L&A: 14

Richard had the reins of the carriage skillfully in hand as Archie and Lily sat in the back, Lily wrapped tightly in her cloak against any errant wind gusts. She loved the warm feeling of her hand in Archie’s, but she was glad Richard couldn’t see the wide smile of contentment on her face. She would feel foolish.

“I do hope it isn’t a total loss,” Lily said as they approached. “It would be horrid to have to start again.”

“I don’t think it will be that bad,” Archie said. “In fact I am confident it won’t be.”

“Are you a gardener, now?” she teased.

“I have access to some good ones,” he said. “The Manor’s gardens survived the weather in-tact.”

“They are sturdier than my small plot,” Lily noted. “You’ve seen my garden.”

“I must admit I wasn’t paying attention to the flowers.”

The carriage slowed and Richard set the brake and hopped out to secure the reins to the fence post. “Ready, Lily?”

She nodded and the two men helped her down. She braced herself on her crutches and looked about.

“Oh, it’s—“

The garden was neat and in bloom, the roses beginning to bud, and the flowers glorious. Some of the vegetables were sprouting and everything was tidy—there was no sign of the huge storms that had blown through days ago.

“It’s beautiful,” she whispered. Slowly she entered and sat down on the bench, her eyes full of tears. “It’s like I never left.”

Richard whistled. “Someone must love gardening as much as you, Lil, to take care of it this way. Ben says it wasn’t him.”

“It wasn’t Ben,” Archibald said.

Lily’s gaze swerved to him. “How do you know?”

“I know.”

“Then who was it? No one else around here would come in without me, and if it wasn’t Ben—“

“It was me.”

Lily gaped at him. “You? But you were always with me.”

“I came out in the mornings, before you were awake. I brought my gardeners with me. About the only thing I knew to do was prune the roses.” He sat next to her on the bench. “I knew that it was important to you. I didn’t want you to see it in ruins. And it was a bit of a mess, immediately after the storm.”

Tears flooded her eyes. “You did this? For…”

“You. Yes.”

Lily gasped slightly and gave a beautiful smile. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

His hand cupped her cheek and he smiled. “You don’t have to.”

Impulsively she embraced him, throwing her arms around him. Archie stiffened at first, knowing she would feel for the first time the reality of his body, but she didn’t recoil. He allowed himself to relax into her embrace.

“You are wonderful, Archibald Craven,” she whispered. “Thank you.”