“Julianne, look at me.” He coaxed her chin upward with a single finger, gazing at her with troubled eyes. “I didn’t mean to mark you. I know you don’t belong to me, but if you were mine, I would find a better way of showing it to the world than by turning your beautiful skin red or purple.”
Her eyes grew teary. Of course she was his. She had been his since she took his hand long ago and followed him into the woods.
“Wait here a moment.” He disappeared into his bedroom, returning with a familiar-looking British-racing-green cashmere sweater. “This is for you.” He handed it to her.
She accepted the sweater but gave him a puzzled look.
“I was worried that you wouldn’t be warm enough. I thought maybe you could wear this to the woods.”
“Thank you. But won’t you need it?”
He smiled knowingly. “I have others. And it pleases me to think that something of mine will be so close to you. If I had my way, you’d wear it all weekend.” He straightened his shoulders and took a step closer. “Perhaps this is a more humane way of marking you.”
Gabriel’s eyes shone in the dim light of the hallway. He took another step forward, as if he were about to draw her into an embrace, when Scott came lumbering out of his room, shirtless and wearing only a pair of boxer shorts. His boxer shorts had smiley faces on them.
At the sight of him, but before he could say something, Gabriel abruptly stuck his hand out. “Good night, Julia,” he said stiffly, shaking her hand.
Scott snorted loudly and scratched his ass as he walked toward the bathroom. As soon as the bathroom door closed, Gabriel pulled Julia into his arms and kissed her firmly on the lips.
“I’ll come to get you in an hour. Dress warmly and wear comfortable shoes.” He eyed her high-heeled boots with a sigh. It pained him to bid them adieu, but he knew that it was necessary.
“Good night, my—” He stopped abruptly before disappearing into his bedroom, leaving Julia standing alone.
She wondered what he had not said. She wondered if she should tell him that she was his.
Julia went into her room and changed into warmer clothes, wrapping herself in the scent that was Gabriel and his cozy cashmere sweater, which enveloped her like a lover’s embrace.
Chapter 26
When the house was shrouded in darkness and it seemed that everyone else was fast asleep, Gabriel and Julia stood staring at one another in the kitchen.
“I’m not sure you’re dressed warmly enough. It’s chilly out there.” He gestured to her coat.
“Not as cold as Toronto,” she laughed.
“I won’t keep you outside for long. Look what I found.” Gabriel held up a long, wide scarf made of thick white and black stripes. He wrapped it around her neck, expertly looping it at the front. “This is from my old college at Oxford.”
Julia smiled. “I like it.”
“It suits you. I found something else too.” Gabriel held up an old blanket that looked oddly familiar.
Julia reached out her hand to trace the edge of it. “Is that the one?”
“I think so. But it won’t be warm enough, so I brought two more.” He took her hand and led her out to the porch.
It was colder now and dark, but somehow it seemed as if no time had passed since Julia took Gabriel’s hand and followed him into the woods. She inhaled sharply at the memory, and as they crossed the backyard in the inky darkness, she felt her heart beginning to pound in her chest.
Gabriel squeezed her hand. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re nervous, I can tell. Talk to me.”
He let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close.
She hugged his waist in return. “The last time I was in these woods I got lost. You have to promise that you won’t leave me.”
“Julianne, I am not going to leave you. You don’t understand how important you are to me. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to lose you.” The pitch of Gabriel’s voice changed; it was low, tense.
His declaration took her by surprise.
“If for some reason we get separated, I want you to wait for me. I’ll find you, I promise.” Gabriel pulled a flashlight out of his pocket, and it shone brightly, illuminating the well-worn path in front of them, which disappeared into the trees.
The woods were spooky at night—a mixture of lush pines and naked trees waiting for spring. Julia clutched at Gabriel’s waist more tightly, worried that she might trip over a root or something and go sprawling. When they arrived at the edge of the orchard, he stopped.
It seemed smaller than Julia remembered it. The grassy space looked the same, and the rock and the apple trees were the same, but not as large and significant as they were in her memory. And sadder, as if everything had been forgotten.
Gabriel led her to the spot that was theirs all those years ago and painstakingly spread the old blanket on the ground.
“Who bought Richard’s house?” she asked.
“What’s that?”
“I was just wondering who bought the house. Tell me it wasn’t Mrs. Roberts. She always wanted it.”
Gabriel pulled her to sit next to him on the ground and draped them both in blankets. She curled into his side, and he wrapped his arms about her. “I bought it.”