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She’d considered placing pots of wildflowers on the patios to brighten the cottage, though she’d have tothe winter ht She hated the idea of the it

“You weren’t afraid of being here alone when you were a little girl?”

She hedged, wondering if there was a purpose to divulging details of her personal life with this ically short shelf-life

As usual, though, it proved i froister because I was so upset about ht Then I started to worry if the shifters would come for me Ironically, that’s one of the reasons I stayed I didn’t want theother people in danger I couldn’t stand the thought of having what happened to my family happen to others”

He stretched an arrees so he faced her His presence e seem much smaller, yet in a cozy, intimate way

“That must have been an extremely difficult time,” he said

“Yes Every little noise frayed ot used to it Or at least, I’d resigned myself to it I didn’t want to leave; therefore, I had to keep myself busy and ht or worry over every crunch of twigs froainst the side of the house in a stiff breeze Every owl that cried out”

“Is that how you learned to suppress your feelings?”

She nodded “That’s one of the things I did to occupy s down to the pit of my stomach I’d visualize a black hole deep within me, and I forced all the sensations into it”

“But there’s no lid to cover the hole?”

“Does anyone have that kind of control over their emotions?”

He conteood at it, after all”

“Years of practice”

“And obviously an inherent survival tactic you’ve mastered”

“I wouldn’t say I’ve mastered it”