My Four Miraculous Treasures

She forced herself to smile, in order to hide the turbulent emotions churning inside her.

As repayment, she picked up a prawn herself, shelled it deftly, and presented it to Jasper. "Mr. Hughes- ah, I mean... Jasper, have one yourself."

Jasper said nothing... but he took it from her, and ate it.noveldrama

Cindy watched this intimate exchange between them with growing delight. "The men of the Hughes family are such romantic gentlemen, only peeling prawns for that one special woman."

As she said this, she turned and gazed at Frank Hughes, at her side, with eyes radiating fond affection.

Their marriage had carried well past forty years, now. Forty years, this man had peeled prawns for her... When she saw Jasper doing the same for Willow, she knew the boy had found true love.

Frank gave her the same look in return, and went on peeling prawns for her.

Willow beheld the looks of love and appreciation being exchanged between the elderly couple, and felt deeply moved by the tenderness they shared.

It was hard enough, to be able to grow old together. Even more so, to remain as in love with each other as when you first started out.

And yet, here was a couple who'd found that fairy tale come true, happily ever after.

Cindy had mentioned that only true love could move the men of the Hughes family to shuck a woman's seafood.

Hadn't Jasper just done exactly that for her?

Could it be...?

It had taken a while, but Willow was finally beginning to catch the real meaning behind the old woman's words.

Her eyes flicked over to Jasper. When she caught sight of his handsome visage, cold and austere... her heart began to pound wildly, her blood suddenly brought to a fierce boil.

Even a quick peek like this was too much for her. Averting her eyes, she snatched up knife and fork, and set to work on a king crab, hoping no one would notice that she was turning the same color as the cooked crab's shell.

Jasper watched her sawing away haphazardly, unable to find any meat she could remove.

"Here, let me." He reached over with his own utensils, and skillfully carved

out a sizable hunk of crab meat

from one of the claws. This, be deposited upon her plate.

Willow was aghast with herself. What with her emotional turmoil, and her urgent rush to make busy with something... she hadn't even been holding her utensils right, and so had acted like an utter foot! Everyone else must have found it hilarious!

She felt so humiliated... she just wanted to bury her face in her arms, and perhaps die.

"Thank you," she whispered furtively.

Jasper poured out a glass of fruit juice, and set it on the table beside her hand. "Take it easy," he told her softly.

Willow munched carefully on the crab meat, keeping silent.

It was her first time coming here and meeting his family. All they had between them was that one night of passion, five years ago. Nothing else.

She'd only expected this to be a simple social call, just to make their acquaintance. Instead, there had been all this talk about relationships and true love...

This bond between Jasper and her was based upon obligation, not affection.

But then, Cindy had said that when a man of the Hughes family peeled prawns for a woman, it could only be true love...

...and then a lobster had been removed from its shell-by Jasper's hand, for Willow's sake.

A lobster was kind of like a prawn... so was this kind of like true love?

She wasn't sure how to respond to this implication.

Every time she saw Jasper, her heart would race, her thoughts would scatter, and she would struggle to look him in the eyes directly.

Nevertheless, Cindy seemed to

approve. With a big, warm smile, she

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said, "Willow, have you and Jasper decided yet, when to hold your wedding? The sooner you're married, the sooner you can carry his children and here, Grandpa Frank and I are still hale and hearty enough to help you look after them!"

Carry his children?!

Wanda flushed red again, and before she could catch herself, her eyes had dropped down to look at her own tummy.

She wanted to tell them about how they already had great-grandchildren... a whole bunch of them, in fact! Their grandson had put four children into her in one go!

Whoever had ever heard of a man so virile?!