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“He’s coming home, Mae. He should be here very soon.” Charles squeezed his cousin on the shoulder before releasing her and moving toward the carriage. He took a few steps before turning back. “Coming?” he asked.
“No.” She waved him off and then gestured behind her, her heart still racing. Papa, coming home? She would believe it when she saw it. “I’ve got a basket of muffins somewhere back there that I have to deliver in Graton, if they did not turn to crumbs when I tossed them. You just get settled. I’ll see you at home.”
He nodded, shooting her another smile. “It’s good to be back.”
“It’s good to have you.”
Mabel turned back to find the basket that she had thoughtlessly dropped somewhere along her heart-stopping run. With her luck, it was somewhere in one of the ditches on the side of the lane.
“Oh, Mae?” Charles hollered.
She stopped and turned back to look at him.
He rubbed his chin, a sheepish look on his face. “I’ve brought a few friends. Any special rooms you have in mind?”
Her jaw dropped and her gaze shifted to the carriage, but it was shadowed, and she could not make out who was sitting inside it. This was so like Charles to foist visitors upon her without any warning. Would that she actually had the chance to prepare linens and beds, air out rooms, or plan for meals. She was tempted to point out that the only prepared rooms she knew of were at the inn in Graton but bit her tongue when she caught Charles’s candid grin. She shook her head but couldn’t help the smile which formed on her lips.
“I will manage it when I return,” she responded, before lifting a finger and pointing it accusingly at him. “But you make certain they know they are only waiting for their rooms to be prepared because I wasn’t given a hint of warning.”
Charles lifted his hands in surrender. “Sure, Mae. Whatever you wish.”
A chuckle rolled over Mabel’s shoulders as she turned back to search for the basket. She spotted it just down the road, on its side about halfway down the embankment. She reached it as the carriage pulled up behind her and lifted a hand in farewell when it ambled past. Checking her basket, she was pleased to note that while the biscuits in the tin were a little disheveled, the muffins were in perfect condition.
Releasing a sigh of relief, Mabel straightened her skirt, wiped the dirt from her knees as best she could, and began walking toward the town of Graton again. The scare with Pippa and the carriage had sapped her energy, and she found that the peaceful stroll was exactly what she needed. Particularly if she was going to return to a house full of guests. At least Giulia was planning on dining with her uncle this evening. Then Mabel could ease into entertaining Charles’s friends.
Hopefully, they were only planning on staying for a day or two, and then she could have her pseudo brother all to herself.
