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During a farewell night, her disabled father, Dick, offers patient reassurance while they share practical routines, humor, and promises of letters and postcards.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/story-novel/","Story & Novel",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/no-gentle-loving-sara-wood-chapter-one/129212/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/no-gentle-loving-sara-wood-chapter-one/129212.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Theodora","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-19","2026-08-06",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",7,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"Why does Helen pretend her Crete trip is just research?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"She says it is important to come to terms with her past before the real reason is revealed, so she keeps it hidden from friends and even herself for a time.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What worries Helen most about going to Crete?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"She fears the trip will be strange, worries about not knowing the language, and questions whether she will hate it and how she will feel afterward.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"How does Dick Summers respond to Helen’s fears?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"He listens patiently, reassures her that she can return safely to him, and promises support while encouraging her to write and stay connected through letters and postcards.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},129212,1786011709,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,87,91,95,100,105,109,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":85,"slug":86},90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":88,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":22,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":80,"read_time":144},962085571259,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","NO GENTLE LOVING  \nSara Wood  \nHe was ruthless beneath his charm  \nAnd Helen chastised herself roundly for being taken in. Disappointment washed over her, as she realized how much she had wanted to like this handsome and wealthy hotelier.  \nDimitri Kastelli had given Helen an unusual welcome upon her arrival in Crete. Initially rude, he'd changed to the soul of friendliness, and she believed her two-month stay on the island, while she sought out her family roots, would be pleasant, maybe even exciting.  \nNow, as the hardness gleamed from behind his deceptively velvet gaze, she realized some dreadful secret lay buried there....  \nCHAPTER ONE  \nHELEN beamed happily at her departing guests. It had been a wonderful farewell party, with everyone acting as though she was going to be away for two years, rather than two months. She was lucky to have such affectionate friends.  \n'Have a lovely time, Helen!'  \n'Don't you dare swank your tan at me when you return!''Watch out for the natives!'  \nHer smile faltered a little. Then she was being turned around and hugged by her boss. Only he and her father—who was beginning to wash up by the sound of it—knew why she was really going.  \n'Bye, Helen.' John Fraser looked down on the tiny curvaceous blonde in his arms. 'I look forward to your notes and photographs. Spring in Crete is reputed to be fantastic: I envy you.'  \n'Bye, John,' she said gratefully. 'I'm sure it'll make a wonderful place for Flower Walks. You are an old opportunist, aren't you?' she continued in a teasing tone. 'I'm supposed to be on holiday. Still, I'll come back with lots of ideas, I'm sure.'  \nJohn laughed, making his face even more wrinkled than it was already. At sixty, having led an outdoor life planning safaris all over the world, the weather had taken a toll on his face, but left warmth in his big heart. He'd become a second father to Helen when she joined his specialist holiday agency seven years ago at the age of eighteen. His enthusiastic guidance had turned her into one of his top researchers. For the last two years she had been creating guided walks in France to follow her highly successful Flower Walks in Madeira. When she told him that she had to go to Crete as soon as  \npossible, and why, he had immediately given her two months' leave. And just as immediately asked whether she would just 'have a little look around' while she was there!  \nIn fact, it was a heaven-sent blessing to Helen, to be able to tell her friends that she was researching new walks. She couldn't yet bring herself to explain the real reason. It was important that she came to terms with her past before she let the truth be known.  \n'Dad? You leave those dishes!' she called out, hurrying into the kitchen. 'Now didn't I tell you . . .'  \nThe big, blond man in the wheelchair grinned at his daughter in affection. 'You're tired, pet.' Dick Summers continued to dunk plates at an alarming rate. 'You have a big day ahead of you tomorrow. Goto bed, I'll clean up.'  \n'You old martyr,' she grumbled. 'You just want to tell your cronies what an unchauvinistic-'  \n'If you're going to stand there gassing, grab a tea-towel and use up a bit of your energy on those plates,' he said calmly.  \nWith a suppressed smile, she did so. He washed the dirty dishes with an efficiency born from years of practice, and she automatically dried them. They'd worked as a team for a long time. Her mother, Liz, would cook the meals; she and her father cleared up afterwards, loving the ritual. There had been more time lately to be together, thought Helen wistfully, since her mother had died three months ago. Her hands slowed.  \n'You've been holding that plate for seventy-two and a half seconds,'said her father. 'Fallen in love with it, have you?'  \n'Don't be silly,' Helen didn't respond with her usual disarming grin. She decided to voice her fears. 'I—I'm not sure I want to go, Dad.'  \nHe groaned. 'You have to! I've arranged all night poker games while you're away! You can't let","cbCaikKMtc1KODAA","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaikKMtc1KODAA","pdf",876911,206,"English","# Chapter One - Helen’s Farewell\n## Disappointment and hidden secrets\n## Leaving Crete for family and research","[{\"question\":\"Why does Helen pretend her Crete trip is just research?\",\"answer\":\"She says it is important to come to terms with her past before the real reason is revealed, so she keeps it hidden from friends and even herself for a time.\"},{\"question\":\"What worries Helen most about going to Crete?\",\"answer\":\"She fears the trip will be strange, worries about not knowing the language, and questions whether she will hate it and how she will feel afterward.\"},{\"question\":\"How does Dick Summers respond to Helen’s fears?\",\"answer\":\"He listens patiently, reassures her that she can return safely to him, and promises support while encouraging her to write and stay connected through letters and postcards.\"}]","NO GENTLE LOVING - Sara Wood - Chapter One | PDF",317]