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He was punishing hi them such pain and anxiety

For all the petty, nasty resent year of pain Resentment towards his parents for their need and worry Towards his sisters for their health

He didn’t speak for the rest of the journey Polly didn’t try to engage hi notes in her ever-present notebook instead but occasionally shooting hilances

Glances he pretended not to see If he didn’t engage then he didn’t need to speak and he could lock it all back up, deep inside

Where it needed to be

It took a while to find a parking space in the snonel Sleepy for fifty weeks of the year, it was transformed into an international hub by the annual food and drink festival held there every surown to include culture, local crafts and music, and every year thousands of people descended there from all over the world to dance, drink and eat

They had all descended today, it seemed

‘This is where we’ve been going wrong,’ Polly said after they were finally parked and had begun to thread their way through the hfare that led towards the o out and find our suppliers any more People come and pitch to us Chris and the rest of his tea out the best local producers and stocking them’

‘Yes’ But he barely heard her words, his attention snagged by the large church doan to speed up and despite the heat of the day a cold sweat covered his hands

He sed, a bitter taste coating his ed to say in as norround if we split up’

A fleeting expression flashed in Polly’s blue eyes For a s but disant notion as her head snapped up and she became her usual focused self

‘Good idea’ She pulled out her notebook and pen ‘We’ll compare notes e meet up Look out for suppliers but I am more interested in what makes a stall successful, what draws people in The look, the branding, the offer’

‘The technology?’ Gabe couldn’t help giving the leather-bound book a pointed look and Polly hugged it to her chest protectively