of a cloud.
The gown was like a little part of Heaven. Her Heaven. Her only memories.
She hugged it to her chest and just sat there for the longest time, misty-eyed and unaware that she wasn't alone.
"I had thought you'd be pleased by this delivery." Daniel stood in the doorway, watching with an edged look that said he didn't understand her.
"They're lovely."
"So lovely you're crying again."
She shook her head and said wistfully, "I was just remembering something I've lost."
Almost immediately he tensed. He looked angry. "Get dressed." His voice was tight.
She didn't understand his anger.
His face had turned hard, and the look in his eyes was as black as his features. "Come downstairs. Quickly."
"We're going out?"
"Yes." He paused for a moment, his hand on the door handle. He turned around. "I don't know who did this to you," he said with honest anger. "But I'd like to get my hands on him." And before she could say a word, he shut the door.
She stared at the closed door, completely baffled. She had done this to herself. If he wanted to get his hands on the person who had created her situation, she was right here. She dropped the white dress and crawled down from the bed, grabbing a navy blue silk brocade suit—there were certainly plenty—as she went to the dressing room.
Once inside, she paused in front of the mirror and stared at her mouth—seeing it differently now that it had been kissed. Her lips looked fuller.
Did one's lips grow after a kiss? She touched them for a moment, then a silly smile spread slowly across her face.
After the kiss in the park, she knew one thing: she would be perfectly happy if he wanted to put his hands on her any time.
D.L. handed Karl the papers and stood up. They left the library and went into the foyer, where he leaned against the newel post and watched Karl stuff papers into his case. He had rushed through his meeting with no mention of Lilli to his attorney and friend.
He had no good explanation why he had wanted her here. No acceptable explanation. Entertainment, challenges, companionship—they all sounded weak and illogical.
What it boiled down to was that he didn't want to explain his motives for keeping a woman who claimed to be homeless, keeping for himself a woman who was fallen. Now, he knew one thing. He didn't care who or what she was. And that wasn't something he could analyze, at least not comfortably. As for the release, it annoyed him. In his mind it reduced her to nothing but a signature on a piece of paper.
Karl paused at the front doors. "I forgot to ask. Did you get that release signed?"
"No."
"I thought you said you had found her."
D.L. felt his hand tighten on the newel post. "I'll take care of it."
"This is important. You need to find that woman."
D.L. felt closed in and anxious for Karl to leave. He took a step toward the door, but near the top of the stairs he caught a flash of dark blue. He looked up with a sense of doom.
Lilli never looked down. He watched, stunned, as she sat on the banister.
An instant later she was sliding down the staircase, singing some silly song about this being better than wings in Heaven. A few feet from the bottom, she saw him and said, "Uh-oh..."
That was the last thing he heard before she sailed into him.
He lay on the marble floor of the foyer, trying to catch the breath that was knocked out of him. He blinked, seeing stars first, then her surprised face. He shook his head to clear it.
She lay atop him, her nose just inches away, her body along his. Her sheepish gaze looked down at him slowly. "You know ..." she said, shaking a finger in his face, "I was just thinking about you."
"You slid down the banister," he said, unable to believe it.
She shrugged. "You said come down quickly."
He sat upright, holding her to him. She squealed and grabbed his neck. They shared a look, a private memory of yesterday in the snow, and an instant later they were both laughing.
"Well, D.L."
Daniel froze.
Karl.
He turned.
Karl was leaning against the front door, an all-too- knowing look on his face. He smiled sardonically. "I guess you found her."
Angels descending, bringing from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
—Fanny J. Crosby
Chapter Nine
IT HAD ALREADY BEEN ONE OF THE of the longest days he could remember. After he'd gotten rid of Karl with some