It had seemed like such a good plan before Christmas. Now he almost wished that he could runaway to anywhere else in the world but Willow Tree Hall. He wasn’t sure that he would ever be able to face living there without Annie and all their shared memories which were so wrapped up in the very fabric of the house now.
Arthur turned to face his grandson. ‘I think it’s time for you to take over this place, my boy. You’re ready.’
Sam grimaced. ‘I’m not so sure about that.’
‘I am,’ Arthur told him in a firm voice.
‘But you should remain Lord Cranley,’ said Sam. ‘It’s your title and you’ve earned it. I’ll just sort out the house and grounds.’ He sighed. ‘I’m going to need your help.’
Arthur smiled. ‘You will always have that. But I don’t think you’ll need me too much. I’m proud of you, lad. You’ve followed your dreams and created a great life for yourself. I’m glad the music business worked out so well for you. But, and I’m being selfish here, I’m also glad you’re back home with us. We’ve missed you. And the house needs you.’
They turned around and walked slowly towards the grounds at the front. The willow tree glittered in the low sunshine, its branches dusted with frost.
‘You know,’ said Arthur. ‘The roots of a willow tree are remarkable for their toughness. They have a great tenacity to cling to life. That tree is very old and yet it keeps on going. Much like me, I guess.’
Thank goodness, thought Sam. Because his grandfather was the most important influence on his life these days. And he was grateful to have his love and advice.
‘I came so close to ruining everything with those dodgy builders,’ he said aloud. ‘I’m going to make many more mistakes, I’m sure.’
‘You’ll learn,’ Arthur told him. ‘You’re young and full of ideas. And if you have the love of a good woman next to you, then even better.’ Arthur stopped walking to lay a hand on Sam’s shoulder. ‘You’re many things, my boy, but I’ve never thought that you were a dummy before now.’
Sam rolled his eyes. ‘Gee, thanks.’
‘Did I ever tell you that I nearly lost your grandmother to someone else?’
Sam was stunned. ‘What happened?’
‘I realised that I would be letting the best thing I had ever known slip through my fingers. So I fought for her and won.’
Sam shook his head. ‘This isn’t the same.’
‘Rubbish,’ snapped Arthur. ‘I have never seen two more miserable people as you and Annie this past week.’
The words almost stuck in Sam’s throat. ‘She loves someone else. That’s why she’s leaving.’
He was convinced that she was going away to live with that Steve.
Arthur shook his head. ‘I don’t believe that. I saw the way she was looking at you at Christmas. She’s not type of girl that would just switch that on and off.’
Sam sighed. ‘She’s only still here because she’s serving out her month’s notice. Once that’s finished, there’s nothing keeping her here.’
‘Only you.’ Arthur took him by both shoulders and looked at him sternly with his blue eyes. ‘Find a way to work it out before it’s too late.’
Sam wondered how on earth he could make that happen.
As they walked back towards the house, Arthur told him, ‘We can always find another housekeeper but you’ll never find another Annie.’
Sam knew in his heart that his grandad was right but he had no idea how to stop Annie leaving his life forever.
*
Annie put down the phone in the entrance hall, deep in thought.
The domestic staff agency had just called regarding the advertisement she had placed. One of their highly trained housekeepers had just finished a position early and was able to start within the next day or two.
So that was that. She could leave at any time and know that the family would be taken care of. Probably in a far more professional manner than she had ever been able to achieve.
‘Was that my colonel?’ asked Rose, coming down the stairs.
Annie shook her head. ‘No, but he called earlier when you were in the shower. He still wants you to go to the party with him tonight.’
Rose shook her head. ‘I’m not in the mood for any more parties,’ she said, her voice wavering.
It broke Annie’s heart to see Rose so upset. Especially as she knew that she was the cause of the pain.
She went to speak but didn’t know what to say anymore. Both Rose and Arthur had tried over and over to persuade her to stay. Even Will had tried to cajole her into keeping her position. But it was impossible. Every time she saw Sam she knew she couldn’t remain living there. No matter how much her heart was breaking.
Rose squeezed her arm and then walked away, shaking her head.
Annie’s phone rang out into the empty entrance hall. But although it was Eleanor, she didn’t pick up. She couldn’t bare yet another phone call about Sam and how everything would be alright once they sat down and talked to each other. She knew her friend meant well and wanted her to be happy but it was no use. She couldn’t talk to Sam anymore about anything.
Annie looked up from her phone and stared around. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could fight the temptation to stay at Willow Tree Hall forever.
But it wasn’t her home. It belonged to the Harris family. To the long line of Lords of Cranley, all the way to the next one. Sam.
She bit her lip, trying not to cry again. They had managed to successfully avoid bumping into each other for most of the past week. But her heart ached for him. She missed him terribly and staying in the same house only made it worse.
With a new housekeeper arriving, there was no reason for her to stay on any longer. She could leave with a clear conscience.
It was time to leave before the last of her resolve crumbled.
*
Early in the evening, Annie stood still in the middle of the entrance hall listening for any sound.
Arthur and Rose were in the drawing room. Will was upstairs, getting ready to leave for a New Year’s Eve party. Sam was in his study. There was no one around. She had waited and waited for the right time all evening and here was her opportunity.
