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.Trace pulled his motorcycle up to a gated parking lot as the attendant stepped out of his booth to greet us."Mr.Montgomery, welcome.""Hello, Sam.""Please pull right in." Sam hit a button that was discreetly concealed against the wall of the booth causing the gates to swing quietly open.As Trace parked, I couldn't help but notice that the cars in the lot were all foreign and very expensive.Trace waited for me to climb off before he followed, taking my helmet and placing it on his bike.He reached for my hand and looked down at me nervously, almost awkwardly, and then he offered, "Chelsea will just be finishing lunch and after -- well, uh, she usually likes to walk to the pond to feed the ducks.""I like feeding ducks."He smiled then and the warmth of that smile caused a long, slow pull on my heart.He lowered his head before he whispered, "I like you."We started into the building and as soon as my eyes adjusted, I was impressed with how elegant yet comfortable the place appeared.The colors were soothing and the little touches of fresh flowers and potted plants made the place feel more like a home rather than a hospital.Trace led me down the hall to room 114 before he knocked.When the door was pulled open, we were greeted by a beautiful woman with a big smile on her face."Trace." She threw her arms around her brother as his came around her.I stepped back to give the two a moment.I realized as I watched Trace with his sister that his act of kindness to that little girl at the fair really had been instinct.I'd bet money that she had reminded Trace of Chelsea.When Chelsea pulled away from her brother her gray eyes turned to me and her smile, I noticed, never faltered."Chelsea, this is my friend, Ember.I told you about her."My heart leaped at his words and, as my eyes moved to his, love filled me.He spoke to her about me so even though he hadn't been ready to share her with me, he shared me with her, and that made me feel really good."She's pretty, just like you said."And then she held her hand out to me and smiled."I'm Chelsea.Nice to meet you, Ember."I took her hand into my own as a smile touched my lips at her child-like innocence."It is my very great honor to meet you, Chelsea.""I like her, Trace."And then her eyes turned to her brother's."Can we feed the ducks now?"He reached for her hand and smiled."Absolutely."As we walked along, I couldn't suppress the smile because Trace was right; she really was very child-like.She ran around us, skipping at times, telling us stories about making chocolate-chip cookies, watching movies, playing with her friends.She was, I suspected, a few years older than me but she had the mannerisms of a carefree, and happy eight-year-old girl.I watched Trace, watching her, and fell in love with him all over again because the ugliness that haunted him, he didn't let it anywhere near her.My heart also ached for him because I could see in those beautiful eyes that when he looked at his sister he felt responsible, he felt guilt, and that wasn't fair because he had only been a kid himself when he begged for help and had been denied it.He had been only a child of fifteen left to his own devices to seek out that help.We reached the pond, a beautiful sapphire pool that reflected the sun like thousands of little diamonds resting upon the surface.The mallard ducks swam a bit of a distance away.The vibrant green head of the male ducks was quite the contrast from the all-over brown of the females but, as soon as the bread pieces touched the glistening water, all of the ducks bee-lined toward Chelsea making her squeal in childish delight."Aren't they so pretty? The girls should have the pretty colors though, don't you think, Ember?""I do, Chelsea."Trace reached for my hand and, when I looked up into his face, he smiled and then we both turned our eyes to Chelsea.For the next hour, we watched her joy as she fed the ducks.Later, Trace took me to that bistro and once our order had been taken, he reached across the table for my hand.The gesture was so much like the one that I witnessed with him and Chelsea, that it caused a small tug on my heart before he said, "Thank you for coming with me.I know that Chelsea really enjoyed meeting you.""She's lovely, Trace [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]