“In my room. I’m okay, Gabriel.” She limped past him. When she found her hairbrush, she began to pull it awkwardly through her long, tangled tresses.
“Let me do that.” Gabriel walked toward her and took the hairbrush from her hand.
“You’re going to brush my hair?”
“Why not?” He pulled out a chair and encouraged her to sit down, and then he stood behind her and slowly began to run his fingers from crown to ends, disentangling her hair manually.
Julia closed her eyes.
Gabriel continued for a moment or two before bringing his lips to her ear. “Does this please you?”
She hummed at him, her eyes still closed.
He chuckled and shook his head. She was so sweet and easy to please. And he wanted to please her, desperately. When all the tangles had been removed, he gently stroked the brush through her hair, working slowly, section by section.
Never in her wildest dreams had Julia imagined Gabriel as a hairdresser. But there was something instinctual about the way he touched her, and the feeling of his long fingers coaxing her hair made her skin warm. She could only imagine the joys that awaited her in Florence when she would be able to enjoy all of him. Naked. She crossed her legs quickly.
“Am I enticing you, Miss Mitchell?” his honeyed voice whispered.
“No.”
“Then I must not be doing this correctly.” He restrained a chuckle and slowed his movements through her hair, pressing his lips to the edge of her ear. “Although my true purpose is to make you smile.”
“Why are you so kind to me?”
His fingers stilled. “That’s an extraordinary question to ask your lover.”
“I mean it, Gabriel. Why?”
He moved his fingers through her hair again. “You’ve been kind to me since the first time I met you. Why wouldn’t I be? Don’t you think you deserve to be treated with kindness?”
Julia elected not to pursue her original question further. Despite the fact that she’d been overwrought the night before, she remembered confessing her love to him at the hospital. But her declaration had not been returned.
This is enough, she thought. His actions, his kindness, his protection. This is more than enough. I don’t need the words.
Julia loved him so much it hurt; she’d always loved him, and her love had burned so brightly that even during her darkest days its luminosity had not died. But Gabriel didn’t seem to return her love.
When he’d finished with her hair, he insisted on making her lunch. Afterward, they sat together in the kitchen, making plans for the evening, until the telephone rang and Richard walked in, carrying the cordless phone.
“It’s your father,” he said, handing the phone to Julia.
Gabriel intercepted it and covered the mouthpiece with his hand. “You don’t have to talk to him. I’ll take care of it.”
“We’ll have to talk eventually.” Julia slipped off the bar stool and hobbled on her crutches into the dining room.
Richard shook his head at his son. “You can’t get in between Julia and Tom.”
“He hasn’t been much of a father.”
“He’s the only father she has. And she is the light of his life.”
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed. “If he cared for her at all, he would have protected her.”
Richard placed a hand on his shoulder. “Parents make mistakes. And sometimes, it’s easier to place your head in the sand than to admit that your child is in trouble. And that it’s your fault. I know this from personal experience.”
Gabriel pursed his lips but said nothing.
Within ten minutes, Julia returned. Despite Richard’s continued presence in the kitchen, Gabriel drew her into a hug and kissed her cheek. “Is everything okay?”
“My dad wants to take me to dinner tonight,” she blurted.
Richard seemed to recognize her admission as his exit cue, so he retreated upstairs to his study.
“Do you want to see him?”
“It’s going to be uncomfortable. But I said I would go.”
“Julianne, you don’t have to do anything. I’ll take you to dinner, instead.”
She shook her head. “He’s trying, Gabriel. He’s my father. I have to give him a chance.”
Gabriel shook his head in frustration but elected not to argue with her.
At six o’clock sharp, Tom Mitchell appeared on the Clark’s doorstep wearing a tie with a dress shirt and trousers. He tugged at his tie nervously. He wasn’t used to wearing one. But for Julia…
Richard quickly welcomed him into the living room and entertained him while they waited for Julia to come downstairs.
“Are you sure you want to go?” Gabriel was reclining on his bed, watching Julia apply lipstick with the use of her compact.
“I’m not going to stand up my own father. Besides, Rachel is dragging Richard to see a chick flick, and you’re going out with the guys. I’d end up sitting here all alone.”
Gabriel pushed himself off the bed and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her waist. “You wouldn’t be alone. You’d be with me. And I do know how to keep a lady entertained.” He began pressing wet kisses behind her ear to try to persuade her. “You’re stunning,” he whispered.