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 Lord Ashdown.

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 she wanted.

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 was home.

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 be there!

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 up homeless.

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 dream of.

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 her history.

“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 to work?”

“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 your job.”

“You should get yourself a husband, then you will not have to work.”

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 to do?”

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 was kindness.

“A beautiful girl like you,” Mark commented while tipping his hat at her. “He must be mad if he has not asked you already.”

“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 very lonely.”

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 memory alive.

Annabelle nodded sadly, she did not like to see her friend in so much pain. “It must be terrible. I know you miss her every day.”

“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 the moment.

“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 two children.”

“You shall start wanting children yourself...”

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 agree on.

“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 you soon.”

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 felt wonderful.

“Goodbye, Annabelle!” Mark called out joyfully, before returning to his work. “I hope to see you soon.”

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 much better.

“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 things going?”

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 so dearly.

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 for herself.

She would not be taken forcefully back to London again, which was a very comforting thought.

“I am great, Annabelle, thank you for asking. And yourself?”

“Wonderful, as always.”

“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 are prepared.”

“Oh, you know me.” Annabelle sat down at her desk. “I am always ready.”

“Let us get to it.”

* * *

Annabelle felt weary 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, welcome sight.

“Oh.” Her hand flew to her chest in shock. “James, I did not expect to see you here.”

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 first place.

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 it all.

Well, most of it. There were little parts of it she kept in the back of her mind, but that was just for her.

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 she needed.

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 currently had.

“I know you have been working hard,” he told her while placing a delicate kiss on her hand. “So, I would love to make you dinner.”

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 good anyway.

“That is absolutely lovely,” Annabelle replied. “Thank you very much, James. You are a true gentleman.”

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 over everything.

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, of course.

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 not be...

Not that 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 meant nothing.

“How was your day at work?” she asked as they walked arm in arm through the town. “Have you been busy yourself?”

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 much more.

“Yes, I have, but as you know I love it. It is a very rewarding job.”

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 every thought?

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 every way.

Just because he would never be Floyd, that did not make him wrong.

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 like him.

“I am looking forward to dinner,” she told him with a bright smile. “Thank you very much, James. This is a lovely surprise.”

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 for it.

“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 a seat.”

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 so strange.

What is happening? Why do I feel like everything is about to change?

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 anxious anticipation.