Gabriel's Rapture (Gabriel's Inferno #2)(101)

“I never said good-bye. I wasn’t able to tell you—” He paused and inhaled quickly. “That I love you.”

“A mother knows these things, Gabriel. I’ve always known.”

He was momentarily overcome with a wave of emotion as he reached over and pulled her into a hug. “I didn’t know you were sick. Rachel told me you were getting better. I should have been there.”

Grace patted him on the back. “I want you to stop blaming yourself for everything. You made the best decision you could given the information you had at the time. No one expects you to be omniscient—or perfect.”

She pulled away so she could see his face. “You shouldn’t expect it of yourself, either. I love all my children, but you were my gift from God. You’ve always been special.”

Mother and son spent a moment or two in quiet communion before she stood up, smoothing her dress.

“There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

Gabriel wiped his eyes, pulling back the blankets and swinging his flannel covered legs to the floor. He stood up, trying to comb his hair, momentarily forgetting that he was shirtless. Grace went into the hallway then came back, with her arm around a young woman.

Gabriel stared.

The woman was young, although she seemed ageless. Her hair was long and blond, her face a flawless white, and she was slender and tall. Her eyes were familiar. Striking sapphire blue eyes greeted his, accompanied by a wide, pink smile.

Gabriel gave Grace a questioning look.

“I’ll let you two talk,” she said, and disappeared.

“I’m Gabriel.” He smiled politely and extended his hand.

She shook it, grinning happily in return. “I know.” Her voice was soft and very sweet. It reminded Gabriel of a little bell.

“And you are?”

“I wanted to meet you. Grace told me what you were like as a child, about your work as a professor. I like Dante too. He’s very funny.”

Gabriel nodded, not quite understanding.

The young woman looked up at him wistfully. “Will you tell me about her?”

“Who?”

“Paulina?”

Gabriel stiffened, and his eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Why?”

“I never knew her.”

He rubbed at his eyes with the heels of his hands. “She went to see her family in Minnesota, to try to reconcile with them.”

“I know. She’s happy.”

“Then why do you ask?”

“I want to know what she’s like.”

He took a moment to carefully construct what to say. “She’s attractive and smart. She’s stubborn. She speaks several languages and she cooks well.” He chuckled. “But she’s not especially musical. She can’t carry a tune in a basket.”

The young woman giggled. “So I’ve heard.” She eyed Gabriel curiously. “Did you love her?”

He looked away. “I think I love her now, in a way. We were friends in the beginning, when I met her at Oxford.”

The young woman nodded and turned her head as if someone was calling her from the hallway. She quickly shifted her gaze back to Gabriel.

“I’m glad I met you. It wasn’t possible before. But I’ll see you again.” She smiled and turned toward the door.

Gabriel followed her. “I didn’t catch your name.”

She looked up at him expectantly. “Don’t you recognize me?”

“I don’t. I’m sorry. Although there’s something familiar about your eyes…”

She laughed and Gabriel smiled in spite of himself, for her laughter was infectious. “Of course my eyes are familiar; they’re yours.”

Gabriel’s smile slid off his face.

“Don’t you know me?” She seemed puzzled.

He shook his head.

“I’m Maia.”

His expression froze. Then, as the moments passed, it ranged through several different emotions, like clouds floating across the sky on a summer’s day.

She pointed to the tattoo he wore on his left pectoral. “You didn’t have to do that.” She leaned forward, whispering conspiratorially. “I know that you loved me.

“I’m happy here. It’s filled with light and hope and love. And it’s so beautiful.”

She reached up and kissed him on the cheek, her touch lingering for only a second, before she left him to walk to the hallway.

Chapter 40

Tom stood at Julia’s front door the day after her graduation, wearing a gray T-shirt with the word Harvard emblazoned across the chest.

“Dad?” Julia’s tone was a question.

“I’m so proud of you,” he said gruffly, pulling her into a hug.

Father and daughter shared a quiet moment on the porch of Julia’s building before they heard someone coming up the steps behind them.

“Uh, good morning. I brought breakfast.” Paul held a tray containing three coffees and some doughnuts from Tim Horton’s. He seemed somewhat embarrassed at having intruded on the Mitchells, but he was greeted with a handshake from Tom and a hug from Julia.

The trio shared breakfast at Julia’s card table, then the two men began planning how best to pack up all of her things and move them. Luckily, Paul had persuaded Sarah, who was subletting to Julia, to allow her to move into the Cambridge apartment on June fifteenth.