Always Come Home (Emerson 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

He
knew he would miss his parents, though the only way to save their business had
been to leave since his presence had kept customers away. But it had almost killed
him to leave Max. However, he could not afford to keep a pet. He could barely
afford to survive as it was.
    He found the small table in the pot room and waited
for his supper. He was thankful to have a hot meal and he once again thanked
the good Lord above for leading him to Lord Ridgeway. Of course, his lordship
had problems of his own. But he’d provided Stemple with the one thing he
hadn’t had in a long time: hope.
    “I wasn’t sure what you’d like, so I gave you a bit
of everything.”
    Stemple looked up to find a woman in her early
twenties standing before him, holding two plates. She had dark blonde hair
pulled back under her cap and hazel eyes. She looked to be a cook’s
assistant. And she was smiling at him. He angled himself so the scarred part
of his face was away from her.
    Then he remembered his manners and stood. “Thank
you, Miss...?”
    “Not ‘Miss,’ just Maude. And please, sit down again.
You can’t very well eat standing up.” She placed the two plates on the table.
    “You brought two dinners?”
    “One for you and one for me,” she said, as she took
the seat opposite him. “You’re going to want to tuck in. Mr. Ferguson will
call an end to the meal soon and any food that’s left will be given to the
dogs.”
    Stemple watched the girl gather her cutlery.
    “Aren’t you going to sit?” she asked.
    He sat.
    “Your Lord Ridgeway seems to be an interesting man,”
said Maude. “He came upon my friend Miss Conway earlier and they had a nice
chat. Not that we gossiped about your master at all. Is it true you came on
the mail coach? That’s what Lord Clayton was telling his cronies.”
    “Miss Maude…”
    “Not Miss Maude. Just Maude.”
    “Maude. You do not have to eat with me. I would
not wish to spoil your dinner.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Don’t tell me you listened to
that nonsense. I’ve never worked with bigger fools in my life than in this
house. You mustn’t mind them. Unless you’re telling me I should go because
you don’t want to eat with me.”
    Stemple could hardly comprehend this conversation.
Unless….was this some sort of jest?
    “Well?” she asked. “Do you not want to eat with
me?”
    “Of course not. That’s ridiculous.”
    “Then like I said. Eat up or the dogs will get it.”
    They ate in silence for a moment, Stemple still
unsure of what was going on. But now she was staring at him. And the more he
tried to hide the right side of his face, the more she craned her neck to look
at it.
    “What do you put on that?” she asked.
    Ah, that was it. The morbid curiosity. Well, at
least she was polite about it. “I often wrap a scarf about my face, though it’s
more difficult in the summer.”
    “I don’t mean that, you daft soul. I meant, what
kind of salve do you put on it?”
    He shook his head. “I don’t put any salve on it.”
    “Then it must hurt terribly. And I imagine it
cracks in winter, does it not?”
    Stemple spoke to very few people about his injuries,
but he nodded.
    “What you need is some salve with lavender oil. It
worked for my sister. She was badly burned from scalding oil when she was just
a tiny lass. But we had a good healer in our village who immediately began
applying salve. It helped with the pain, but it also kept the skin moist.
Even after the burn turned into scars, we’d put it on her three times a day.
She still does it. I think it could help you.”
    “The surgeon gave me some salve in the hospital, but
it has been several years since then. Is it not too late to start now?”
    “I don’t rightly know. But it couldn’t hurt to
try.”
    And it certainly helped to know someone cared. “Can
you write down a list of the ingredients? I’ll see if I can make this salve
once we get to his lordship’s estate.”
    She blushed. “I can’t…I can’t