Page 3 of The Elusive Phoebe (The Widows of Lavender Cottage #1)

Her driver leapt down and held his hands up.

“Please my lady, keep your head inside. Don’t be showing your face anywhere on these stretches of road.

There is some danger afoot, some risk of highwaymen and the like.

” He craned his neck toward that main road again but seemed satisfied in the lack of noise.

Phoebe eyed him for a moment but then decided he would know better than she. “Thank you for taking care of such things. We are not traveling with many, are we?”

“No we are not.” He nodded. “But don’t you worry about that. I might not be many, but I have a few tricks up my sleeves.”

She didn’t know what to think of his claim, but saw a goodness in his eyes, some bit of spark to trust so she nodded and closed the shades on her window. “Carry on, then.”

“Yes, my lady.”

They did carry on. The unused path got wider and things eased.

After a full day in the carriage made much more pleasant than the last thanks to the lovely inn keeper’s wife, she peered out the window as the sun was dipping below the horizon.

The sky was ablaze with wonder, and Phoebe’s heart echoed the sentiment.

They pulled to a stop on a bluff, overlooking a lovely vista.

The cottage sat on a rise, rows of lavender spread out in every direction, as though the house was built first and then someone planted rows starting at the front porch working outward.

The earthy aroma wafted to her nose on a breeze.

The air was fresh, but not chilled. And the pinks in the sky reached down to greet the purple of the fields all around her.

She was in heaven. Even if the cottage was a terrible mess of a place, she would be happy all her days just looking at this view.

She climbed out of the carriage as soon as it was moving slow enough in front of the home to allow her exit.

She grabbed a hold of her skirts and ran straight into the lavender rows until she was in the middle of a patch of them.

Releasing her skirts, she held her arms out and spun in a great slow circle.

The carriage kept moving up toward the house and stopped in front of a lovely covered porch.

Phoebe made her way to the front door and smiled at a key, attached to a sachet of lavender hanging from a nail, welcoming.

She tugged on it and opened the door. “Please bring the trunk inside.”

He grunted in response, surely looking forward to a good night’s rest himself.

She hoped there was an inn for him about the place somewhere.

But their relationship had not been one of communication or her caring for his personal effects.

So she let him worry about that. He had been paid for his services already.

But as he turned to leave she felt she owed him something or that somehow they should mark the end of their relationship with a bit of caring.

She held out her hand. “Thank you for delivering me, sir.”

“Happy to help my lady. I was never too happy with your situation. We all pooled our money to get you here.” He pulled out a wrapped parcel.

“This is from the housekeeper your maid Mary and of course from me and Thomas. We’re hoping that you can make a bit of happiness for yourself now that, well, now that you’re free. ”

She was astounded. “You…you did this for me? For free?”

“Well, it weren’t free. But yes, we all did it for you.”

She sniffed, her throat suddenly thick.

“But if anyone asks, of course, you escaped on your own. You know. We are still wanting to keep our employment in the estate.”

“Oh of course.” She wiped the tears from her face. “Thank you. I’ve never seen such kindness.” She stood on her toes to wrap her hands around his neck and hug him. “Give them my best. I…didn’t know.” She was suddenly feeling remorse for all the ill she’d thought of them.

He stepped back, his face slightly red, but he looked pleased. “I will, my lady. This place looks real nice. They’ll be happy to hear it.”

She clutched the package to her chest. “Whatever this is, I shall treasure it. Thank you.”

He bowed to her one last time and then hopped back up to drive again. The carriage turned the corner before she looked away to enter her new home. What a lovely turn, what a beautiful way to end her time. She’d much rather think well of them than ill.

She stepped into the house as the sun set fully behind the horizon.

A lantern sat on the nearby stand which she lit. Light flickered over a lovely room. It seemed clean, smelled fresh and invited her with a nice warm fire on the opposite side of the room.

She unwrapped the package and inside were some biscuits from cook and a pretty figurine she’d always admired from the sunny day room with a note: “To remember us with new eyes, perhaps even fondly. ”

How odd that they would wait until now to offer friendship.

Thinking back over her time in the remote home, she couldn’t think of any one person being anything but professional.

She could not fault them for that. But she had faulted them every day for playing a part in her isolation.

She’d had no means of transportation available to her, not even to go to town.

She shook her head. But no matter. They’d done so much to help her leave. They cared.

Wiping a bit of moisture from her eyes, she placed the figurine on a table in her new day room and inspected every nook and cranny of the new house.

No matter what else it was, she would love it, she decided then and there. It was home, and it was hers alone. That enough teased her with the tiniest tendril of hope.

She was home.