Julia shrugged and looked out the window. “What can he do? It’s my word against
Gabriel stopped stroking her palm. “Is that what your father said?”
“Not exactly.”
“Is he going to take this seriously?”
“Simon has him fooled, just like he fools everyone. Dad thinks it’s just a misunderstanding.”
“Why in God’s name would he think this is a misunderstanding? You’re his daughter, for Christ’s sake!”
“Dad really liked him. And he knows next to nothing about what happened between us.”
“Why didn’t you tell him?”
Julia turned to Gabriel with a desperate look in her eyes. “Because I don’t want him to know. He wouldn’t believe me anyway, and I can’t lose another parent.”
“Julia, there is no way your father would disown you because you broke up with your boyfriend.”
“He’s been watching me my whole life to see if I was going to turn out like my mother. I don’t want him looking that way at me. He’s the only family I have.”
Gabriel closed his eyes and rested his head back against the car seat.
“If that boy made you do things you didn’t want to do, if he assaulted you or took advantage of you, then you need to tell your dad. He needs to know.”
Julia exhaled slowly. “It’s too late.”
Opening his eyes, Gabriel looked at her and cupped her face in both hands. “Julia, listen to me. Some day you are going to have to tell somebody.”
She blinked back tears. “I know that.”
“I’d like that person to be me.”
She nodded as if she understood, but made no promises.
He leaned over and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips. “Come on. Everyone will be waiting.”
As soon as they walked through the front door, Julia felt — odd. The furniture was arranged as it always had been. The decor was the same, minus the fresh flowers Grace loved to display in a large vase on one of the side tables. But the instant Julia exited the foyer and gazed around, she realized that the house felt empty, cold, lonesome, even though it was filled with people. Grace had been the heart of the household, and now everyone could feel her absence.
Julia shivered unconsciously, and without warning, Gabriel’s right hand flew to the small of her back — a gentle pressure, a reassuring warmth, then it was gone. They hadn’t even exchanged glances. She felt his comfort leave her body, and she wondered what it all meant.
“Julia!” Rachel fairly ran from the kitchen. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
The two friends embraced, and then Rachel hugged Gabriel. Scott, Aaron, and Richard rose from their chairs to take turns greeting the new arrivals.
Julia nervously tried to find the words to tell Richard how sorry she was that she’d missed the funeral, but Rachel interrupted her. “Let’s get rid of your coat. I’m making Flirtinis. Gabriel, help yourself. The beer is in the refrigerator.”
Julia mumbled something Gabriel didn’t catch, and the two women disappeared into the kitchen, leaving the men to return to the football game.
“I hope Gabriel was polite to you during the trip,” said Rachel, as she began pouring a number of ingredients into a martini shaker.
“He was. I’m lucky he agreed to drive me, or I’d be hitchhiking. Dad decided to spend the evening with Deb and her kids. I guess I’m staying here tonight.” Julia rolled her eyes, still feeling disappointed that her father had chosen his girlfriend over her.
Rachel smiled sympathetically and handed her a Flirtini. “You need a drink. And you can stay the whole weekend, if you want. Why be home alone when you can be here drinking cocktails with me?”
Julia giggled and sipped her drink a little too eagerly while she and Rachel caught up with one another. By the time they were working on their second round of Flirtinis and beginning to get a little naughty in their discussion, the football game ended, thus emancipating the men from the large, flat-screened plasma television in the living room. Grace had banished the unsightly thing to the basement. Richard had since paroled it.
The men joined the ladies in the kitchen, passing around snacks and bottles of beer and giving Rachel absolutely unsolicited advice about her free-range organic turkey.
“You’ve cooked it too long. It’s going to be dry, like that turkey on
“Scott, knock it off, or I’m going to cut you.” Rachel opened the door to the Viking range and began basting the turkey, peering anxiously at the meat thermometer.
“It looks beautiful, honey.” Aaron pressed a kiss to her cheek as he took the baster out of her hand, slightly worried that she was going to use it to stab her annoying brother.
Scott was the oldest of Grace and Richard’s biological children, and thus five years older than Rachel. He was funny, light-hearted, and frequently bawdy. At six foot three, he was an inch taller than Gabriel and somewhat heavier. Like Rachel, he had his father’s hair and eyes and a very big heart, except when it came to his adopted brother.
“Julia, it’s good to see you again. Rachel tells me that you’ve been doing well in graduate school.” Richard moved to occupy an empty stool next to her.
Julia smiled. Richard was classically handsome, with light-colored hair that had begun to gray and kind eyes. He was a professor of biology at Susquehanna University, and he specialized in human anatomy, more specifically, the neurons of the human brain. Despite his intelligence and charm, he was often the last to speak; his silence had been complemented by Grace’s chattiness. Without her, he seemed…adrift. Julia could feel his loneliness and see it in the wrinkles at the corner of his eyes. He looked thinner and older.
“I’m really glad to be back, Richard. I’m sorry I wasn’t here in September.” She gave him a guilty look, and he patted her hand. “My courses are good. I like them.”
Julia tried hard not to fidget, especially when she felt a pair of intense blue eyes latch onto her.
“Gabriel tells me you’re in his class.”
“Yeah, how’s that going?” asked Scott. “Can you understand a word he says? Or do you need a translator?”
Scott was only joking, and Julia knew that, but she saw Gabriel flinch out of the corner of her eye.
“It’s my favorite class,” she said softly. “Professor Emerson’s graduate seminar is considered the best of its kind at the university. He gave a lecture in October that had over a hundred people in attendance. They put his picture in the university newspaper.”
Rachel’s brows went up, and her eyes narrowed as they traveled from Julia to Gabriel and back again.
“In the first place, Scott, I do not have
“Scott, I asked you to behave yourself.” Richard’s voice was low but reproving.
“Dad, I was only kidding. He takes himself so seriously — somebody needs to loosen him up. And he’s always been a player. So what’s the big deal?”
“It sounds like Gabriel has a girlfriend. Let him be happy.” Aaron’s voice was quiet and surprisingly compassionate.
Richard’s face wore a peculiar expression.
“Look you all, this holiday is hard enough without the passive-aggressive bullshit.” Rachel’s voice was raised over the rest as she stood, hands on hips, scowling at Scott. “Sorry about the language, Dad.”
“Why does everything have to revolve around him? Last time I checked, he was only one out of four.” Scott was no longer joking.
“Because he’s trying! Which is more than I can say about you. Now come over here and drain these goddamned potatoes, so you can start mashing them. Aaron will take the turkey out of the oven, and Julia, would you go and get Gabriel? I’d like him to look through the wine cellar and choose a couple of bottles.”
