I opened my own studio in Lormere two years later. It was small, but it earned enough for me to support myself.
Julian still taught at the university and looked over my designs when he had time. We weren't in a hurry to marry.
I'd once put far too much weight on marriage. Now I knew it wasn't a decision to take lightly. I no longer needed a certificate to prove I was loved, and I wouldn't sacrifice myself just to feel secure.
News of Gavin still reached me occasionally. He'd joined a small consulting firm and started at the bottom. He was no longer greeted with the deference he'd once enjoyed as CEO. He never rebuilt the life he'd had.
I heard that he still lived alone, that he'd kept the house we'd lived in when we were married. I heard that he visited my father in the hospital every
