Chapter 15
Annabelle’s nervesflew through her body as she walked across the garden to the stables. Her feet felt like they were not even touching the ground as she moved, but still she kept on going. After speaking with her mother and learning of the new options that lay in front of her, Annabelle knew that she had to discuss it with Floyd, she could not make a decision alone. This was up to himtoo.
Maybe he loved her, but not enough to leave everything that he had ever known behind. If that was the case, then Annabelle would have to reconsider yet again. That was a terrifying thought, but at least she would have all the information that she needed at her disposal. It was much better than all of the confusion that she was currentlysuffering.
For a moment, Annabelle paused to simply watch Floyd as he worked. He had not yet seen her which gave her a moment to justseehim again, before everything changed completely. His strong, powerful body flexed as he moved, his blond, mussed up hair flicked in the breeze, a smile played on his lips as he felt content with what he was doing. Annabelle knew that all she had to do was call out his name and she would get to see those lovely, friendly sky-blue eyes all overagain.
With a deep breath, and a strong stream of positive thoughts, Annabelle made herself take those few, final steps. There was a deep confidence slowly growing within her now, it had been developing slowly over the last few weeks which she used to drive herforwards.
“Floyd?” she said as soon as she was close enough. “Do you have amoment?”
His eyes flicked towards her, his whole expression turned to one of sheer panic. He had been flitting between extreme happiness and utter terror for the last few days, ever since he first kissed Lady Hathaway. He loved her, he knew that with utter certainty, and their kiss was wonderful... but he knew that it was wrong and he kept expecting trouble. Judging by the twisted up look on Annabelle’s face, that time hadcome.
I will take all the blame, he decided rapidly. I will not allow Annabelle to be affected by whathappened.
“Of course, come with me.” Floyd took Annabelle around the side of the stable. He knew they would not be disturbed anyway, but he wanted all the privacy that he could get. “Is everythingalright?”
“I...” Annabelle did not know where to start. She should have put more thought into planning this speech before she raced out to tell Floyd. “I have somenews.”
“Whatever has happened, I will help you. I will ensure you do not get into anytrouble...”
“Oh no, it is not anything like that.” Annabelle burst into relieved laughter. At least the tension on Floyd’s shoulders was only because of fear. She could not help worrying that he regretted their kiss. “I have aplan.”
“A plan?” Floyd cocked his head to one side, trying to work out exactly what this meant. “What does thatmean?”
Annabelle stepped in closer until she could feel the intense heat coming off of Floyd, that warm blanket that wrapped her up in safety. “My mother has given me enough money to leave. We can go if we wish, we can start our own livestogether.”
“But...” Floyd felt the foundation that his life was built upon slip away. For as long as he could recall, he had known exactly where his life was taking him, he had a plan, something that he wanted to achieve, and everything that he did worked towards that. He had not even considered doing anything else. He assumed that he would work on the Hathaway land until the day that he could finally afford toleave.
But now, things had happened with Annabelle and everything hadchanged.
It was not that he did not like the idea of being with Annabelle, in all honesty he could think of nothing better. She brought sunshine into his life, every time he saw her all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her, but still even with this money it would not be easy. He could not take Lady Hathaway away from all of her money into a life with him while he struggled to succeed. It would not beright.
“But, Lady Hathaway, it would be such a bigrisk...”
“Oh, I know that.” She smiled up at him under her eyelashes, making his heart skip a beat. Did she truly have to be so perfect as he tried to do the right thing. “Do not worry about me, I am old enough to know that this will not be easy. I understand what I am putting myself through. But it will be worth it foryou.”
“What about your father? What about the Lord?” Floyd was not desperately searching for a way out, he just needed Annabelle to understand. “There will be all sorts of trouble if weleave.”
“But we have my mother on our side now. She will help us. There is no longer anything to worry about.” A tiny ball of frustration curled up in Annabelle’s chest. She could see why Floyd would be hesitant, but she desperately wished that it would not be because of her. She knew exactly what she was doing. “I know people will be angry at me, but I will be far away. If I take this money and run, I will get far away from London where no one could findme.”
Floyd ran his fingers anxiously through his hair, all of this sounded wonderful, but one of them needed to be smart about this. He was a little bit older than Annabelle and he had lived a harder life, it was up tohim.
“I want to be good for you,” he told Annabelle softly while linking his fingers through hers. “I want to be the right man for you. I want us to live a happy, comfortable life. I do love you and I want us to be, but I think we need to do it in the right way. We should wait until I have my riding school, until I can supportyou.”
“But I shall be married by then,” Annabelle exclaimed in shock. “My father will have me wed to Lord Ashdown, I do not have time to wait. Plus, what if your plans do not work out as expected? Are you suggesting that we will never be, if you cannot open your own riding school?” She slid her hands out from his and took a step away. “Maybe I have misread the situation,” she muttered, more to herself than at Floyd. “Maybe you do not love me enough. Here I am, willing to sacrifice everything for you, and you do not seem to want the same.” She gave Floyd a desperate look, wondering where everything had gone so wrong. “I am terribly sorry, I did notmean...”
Floyd could not allow Annabelle to finish that sentence, he did not want her to believe it was because he did not want her. He pulled her back to him and kissed her once more. As their lips crashed together, even Floyd managed to get lost in the magic of the love they shared. He could see them living happily in a small cottage in the country, happy and truly in love. He saw Annabelle with their children around her ankles as he left for work to teach people to ride... it was the best possible fantasyever.
Maybe we can make it work, he thought desperately to himself. If we both want itenough.
“I do love you, Annabelle,” he whispered against her lips. “I love you very, very much. I just want us to be married and happy and in love. I do want everything that you are suggesting. I just do not want everything to go wrong because you have not thought it throughproperly.”
“I have thought it through.” Annabelle pulled out the bundle of money from where she had tucked it inside her pocket to show Floyd just how serious she was. “I know what we need to make a life together. I know what todo.”
Floyd’s eyes nearly burst out of his head, he had never seen so much money in his entire life. Deep down he knew that it would only last them for a certain amount of time, they would have to support themselves, but it was a very goodstart.
“We will still have to get jobs,” he told her. “This will not last usforever.”
