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“That’s the kind of thing I used to say to Gabriel, on occasion, when he was being stubborn What kind of blessing do you need?”

Julia’s expression shifted

“I have an unanswered prayer”

When she didn’t coar and exhaled the smoke

“In my opinion, all prayers are answered eventually Sometimes the answer is no But I’ll certainly pray that you receive an answer I can’t pretend that the thought ofback doesn’t te the house yours You’ve furnished the downstairs, you’ve painted walls”

“Youdebts”

Richard looked at her in surprise

“He told you about that, did he?”

“Yes”

“It was a long tio Gabriel paid us back”

“All the more reason for hi for his child” Richard’s expression was grave “I didn’t care about theto save his life”

“You did You and Grace” Julia looked around the yard “As long as the house is in the fa and Christmas, it doesn’t htened the blanket around her as a whisper of a breeze blew across the porch, caressing her face “Gabriel would never part with the orchard, though He’s hired people to revitalize it They’ve planted trees”

“The old trees haven’t yielded a good crop in years I’m afraid he’s a bit optimistic”

Julia looked toward the woods, in the direction of the orchard “Optiood for him”

She turned to Richard

“If you lived here, you could supervise the orchard It would relieve Gabriel to know it’s in capable hands You’d be helping us out”

Richard was quiet for what seee When he spoke, his voice was hoarse “Thank you”

She squeezed his hand before leaving hihts As he closed his eyes, a feeling of hope washed over hi, Julia sat on the edge of her whirlpool tub testing the te forward to a fewon her lecture, but the tumult of the day had left her weary She wondered if she should call her therapist back in Boston Surely Dr Walters would have suggestions about how to deal with anxiety,a fa to want a baby Julia contrasted Gabriel’s tender enthusiasm with the cold indifference Tammy described in Eric Of course, Julia knehich she preferred She just needed to stand her ground and not let Gabriel’s passion overwhel, her conflict with Gabriel the day before illustrated how much they had to learn as a couple They needed to learn those lessons before bringing a child into the world

As she waited for the water level to rise, she felt the hairs of her neck stand on end She turned to find Gabriel standing by the vanity He’d unbuttoned the top three buttons of his dress shirt; a few strands of chest hair were now visible over the band of his white undershirt

“I’ll never tire of looking at you” He pressed a kiss to her neck before re the plush towel she’d wrapped around herself

“I should paint you” He stroked her spine with his fingertips, up and down

“You painted ot paint all over the floor”

“Ah, yes It painedwe could add to it”

“That will have to wait for a night e don’t have guests” She gave him a saucy look “Care to join me?”