She drew out the envelope from her pocket and hesitated slightly before placing it on the sideboard. Then she quickly turned and went down the corridor and the couple of stairs into the kitchen. She closed her eyes as she crossed the floor but it didn’t stop the flood of happy memories arriving. She could see herself gossiping with Rose and Beryl in front of the Aga. Making Arthur his morning breakfast. Listening to Will and Alex exchange friendly digs at each other. Falling off the kitchen chair and into Sam’s arms…
She shook her head free of any further thoughts and went into the pantry to find the two suitcases that she had packed and hidden that afternoon. She grabbed her coat and, at the last minute, remembered to place the back door key on the kitchen table before she left.
She took one last look around the kitchen.
She knew she was a coward. That she should have said goodbye and not just left a letter for them to find. She should have thanked Arthur and Rose properly for everything they had done for her. Thanked the family for their support and generosity. But that would have meant saying goodbye to Sam as well. And some words were just too hard to say.
Besides, they would have tried to persuade her to stay and it was so hard even like this. It was better this way. They would all be able to move on far quicker without any fuss.
A new housekeeper would arrive and take her place. They wouldn’t need her any more.
So, with tears in her eyes, she quietly closed the back door behind her.
Chapter 34
Will came into the study and tried once more to persuade Sam to go along to a party with his friends.
Sam shook his head. ‘I’ve got things to do.’
He had planned a romantic dinner with Annie the following evening. He didn’t know how it would work out but surely he could persuad
e her to stay on a little longer after she had served her month’s notice.
He glanced at the two packets on the table. He had even been shopping that afternoon but he had no idea how his gifts would be received. But he had to try something. He was going out of his mind thinking about her every minute of every day.
Will was about to speak when they heard their aunt call out their names from the hallway. It was a cry of distress.
Sam slipped the boxes into his pocket and quickly followed his brother into the entrance hall where Arthur also stood.
‘What’s the matter?’ asked Will, as they both crashed to a halt in front of their aunt.
But it was Arthur that turned to look directly at Sam. He was holding a letter and his eyes were filled with tears.
‘She’s left,’ said Arthur, in a trembling voice.
‘What?’ Sam strode across and snatched the letter from his grandfather.
Apparently Annie couldn’t face a long drawn-out goodbye and had quietly slipped away. She had sent her love and good wishes to Arthur and all the family.
‘She says there’s another housekeeper arriving tomorrow,’ sobbed Rose. ‘But I don’t want anyone else. I want our Annie.’
Will put an arm around his aunt’s shoulders. ‘Is it true?’ he asked his brother.
Sam nodded, frantically reading the words again. She had gone.
‘But how? I didn’t hear a car,’ Will told him.
‘We were in the drawing room and didn’t see one arrive at the front either,’ said Arthur.
‘She was in the kitchen only a little while ago when I made Arthur a coffee,’ sniffed Rose.
They all turned to look at Sam. He was shocked. He would never see her again. His Annie. How would he manage? How would he live?
He loved her. He realised now that he did with all his heart. How was he going to make it through each day without her?
Still numb, he looked across to his grandfather.
‘If you’re quick, you can still catch her,’ said Arthur. ‘It’s not too late.’
Sam came to life and found himself nodding. He loved her, didn’t he? That meant that he certainly wasn’t going to let her leave without a fight.
He rushed across the entrance hall and flung open the front door, the letter fluttering to the floor behind him as he ran outside.
*
Annie shivered in the cold night air as she walked down the long driveway. She was trying to drag both suitcases behind her with one hand whilst holding her mobile in the other.
‘I’m so sorry,’ Megan was saying. ‘I know I said I’d pick you up but the children have caught some kind of stomach bug. It’s an apocalypse of vomit over here. Honestly, you really don’t want to come anywhere near us. What about Eleanor’s mum? I’m sure she could put you up for the night.’
‘There was no answer on her phone. Don’t worry,’ Annie told her. ‘I’ll sort something out.’
She stopped walking to slide her mobile back into the pocket of her coat. She glanced back at Willow Tree Hall looking so cosy and warm inside. It looked so inviting. So much like home.
But she had to leave. She couldn’t have stayed and not be with Sam. She had spent the past week tiptoeing around him, but it was Sam’s home, not hers. Never hers.
It didn’t really matter where she went to now. It would never be with him. And nowhere would ever feel like home again.
Grabbing the handles of the suitcases, she began to walk again. Thankfully the moon was shining down from a clear starry sky, showing her the way. It would probably take about half an hour to walk into the village at this rate but she didn’t care. She kept walking, deep in her own thoughts and misery. But it was only when she was level with the willow tree that she registered the sound of an engine roaring up the drive behind her.
She spun around to find herself trapped in the glare of a car, its lights on full. She didn’t even have time to jump into the ditch and hide before it screeched to a halt in front of her and Sam jumped out.
She was shocked and horrified to see him. Didn’t he realise how hard this was? Didn’t he know that it was taking all of her effort to leave him?
‘Where are you going?’ he asked.
She blinked in the bright beam of the car which was still running.
