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He pulled the laptop towards hie hisin Gianni’s e ‘Lake Garda’

He ht not be her dreaoing to make sure she had it It was the least he could do

He had expected to find her in the kitchen Daisy had been forbidden fro herself Seb was pretty sure all the dust wasn’t good for the baby, but it didn’t stop her superintending every job Under her instructions the walls had been repainted a creamy white, the sanded and restored cupboards, cabinets and dresser a pale grey He’d been sceptical about the colour but, walking into the warht

The estate joiner had been hard at work planing and oiling wood from one of the old oaks that had fallen in the winter stor counter tops fro that a tree that had stood sentry in the grounds for so ht inside and used for the changing of the guard

Daisy had found an old clothes rack in one of the outbuildings and had arranged for it to be suspended fro the old copper saucepans froranded it on the shelves, the old-fashioned forget-reys The overall effect was of useful comfort A warm, family kitchen, a place for work and conversation For sweet s stock of the day while planning the next

The kitchen had been changing day by day and yet he hadn’t really taken in the scale of her efforts It wasn’t just that the kitchen was freshly restored, nor that it was scrupulously clean It wasn’t just the new details like the pictures on the wall, old landscapes of the grounds and the castle, the newly installed sofa by the Aga and the war Of care, of love

The sa that hit hi and alive The sa room and in the library where she had removed some of the heavier furniture and covered the backs of his chairs arh with cushions

His ho under his eyes and yet he’d barely noticed

He should tell her he liked the changes

Seb poured hi of all the places she could have disappeared to He didn’t bla; but if even Sherry couldn’t run her to earth Daisyspace with care

Neatly piled on the tabletop were some of the old scrapbooks and pictures Sherry had printed out from Daisy’s website and internet pin boards Seb reached out curiously and began to leaf through theues and Cinderella coaches

Instead he was confronted by details: a single flower bound in ribbon, a close-up of an intricate piece of lace, an ehtful yet with a quirky twist Like Daisy herself

A piece of paper fell out and he picked it up It was a printed-out picture of a ring: twisted pieces of fine gold wire embellished with fiery stones A million miles away from the classic solitaire he had presented her with