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    The young Gabriel’s eyes went to Locke’s deeply plunging neckline where the swell of her breasts stood out against the single roll of blond hair over her left shoulder. He looked away, his face reddening. “Please, Miss,” he said to me, “I come to ask the favor of a loan. I will pay it back. I am a hard worker. I’ll make my farm a success.”
    “The blight hit your farm?” This close, I could now detect differences from my Gabriel. The brown eyes were slightly darker, and the blond hair lighter and a bit wavy.
    He hesitated at my words, and I opened my mind, reaching out to his. Many had come to me for help in the past years, and most of them had been sincere in their claims. A few had thought to deceive me, to use my kindness to their advantage. I wouldn’t delve into all his thoughts, but this way most of his emotions were readily apparent. I would know if he lied.
    “No,” he said finally. “My father gambled our savings away and took out a loan against the farm. But he’s gone now and my grandfather will be leaving the farm to me. If I can keep it from the bank.”
    His sincerity was clear, but I focused on the brief glimpse I saw of his grandfather in his thoughts. “Who is your grandfather? Where is he from?” Ten years after my Change, I’d checked up on Gabriel from a distance, wanting to know what had happened to him. Perhaps wondering if there was room for him in my life. I’d found him still in Virginia, married with four strapping sons. I was glad he’d had a life, that he’d found a way to go on, even if I couldn’t seem to. I’d already known in my heart that there couldn’t be any future for us because I was no longer the girl who would be happy as a farmer’s wife, and he would never be anything but a farmer.
    Gabriel smiled and love emanated from him. “From Williamsburg, Virginia originally. He and my dad and my uncles came here before I was born. But he’s all I have left now, and I guess I’m all he has. I’m his namesake, and I’m proud to bear it.”
    “I have family from Williamsburg. Who were his parents?” A few more questions and I knew without a doubt that fate had once again crossed my life with the boy of my youth. “Is he well?” I asked finally. There was a catch in my voice that made Locke gaze at me more intensely.
    Gabriel didn’t seem to notice my emotion, his eyes now studying the ice in my lemonade. He must think it a huge waste of money, a curious luxury, but he couldn’t know that Unbounded had advanced technology that made ice a simple matter. “Not so much these days,” he said, meeting my gaze once more. “He’s mostly bedridden and he doesn’t see well at all, though his mind is still strong. But I plan to marry soon, and I pray that will ease his burdens.” His smiled faded. “That is, if I can . . . I . . .”
    I knew what that meant. He wanted to be able to support a wife before plunging into matrimony. From where I sat now, he seemed too young to marry, but mortal lives were short, so they only did what they should.
    “You will be married.” I looked at Samuel, who was still standing, enjoying the shade. “Please bring me a purse. And will you have Martha find my tin box? She’ll know what I mean.”
    “Of course,” Samuel bowed. I trusted him with all the running of the house, and like our other workers, he was content. It was a fine line we walked, Locke and I, treating our slaves with respect and trying to work within the system to free them, while at the same time making the cotton plantation support itself. Too often we’d had to use the funds Locke’s parents had left us to keep the business afloat or to protect our friends.
    When Samuel returned with the tin, he had Gabriel sign the customary promise note, while I removed the necklace that had belonged to Gabriel’s mother. Without unwrapping it from its handkerchief, I slipped it into the purse of coins Samuel had also brought. “Don’t open this until you