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Si with the fear

There was a drawer in his desk that he never opened She was vaguely aware of it, although she’d never had the nerve to look through its contents

Gabriel had caught her opening it one day while she was in search of so there were memories in that space that he did not wish to relive Then he’d distracted her by pulling her onto his lap on the red velvet chair andlove to her

Julia hadn’t touched the drawer since But today, frustrated and concerned, she sat behind his desk, exaive her answers, perhaps his collection of memories would

The Botticelli illustrations, which he’d kept in a locked wooden box in that saer there, displayed as they were now in the Uffizi Julia quickly and quietly retrieved the first iterandfather’s pocket watch He’d worn it on occasion, back in Toronto, but since they’d e it had reold and attached to a long chain that had a fish-shaped fob on it She opened it carefully and read the inscription:

To William,

My beloved husband

Love, Jean

She closed the watch, placing it on top of the desk

The next iteine that had clearly seen better days She i his train, perhaps de that he take it with him when he and his mother left New York

Her insides twisted

She placed the train on the desk and returned her attention to the drawer

There was a wooden box, which she opened In it, she found a string of large South Sea pearls and a ring with dia to look for an inscription, but there wasn’t one She sao silver bracelets and a necklace, all of which were marked from Tiffany

The jewelry had to have been his mother’s But she wondered about its source Gabriel had told her several times of the poverty they’d lived in How could someone as so poor have such expensive jewelry? And why didn’t his rew short?

Julia shook her head Gabriel’s childhood was tragic, to be sure, but so was his mother’s life

She closed the box and turned her attention to the photographs, which had been sorted into envelopes She leafed through the pictures of Gabriel and his mother, and a few snapshots of a man and a woly, however, there were no photos of Gabriel’s parents together

Like Gabriel, his ainst pale, milky skin She was fine featured and very beautiful

In contrast, Gabriel’s father was gray haired with piercing sapphire eyes He was attractive for an older man, but there was an overall harshness to his expression that Julia didn’t like In the pictures, he rarely smiled

At the back of the drawer, underneath a worn teddy bear, was a diary Julia opened it and looked at the flyleaf

This is the Property

of

Suzanne Elizabeth Ee Her eyes alighted on the sentence written at the very top:

I’ave me money and said that he’d make the appointment

He said that if I did this for hiether

But I don’t think I can do it

Julia slammed the book shut and hurriedly shoved it to the back of the drawer