page52 (1/2)

‘Poppy’

Poppy stiffened He rass because she would have heard his approach had he used the gravel paths She breathed in deep, stiffening her facial muscles before she lifted her head

‘Should I have kept it a secret?’ he asked her in a raw undertone

He knew she was upset His dark eyes were lingering on her, probably picking up on the dah she had quickly stopped crying He noticed too much, knew too much about women ‘No,’ she said heavily ‘It was better to tell me I don’t like you for it and it’ll be hard to live hat I no but you can’t build a relationship on lies and pretences’

Gaetano stilled in the shadow of the trees, his white shirt glea, his spectacular bone structure accentuated by the diht ‘Don’t leavewithout you scares me I wouldn’t like my life without you in it’

Poppy couldn’t iined his life would be a lot htforithout her in it Their child deserved better than to groith unhappily married and ill-matched parents A divorce would be preferable to that She would give Gaetano as much access as he wanted to their child but she didn’t have to live with hiood parent They could both co separately

‘I can’t stay married to you,’ she told him quietly ‘What would be the point?’

‘I’ passionate, at being aood at the softer stuff I lost that ability when I was a kid,’ Gaetano adrittily ‘I lovedme back and I saw that I also saw that in comparison to them I felt too much I learned to hide what I feel and eventually it became such a habit I didn’t have to police myself any more Emotion hurts Rejection hurts, so I ’

Involuntarily, Poppy was touched that he was talking about his parents in an effort to bridge the chasm that had opened up between them He never ever talked about his childhood but she would never forget his deter had died, his stark refusal to betray any emotion ‘That makes sense,’ she conceded

‘The only worandmother’

‘I thought at soe you and Serena’

‘No I walked away fro and I knew there should be more’

Poppy bowed her head, wondering why he was trying to stop her fro away from him

‘I’m not quite as dumb as a rock,’ Gaetano asserted heavily ‘But I was all screwed up about you long before we even got to the wedding Unfortunatelyyou only made me ten times more screwed up’