Once Found: The Pocket Watch Chronicles by Ceci Giltenan Read Free Book Online Page A

didn’t know how to open the container of liquid either, he peeled back the lid and put it on the table.
    She cautiously took a bite of one of the crackers. She smiled. “It’s sweet. I like it.”
    Gabe chuckled. “I’ll have to bring you some Italian tea cookies. You used to love them.”
    She took a sip of the liquid. “Mmm. I like that, too. It’s like cider.”
    “Apple juice is cider that has been filtered and pasteurized.”
    Elsie smiled and nodded.
    Gabe chuckled. “You don’t know what that means.”
    “No, I don’t.”
    “Elizabeth, don’t be afraid to say so or ask.” He went on to explain it to her. She liked listening to his voice. She found it soothing, like music.
    “Can I ask you something else?”
    “I said you can ask anything.”
    “Dr. Levi said something that confused me.”
    “What was it?”
    “When he said I had to give my permission so he could talk in front of you, he said you had perhaps been a very good friend a few years ago . I’m certain I…I love you. Now. What did he mean?”
    Gabe took her hand, smiling sadly. “The truth is, I love you too. I have for years. We went to medical school together, and were friends for most of that time. We started dating in our fourth year.”
    “What does that mean?”
    “We spent a lot of time together. We did things together like going out to dinner or to a movie. Eventually, we slept together.”
    “Slept together?”
    He chuckled. “Made love? Had sex?”
    That’s what she thought slept together meant. “And we weren’t married?”
    His brow drew together. “No, we weren’t.”
    Perhaps Elsie should have been more shocked by that, but for some reason she wasn’t. That must be Elizabeth’s memories pushing through again.
    “But I wanted to marry you. I was working up the courage to ask. We had matched at different hospitals, but I had been trying to change. There was an opening in pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati where you had matched, which hadn’t been filled in the scramble. I was trying desperately to get it.”
    “I don’t understand anything you just said.”
    He laughed. “I’m sure you don’t. The short version is that you go to medical school for four years, and in your last year, you apply for a residency. A residency is more years of training in a specialty. You wanted to be an obstetrician—that is a doctor who delivers babies. I wanted to be a pediatrician. The whole selection process is complicated, but it’s called matching . We could have tried to match as a couple, but we hadn’t been dating long when the process started and we didn’t discuss it.”
    “So we matched at different hospitals?”
    “Yes. I was matched here at NYUHC and you were going to Cincinnati.”
    “And they are a great distance apart?”
    “Yes, they are.”
    “And you weren’t able to change?”
    “I stopped trying.”
    Those words caused a lump to rise in her throat and her heart to ache. “Why?” she asked tentatively.
    “Something happened. I said some things I shouldn’t have, and we went our separate ways.”
    “No.” That truly distressed her. She was certain Elizabeth loved him deeply. “What happened?”
    “It’s a long story.”
    “Please, tell me.”
    “Okay, but first, you need to understand who I am. My name is Gabriel Eduardo Soldani, and I grew up in a big, working-class, Italian family in New Jersey. You probably don’t know exactly what that means.” He chuckled. “Most people don’t until they’ve experienced it, but family is very important. It is a defining feature of my life. I’m Natalie and Sal’s son. I’m Joey, Nick, Tony, Luke and Angela’s brother. I have aunts and uncles and cousins too numerous to list. At some point or another, they can all annoy the life out of a person, but I love them. They are my world.”
    Elsie understood that. Clan was extremely important. “I didn’t like your family?” Elsie couldn’t believe it even as she said it.
    “No, nothing