Toward the Sunrise by Elizabeth Camden Page B

be folded and rolled for easy transport. His father helped assemble the box, but Ashton turnedaway to prepare the one deeply personal item he didn’t want his father to see.
    It was his map of the travels of Marco Polo, taken down from his office wall just this morning. For years it had hung alongside pictures of Vandermark properties all over the world. On a wall of expensive etchings commissioned by a millionaire, Ashton’s one piece of art was this humble map taken from a book he’d loved as a boy.
    Julia shared his love of Marco Polo, and he didn’t really need this map anymore. It was already engraved on his soul for all time, and he liked the idea of Julia having it with her as she ventured forth into the world.
    He slid the map into a wooden tube, the quiet rasp barely audible over the normal city noises drifting in from the open kitchen window. Some girls played hopscotch in the alley, a vendor hawked German sausages, and the steady clomping of horse hooves and carriage wheels never seemed to stop. The mountains of Malaya seemed like another world. He tucked the tube deep into the box where his father would not see.
    “Why are you giving her your Marco Polo map?” his father asked quietly.
    Ashton’s shoulders sagged. He didn’t like hiding things from his father, but this was too painful to discuss. “It’s nothing, Dad. Just something I want her to have.”
    His father took the tube from the box, wiggling the map out and unrolling it. The edges were worn with age, its faded lines as familiar as his own face.
    “I remember when you used to disappear into your room with that book about Marco Polo,” his father said. “I felt bad that you were an only child and had to find escape in books rather than having a brother or sister to play with. Especially after your mama got so sick, I wished you’d had someone—”
    “Dad, I was fine.”
    His father’s eyes lightened with a spark of humor. “It was probably a blessing to have only one child. It spared me the sin of having a favorite,” he said with a wink. “Are you going to deliver the box in person? I’m sure Miss Julia would welcome your company should you attend her graduation.”
    “No, my life is here now.” Ashton rolled up the map again and placed the tube in the box.
    “Ash . . . I know what that map means to you,” his father said, his voice serious again. “It is your every boyhood hope and dream. And if you are giving it to a girl, that means she is someone very important to you. You would not give this map away lightly.”
    He couldn’t deny it. Not that he intended to do anything about it. Julia was free of encumbrances and could do with her life as she wished. He had obligations. “I don’t think Julia will spend the rest of her life overseas.” The words spilled out before he could stop them. “She may come back in ten or twenty years, and then perhaps we can have some sort of life together. This isn’t the right time for me to go hopping off to Malaya.”
    His father drifted to the open kitchen window to stare outside. “I may not have been the world’s best accountant or the perfect husband, but I am confident I did a good job raising my son. Above all, I wanted to make sure you had a strong foundation of faith and intelligence, but I also hoped you’d be able to chase those high-flying dreams of yours. I hoped you’d someday become a good husband and father. I wanted you to grow straight and tall and strong enough to withstand the storms that inevitably come into any man’s life.” He turned to face Ashton, a wistful smile on his face. “After everything we have been through together, it would be a shame if all I raised was a nursemaid for my old age.”
    Ashton rocked back on his heels. “I don’t think of you like that—”
    “Ash, the years go by quickly. I don’t think you fully understand that yet. Don’t wait ten or twenty years for this girl to come home. Trust me, I will be fine. I’m fifty-eight