Chapter 28
The last fewyears had not been easy for Floyd, in fact, every single day had been a challenge for him, but it was all worth it now. Finally, after all of his years of putting in every scrap of effort, after giving his blood, sweat, and tears, he had achieved hisdream.
Floyd Brewer was no longer just a stable boy. In fact, he was a very successful riding school owner with many wealthy, well-known clients, and a list of people requiring his services that grew every singleday.
Taking himself from a very poor man to a wealthy one was almost unheard of, but he had done it, and for that reason alone he was proud of himself. Maybe he had been forced to shove down his pride and visit his father’s lawyer as a part of that journey, but it had been more than worth it. Maybe his father had not wanted him in life, but he had at least left him something in death. The will money was not enough to get his riding school, but it took him a long way towards it. Without that, he never would have been able to doit.
He would never take on the Earl title, he gave that up long ago, but he was still glad that he had listened to Annabelle’s advice about fighting for his title... even if he did it a little toolate.
Now it was time to finally get the ultimate reward that he had always been working towards, even if it was something that he pushed to the back of hismind.
Lady Annabelle Hathaway,he thought with a smile as he scanned his eyes over the quaint little village she now lived in, not too far away from the Brentwood household where a lot of their history had occurred.I have finally come back for you; I am just sorry that it has taken me thislong.
Learning that Annabelle had been forcefully taken from Mr. Brentwood’s home was the day that Floyd’s heart absolutely shattered into pieces. Deep down, he supposed there was a part of him that was expecting it to happen – after all, Otto Hathaway was not the sort of man to simply let things go – but somehow it still managed to shock him. He felt the foundation of the world fall out from underneath him as their life of happiness had been taken away. When Violet gave him all the details, he could barely hear her words. He could barely think atall.
Then, he ran. He did not even wait for Mr. Brentwood to fire him, he took off at the speed of light with one goal in mind. He needed to get back to London. Even though he was aware that it would be nearly impossible, he needed to find a way to communicate with Annabelle, to let her know that he would find a way to make itright.
During his turbulent journey back to the city with minimal money to help him, Floyd had plenty of time to think and one thing became acutely clear to him. It was something that he already knew, it simply became even more apparent. Otto Hathaway did not want him anywhere near his daughter because he was not worthy of her. He knew that he would be, once he opened his riding school, but at the time he was nothing butstaff.
Floyd intended to let Annabelle know that he would come back for her as soon as he had his riding school, so Lord Hathaway would finallyapprove.
Unfortunately for Floyd, the day he arrived in London was the absolute worst day ever. He did not even manage to get anywhere near Annabelle’s home, everyone in the whole of the city seemed to be visiting, and he very quickly found outwhy.
It was Annabelle’s wedding day, she was marrying LordAshdown.
That was dreadful, it was the last thing that Floyd wanted. Even if he did not end up with Annabelle himself, he did not want her to end up with that brute, but what could he do? He had already tried to go up against the powerful head of the family and he had failed... there was no way that he could do it again. There was no way he could break up a wedding, not without facing serious consequences. Floyd was so much in love with Annabelle that he would have suffered anything for her, but he could not getinside.
It took him a while, but eventually, Floyd had to admit defeat, he had to accept that he had lost Annabelle forever. It was not a nice thing to consider and it left him utterly devastated. Heartbroken did not even begin to cover it. He left the city rapidly to try and create some distance between himself and hissadness.
Throwing himself into his work and his business plans was the only way to keep himself going. If he did not have that, Floyd did not know what he would have done. Every time he was alone without something occupying his mind, his brain would instantly drift back to Annabelle. He would wonder what she was doing, who she was with, if she had managed to make something positive of her marriage to Watson. He would also wonder if she was thinking about him, which was challenging. It made it absolutely impossible for him to moveon.
Still, he survived. Even if it was only just. After five years, Floyd truly believed that he had gotten to a stage of his life where he was actually doing better. Annabelle was still there in the back of his mind, but he had come to terms with the fact that she would always be there. She was such a large part of his life, such a big piece of his history that she would not ever go. But that was all there would be toit...
Or so hethought.
That all changed the previous week when a new customer walked into his riding school with her young child in tow. She wanted to discuss signing her son up for riding lessons as early as possible, by request of her husband, but as it turned out they did not discuss that much atall.
“Are you... Floyd Brewer?” she had asked in a shocked voice. “Were you once a stableboy?”
He was stunned, no one ever knew about his past life which was just the way he liked it. He nodded silently and waited for her to continue with his heart hammering against hisribcage.
“Did you once know a girl called Annabelle? I am... I was her best friend when we were younger. My name isCatherine...”
Floyd could remember a Lady named Catherine, Annabelle had spoken as her best friend. It was then he knew that the connection to his old life had finally caught up with him, and he was incredibly happy forthat.
From there, the whole story came spilling out. Floyd took the Lady to one side where they could talk privately and she filled him in on everything that he had managed to miss over the last fiveyears.
The wedding did not happen. Floyd did not even need to do anything to prevent it and save Annabelle because as it turned out, Lord Watson Ashdown revealed himself to be a horrible brutish man, Catherine was not certain on the details. Lord Otto Hathaway ensured that everyone knew the wedding could not happen because it was Watson’s intention to ruin the good familyname.
As expected, that was a scandal for a while, it was the subject of gossip... but only until the next big thing happened. It was not long until someone else broke the rules and ruined themselves, causing all the attention to swing around to theminstead.
If Floyd was not already frustrated with himself for missing out on the opportunity to be with Annabelle again when her wedding fell through, Catherine then informed him that Annabelle came to find him. She went back to Mr. Brentwood's home, but of course, he was not there. He had left, he was ready to start his own life, he was trying his hardest not to fall apart under the stress of losing the love of his life. She was searching for him just as he was trying to hide. It would have been laughable if it was not such atragedy.
That was when she made the brave decision to start a life of her own. Floyd was a little surprised to hear that, but also proud. Annabelle’s character was too much for the stifling life in London. Getting away from all of that was the absolute best thing she could have done for herself. Floyd felt decidedly proud ofher.
Unfortunately, Catherine was not too sure about the details of Annabelle’s life right now. They still maintained a friendship, but could only communicate with letters. They could not gossip in letters the way that they could face to face because anything written down could be read by anyone else. Catherine believed her to be happy, but she could not be completely certain. With her own busy life, parenting her young son and baby daughter, it was challenging for Catherine to find time to actually seeAnnabelle.
Floyd did not mind about the lack of details; through Catherine he could get the one that he needed. He now knew where Annabelle was, which was the most important detail of them all. Now, after five years of separation, he could find her oncemore.
