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 withyou?” 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.
Chapter Sixteen
Tommy had spent the past week on edge.
First, there was sleeping next to Minnie every night.
Yes, he was on the floor beside her and not in bed, but he was sensitive to her every movement, her every sigh, her every rustle under the bedcovers.
And while they might not be physically intimate, he felt closer to her every day, every night, through their conversations as they discovered more about one another.
While he didn’t want to go back on his word about providing her as much freedom as she chose, he was also nervous when she was out of his sight. He hoped that Minnie understood just how dangerous Blackwood was, to what lengths he would go to in order to see his plans through. Until they could find a solution, Minnie was at risk as collateral in this deal her father had made with the devil.
She seemed to understand, for while she never spoke much with him about it, she stayed close throughout the day, helping him in the shop. It took some extra time atfirst to teach her what to do and how she could help him, even with the simple tasks, but she was a quick learner, and soon enough, the time it had taken to train her was paying off with her efficiency.
Tommy loved the way she smiled at him during the day — when she passed him a needed tool, when the faint scent of her floral perfume lingered as she walked by to tidy up after one of his jobs, and when she greeted customers with her easy, welcoming manner.
If there was ever a problem, she often resolved it without Tommy even knowing about it. He found himself much more at ease, working away, a song on his voice.
Most of his regular customers were both surprised and impressed when she introduced herself as his wife.
This Saturday was another game, and he was worried about what it would mean to have Minnie in the stands. Fortunately, it was an away game, and when he asked her to accompany him to Nottingham, he was relieved when she agreed.