‘I’m leaving,’ she told him, turning away from the light and dragging her heavy suitcases behind her.
But he easily snatched one from her hands, making her stop. ‘You were going to leave without saying anything to any of us?’ he asked.
Annie bit her lip, keeping her face down. ‘It was too hard to say goodbye to Arthur. And Rose.’
He took a step forward, leaving the suitcase on the ground behind him. ‘What about me?’ he asked softly. ‘How did you feel about saying goodbye to me?’
Annie gulped back the tears. That would have been the hardest of all. But she couldn’t tell him that.
In the silence, he took the other bag from her. ‘You know, you haven’t served out your full month’s notice yet.’
Finally she forced herself to look at him. ‘Is that what this is about?’ Anger mixed with despair inside her. ‘I said in my note that there’s a new housekeeper arriving. So sue me. Dock my wages. But please give me my bags and let me go.’
She held out her hand but he flung the other bag behind him and crossed his arms, refusing to budge.
‘Fine,’ she snapped. ‘I’ll send for them or something.’
She turned away, desperate to hang onto what little dignity she had.
‘I suppose that rock singer idiot is waiting for you,’ he called out as she walked away.
Annie spun round to face him once more. Did he really think Steve was still on the scene? ‘No,’ she told him. ‘It’s not that at all.’
He took a small step forwards but she could hear the pain in his next words. ‘I saw you kiss him.’
Annie took in a deep breath. She hadn’t realised that he had seen them. ‘No,’ she told him. ‘He kissed me, not the other way around.’
‘Do you love him?’ he asked, his voice cracking on the words.
Annie shook her head. ‘I think I was just in love with the idea of him after all these years. I made him into something he wasn’t. That he could never be. But he wasn’t…’
Her voice trailed away.
‘He wasn’t what?’ prompted Sam, stepping closer towards her now.
Their bodies and faces were almost touching. She found she could barely breathe as she stared up into his eyes.
‘It doesn’t matter,’ she found herself whispering.
‘It matters very much,’ he told her gruffly.
She couldn’t stop herself from moving closer to him. Nearer to handsome, funny, sexy Sam who was the best, most important man she would ever meet in her life.
‘He wasn’t the one I really loved. The one that I will always love.’ She took a deep breath. ‘He wasn’t you.’
Had she really just said that? The shock in his widening eyes told her that she had.
‘But I’m just a housekeeper to you,’ she told him, her throat thick with tears. ‘This could never work between us.’
‘Well, I’ve been thinking about that and I think you should have this.’ He drew a small packet out of his pocket and held it out for her.
‘What is it?’
‘It’s a New Year’s present,’ he told her, placing it into her cold hand. ‘I’m starting a new tradition.’
Puzzled, she opened up the small bag and tipped out a silver key into the palm of her other hand.
‘I don’t understand,’ she said, looking up at him. ‘What’s this for?’
He gave her a soft smile. ‘It’s for the front door.’
Annie sighed. ‘It’s no good,’ she told him, a tear escaping down her cheek. ‘I can’t be your housekeeper anymore. I can’t work with you feeling the way I do about you. It’s not right.’
Sam wrapped his arms around her and held her trembling body tight against his.
‘I don’t want you to be my housekeeper,’ he told her, his voice full of emotion as his lips touched her hair. ‘Besides, it sounds as if we might be getting another one anyway.’
‘Then what…?’ she began, but he was covering her face now with soft kisses and she could barely breathe and concentrate on what he was trying to tell her.
He pulled back to look into her eyes. ‘I want you to be my wife.’
As Annie watched in a daze, he reached down into his jeans pocket and brought out a diamond solitaire ring that he held in front of her.
‘I love you,’ he said. ‘Marry me.’
‘But we’ve only known each other a few months,’ she managed to say.
‘I don’t care,’ he told her. ‘You know me better than anyone I’ve ever known.’
The tears filled her eyes. ‘But I’m no countess,’ she told him, in a shaky voice.
‘And I’m not an earl.’ He gave her a soft smile. ‘Not yet, anyway. I thought maybe we could learn together.’ He held her cold face in his warm hands. ‘It might take the rest of our lives though.’
Time stood still as she stared up into the face of the man she truly loved.
‘Yes,’ she finally told him, breaking into a huge smile. ‘Yes, I’ll marry you. I love you so much.’
He gasped in delight before bending his head to kiss her and finally, at long last, their lips touched. And it was oh so sweet. So warm. So right.
He pulled away a little to look at her and she knew instantly that he felt it too. That connection. It hadn’t been her imagination. He loved her as much as she loved him.
‘I thought I’d lost you,’ he groaned, covering her face in kisses once more.
She lifted her head as the tears ran down her cheeks. ‘Never,’ she told him.
Sam kissed her on the lips again, this time long and hard with the promise of passion and love forever.
When he finally drew away, he said, ‘Come on. Let’s go home.’
She nodded her approval before reaching out to take his hand.
*
Rose walked over to where her brother was standing at the front door. They looked out across the soft darkness to where Sam and Annie were walking hand in hand back down the driveway towards the house.
A House to Mend a Broken Heart Page 28
