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It was a short drive, just under fifteen h on the shoulders, cars going in both directions were forced towards the center, leaving very little roorateful that Gabriel had insisted on driving this ht, it was better for him to drive until she became more familiar with the roads here

Soon they arrived at the exclusive acadey Meggie to her classroo, all of the inside

As she watched each child head off, Maria felt a pang that reality had asserted itself Yesterday had been another ical day The children had asked if they could skate on the frozen pond behind the house and after carefully checking to make sure the ice was frozen solid, Gabriel had pronounced it safe to skate, and everyone including Matt had taken a turn on the ice It had been years since Maria had last skated but she still rely, Gabriel was quite a good skater--experience froe years, he said He’d skated with all his children and then with Maria She loved how skating allowed him to hold her in front of everyone, and she could tell Gabriel loved it too

The past three days since the blizzard had been some of the best days of her life, and in a remarkably short time she’d fallen in love with the children and would lanced at Gabriel, staring after his children with a faint s here with hierous fancies--she could iether, as if they belonged to each other and were a real fa drea to believe that it could really happen

Gabriel turned to her, giving her that crooked so ho her at the thought of the grand, enor, she wanted it to be true

Gabriel took her are Rover on the icy path, and Maria shivered at his strong, protective touch He touched her as if he had every right to, with a possessiveness that Maria found alar, recently plowed drive leading to the manor, Maria spotted a red luxury SUV parked in front of the house

"I think you have a visitor," she remarked She turned to Gabriel and stiffened

Gabriel’s face looked as if it was carved froether in a thin line Awrong?" Maria asked A fluttery feelingto rise in her at his reaction to the SUV

He finally looked at her, his expression unreadable "It’s Olivia She’s here"

NINE

MARIA CLOSED HER EYES AS she leaned against the door in her bedroo uncontrollably How could she have been such a fool?

Olivia Langley was an elegant, auburn-haired, sophisticated beauty who made Maria feel both aard and unattractive As soon as Gabriel parked the Range Rover behind the SUV Olivia rushed outside, Matt right behind her, a carefully neutral expression on his face Gabriel descended fro herself into his ar and enthusiastic kiss

Maria sat in the seat, frozen, unable to do anything but stare at thehis fiancée A ball of cold fire burned in her chest, growing bigger and bigger, and the agonizing pain was alet an early flight out of Montreal thisand couldn’t wait to surprise you!" Oliviaher hands around Gabriel’s neck

"Yes, I’d say you definitely succeeded," Gabriel said, stepping away fro Olivia’s hold on him

Gabriel turned to Maria, but she refused to aze above his chin She could see his jaw clench

"Olivia, I’d like you to meet Maria"

"Oh, hello, yous too difficult your first week here," Olivia said with a laugh

Maria belatedly realized that she needed to leave the Range Rover and stu Olivia a brittle smile and hoped it didn’t look as false as it felt "Hello, it’s nice to meet you And no, the blizzard wasn’t too bad at all But if you’ll excuse me, I need to check on the children’s rooms and tidy them up"

With that, she rushed past Gabriel and Olivia into the house, heading blindly for the stairs She felt a hand on her wrist and tried to wrench it aanting only to get away from Gabriel But it was Matt, not Gabriel

"Maria, wait! Let me walk you to your room"

Matt put his hand at her back and walked her upstairs, and leaning towards her he whispered urgently, "Maria, please give Gabriel a chance! I know he’ll fix the situation, don’t worry Olivia wasn’t supposed to get here until Sunday--I know seeing her must be a shock, but trust Gabriel, okay?"

Maria nodded nu Matt’s words All she wanted was to get to the safety of her roo at the back of her eyes and a rising tide of humiliation, pain and despair threatened to drown her

Relief swelled as they reached her roo to help and closed the door firainst it in despair, she realized she’d been a fool A naïve, stupid, blind fool

She loved Gabriel--she could now finally admit that to herself She was utterly, completely, hopelessly in love with him, and had been since Boston

That hy she’d run away that ht that had transfor for him So she’d run away rather than face more disappointiving her a second chance

Somehow, she’d ended up here, and miraculously, it seemed that Gabriel wanted her as well No it wasn’t love, but it was sorow into love if nurtured, and she starting dreaether and that his family would become hers as well