Chapter 209

“Gretchen, why didn’t you say something?” I asked.

“I am saying something. I’m telling all of you.”

“Back to New York?” I asked. “Your art is taking off. I have no doubt you’ll be an amazing success.”

“Not to New York; to Maine. My life is in Maine as well, with you, as that’s where you are. Even though I know you cannot marry me, to love me as I’d most wish for, I want to be close. I’ll be as close as I can. Your Master has offered me his home as a place to live. To build me an art studio where I can sculpt or paint, or do whatever. I know that whenever you’re with him, you’ll be with me. He won’t begrudge me the time you spend with me. He may even order you to spend time with me, and I’ll thank him for every minute.”

Now the whispered conversations with Quinn, and the closeness I’d observed made a mountain of sense. They’d been plotting to put Gretchen in my life on a permanent basis, and done a good job of it too. I didn’t see me ending my semi-permanent r