Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Minnie loved walking along the Manchester docks. The salt in the air, the calls of the workers, the looming ships in the background — if she could describe it all in one word, it would be freedom.
Freedom to set sail to anywhere one might put their mind to, the first step to travel anywhere in the world that one might dream of.
She had always felt the need to escape the life that had been planned for her, chosen for her — until now.
As she approached the red brick building, with the familiar sign out front, all her emotions had shifted.
She wasn’t interested in running away from the life awaiting her, looking to find something new.
She wasn’t excited to visit her father, to discover more about his operations, as she had always been before.
She wasn't accompanied by her mother, who was eager to make plans for her to find another suitor, another potential to increase their social standing and their wealth.
No, today she was on the arm of her husband, a man she was enjoying spending time with.
A man she would like to know far better than she did, especially after the show she had received last night, one that she would greatly like to see again.
As for this conversation, it was one she was dreading, even though she knew it was necessary.
“Are we certain about this?” Minnie asked, looking at Tommy with some trepidation as they stood in front of the door, away from men hauling shipping containers back and forth.
“Not in the least,” he said, although there was much more confidence in his voice than Minnie felt.
“But we talked about it this morning. We cannot continue to sit around, waiting for your father or Blackwood to make a move against us. From what Jonny told me, Blackwood is dangerous. If he isn’t happy with your father, we don’t know if he will take it out on you.
We cannot spend our lives looking over our shoulders.
Hell, I could barely play on Saturday, as I was worried about you alone in the stands. ”
“I wasn’t alone,” she said, even though the fact that he was so worried about her warmed something within her. “I was with my friends.”
“Do you think you could all defend yourselves from someone out to cause you harm?”
“Actually, I do,” she said. “Did you not see what Emmaline did last year?”
“True,” he said, tilting his head in consideration. “Still. We’re both worried about consequences. I don’t like sitting around waiting for something to happen. Far better to take control of it.”
Minnie nodded, considering his words. It was how they had ended up in this marriage. Instead of waiting to see who her father would marry her off to, Tommy had decided to take action and marry her himself.
They were just about to step through the door when Tommy pulled on Minnie’s arm so hard that she would have fallen over had he not been there to catch her, holding her close to his chest.
“Over here,” he said in her ear, as he led her over to the shadows created between the building and crates stacked behind them.
“What in the world are we doing?” she asked, incredulously.
He just shook his head, placing a finger over his lips as he nodded toward a pair of men standing behind him, lowering his head and bending over her, hiding her from the men as he made it appear they were a loving couple caught in an intimate moment.
For a brief time, Minnie forgot her surprise as she was suddenly overcome by just how much she enjoyed standing in front of Tommy like this.
One hand was high over her head, the other on the wall beside her hip.
This late in the day, he smelled like the blacksmith shop, a scent that she was beginning to enjoy more than she ever thought possible.
The heady leather and soot smell filled her, and she closed her eyes for a moment, as her only other options were to stare into his chest or look up into his eyes.
If she did that, she might want to kiss him, and she had no intention of forcing anything, especially not here on the docks with her father’s warehouse behind them.
“That’s Blackwood,” he whispered, and Minnie’s eyes flew open again as she peered over his shoulder at the two men.
The one was rather shifty-looking, his ragged cap low over his eyes, a pipe sticking out of the corner of his mouth, surrounded by half-shaven stubble.
When he began speaking and addressed the other man as Blackwood, however, she realized how wrong her assumptions were.
Blackwood was rather well-dressed, his clothing fine, with an expensive hat covering what appeared to be a professionally styled beard, mustache, and mutton chops.
When he turned to the side, however, Minnie caught a look at his expression and decided that it was pure evil.
Blackwood's eyes narrowed as he spoke in hushed but harsh tones to the man whom reminded her of a sea captain.
"I've waited long enough. It's time to bring down Hanson & Draper Shipping for good so that they will be begging me to protect them.
That fool Draper has lost so much money to me, he practically handed over the keys to his company. His keys – and his daughter."
“What do you plan to do?”
“Promise them that I can help them rebuild and protect them from those who have stolen all the shipments from them. Draper thinks he mismanaged his books and had to gamble to try to make up the difference. Little does he know there was far more to it.”
“There are other partners.”
“Yes, but things will be so bad they will have no choice but to agree to my help.”
Minnie's heart seized in her chest. She pressed closer to Tommy, straining to hear every word.
The sea captain shifted uneasily. "I have some news about the girl since you left town. Word is she's married and gone."
"Married?" Blackwood spat. "Impossible. Draper and I had a deal. He owes me his daughter's hand, which I’ve already found a buyer for. A man who will not take kindly to not receiving what he has paid for.” He paused for a moment before waving his hand. “No matter. This man won’t care if she’s married or not, as he plans on taking her far from here, to a place where no one will ever know her past." His lips curled into a sinister smile that made Minnie's blood run cold. She curled her fingers into Tommy’s shirt, wondering how she was ever going to force herself to let go now, as Blackwood continued.
