Betrayal of Innocence (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 1)

Vanessa squinted at her father suspiciously. “Do you know something? If I didn’t know better, I would think you are doing a bit of matchmaking. I hope not, father,” she murmured quietly. “He isn’t able to compromise. He lives for his job, you know that.”

“No man can be that removed from the world, Vanessa,” Graham challenged. “He is just a little dense, that’s all. His work won’t bring him much softness, of that I am sure. He won’t be used to handling the emotions he will be facing and will try to ignore them – until he realises there is no place he can go to avoid them. He will come to his senses, you will see.”

“What if he doesn’t?” she whispered.

“Then the man doesn’t deserve to be in your life. You are best to wave him off and be glad to see the back of him,” Graham assured her. “Come on. Let’s go and see if that carriage still works, shall we?”

Encouraged by the idea of a wonderful afternoon travelling the roads in a carriage with her father, Vanessa hurried out of the kitchen after Graham who, for once, had a spring in his step.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“It’s wonderful,” Vanessa breathed as they turned the carriage around and headed home for about the third time that day.

Maisie was happy to plod along on the short journeys they had taken around the village, leaving Graham with nothing more to do than show Vanessa how to stop, start, and turn the carriage around. It was Vanessa who was driving now.

“Good morning, Reuben,” she called when they passed the shy man.

He lifted a hand, then quickly ducked away and scurried off.

“Do you know, I think you should start to use the carriage more as well, father,” Vanessa suggested when she saw the small smile of contentment on her father’s face as he tipped his head back to enjoy the warm sunshine.

“I know it is wrong to be so happy while Geraldine is still missing, but I have spent so much of my life stuck in that chair before the fireplace that this is quite liberating. This, and Geraldine’s disappearance, is a reminder that life is to be lived. It is damned stupid that I fought to survive on the battlefields during the war only to waste my life away in the house all the damned time. Why didn’t I do this earlier?” he murmured.

“Because you have had the ghosts of the past to vanquish,” she replied knowingly. “It has been a long battle and it isn’t over yet, but you are nearly there.”

“I know. Doing things like this will help. It will not only make our lives easier but will be inherently safer for you to travel this way even when the kidnapper has been caught. We can all take lessons from what has gone on here of late. Even villages like this aren’t immune to their own crimes and scandals. It is just a shame that it has made everyone so wary.”

Together they watched Reuben disappear around the back of the church.

“He doesn’t get any better,” Vanessa murmured with a sigh.

“I doubt he will now,” Graham warned.

“At least we know the carriage is fine,” she said when they turned into the driveway at the side of the house and Vanessa pulled the horse to a stop.

She looked around while her father climbed down but couldn’t see either Justin or his colleagues. Firmly reminding herself their activities had nothing to do with her, she quickly tied the reins the way her father had shown her and climbed down herself. She met her father at the horse’s head.

“I am going to take Maisie back to Mr Able,” he informed her.

“Are you sure? I don’t mind going if you are tired,” Vanessa offered.

Graham shook his head. “I am going to have an ale or two while I am at the tavern. I hope Mr Gilmore is there. I hear he has a horse for sale that would do us just fine. If he is there, I can see what we can do about buying it off him. We can always put it in the field out back. If I clear out the old stable, and fix the roof, it will be fully functional in no time.”

“Just don’t wear yourself out,” Vanessa chided, watching him leave.

With time on her hands, she glanced about the empty garden, but nothing interested her. She stared at the neat and tidy house she had called home for as long as she could remember. Her father had made sure it was maintained, but it really hadn’t changed from her childhood days.

“Maybe it is time to move on,” she murmured. “Father seems to be doing so.”

As she wandered aimlessly around the house looking for something to do, she felt a strange wave of discontent sweep through her. It was something she had never felt before whenever she had thought of home. Until now it had been her sanctuary, the place where she had sought solace and respite from the world around her. Now, she felt the walls close in on her, and age her far beyond her years. Her father’s words hovered over her and echoed around the empty rooms.

“What will I be like in ten years’ time?” she whispered in dismay.

Shaking her head when the thought became too disturbing to contemplate, she turned her attention to making dinner. Absently, she gathered the items she would need and put them onto the kitchen table. One by one she prepared the vegetables, all the while contemplating what it was she wanted out of life. Each time she considered the possibilities she found herself turning back to the one thing she truly wanted – a life with Justin.

“Is it possible?” she whispered. “Could I? Should I? I don’t know him.”

It was at times like this she truly wished Geraldine was around because she would have discussed this with her sister. Even though she doubted Geraldine would have been of any help because her usual gung-ho attitude toward life had gotten her into many scrapes over the years, Vanessa would have at least had the opportunity to hear another person’s – woman’s – point of view. Now, all she was left with was her thoughts, and they didn’t give her any answers whatsoever.