“I’m going to have to tell her, though I’d like to save her from knowing what her father’s doing to her.”
“Why do you care?”
“As much as I’m fine for her father to be found out, I’d rather she not learn what her father values more than her.”
“So, you’re just going to tell her that she will be randomly married off within the week?”
He shrugged. “Something like that. I suppose I’ll try to warn her without telling her that her father is involved.”
“How do you propose to do that?”
A smile tugged at Tommy’s lips as Jonny’s words resonated with him.
“That’s it.”
“What’s it?”
“Propose.”
Jonny’s mouth dropped open, although he still didn’t seem to understand exactly what Tommy was saying.
“Propose what?”
“Marriage, you nitwit.”
Jonny sighed. “I was hoping you wouldn’t say that.”
“Why not? Marriage to me would be far better than to some unknown man who wouldpayfor her, would it not? At least I would treat her right. Let her live her life.”
“How would you get around the banns? You don’t have enough time as it is, and her father is bound to find out.”
“I’ll have to think on it,” he mused. “But I’ll come up with a plan. I always do.”
“Or you could just tell her what he’s doing to her.”
“If it comes to it, I will do that. But I want to try my best to save her. And not disappoint her.”
“It might not hold if you don’t do it properly.”
“That’s a risk we’ll have to take.”
“We?”
“Yes, we,” he said triumphantly. “Me — and my wife.”
Jonny rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know if you understand what you’re getting yourself into, Tommy.”
“I usually don’t,” he agreed. “But this is worth it.”
“And in the meantime, what about your sister? And this bribe?”
“One thing at a time, Jonny,” he said, holding out a hand, his focus now on Minnie as he resolved to deal with the rest later. “Though on that, I’m starting to think I’ll have to pay for Cindy’s medication another way. I thought to myself, what would Colin do?”
Jonny threw his hands up in the air. “I think you need to go back to having Colin as your confidante. It’s too hard for me.”
“He does seem more willing to take on the role.”
“Then all the power to him,” Jonny said, his eyes now settling somewhere over Tommy’s shoulder. “If you’ll excuse me, Tommy, someone is trying to butt in on my woman.”