"Whoever the unlucky sod is that married her, I'll make his life a living hell until he begs me to take her off his hands. Draper signed a contract. That girl is mine."
Minnie trembled against Tommy's solid warmth. He rested his forehead against hers, his arms tightening around her, holding her steady as a wave of nausea crashed over her. Her own father had sold her like chattel to this vile man.
"What about Draper?" the captain asked.
"Oh, I'll squeeze every last shilling from him and his pathetic company.
I already have my men planted in his ranks, skimming off the top.
Soon, there won't be anything left of Hanson & Draper but the name.
And once I have the girl, Draper's shame will be complete.
He'll slink off into the gutter like the rat he is while I build his company back up.”
Tommy's jaw clenched as he listened, a muscle ticking in his cheek. Minnie could practically feel the fury radiating off him, mingling with her own horror and disgust.
Blackwood jerked his chin at the captain. "Have the ship ready. I want those goods moving tonight. Draper will never know what hit him when he loses his valuable merchandise.”
With that, the two men parted ways, melting into the shadows of the dockyard. Tommy kept Minnie pressed to the wall until their footsteps faded.
She sagged against him, her knees weak and her stomach churning. "Tommy," she whispered, her voice cracking. "What are we going to do? Blackwood... he means to destroy your life. My father’s company. To take me. I can't... I won't..."
Panic clawed at her throat, strangling her words. But Tommy cupped her face in his rough hands, his green eyes blazing with determination.
"He won't lay a finger on you, Minnie. I swear it. You're my wife, and I'll protect you with everything I have. We're in this together now."
He pressed a fierce kiss to her forehead, and Minnie clung to him, drawing strength from his unwavering support.
“What do we do now?” she asked.
“We go talk to your father,” he said, his jaw still tight. He kept his arm wrapped around her, as though he also knew how important it was that she stay close, that he not allow any harm to come to her.
They walked quickly into the warehouse, heads down. Minnie knew that Tommy had seen Blackwood before, she just wasn’t sure whether Blackwood would recognize him — or her.
The clerk she had helped that day, not long ago, saw her first, his eyes widening as he took her in, before noticing the man at her side.
“Miss Draper,” he said. “What are you doing here?”
“Mrs. Ward,” Tommy interjected. “We’re here to see Mr. Draper.”
The clerk nodded, although he still seemed in shock as he led them through the warehouse to the offices beyond.
Before the clerk knocked on the office door, Minnie caught sight of her father, his head down as he stared at the books before him, although it didn’t appear that he was actually reading anything.
“Father?” she said as she stepped past the clerk, Tommy right behind her.
“Minnie,” he said, lifting his head as he pushed away from the desk and stood, arms crossed over his chest as his face darkened in anger. “How dare the two of you come to my place of business?”
“You weren’t looking for me?” she said, no longer caring about his response. He had made it clear what she meant to him, and it no longer mattered his intentions toward her.
“I knew exactly where to find you,” he said. “I just hadn’t come to collect you yet.”
She took in the legal papers on his desk. “You were first trying to find a way to dissolve our marriage, weren’t you?”
“You’re not going to be successful, Mr. Draper,” Tommy said, stepping beside her. “But I think you’re going about this the wrong way. No matter how you try to pay back Blackwood, you’re only going to dig yourself deeper. We need to work together on this.”
“Work with you?” Minnie’s father said in disgust.
“He’s right, Father,” Minnie said, shoving down her own disgust at how he had handled this. “We just overheard Blackwood speaking with a captain. He has created this entire scenario that has led to you being beholden to him, and he will not stop until he brings you down.”
“What are you talking about?” her father said, although he did seem interested now, and Minnie sat down, Tommy standing behind her with his hands on the back of her chair as Tommy told him everything they had just overheard.
When he finished, Minnie’s father sat there, staring into space, dejection covering his face.
“I have been a fool,” he said without emotion.
He was right, but at least he had believed them.
“You were greedy, and you did not pay close enough attention to details,” Minnie said.
“But what matters is how you handle this now. You need to identify who in your organization is stealing from you and recover the shipment before it leaves. And quickly. Get the police involved, hire runners, I don’t know what you do, but you must do it quickly. ”
He nodded, pausing for a minute before he said. “I need to talk to Hanson.”
“You do,” Minnie agreed. “We will go and leave you to it. But Father?”
“Yes?”
“Tommy and I are married, and nothing about that is going to change, do you understand?”
He stared at them, not with agreement in his eyes, but perhaps some acceptance.
“Take care of yourself, Minnie,” was all he said before Tommy wrapped an arm around her and led her out the door — away from the only life she had ever known, and toward whatever awaited her next.