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She didn’t need to hide Not today Instead she loosened her hair and brushed it out, allowing it to fall naturally down her back

With one last longing glance at the inviting-looking bed, Polly took a deep breath and opened the door She was ready

She found the fae cast-iron table set under a large shady tree It was already set for lunch and at the sight of the plates piled high with breads, salad, cheese and ly capricious appetite perked up

Oh no, what if it was one of those days? It was all or nothing at the , but when she did want to eat she had no stop mechanism She hoped she didn’t eat the Beaufils family out of house and home

She could i tales of the Englishwo

Polly leant on the corner of the house content just to watch the out, interrupting each other with expansive hand gestures Polly’s French was pretty good but she was co conversation

The laughter was loud and often Each peal rang through her,it harder and harder to take a step forward, to interrupt Not wanting to break into the reunion, for the lively chatter to turn into the inevitable forer’s presence would cause

And the longer she stood there, the more impossible that step seemed

She had never seen Gabe so utterly relaxed Sitting at the head of the table, he had one plu at his feet, attes Hison her iPad, his father grasping his arm as he made his point

He was totally i attention to each eers Son, brother, uncle, the heart of his family How could he want to escape this? If this was Polly’s family she would never ever want to leave

It was as if he could hear her thoughts Gabe’s head snapped up and he looked straight over at Polly, his dark gaze unwavering She didn’t want him to think her a coward, wanted to step out with her head held high but she was paralysed, held still by the understanding in his eyes

She should have felt exposed, weak, but instead it was as if he was cloaking her in war lied his eyes away, handing the toddler on his knee to his racefully out of his chair, walking over to Polly and expertly avoiding the srab his nose