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The touch made her palm tingle.
“Wait one moment,” Luc said when they neared his studio. He went inside and came back out right away, carrying—along with the picnic supplies—a pad of paper and a pencil box.
Julia took them, wanting to leave one of his hands free so it could hold hers. They continued along, and ahead she saw the end of the rows of grape vines. Beyond was a cluster of trees, and farther along still, hills rose toward the mountains. One was covered with lines of purple lavender, the other with red poppies.
Luc helped Julia climb over the low wall that marked the edge of the property. A pathway ran along the other side, leading into the cluster of trees.
When they drew near, Julia felt as if she had walked straight into a painting. All around, the trees were in bloom with yellow, pink, and white blossoms. Willow branches hung down, speckling the light and shadow beneath as their leaves moved in the breeze. The pond was covered in lily pads with large pink blooms, and a family of ducks swam among them. Stretching over the water was a stone bridge.
Julia recognized the place immediately. “From your painting,” she said in a whisper. Speaking louder would break the magic of this place.
Luc nodded. He spread the quilt over a flat place beneath the willow.
She sat beside him, pulling her legs to the side and arranging her skirts. “It is... this place is breathtaking,” she said, keeping her voice soft.
“Oui,” Luc said. “Ma mère, she loved it here. She said this is what convinced her to leave Aix and move with my father to Riv. She fell in love with this place as well as with him.”
Julia watched the ducklings swimming behind their mother. The air here was fragrant, the sounds were dampened by the trees, and the way the light played over everything was simply bewitching. “I can see why.”
Luc turned a page in his sketchbook and began to draw. “Once they married, Father was much too busy caring for the farm to come here often. It saddened her.”
“She brought you,” Julia said.
He glanced at her, then back at his drawing. “I think that bothered my father. He would rather I spent more time working the land and less daydreaming in my notebook.”
“And now you do the work as a sort of penance,” she said. “You are punishing yourself.”
“I suppose that is partly true.” Luc glanced at her again. “But the trees do need tending, whether I enjoy doing it or not.”
Julia took a breath. “Luc, I know I’ve said it before, but your paintings, they are...youare... you both deserve to be recognized among the great artists. I know it. I promise it. You must display your paintings, and l’Exposition Universelle is the perfect place for it.”
“Non, Juliette.”
“But I don’t understand why. This is your dream, Luc, the thing you worked for, that you still work for... and yet...”
“And yet, I am a farmer.”
“But you could be—”
“I could fail once again,” Luc said, his voice sharp. “Lose the farm altogether.” He clenched his jaw. “A man learns from his mistakes, Juliette. He does not repeat them.” He snapped the book shut and tossed it down onto the blanket.
She opened her mouth to argue, but seeing Luc’s expression, she stopped. He would not be convinced by words. And she did not want to ruin their last day together by arguing. The idea she’d had earlier came back into her thoughts. Luc didn’t believe in himself. Perhaps he just needed someone who did.
“I apologize,” she said. “I won’t bring it up again.”
Luc let out a breath, offering a smile. He looked beneath the towel on the picnic basket. “Gabi packed some bread. Shall we feed the ducks?”
They stepped along the smooth stones of the old bridge until they reached the highest point in the very center. Luc handed her a chunk of bread, and Julia broke off a bit, dropping it into the pond.
One of the ducklings snapped it up. The others gathered, and Julia dropped more bread, making certain to place a larger piece directly in front of the mother duck. One duckling seemed to move faster than the others, and he wove in between his siblings, snatching the bits of bread before the others could get to it. Julia waited until the faster duckling was on one side of the group and dropped a handful of crumbs to the ducklings on the other side. When the fast duckling swam over to that side, she repeated the strategy, making certain they all got some of the bread.
She laughed as one of the ducklings dove down after a sinking crumb, its backside pointing up out of the water, tail wiggling back and forth.
When she looked up at Luc, he was watching her.
Julia blushed. “What is it?”
His eyes were thoughtful. “It is you, Juliette.” He took her hand, lifting it and brushing a kiss over her knuckles. His other hand went around her waist, drawing her against him. He held her gaze for just a moment, and then his lips were on hers.
