“Do you think there will be entertainment?”
Tommy wiggled his eyebrows. “I see some instruments,” he said, pointing to a variety of guitars piled together in the corner.
They didn’t say much as a barmaid served them a hearty course of stew and bread, although Tommy seemed interested when three men began to round the stage.
“Do you enjoy what you do?” Minnie said, unable to take the silence between them any longer. It was as though, now that they were married, they weren’t sure how to act around each other. How many flirtations did one still attempt when they were now as close as they could ever bind themselves to one another?
“As a blacksmith?” Tommy said in surprise, and she nodded.
He leaned back, his elbow over the chair behind him as hestudied her, contemplating his answer. “I enjoy my work. I find it to be a soothing endeavor, with an artistry to it. If there is anything I am dissatisfied with, it is waiting for my own shop, to work for myself and actually make a decent living.”
“Are you finished with your apprenticeship?”
“I should be. Jack, the man I work for, has been like a father to me, especially in times when my own father could barely care for himself. Yet, as understanding as he is about my time, he keeps deciding he wants to stay on, despite having told me over and over again that he is ready to leave the business. He always said I would take over, but…” He shrugged as though it was not much of an issue, although Minnie could tell that it bothered him.
“You could look elsewhere,” she suggested.
“I could. But loyalty is important to me. Jack has supported me for seven years now.”
“Do you do all of the work for him?”
“Most of it.”
“Then I’d say it is an equal arrangement,” she said. “You have to be happy, Tommy.”
“I am,” he said, although his eyes had turned far away. “And I have football.”
The warmth that covered his face as he said it told Minnie more than she could have hoped for.
“I’ll tell you a little secret, now that you’re my wife and all,” he said, leaning forward. “I get paid a bit to play.”
Minnie’s eyes widened. “I didn’t think that was allowed.”
“It’s not. But I wasn’t going to be able to play otherwise, and they wanted me on the team, so,” he shrugged, “they figured out a way to do it without anyone knowing. Colin is paid too.”
“But not everyone?”
“No,” he said. “For some of us, like Rhys, the amount they would pay him isn’t worth it as he does well enough forhimself already. But for Colin and me, when we joined, it made a difference.”
She nodded, picking at her bread. “Did you decide what you’ll do about the bribe?”
She hoped that he understood she wouldn’t judge him, no matter what he decided. His reasoning for taking it would be righteous if the medication he could buy would make such a difference to his sister.
“I did decide,” he said with a nod, but before he could answer, a guitar strummed and anything he was about to say was drowned out by the music.
Tommy just winked at her, leaned back, and listened with such satisfaction on his face that Minnie vowed to be more like him. Enjoy the moment. Find peace where she could. And greet each day with excitement for what was to come.
Minnie was enjoying the music, but her eyes were beginning to feel heavy. She was just about to ask Tommy if they could find their place to rest for the night, when the musicians came to a stop and one of them stepped forward.
“Thank you, thank you,” the red-haired, bearded man said to the crowd as they applauded him. “We will be taking a break, but if anyone would like to take the stage – and is worthy of it – it is open!”
Minnie had a feeling she knew exactly what was coming next, and she was proven correct when Tommy shot her a grin before hopping up from his seat and bounding up to be first to the platform. The red-haired man handed him his guitar. They murmured a few words to one another before Tommy took a seat on the stool, and the tavern went silent as they waited for Tommy to begin, the crowd ready to judge whether he was worth listening to.
“Thanks for having me,” he said, addressing the crowd with a warm smile and a glint in his eye as he pushed his sandy hair back away from his face. His eyes moved over the crowd, and Minnie sensed that even a few of the women were ready to leave their husbands for some time with Tommy, especially when he smiled and the dimple appeared in his cheek.
Then his gaze landed on her, and the way his eyes held hers, showing everyone else that she was special to him, caused her entire body to warm, a space deep within her answering his silent call.
“From what I can tell, many of us are here with someone special,” he said, winking at Minnie. “This one is formyspecial someone and is fitting for where we find ourselves this evening.”
