Jean looked unenthused. "I'll go to support Shirley. It's an awful fright for her to watch Ray punched."
I'll be the fight doctor," Lucien pointed out.
"Will you know when to stop it?" she asked.
He harrumphed. "I boxed in school."
Her raised eyebrows caused him to fetch proof, producing several photographs of a teenager in singlet and satin underpants. She was shocked that he'd had wild curls, not his short-cropped hair. Did she really know her fiance?
Young Lucien held a boxing stance with upraised gloves which made her smile. His serious scowl caused her to grin. Another photo had medals around his neck and his trim arms crossed under wide shoulders. He'd been such a handsome boy. He wouldn't have looked twice at a farm girl, she decided. Occasionally her mind flitted to 'what ifs' but this wasn't something that would ever have been. She shared the first thought, "You were so lovely," but not the other.
His ears' tips went pink. "What about yours? We should start a family album."
Her steps dragged as she fetched her box of photos.
He looked at a formal school portrait, and his breath caught. Masses of curls tied with a ribbon, large innocent eyes-that flare of curiosity in her gaze. Innocence had been replaced by hurt reserve but the curiosity was still there. Her soft mouth gave him a flash of desire.
Dirty old man, he thought and startled Jean by giving her a kiss. "There's more?"
She reluctantly showed another. She was still a schoolgirl's age, but in a wedding dress.
She was a beautiful bride but he couldn't stop from saying, "You didn't see much of the world, did you?"
Her mood suddenly lifted; she kissed him back. "Sometimes we end up exactly where we're meant to be."