reached over, gave the frame one good push, and the window opened. A
hot breeze rushed into the compartment.
'Tell me, what was Kathleen like? ' Grace asked.
'Why? ' 'I'm curious, that's all.' Daniel propped his feet up on the
bench next to Grace, leaned back, and closed his eyes. His arms were
folded across his chest, and he looked as though he was going to
sleep.
'She was the complete opposite of you, ' he answered. 'In appearance
and in disposition.'
'What did she look like? ' 'She was tall and had brown hair and brown
eyes, and lots of freckles, ' he added. 'She worried about her weight
all the time, but she didn't need to because she was perfect just the
way she was. Kathleen was a beautiful woman, inside and out. So was
our daughter. She looked just like her mother.
' Several minutes went by in silence before Grace asked another
question.
'How did you meet her? ' 'I stopped by her father's farm on my way
into Dillon, and she was working in the garden. She was down on her
knees pulling weeds with the sun beating down on her, and all she had
to do was look up at me and smile. I think I fell in love with her
then and there.'
'I love to garden, ' Grace said, believing that she and Kathleen shared
a common interest after all. 'I had the most beautiful cutting
flowers, all the colors of the rainbow.' Daniel shook his head.
'Kathleen's garden was filled with vegetables.
She was raised on a farm, and she didn't have time to grow flowers.
They raised crops so they could put food on the table. You were raised
in the city, weren't you? ' 'We had a house in the country too, ' she
said. 'We would go there when the heat in the city became
unbearable.
' He scoffed at the notion. 'Kathleen wasn't privileged, and she sure
didn't have time to worry about the heat or society. She worked from
dawn to dusk, no matter what the weather. She didn't have a closet
full of fancy ball gowns, but what she did have was honor and courage
and loyalty.'
'And I don't? Is that what you're telling me, Daniel?
