Provenance by Carla Laureano

Author:Carla Laureano [Laureano, Carla]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FICTION / Christian / Romance / General, FICTION / Romance / Contemporary
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Published: 2021-08-03T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

IT QUICKLY BECAME CLEAR that the storm was not going to blow through as quickly as Gabe had hoped . . . and that the small propane heater couldn’t keep up with the rapidly dropping temperature. Kendall flicked on the LED lamp as night fell, though it wasn’t that dramatic a transition because the snowstorm had blocked out much of the light all day.

“Why do I think this is going to be a long night?” Kendall asked with a sigh. “I’m not even remotely sleepy at the moment.”

He wasn’t either, but that had a lot more to do with the fact he was still buzzing from her touch, and it was taking supreme force of will to sit next to her like they were just friends, when all he wanted to do was pick up where they’d left off.

Which was exactly why he was maintaining a one-foot buffer between them for the rest of the night. Kendall hadn’t seemed nearly as concerned about the prospect of being stuck in a bedroom with him as he would have expected her to be, which made him think maybe she had different views on the subject.

It also brought up a lot of other questions about her beliefs that he didn’t particularly want to explore tonight. Especially with the way she’d reacted when she thought he was rejecting her.

“Do we have anything else to sort through?” Gabe asked. The third box had included nothing but medical bills and old insurance policies for a car that appeared to have been sold in 2015.

“There’s a bunch of jewelry and accessories in her closet,” she said. “I only took a quick glance the other day.”

Gabe glanced at the ring on her finger. “Is that where you got the ring?”

Kendall immediately hid her hand. “I just thought—”

“It’s yours,” Gabriel said gently. “You can do whatever you want with it. I just hadn’t seen it before yesterday, so I guessed.”

“Right.” She took a deep breath as if resetting herself. He was beginning to notice her habit of reacting defensively when she thought he was criticizing her, and he made a mental note to be more careful with his words and tone. She’d done so well at overcoming her rocky start in life, but every moment he spent with her made clear that she was still holding on to some deep wounds.

“Do you think you want to take them with you?” he asked.

“I think so. I’m not sure what they’re worth, but it could be a lot just based on the amount of gold in that drawer. Do you want to help me look through it?”

“Sure.” He remained seated on the floor while Kendall popped up and retrieved the top drawer from the closet organizer. It slid out easily and she set it between them.

Gabe reached for a jade brooch. “I remember this one.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” He searched his memory, but he couldn’t come up with more than a vague recollection of it pinned to a white silk blouse. “I don’t think she wore it very often, but I saw it on her when she was dressed up one time.

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