Julia smiled against his chest.
“You and I are both starting over, and behold, all things will become new.”
She reached up and kissed him softly on the lips and whispered words of thanks to his mouth. His affirmation comforted her. It didn’t take the pain away or erase the memories, but it relieved her to hear that he wouldn’t hold her past weaknesses against her. For truly, one of the things she was most ashamed of was allowing herself to be treated so badly. It was why she had kept her secret. It was why she had feared exposure.
“Now I feel like an even bigger ass for joking with you about Nine Inch Nails when we were at Lobby. No wonder you were so upset when I mentioned that song.”
Julia nodded slightly.
“As soon as I get back to Toronto, I’m going to change the presets on my radio. I won’t be listening to that station anymore.” He cleared his throat. “Love, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. But I’m wondering what you told your father. I owe you an apology for getting into a shouting match with him at the hospital. I said some things I shouldn’t have.”
She eyed him curiously.
“I told him he shouldn’t have sent you back to live with your mother. That it was his job as a father to protect you, and that he failed.”
Julia was surprised. No one, not even Rachel or Grace, had ever confronted Tom about his choices. No one. An expression of wonder spread across her pretty face.
“Aren’t you angry with me?” He sounded surprised.
“I can’t be. Thank you, Gabriel, for defending me. No one has ever done that before.”
She took his hands in hers and kissed the slightly swollen knuckles and the places where the skin had split. His battle wounds were almost as dear to her as his beautiful, expressive eyes.
“I didn’t tell my dad everything. Just that I caught him with Natalie, and that I couldn’t live with her anymore. It created a problem since my dad was dating her mom. But he never complained.”
“How very noble of him,” said Gabriel sarcastically.
“I spent a few days in Selinsgrove trying to calm down, and Dad brought me back to school. He moved me out of the dorm and into a small studio apartment. You would have laughed at it, Gabriel. It was even smaller than the one I’m in now.”
“I wouldn’t laugh.” He sounded hurt.
“It’s just that you’re so particular. You would have hated it even more than you hate my current apartment.”
“Julianne, I don’t hate your apartment. As I said before, I hate the fact that you have to live there. What happened next, after you went back to school?”
“I hid. They sort of became a couple after that, and I was afraid of running into them, so I avoided all of the places where I might be seen. I went to class, I worked on my Italian and my applications for grad school, and I stayed home. I kind of…retreated.”
“Rachel mentioned something like that.”
“I wasn’t a good friend to Rachel. After that night, I stopped taking her calls. I wouldn’t even speak to Grace, even though she wrote me the most beautiful letter. I sent your family a card at Christmas, but I was too humiliated to explain what happened. Rachel knows I caught them together because Natalie finally told her. But she doesn’t know how bad it was. And I don’t want her to know.”
“Anything you tell me is strictly between us.”
“I didn’t want to admit that I had been so stupid as to get myself into that situation. That I gave in to him for so long. That I was blind to the fact that they were together. I wanted to pretend that it happened to someone else.” She looked up into Gabriel’s face, which was remarkably sympathetic.
“Please don’t say that you are stupid ever again. Shame on them both for how they treated you. They’re the villains in this story, not you.” He kissed her forehead twice and buried his face in her long hair. “I think you need to get some sleep, sweetheart. It’s been a long day, and we want you to heal.”
“Won’t it upset your family when they realize we’re in here together?”
“They figured out we’re a couple. And for the most part, I think they approve.”
“For the most part?”
Gabriel sighed. “Richard doesn’t object to us as a couple; he has conservative views on sex. So although I promised that we wouldn’t be doing that under his roof, he would prefer we slept in separate rooms. Although I’m sure he’d turn a blind eye tonight and tomorrow night because of what happened to you.”
“What about Rachel and Aaron? They share a room.”
“Richard doesn’t approve of that, but in his mind at least they’re getting married. Rachel has always been supportive of me, and I think she’s supportive of us.”
“What about Scott?”
“Scott is very protective of you, and he knows that I’ve been a libertine, so…”
“You weren’t a libertine. You were just lonely.”