A New Beginning or a Life in Hiding?
The ride to the inn was long and silent. Emma sat beside the kind woman, her hands clasped tightly in her lap as the wagon jolted along the dirt road. The sky had shifted to a soft pinkish hue, the first hints of dawn stretching across the horizon.
Emma should have felt relieved. She had escaped the Harrington estate, avoided the wrath of Mrs. Harrington, and found a place that might offer her shelter.
But all she felt was hollow.
She gripped the fabric of her dress, staring down at her lap as a lump formed in her throat. She had done what she had to do, but it felt like she had left a part of herself behind—
Him.
"How long were you working at the estate?" the woman asked, breaking the silence.
Emma blinked, forcing herself to focus. "Almost a year."
The woman gave her a knowing glance. "Something tells me you didn't leave because of poor wages."
Emma's stomach twisted. "No, ma'am."
The woman nodded as if she understood, though she didn't press further. "Well, whatever it was, you'll find no judgment here. Life has a way of pushing us out of places we thought we'd stay forever."
Emma swallowed the ache rising in her chest. She didn't want to stay forever, but she hadn't wanted to leave either.
Not without Ruby.
But he wasn't coming for her.
Not this time.
As the wagon pulled up to the small country inn, Emma took a deep breath. This was her life now. No more stolen moments, no more lingering gazes or whispered promises.
It was time to forget Ruby Harrington.
Even if it destroyed her.
---
Desperate to Find Her
Ruby had barely stopped to sleep.
His horse was exhausted, its sides heaving as he pulled back the reins and came to a stop near the town square. His clothes were dusty, his face tight with exhaustion, but his mind was only on one thing.
Emma.
She had to be somewhere.
He had searched the train station, asked around the market, even checked with the local boarding houses, but no one had seen a young woman matching Emma's description.
Mrs. Harrington had covered her tracks well.
But Ruby refused to accept that she had simply disappeared.
"Excuse me," he called out to a man sitting outside a small café. "Have you seen a young woman? Dark hair, blue eyes, about this tall?" He gestured with his hand. "She left the Harrington estate recently. She might have been looking for work."
The man scratched his chin. "Can't say I have, sir. But if she was looking for work, she might've gone to the farms or one of the inns outside town. That's where most young women end up if they've got no place else to go."
Ruby's chest tightened. Emma had no money, no family. She had nothing.
And all because of him.
He had to find her.
Before it was too late.
---
Life at the Inn
Emma quickly learned that life at the inn was different from the Harrington estate.
It was smaller, humbler, but it was warm, filled with the smells of fresh bread and roasting meat. The guests weren't wealthy aristocrats draped in expensive silk but farmers, traveling merchants, and families passing through town.
And unlike at the estate, Emma wasn't just a nameless maid.
"You'll help in the kitchen and clean the rooms," the woman—Mrs. Porter—explained as she handed Emma an apron. "And if you prove yourself, I might let you work the front counter."
Emma nodded, tying the apron around her waist. "I'll do whatever you need."
Mrs. Porter studied her for a moment. "You've got the look of someone running from something."
Emma froze. "I—"
Mrs. Porter held up a hand. "It ain't my business. But if someone comes looking for you and you don't want to be found, I need to know."
Emma's heart pounded. Would Ruby come for her? Or would he listen to his mother and let her go?
She hesitated before answering. "No one will come for me."
Mrs. Porter nodded slowly. "Alright then. Get to work."
---
A Love That Won't Fade
Days passed. Then a week.
And every night, Emma lay awake in her small room above the inn, staring at the ceiling, wondering if Ruby had given up on her.
She told herself it was for the best.
That she had done the right thing.
But her heart ached in ways she hadn't thought possible.
And in the dead of night, when everything was silent, she allowed herself to whisper his name.
---
Ruby's Hope
Ruby sat on the edge of his horse, his hands gripping the reins tightly as he looked out over the town.
He had searched every boarding house, every farm, every corner of the town, and still—no Emma.
But he wasn't giving up.
He couldn't.
Because he had made her a promise.
And no matter how far she ran, no matter how hard his mother tried to keep them apart—
He would find her.
Even if it was the last thing he ever did.