Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
“Are you sure about this?” Tommy asked, eyeing Minnie warily as they stepped up to her parents’ front door.
“No,” she said before taking a deep breath. “But we don’t have another option besides breaking in once everyone is asleep.”
“I actually like that idea better,” he said, but she shook her head as her lips curled into a small smile.
“I’ll keep my parents distracted for a time, and you can slip into the study. My father keeps his ledgers in the top drawer of his desk.”
“I think I should keep them distracted,” he said, and she gaped at him. They had been over this plan time and again. Why was he changing it now?
“It occurred to me that it would work better. I’ll speak to your father, and you can make an excuse to fetch things you forgot from your bedroom. Then you know exactly where to go to find the ledgers.”
“You’re right about that,” she said, not wanting to admit it, but it was true. Tommy’s spontaneity was one of the things she enjoyed about him, and yet it was taking some time for her to keep up with his ever-changing thoughts.
The door swung open to reveal her parents’ very surprised butler awaiting them.
“Miss Draper,” he finally managed. “I— are you here—”
“Mrs. Ward,” Minnie corrected, noticing Tommy’s responding grin out of the corner of her eye. “We’d like a word with my parents.”
“I’ll see if they are in.”
“Jameson,” she said firmly, fixing him with a stare. “You are well aware of whether they are in or not. The question is, do they want to see us?”
“You are correct, of course, Miss— Mrs. Ward,” he said, lowering his head in defeat. “Why don’t you wait in the front parlor?”
He made to lead them through the foyer, but Minnie placed a light hand on his arm. “We know the way but thank you.”
It was strange, being in this house again now that it was no longer home.
But it hadn’t taken long for that small suite above the blacksmith’s shop to become the place where she belonged.
While a few of her own touches, such as a painting on the wall and some flowers on the table, had slightly changed the space, Minnie knew, deep within, that it wasn’t so much the place where she lived but the people within it.
Tommy made her feel more welcome and cherished than her parents ever had.
“Minnie,” her mother said, her tone icy as she filled the doorway. “How surprising.” Her eyes fell upon Tommy with distaste, which he ignored, his smile more forced than usual but as present as always.
“It is good to see you, Mrs. Draper,” he said. “You are as beautiful as your daughter.”
Her mother’s expression remained stoic at his compliment.
“What brings you here tonight?”
Minnie froze, uncertain of what to say, but of course, Tommy knew exactly what would put a dent in those walls her mother had forged around herself.
“I might not be what you planned for your daughter, but we would like to find a way to continue to stay close to her family,” he said smoothly. “We hoped to have a conversation, to find civility.”
“It would have helped had we known you were coming,” her mother said frostily, but she did take a few steps into the room, taking a seat on the sofa while Minnie’s father filled the doorway behind them.
He was wary, but he also approached Tommy with a measure of respect, likely formed due to his own understanding of how his actions had led to this situation.
“Ward,” he greeted him. He had obviously heard their conversation with his wife, for he didn’t ask any more before he held the door open. “Shall we have a drink?”
“That would be nice,” Minnie said softly. While she no longer held her parents in the same measure of respect as before, she did appreciate that they were amenable to this conversation.
Their discussion was stilted as they spoke of nothing of consequence, Tommy leading most of the discussion.
He told them of his family, of his profession, with no measure of shame but more pride that Minnie echoed in her heart.
He had worked hard for what he had accomplished, and he loved his family deeply.
It meant more to her than any title or measure of wealth ever could.
When Tommy began to lightly nudge her with his knee, she realized that it was time she executed the next steps of their plan.
“Mother, would you mind if I go upstairs and pack a few things from my bedroom?” she asked.
She wasn’t sure she had ever seen her mother’s brows lift any higher.
“Are you in need of your ball gowns for dinners?”
Minnie ignored the comment, knowing how much they needed this time.
“There are a few small personal things I would like.”
“Very well.” Her mother sniffed, and Minnie smiled her thanks, practically sprinting once she was out the door.
She decided to go to the study first. Relieved to find it unlocked, she looked through the ledger as best she could with the dim light from the moon through the window and the simmering embers in the grate.
She had to decide between leaving the door open and risking discovery, or keeping it closed to hide herself from any passing eyes.
Choosing the latter, she squinted as she attempted to read the front of each ledger, finally finding one that appeared promising.
She tucked it in her clothing, between multiple layers, trying to make it comfortable, before slipping out the study door, thankfully unnoticed, and hurrying up the stairs to her bedroom.
No one was about, and when she walked into the room, it was as though she had never left.
The book she had been reading was still lying on her bedside table, splayed out to the page she had left it on.
Still curious about the ending, she placed it in a small valise kept in the bottom of her wardrobe and added a few other dresses that could work for everyday wear.
