On a mild morning on the fourteenth of May, Miss Hollis sat in the garden, penning the start to another novel, while Jewel dusted the parlor furniture. Voices drifted through the window. Jewel assumed Vernon Moore was there, and indeed, she heard the door open and close.
Gabriel held a parcel, wrapped in brown paper.
“It’s a book of Lillie Lane paper dolls for Becky. My cook says her granddaughter enjoys hers very much, but that you should cut out the dolls and clothes yourself, as she’s still so young.”
“How very kind of you.”
They stared across at each other for one second, two, and then he dropped the parcel onto the cushion of the nearest chair and advanced.
Jewel dropped the dusting cloth onto a table. His arms went around her and lips met hers with an intensity that buckled her knees.
When they finally came apart, she rested her head upon his chest as he stroked her hair.
“Will you marry me, Jewel? I’ll be a good father to Becky, and you’ll never want for anything.”
“Yes.”
“Truly?”
Happy tears pricking her eyes, she raised her head to smile at him. “I will.”
His voice thickened. “I prayed for a wife.”
“And I prayed for a miracle.”
“I love you, Jewel.”
“I love you, Gabriel.”
Planning a future took a long time when interrupted by kisses. When they walked out into the garden, hand-in-hand, an hour later, Miss Hollis stopped pacing and advanced.
“I thought you’d never come out! And I didn’t want to spoil the moment by going indoors.”
Gabriel opened his arm. She took a step closer, to be gently pulled into a sideways embrace. “The fifteenth of August.”
She stepped back. “Three months?”
“If your father would be so kind as to perform the ceremony. We want to give Becky time to get used to the idea. And Jewel insists on giving you time to find a replacement for her.”
“A replacement?” Miss Hollis smiled at Jewel. “You don’t look for people like Jewel. God drops them into your world.”
“Will I go to another school?” Becky asked in Jewel’s arms that night. The framed photograph from the zoo was barely visible atop the chest of drawers in the dim light.
“You will. And there will be nice little girls there, too, just like your school here.”
“Will you have to clean Mr. Patterson’s home?”
Jewel held her tighter. “It will be our home, too, mite. And no, the maids will continue to do that.”
“And he really said I could get a kitten?”
“No, he said you could get two kittens.”
Becky sighed contentedly. “What will I call Mr. Patterson?” “You’ll call him Father.”
“Father.”
A space of silence followed. Jewel assumed Becky had dropped off to sleep, until her small voice said, “May I call him Papa?”
Jewel smiled. “I think he would like that.”
She could imagine, somewhere in heaven, Norman smiled, too.