Maybe someday, it would.
Maybe someday, he would become the family she’d always ached for.
Liliana rushed toward them, baby goats chasing her, and Sophia forced her attention back to her charges. Shame on her for getting distracted while she had the young lady with her.
But she couldn’t regret the moment they’d shared, even if she should have been paying more attention to Liliana and the goats.
After they brought the goats back to the manor a few hours later, Caspian took Liliana back to the house and Sophia brought the goats back to their pen. When she exited the barn, she found Caspian leaning against the wall of the barn waiting for her.
“What are you up to?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
“I don’t suppose you want to go to town with me,” he said with an easy grin.
Sophia narrowed her eyes. “Already? Why are you in such a rush?”
Was he just trying to get her alone?
He shrugged. “The Fall Festival is supposed to happen in a couple of weeks and apparently I’m really far behind on everything.”
Sophia considered it. She had planned on mending her dress this evening, but it was beautiful weather, and a walk sounded lovely. Besides, it would give her an excuse to stop in and see Thea and maybe eat a meal in friendly company instead of in the manor kitchen with the staff, who still weren’t sure what to make of her.
It was probably her fault that the rest of the manor staff weren’t her friends. She hadn’t been the friendliest when she’d arrived, preferring to keep her walls up and stay away from attention in her new home.
Maybe that was why Caspian was such a breath of fresh air. Like her friends at the café, he actively seemed to seek her out and enjoy her company. Everyone else at the manor seemed content to let her fade into the background.
That may have been what she wanted when she first arrived, but it had been almost a year. Surely by now, she could stop hiding and waiting for someone to come after her.
She should stop being so suspicious. It was time to stop concealing herself, and mending her dress could wait. She nodded. “I would love to go to town with you.”
Chapter six
Caspian
Caspianstrodeforward,eagerto get to town and talk to Beatrice. Having Sophia on board to help introduce him to the townspeople seemed like a good plan, but since he’d been a fool and put down the copy of the map that Beatrice had made for him, he didn’t know where to start.
Getting a copy of the map would help.
“Have you ever walked with someone much shorter than you?” Sophia asked from behind him, her breath heaving.
Caspian glanced down at her and grimaced.
“I’m sorry,” he said, immediately slowing his pace. “I’ve gotten used to walking quickly during my time in Riyel. I haven’t had anyone to walk with me in so long.”
Sophia smiled up at him. “I don’t mind running when I mean to run. But running to keep pace with someone for the entire walk to town is a little more than I had anticipated this evening.”
Caspian let out a self-deprecating chuckle. “I apologize. I should pay greater attention. Especially considering I’m the one who invited you to join me.”
“You did,” she said, keeping pace with him easily now as they crested a hill and the town came into view. “What is your plan this evening?”
“I want to stop at the library and see if Beatrice is still there. I’d like to take a look at the stall assignments again and get a copy of the map she created so I know which vendors she has in mind. I was trying to avoid the grannies and forgot to bring home my copy of the map last time.”
“The grannies?” she asked, her nose wrinkling as she looked up at him.
“Oh, yes, have you not met them yet? Lovely ladies, if a bit keen to spread any bit of gossip they can.”
Sophia grinned. “Ah, I know the type. And if Beatrice is not there?”
“Then I want to stop at the café to see who I can meet there and start asking them to be vendors at the festival.”