She had already taken most of her personal items, so there wasn’t much else.
She glanced at the miniature of her parents on the desk but decided against it.
From the way Tommy was charming them downstairs, she would see them often enough still.
And the truth was, she wouldn’t overly miss them either.
Minnie wondered just what state she would find the three of them in when she returned to the parlor, but they seemed perfectly at ease.
When she caught Tommy’s gaze, all he did was wink and look down to the waistband of her dress with a twinkle in his eye. The ledger. Why hadn’t she moved the ledger to the valise when she was in her room? She had been moving too quickly. She bit her lip and hoped her mother wouldn’t notice.
Apparently, Tommy was more observant than most, for her parents made no comment, and it was not as though they were coming close to her for an embrace.
Their farewells were as awkward and stilted as the rest of their evening, before they were seen out the front door.
Tommy waited until they were a few houses away before he turned to her and asked, with a giddy smile on his face, “So? Did you find it? Or is that another treasure you have stuffed in your gown?”
“I did!” she cried, unable to help the smile that broke out across her face as she stepped around a corner before pulling out what was becoming an increasingly heavy ledger beneath.
His eyes widened in shock as he reached out to help her.
“You had a book that big in your gown the entire time?”
“It was heavy,” she admitted. “I was scared my mother was going to ask why my breasts had squared.”
He laughed at that, long and throaty, before wrapping an arm around her and planting a kiss on the top of her head, one that sent warmth through the entirety of her body.
“That’s my girl,” he said, and Minnie was suddenly grateful for the dark to hide what were sure to be pink blushing cheeks.
Why did this man affect her like no other? From the moment she had first laid eyes on him, she could hardly wait until the next time she would see him.
That hadn’t changed when they had married, even if their flirtatious banter had transformed into an uncertain tension.
She was beginning to wonder if he was one of those men who enjoyed the chase.
When she had been unattainable, he had wanted nothing more than to be near her, but now that they were married, he had what he wanted.
She couldn’t help but wonder if he had lied when he had told her that he wouldn’t seek out another for his bed.
Why else would he turn away from her every night as though she repulsed him?
But then he did things like this. Looked at her in excitement, pressed kisses to the top of her head.
It could very well be that it was the excitement of the moment and not anything to do with her specifically.
“What do we do now?” she asked, ignoring those feelings that were being tossed around in her mind.
“Jonny left a few of the books he found at the shop this morning,” he said. “So, I say we go home and see what we can discover.”
Minnie nodded, thrilled when he reached down and took her hand in his as they continued down the street.
Her parents lived on the edge of Salford, so it wasn’t a particularly far walk home to the blacksmith shop.
“How was your conversation with my parents?” she asked, and Tommy let out a low chuckle.
“It was… enlightening.”
“In what way?”
“Your mother has no idea what your father has involved himself in, nor how deeply he has dug himself. I think your father is beginning to try to disconnect from Blackwater, but it’s probably too late. Once you’re in with a man like that, it’s hard to escape.”
"He saved his shipment, from what I know.”
“He did. But he was on edge tonight. He’s probably waiting for Blackwater to come for you — or for whatever he feels he deserves instead of you.”
She shivered, looking over her shoulder as though someone was going to jump out of the shadows at her.
Tommy didn’t say anything, but by silent agreement, they picked up their speed – just a little at first, but they slowly increased until by the time they made it to the shop, they practically sprinted up the stairs, Tommy locking the door behind them before they ran into the room, Minnie collapsing on the bed.
They looked at one another, and one of Tommy’s brows rose as though he was questioning her, before his lips tugged upward and he let out a short chuckle.
She laughed in response, until they were both nearly bent over in laughter at their ridiculousness and the relief, no longer feeling as though they were being chased.
“Oh, goodness,” Minnie finally gasped. “That was quite the run home.”
“Are we fools?” he asked, a hand against his side.
“Likely,” she said before sobering, “although there is a good chance we were being watched, is there not?”
“There is,” he admitted, before walking over to her, stretching his arms out and wrapping them around the top of her shoulders. “I don’t want you to be scared.”
“I know,” she sighed. “But you are doing all you can to make me feel safe.”
“By practically forcing you to marry me.”
“The alternative was to marry to someone who bought me,” she said dryly, and he nodded.
“True.”
He looked so deeply into her eyes that she wondered whether he could see into her very soul before he slowly, tentatively, drew her in toward him, as though scared that she was going to push him away.
But she wouldn’t. Not now, not ever.
She took the opportunity and snuggled into his chest, accepting the comfort he offered, closing her eyes and sighing as he wrapped her in his arms and his scent of leather and hard work.
He might be the prankster to everyone else, but to her, he was home.