnight

Clara, ht you sneaked out of the dormitory to be with me I was so worried you’d fall as you clihed at hter even now You sca skirts and all, as if you’d been cli trees all your life We walked to the river Do you rerass We listened to the sounds of the autu at our feet I listened to you breathe When you breathed out, my Clara, I breathed in I wanted to draw deep withindeep within you I wondered if you were doing the same It was the only e could touch on that Septeht We’d known each other just one week We lay as close as we could without touching, didn’t we? I wanted to touch you, Clara You discovered, later, how ht I can lie here, so --and pretend you’re besideso because it was breathed first by you I love you, Clara More than life, and long beyond death I’ beside you, my love Always,

Charles "Oh, Granddad," Elizabeth whispered as she placed the letter beside the others she’d read "Granddad"

After a lanced at the stovetop clock

Eleven forty-five Tiet ready for Nick Mentally ready, she aears fro colors schemes for the house--with Nick

Mental preparedness was required there, as well She felt wary about seeing Nick Quite wary But quite eager, too

It was an unsettling paradox, and a crazy one Crazy being the operative word

A little head-clearing fresh air was in order, and it was hers for the taking Last night’s rainstorm was now a memory The world it left behind sparkled fresh and clean

She walked the length of the driveway At its farthest reach, she sat on a patch of grass beneath an apple tree Eyes closed, she lifted her face skyward The air ar close by She inhaled deeply and was rewarded with a gift fro beneath the summer sun

Elizabeth Charlotte Winslow didn’t have a freeze-frame kind of beauty; Nick had already decided that

But the face that s, and more beautiful than any he’d ever seen

She was sitting beneath the very tree where he’d found her, sobbing, as a girl, and he was approaching from behind her, as he had on that December afternoon

He would’ve been happy to watch her forever But she had no idea she was being observed, and he had no right not to tell her

"Elizabeth"

Her eyes flew open and she scrambled to her feet

"Nick"

"On the lookout for Matthew?"

"No I…" On the lookout for you "Gra from Center Street"