Page 81 of Trapped with the Vicious Highlander
The rest of the journey was quiet and filled with contemplation. Finally, the carriage rolled to a stop right in front of the cottage, and as she climbed out of it, she saw Sarah and Elizabeth hurrying towards her, their hands gripping the hems of their skirts tightly so they would not trip.
Warmth bloomed in her stomach as she grabbed one of her boxes and dumped it on the floor.
“Ye’re finally here!” she heard Sarah scream as the older woman descended the tiny slope.
She was surprised that her former maid still had the stamina to run like that, but she managed not to let it show.
She could feel the change in the atmosphere even as the footman helped her unload the rest of her belongings. The air felt different and it was hard for her to tell if it was in a good or bad way. The leaves beneath her feet and the grass seemed to have lost all pigment. It felt like everything that was bright and full of color back at the castle was bleak at the cottage.
She didn’t think too long as Sarah crashed into her, enveloping her in a long and warm hug. Elizabeth did the same as well as they made their way to the cottage, leaving the boxes behind.
“Do not ever leave for that long ever again, do ye hear me? From yer letter, I could swear ye were no longer planning on leaving the castle.” Sarah whispered, practically hurrying through her words.
Ava laughed. “Certainly.”
They made their way across the hall and towards Ava’s room. She spotted Henrietta at the watering hole as usual.
Henrietta looked up, spotting them walk across the hallway and her face lit up with glee.
“You’re back!” she gushed, lifting a damp hand in excitement.
Ava waved back. “It is lovely to see you too, Henrietta.”
Ava’s eyes swept over the pots surrounding Henrietta in the watering hole. They looked fresh and new. They were completely different from the old ones she usually saw her with.
She then looked at the kitchen building which she could see from where she was stood. The door had been replaced with a new one that looked smoother and way more expensive. A frown creased her brow, but she said nothing.
Soon, the three women stopped right before her door. She twisted the knob and walked in, and for a second, she wondered if it was her room she had walked into or someone else’s.
The walls were freshly painted. The bed was different, as it looked bigger and a bit softer. The floor looked smoother, and the door to the bathing chamber also looked completely different.
“What do ye think?” Elizabeth asked as she and Sarah followed her into the room.
Ava swallowed, looking around. With that question, she was now certain she was in her room.
“You girls did not have to do all of this,” she whispered, before taking a deep breath. “I appreciate the nice gesture, but we do not have enough money to do this and still manage to take care of the children.”
“Oh, it is all right. Ye deserve it. And all of it was covered by the donation.”
Ava stopped, feeling her words freeze on her tongue. She turned around slowly, almost mechanically, like a flour mill.
“What donation?” she asked.
“From the Laird, of course. He sent a rather generous amount of money the past week. I… I assumed ye would have known about this. I thought it was ye who convinced him.”
Ava blinked. “Brodrick… sent… money?” The words staggered out of her lips in disbelief.
“Aye. A huge sum too,” Sarah confirmed.
Then it hit Ava. The extra new pots at the watering hole, the new kitchen door, the entire redecoration of her room.
“Ye had no idea, did ye?” Elizabeth asked.
Ava found her way to her bed and sank onto it, grateful for the new cushion. “No, I did not.”
She couldn’t move. Not when her friends tried to get her to leave her room. Not when all the children under her care came to visit her later that evening, crying and raving about how much they had missed her. Not even when Sarah and Elizabeth brought her a dinner tray later.
“What happened? Why are ye so sullen?” Sarah asked.
