don’t get crazy about it,” Nick put in. “But if they can give a match a nudge, they help it along.”
“Did they bring about your marriage?” she asked Nick.
“I didn’t need any help. Once I got out of the big city, Denver, that is, I could tell the glitter from the real gold. When you meet Sarah, you’ll realize how perfect she is.”
Russ smiled. “He’s not prejudiced at all.”
“Of course not.”
“You weren’t prejudiced about Abby, either, were you?” Nick said. Then he immediately apologized. “Sorry, Russ.”
Isabella looked from one to the other, but both men were silent. “What? What happened?”
Russ cleared his throat. “My wife, pregnant with our child, died about eighteen months ago. Most people don’t mention her.”
“But don’t you want them to?” Isabella asked in surprise.
“What do you mean?” Russ asked harshly.
“If you don’t talk about a person, your memories fade. Don’t you want to remember Abby?”
NICK LEFT SHORTLY after Isabella’s remark. Russ wasn’t surprised. He was stunned by her words and couldn’t carry on conversation anymore. And Nick was upset that he’d upset Russ. And since Isabella wasn’t interested in talking about Maria Paloni’s estate, he said they’d discuss it later.
Russ had opened the window curtain in the living room and was staring out at the snow-swept land. Suddenly he remembered a time when he and Abby had joined her students sledding on the school grounds. She’d laughed and chased after the children as if she were a child herself. He could suddenly see her so clearly. And the time he’d watched her teach school. She’d been so gentle, so tender with the little children.
They’d shared their first Christmas together, engaged. It had been special because Abby made it that way. She loved his family and jumped into the preparations for Christmas with great enthusiasm. She had no family of her own. None at all. Sometimes he worried that maybe she loved his family more than she loved him.
But Abby seemed to understand him better than anyone in the world. And she always let him know how important he was to her. Him and their child. She was so happy to have his child. She hadn’t felt exactly well. But she never complained.
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