Chapter 10 - THE WOMAN WHO REFUSED TO BE BOUGHT
Three months passed.
The triplets grew stronger.
Wren began pulling herself upright against furniture.
And I returned to work.
I found a position at a community health clinic.
The pay was modest.
But the schedule was stable.
The staff treated me with respect.
And the clinic offered support for continuing my nursing education.
Gabriel called occasionally.
At first, about the investigation.
Then about the babies.
Then about ordinary things.
He told me Leo hated baths.
Oliver loved music.
Rose had learned to smile whenever someone sang.
I told him Wren had discovered how to open kitchen cabinets.
He laughed.
One afternoon, Gabriel invited me to visit the children.
I hesitated.
"Why?"
He paused.
"Because they know your voice."
I stared.
"What?"
"Rose calms down when I play a recording of you singing."
I laughed.
"That's ridiculous."
"Probably."
I visited on a Saturday.
The triplets were nearly five months old.
They lay on a large play mat in a sunny room.
A pediatric nurse sat nearby.
Gabriel was on the floor, trying to entertain Oliver with a stuffed elephant.
I stopped in the doorway.
He looked up.
"Claire."
I smiled.
"You're on the floor."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Apparently that's where babies live."
I laughed.
The afternoon passed quietly.
I held Rose.
Helped prepare bottles according to the babies' care plan.
And watched Gabriel change a diaper with the concentration of a man defusing a bomb.
Later, we sat in the garden.
Gabriel looked at me.
"Would you have dinner with me?"
I froze.
He continued quickly.
"Not as a thank-you. Not because of the train."
I looked down.
"Gabriel."
He waited.
I took a breath.
"Your life is complicated."
"I know."
"Mine is too."
"I know."
"And I don't want Wren pulled into something dangerous."
His expression softened.
"Neither do I."
I studied him.
"Then if we're going to spend time together, I need honesty."
He nodded.
"Agreed."
"No secrets about danger."
"Agreed."
"And no using money to solve every disagreement."
He smiled faintly.
"That one may take practice."
I laughed.
Then I said:
"One dinner."
Gabriel smiled.
"One dinner."
Neither of us knew what would happen.
May you like
But for the first time, the future didn't feel like something being arranged by strangers.
It felt like a choice.
