Chapter 10 #2
Thomas made his way out of the building, his heart pounding like a drum.
Where could those notes be? They would string him up for sure if Andrew and Michael got hold of them.
Or even Robert. He would be so angry with Thomas.
And then he thought of Ethan, who had such faith in him.
Betraying that faith was heartbreaking. Which brought him to Clary. What would she think?
Thomas didn’t know what to do. He retraced his steps and ended up at his house.
In a frantic fuge, he searched his house from top to bottom and then up again.
The telegram and the note were nowhere to be found.
He lived alone and was there so seldomly that there was no way the papers could have been thrown out or misplaced by someone else.
So where were they? Had they fallen out of his pocket during the day?
No, he was careful. Very careful.
It made no sense. But it opened up a world of trouble for him. He couldn’t hope to escape notice if those pages were found. He would have to convince Andrew, Michael, and Robert that he wasn’t the spy and had never been one.
And yet he was contemplating disabling the elevator.
It was more than he could stomach. He was so confused and longed to visit Clary, but she would want answers from him. Perhaps if he spoke to her in private with no one listening, it would be safe. Maybe she could help him find some way out of this mess.
Wouldn’t that put her in danger as well? It would. And then what? Wasn’t she in danger anyway?
Thomas gave up. He couldn’t stand to be in his house alone, afraid, and backed into a corner anymore. Slamming his front door shut, he headed to the boarding house. On the way, he decided that he would visit the bakery after all.
At the bakery, Thomas bought the little custard tarts that were Clary’s favorites. Hector made the best ones she’d ever tasted, she said, and Thomas bought a dozen.
With the cardboard box in hand, he went to the boarding house. He found Clary in the parlor reading a book. She looked up as he entered. With the cut on her nose and forehead and the two black eyes, she looked as though she had been in a terrible fight. Thomas stared in dismay. “Clary …”
“I was hoping I’d see you today,” she said. There was an edge to her tone, but then, considering how their evening had gone, Thomas wasn’t surprised. He had been unforgivably rude.
Silence stretched out between them like taffy.
“Are you all right?” he asked eventually.
“Yes.” She touched her face gingerly. “Despite looking very much like an unlucky raccoon, I’m fine. How are you? Are you feeling all right?”
Thomas smiled in relief at the lightness in her tone. “Yes, I guess I am. I guess I owe you an explanation.”
She nodded even though it wasn’t a question.
“Evelyn came and told me what happened,” Thomas said, beginning with something easy to talk about. “I brought you custard tarts as a peace offering.” He held out the box to her. “I also came to apologize for yesterday and last night. I?—”
“I know,” Clary said, shifting. “Please come and sit down, Thomas. We need to have a talk. A proper talk. Don’t you think?”
He nodded. What else could he do? This should be a safe place to talk to her. There was no one else around. Nervously, he looked at the open door.
“If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather this were private,” he said. “I’m going to close the door.”
Clary didn’t protest as he walked to the door, checked there was no one in the hallway outside, and closed it. Then he went to sit beside Clary on the sofa. She smiled at him and took his hand with her bandaged left hand.
“Thomas, I want you to know that I care deeply for you,” Clary said. “I really do. It started with your wonderful letters and then escalated to something more than I ever thought was possible in so short a time.”
He opened his mouth to say something, but she pressed her fingers to his lips.
“Please, let me finish.”
He nodded.
“I think I’m falling in love with you.”
Thomas’s eyes widened, and his heart grew three sizes. “Clary?—”
“There. I said it,” she interrupted. “And thanks to something my dear and misguided sister did, I now understand your behavior. I have to ask you not to get upset with her. If you’re angry, which you have every right to be, please direct it at me and not at her.
” Clary pulled something from her book. She handed the two pieces of paper to him.
Thomas stared in disbelief, still not even close to recovered from her declaration. “Where? How?” Then he thought about her words and how Evelyn had behaved. He narrowed his eyes. “She picked my pocket?”
Clary nodded. “I’m really sorry. Evelyn still has a long way to go. She’s so impulsive. But she meant well.”
Anger welled up in Thomas’s gut, but he quickly swallowed it back down. What was the point? He had wanted to talk to Clary about this anyway.
“All right,” he said. “I’m not happy about it, but I was going to show them to you anyway. Now that we’re alone.”
Clary nodded. “Luke is in trouble, and we can’t ignore it. We have to do something about it.”
“Yes, and it can’t be sabotaging the elevator, even though I don’t understand what El Aguila gets from me doing that,” Thomas said.
“You’re right,” Clary said. “Let’s have some custard tarts and we can think of a solution together.”
“Thank you for understanding, Clary. I really appreciate it.”
She leaned forward and kissed his cheek gently. To Thomas, she was beautiful in that moment, even though she was right and did look like an unlucky raccoon.