Chapter 9 - The Color of Tomorrow
For the next two hours, the head housekeeper, the four-year-old girl, and the billionaire logistics tycoon sat on the mudroom floor of Thorne Manor with crayons spread around their feet.
Julian proved surprisingly adept at drawing snow-capped peaks. He drew four massive brown and white mountains stretching across the background, complete with pine trees and small green valleys below.
Ellie sat between us, humming a preschool song, filling the sky with purple butterflies, yellow suns, and three oversized golden retrievers that she insisted were necessary for property protection.
I drew Rosa from the kitchen, Mr. Cal from landscaping, and the UPS driver waving from his brown delivery truck.
At midnight, Ellie’s head began to nod heavy against Julian’s broad shoulder. Her small fingers loosened around her blue crayon, which rolled softly across the butcher paper.
Julian carefully gathered her up into his arms, lifting her small weight against his broad chest with an effortless, gentle grace that made my heart flutter in a way I hadn't felt in five years.
She didn't wake up. She simply rested her small face into the curve of his neck, her frog sweatshirt bunched against his white dress shirt.
Julian looked down at her, then looked across the warm, cedar-scented room at me.
“She’s a very special child, Cora,” Julian whispered softly.
“She loved you from the first day we arrived here,” I said quietly, standing up beside him. “She told me on our first week that you looked like a king who forgot how to laugh.”
Julian let out a soft, low breath, looking down at the giant mural covering eight feet of the mudroom wall.
In the center of the paper, surrounded by mountains, suns, and friends, Ellie had drawn three figures standing hand-in-hand: a small girl in a frog sweatshirt, a woman in a housekeeper’s apron, and a tall man in a suit holding a giant green mug.
“I think I did forget,” Julian whispered, his dark eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that made the rest of the world fade into insignificance. “Until sixteen months ago, when two people walked into this house and made it feel like a home.”
He stepped closer to me, his broad arm supporting Ellie, his free hand reaching out to touch my fingers gently.
“I don't want you to be my head housekeeper anymore, Cora,” Julian whispered, his voice deep, gravelly, and filled with a profound, unshakeable truth.
I looked up into his eyes, my heart pounding softly. “What do you want me to be?”
“I want you and Ellie to stay here,” Julian said softly. “Not because you manage my estate, but because I love you both. And I don't ever want to walk into this house without finding you in it.”
May you like
A warm, beautiful tear tracked down my cheek. I reached up, placed my hand over his on his chest, and leaned my forehead gently against his shoulder.
“We’re not going anywhere, Julian,” I whispered.
