she agreed with him, and as they walked out in their garden to look at the view they enjoyed so much, Peter was landing at the airport.
Chapter 26
HIS PLANE TOUCHED down easily on the runway as Gabriella watched it. She was excited to see him, but still a little nervous. They had talked so much in the hospital, but she hadn't seen him since, or out in the real world. It seemed hard to believe that she'd only been out of the hospital for three days. So much had happened, so many ghosts had been put to rest. And she was so glad she had come here. She and Peter had agreed to stay with the Waterfords for the weekend, and then he had to go back to the hospital, and she wanted to go back to the bookstore.
She was standing slightly to one side when he came off the plane, and he almost didn't see her. He was looking straight ahead, and he smiled broadly when she suddenly stepped forward and surprised him. And as he looked at her, with her blue eyes, and her shining blond hair, he had an overwhelming urge to kiss her. But instead, he put an arm around her shoulders and they began walking slowly through the airport. She was talking easily about the time she had spent here, and the discoveries she had made, and her eyes looked happier than he'd ever seen them. There was still the depth to them that he loved, and that had first drawn him to her, but she no longer looked so anguished. And then, as he listened to her, he stopped walking, and just looked down at her, smiling, and happy to see her.
“I've missed you. The trauma unit isn't the same without you.” Nothing had been. And he'd been worried sick about her ever since she came to California.
“I've missed you too, Peter.” She smiled up at him, with the eyes of a woman. They were wise eyes, strong eyes, brave eyes, eyes that were no longer afraid to see him. ‘Thank you for coming out here.”
“Thank you for coming to the trauma unit,” for surviving it, for surviving her whole damn ugly life to get there. He had been waiting for her, for years, he just didn't know it. For all these years there had never been anyone he really cared about, no one who was right for him, no one who had the guts to stick by him, but somehow he knew she would. She wasn't afraid of anything, and if she was, he would be there for her, he would help her through it. Just as he knew she'd be there for him. They were both the kind of people who had the courage to do what they had to, to go after what they wanted, to be there for each other. They had both learned that the hard way. The road hadn't been easy for them, especially for Gabbie. She was the real hero in the piece, she had been to hell and back and survived, and now she was smiling up at him with all the courage she'd looked for all her life. The shadows were gone now.
He took her hand in his then, and held it firmly, and slowly they began walking toward the exit. He had his bag over his shoulder, and she had her freedom. They had nowhere special to go, and they were in no rush to get there. They had time, and a full life ahead of them, and there were no ghosts left to haunt them. All they needed now was each other, and the time to enjoy it. And she had no more answers to look for. She was free now.
And as they walked out into the August sunshine, hand in hand, he looked down at her, and she laughed up at him. It all seemed so easy. The road to get there had been tortuous and at times it had seemed endless. But now, looking down at the view from the mountain-top, the road didn't seem as rocky as it had been. It had been hard enough. And long enough. But wherever she was, she knew she was home now.
a cognizant original v5 release october 06 2010
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DANIELLE STEEL
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June 27, 2006
COMING OUT
Olympia Crawford Rubinstein has a way of managing her thriving family with grace and humor. With twin daughters finishing high school, a son at Dartmouth,