“I am great, Annabelle, thank you for asking. Andyourself?”
“Wonderful, asalways.”
“You are my bright ray of sunshine. You do always lighten this place up.” Mr. Smith grabbed his files and moved through the small room. “We have a busy day ahead of us today, I hope that you areprepared.”
“Oh, you know me.” Annabelle sat down at her desk. “I am alwaysready.”
“Let us get toit.”
* * *
Annabelle feltweary but satisfied as the day came to an end. She had worked extremely hard but her day was not over yet. As soon as she left Mr. Smith’s home she found herself greeted with a very familiar, welcomesight.
“Oh.” Her hand flew to her chest in shock. “James, I did not expect to see youhere.”
He smiled, extended his arm to hand her a flower, and bobbed his head into a bow. He was always sweet, always lovely, ever the gentleman. Even without the title he was more of a Lord than Watson ever was, and that was what had attracted Annabelle to him in the firstplace.
Sunday Service was a large part of life in this town, and Annabelle loved being a part of that. The community feel, the friends that she made, it was all a part of the new life that she had cultivated for herself. It was a large step in the direction of moving on. Once she had started her new life, she wanted to move as far away from her past as possible, she wanted to forget itall.
Well, most of it. There were little parts of it she kept in the back of her mind, but that was just forher.
Maybe she never expected to meet the red-haired man with twinkly brown eyes during Sunday Service, and she certainly did not think that their friendship would turn into something more, but that was exactly what had happened. It had crept up on her slowly, there was never any pressure or rush with James, which made him perfect for her. James Moore was exactly what sheneeded.
Even though he knew that she had a little bit of a difficult past, James never questioned her about it, which meant Annabelle could just relax in the life that she currentlyhad.
“I know you have been working hard,” he told her while placing a delicate kiss on her hand. “So, I would love to make youdinner.”
Annabelle felt pleased. Maybe, if she really analyzed it deeply, he did not make her heart skip a beat, he did not give her stomach butterflies, he did not make her head spin, but that did not matter. She was not young anymore, she did not need that rush. It had not left her anywhere goodanyway.
“That is absolutely lovely,” Annabelle replied. “Thank you very much, James. You are a truegentleman.”
The other lovely thing about leaving her life and her title was that there were not the strict courtship rules she had once experienced. She could pick the man she wished to go out with, she could spend time with him without the prying eyes of other people, she had complete control overeverything.
At least with James, she would never have to worry about him treating her in the same way that Watson did. He always respected her personal boundaries, he did not even make the move to kiss her and she knew that he would not until their wedding day... if there ever was a wedding day, ofcourse.
Maybe, there was a little part of her that ached for the thrill that came from doing something a little bit naughty. One of the things that she enjoyed about her time with Floyd was the excitement of kissing him knowing that she should notbe...
Notthat she was thinking about Floyd anymore. Especially not when she was with James. Anyway, she was older now, more mature and grown up. That relationship was all childish and ultimately meantnothing.
“How was your day at work?” she asked as they walked arm in arm through the town. “Have you been busyyourself?”
As a teacher at the small school, James had his hands full himself, but he loved it. Anything to be kind. He adored passing on his knowledge to others. He even spent a lot of time getting to know the children he worked with and helping with their lives. It was admirable, it made Annabelle like him that muchmore.
“Yes, I have, but as you know I love it. It is a very rewardingjob.”
He talked to Annabelle about one of the boys he had been tutoring, but she found herself distracted. Half of her brain was listening to his words but the other half was thinking about everything else. Allowing Floyd into her mind might have been a little bit of a mistake. Now she could not shake him off and she was not sure why. He was long gone, she was happy now, so why was he there filtering into her everythought?
Stop it, she scolded herself while turning to face the new man in her life. James is lovely, he is a gentleman. He came to surprise me at work and now is cooking me a meal. He is perfect in everyway.
Just because he would never be Floyd, that did not make himwrong.
But still, even after telling herself she could not focus. Annabelle was glad when they made it to James’s modest home and she could tune the world out for a while. His house was warm and inviting, just likehim.
“I am looking forward to dinner,” she told him with a bright smile. “Thank you very much, James. This is a lovelysurprise.”
For a second, Annabelle thought she spotted something strange in James’s gaze. Was it nerves? Was it hurt? Had she said something wrong? She parted her lips as if to ask him, but thought better of it at the last minute. James was usually very good at being open and honest so, if there was something that he needed to keep back inside, there had to be a reason forit.
“Y.. yes,” he stammered, seeming anxious. “It is always lovely to see you, Annabelle.” He ran his fingers through his hair with a strange look in his eyes. “Come inside, please take aseat.”
A thick atmosphere clung to the air, it almost clogged up Annabelle’s lungs. Something was happening, she could just feel it. All of a sudden she felt very nervous as she tried to figure out why everything felt sostrange.
What is happening? Why do I feel like everything is about tochange?
Annabelle used to like change, but she was not sure that she would enjoy what was to come. There was something inside of her that felt on edge. She followed James inside, but her footsteps were tentative, her entire body shook and trembled lightly with an anxiousanticipation.
