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If you did, you should be aware it is stolen property as it was reported unsold and destroyed by a retailer. Neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this book.

All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.

All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II B.V./S.à.r.l. The text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

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First published in Great Britain 2011 Harlequin MIIIS & Boon Limited, Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR

© Lucy Gordon 2011

ISBN: 978 0 263 88852 2

23-0111

Harlequin MIIIS & Boon policy is to use papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products and made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The logging and manufacturing processes conform to the legal environmental regulations of the country of origin.

Printed and bound in Spain by Litografia ROSéS S.A., Barcelona

Dear Reader,

Given the way my last heroine, Pippa, was influenced by Dee, her grandmother, there was no way I could write Pippa’s story without also writing Dee’s. She came from another age, when men and women saw each other in more traditional roles and the obstacles to love were different—one of which was the turmoil caused by war.

Unlike Pippa, Dee was not spectacularly beautiful. Pleasant, but unremarkable, she chose a useful life as a nurse. The beauty of the family was her sister Sylvia and, when she brought home the handsome Mark Sellon, Dee was content to admire him from a distance.

Then the Second World War broke out and he became a pilot, flying daring missions and being hailed as a hero. TO Dee, this glamorous man seemed more out of her reach than ever. How could he ever love her? And how could she ever believe in his love?

Mark, struggling to recover from terrible experiences, lost in confusion, could make his way only slowly towards the love of his life. But when he saw his destiny, lit up and beckoning, he pursued it with determined purpose.

Their road to each other was complicated and troublesome, with pain and despair as well as joy. At the end of it lay their sixtieth wedding anniversary, celebrated publicly with diamonds, but privately with a contentment of heart that they would once have thought impossible.

It was the triumphant achievement of that joy that gave Dee a new mission in life: to reach out to her beloved granddaughter, helping Pippa find the way to her own happiness.

Warmest wishes,

Lucy Gordon