In the Palm of His Hand novel · Chapter 24 of 24
Chapter 24: In the Palm of His Hand
The roof of the tower was a flat black field of gravel, with a glass rail and a row of gas heaters.
One wide daybed stood made up with every blanket Abel could find.
The city lay below us in all directions.
Rittenhouse Square was a dark green square of trees, and beyond it the river, and the bridges strung with lights.
It was ten at night on the first of November, and there was frost on the rail.
Cal stood in front of me with his hands in the pockets of his black coat.
"Why are we up here?" I asked.
"Because I wanted to ask you somewhere with a view."
I laughed.
He pulled one hand out of his pocket and took my left hand, the one with the plain diamond on the thin gold band.
The broad new ring under it.
"I asked you wrong," he said.
"You asked me in my kitchen with a hole in your side."
"I asked you with a clock on the wall that you couldn't see."
"Cal."
"I want to ask you now, with no clock."
He went down on one knee on the gravel.
It was the third time I had seen him kneel in as many days.
This time his head was up and his face was open, with the cold making his eyes bright.
"There is no rule anymore," he said. "There is no table. Nobody will kill me if you say no. You can walk down those stairs tonight and I'll let you go."
"Stop."
"Penelope Hanrahan Ransome. Stay married to me."
I looked down at him.
I looked at his beard, and the scar on his arm, and the huge steady hand that held mine.
"Yes," I said.
"Say it properly."
"Yes. Yes, Cal. I'd have said it if there had never been a clock."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–6 of In the Palm of His Hand are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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