To Picture The Past by Paige Mallory Read Free Book Online Page B

that they meant me no harm. I am sorry I worried you, and I promise I won't do it again."
    "No, you will not," he agreed. "You earned a sound punishment."
    "Not on my birthday!" I gasped, outraged at the very idea.
    "If you break a rule on your birthday, then you will be punished on your birthday. This was your choice, Gillian, not mine."
    "But, it is my birthday, and I was sad. I just needed some time alone."
    "And what will you do the next time you decide you wish to be alone?" he asked of me.
    "I can tell you that I will not go riding alone," I told him, meaning the words.
    "This is very good. I do not enjoy punishing you."
    "Then don't. I am not a child, and goodness knows, I was needed here. If I hadn't gone riding then Elly wouldn't have had the help she needed." I knew that I was pushing, and I hoped it would work.
    It didn't.
    As soon as we reached home later that day, Robert took my arm and led me up the stairs and down the hallway to my bedroom. "Oh, Robert! No…! Please…?" I tried again to dissuade him from what was coming.
    "Did you know the rule, Mrs. Stanhope?" he asked of me. 
    "Yes, but…"
    "Did you choose to break the rule, wife?" Suddenly I was angry and I gave him a great push, sending him sprawling on my bed. He recovered quickly, and jumped up to stand there, glaring at me and obviously trying to control his temper. 
    "How dare you call me 'Mrs. Stanhope'? How dare you call me 'wife'?" I raged at him. "I do not feel like your wife; I feel like your roommate. Roommates are not treated as a wife is treated, and you cannot have it both ways. If you expect to treat me like your wife, then you are going to have to make me your wife… Then perhaps I will listen to your silly rules. But, right now you can just get your butt out of my room!"
    Robert stood there starting at me as if I had two heads. I was so embarrassed I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me! I couldn't believe I'd given Robert such an ultimatum! I just knew I couldn't keep on living with things the way they were. It wasn't fair to either of us.
    "Gillian, I think we need to sit down and have a serious talk. Come here," he said as he took a seat on the side of the bed, and then patted the quilt beside him. I didn't want to talk, but what choice did I have? I sat beside him, but refused to look at him.
    "Gillian, I would love to have you for my wife in all ways any time you feel ready to take that step." He remembered his little sister's words, and even though he felt he was risking rejection, he said, "I love you, and I have since before we married."
    I had to look at him then, to see if he was telling me the truth, and to my shocked surprise, he was! The look in his dark eyes was sincere as could be. "I love you, too, Robert," I confessed, finally saying the words I'd longed to say for the last several weeks.
    "I believe you mean that."
    "I do."
    He kissed me then… And it wasn't one of those polite kisses on the cheek, either. It was a bona fide, man kisses his woman with passion kiss. It was an 'I love you' kiss, and I felt it clear down to my toes! When we finally came up for air, we were lying down on the bed and Robert was practically on top of me! "Oh my!" I gasped. "Now I know what my sister meant by 'Jason made my toes curl'! Robert, I really do love you," I said the words again, looking deep into his eyes.
    "I love you, too, Gilly, and I should have told you a long time ago instead of assuming you knew. I planned to make today very special for you… and I was hoping that you would realize how much I care."
    "I was too busy feeling sorry for myself," I admitted. "Oh, Robert, I am so thankful that God gave me a second chance to live and love."
    "When you told me how you came to be here I knew that God picked you for me," he told me so earnestly that I had to believe him.
    "I want to be your wife," I whispered, doing my best to let him know that I didn't want to wait until the cover of night to make love.
    "I want you to be my