Chapter 26
Five years later...
Annabelle breathed in the salty,ocean air as she stepped out the red door to the cottage that was her very own. She had been living by the sea for a long time now, she had owned this wonderful house for what felt like forever, but every so often a memory of her old life would flood her and she would smile to herself because of how far she had come. It was hard to imagine that she was once that young girl, battling with her father not to marry the dreaded LordAshdown.
Thank goodness, she had gotten out of that arrangement. That was absolutely dreadful! The life she had now was nowhere near as extravagant as what she could have had, but it was certainly what shewanted.
Her building was small and white, she had very few windows and hardly any space, but every scrap of it belonged to her and her alone. She was free to do with it as she pleased. The garden surrounding her home was tiny, and to be honest she could not actually see the water from her home. She had to walk a while to actually see the ocean, but it was there and that was all that mattered. Her home was exactly where she wanted it to be. She felt very content whenever she washome.
Time to get to work, she thought joyfully to herself as she idly brushed her skirt down. Another day taking notes and answering letters for Mr. Smith. I cannot wait to bethere!
Annabelle loved her job, she was lucky to have such a wonderful place to spend her days. Although her father had given her a substantial amount of money when she first left home, Annabelle knew well how quickly it could go, due to her past experiences when she was young and out in the world with only Floyd for company. So, she searched for a job the second she got a home to ensure that she would always remain financially afloat. Her time with Floyd had made her so much smarter. If she had not been through all of that, she might have crumbled under the pressure of trying to keep herself from ending uphomeless.
As she walked the short distance to Mr. Smith’s home office, she allowed her mind to remember Floyd, just for a moment. She did not like to think of him too much because her heart still ached at the mere memory of his face, but she did not want to totally forget him either. Just because things had not worked out as expected, he was still a huge part of her life. Her experiences with him made her the strong, capable, mature woman that she was today. At twenty-three years of age, she had life experiences that others older than her could only dreamof.
Maybe he had not loved her in the way that she had hoped, but she could still feel gratitude towards him for being so ingrained in herhistory.
“Hello, Annabelle,” Mark, the friendly gardener who she passed most days on her way to the office, called out to her, dragging Annabelle’s brain away from everything related to Floyd. “Off towork?”
“I am indeed.” She smiled at the man. Everyone in this small town was so friendly. It was nothing like the faceless masses of London, people here really knew one another. There were fewer falsities too, Annabelle felt like people did not wear masks and that they were more themselves. Herself included. “Indoors all day, what a shame in this lovely sunshine.” She rolled her eyes towards the sky. “I would love to have yourjob.”
“You should get yourself a husband, then you will not have towork.”
Annabelle did not take Mark’s comments to heart. He only meant well. He continually told her that she needed someone to take care of her. He could not seem to understand that Annabelle was more than capable of looking after herself. “Oh, you know me, I am just sitting around waiting for James to propose,” she teased with a playful sigh. “What is a girl todo?”
Mentioning James when she had only just been thinking about Floyd felt a little bit like betrayal. James was a lovely man, the only gentleman that she had taken a shine to at all since leaving all her past life drama behind. He was kind, and if there was one thing that Annabelle knew that she needed from a gentleman, it waskindness.
“A beautiful girl like you,” Mark commented while tipping his hat at her. “He must be mad if he has not asked youalready.”
“If he is not going to ask you to marry him, it might be time for you to find someone else. You do not want to end up lonely,” Mark warned before she got the chance to walk away. “There is no worse fate. Ever since my wife passed away, I have been verylonely.”
His eyes fell to the ground, his pain rolled off his shoulders in waves. It had been seven years since he lost his lovely Mary and not a day went by when he did not miss her dearly. He reminded Annabelle of this constantly. He let everyone know who passed him how much he missed her. It was his way of keeping her memoryalive.
Annabelle nodded sadly, she did not like to see her friend in so much pain. “It must be terrible. I know you miss her everyday.”
“I am more concerned for you...” Mark started, but Annabelle interrupted. She did not want to think about marriage to James. After the experiences she had been through, she was in no rush. She was quite content with how things were with James at themoment.
“But you do not have to worry about me,” She smiled, maybe a little too brightly. “Me and James are still getting to know one another. Plus, I have many people in my life aside from him.” Maybe she was arguing too fiercely, but this was a point she felt very strongly about. Annabelle was very happy with her life. “My friend, Violet, lives nearby. I see her regularly. I also get a lot of letters from my family and friends back in London. My sister is coming to see me soon, too, with her twochildren.”
“You shall start wanting childrenyourself...”
Annabelle needed to stop this before Mark got her involved in a long debate about the right age to give birth again. She had spent many hours conversing with him about her belief that she had not left it too late... she did not want to be late for work by getting sucked in once more. Especially when it was a subject that they were never going to agreeon.
“I have to go, I am very busy today,” she interrupted while walking away at a rapid pace. “I have a lot of paperwork to complete today, Mr. Smith has me very busy. However, I shall see yousoon.”
Her life was very busy all the time so Mark did not question this excuse at all. Annabelle worked many hours, more than most women which made her stand out in a small town. She worked a lot but still had to be very careful with her money so that she lived within her means, but Annabelle did not mind. She was in control of her own life, which feltwonderful.
“Goodbye, Annabelle!” Mark called out joyfully, before returning to his work. “I hope to see yousoon.”
Eventually, the ocean came into view which lifted Annabelle’s spirits even further. No matter what was going on in her life, even when she did experience bad things – not that she did much these days – the sight of the water always made her feel better. It was uplifting to be free of the oppressive London society, the hustle and bustle, the rules, the expectations... the pace of life by the sea was something else entirely. It suited Annabelle so muchbetter.
“Good morning, Mr. Smith,” she called happily as she entered the side door into his home, straight into his office. He preferred to have this separate entrance so his clients did not interfere with his home life. “How are thingsgoing?”
Her boss nodded and smiled at Annabelle warmly as she took her seat. Mr. Smith was a very kind boss, she felt respected and welcome when she came to work. He always went out of his way to make sure Annabelle knew how appreciated she was, which helped her to love her job sodearly.
With Mr. Smith, she had been honest from the very beginning. She did not try to deceive her new employer in the way that she did Mr. Brentwood – even if that was utterly essential at the time – and it had worked out well. Not that it was likely, but even if her father stormed in and tried to drag her away from this life, she knew that he would still stand by her and he would defend her right to stay in the life that she had built up forherself.
She would not be taken forcefully back to London again, which was a very comfortingthought.
