He also hated that he had let Will get the jump on him at the station. No one ever got the advantage on him — except apparently, Ada.
He rubbed his hand over his face as he left the docks to make his way to Minnie and Tommy’s, who had invited him and the rest of the team to join them for dinner. He both loved and hated these dinner parties. On the one hand, it felt like an entire waste of time to attend. But then, as the evening went on, he usually begrudgingly realized that he actually enjoyed spending time with his teammates – and yes, their wives – off the football field.
Even Rhys could be a nice guy when he wasn’t ordering them around.
Jonny did realize that it likely meantshewould be there.
He was torn. As much as he wanted to see the ledger, it was difficult to keep his hands off herwhen she was in his presence.
Minnie and Tommy lived in a modest house near the blacksmith shop where he worked. Tommy had been particularly proud of being able to afford the house, after the two of them had worked together to build the blacksmith shop to the point that not only could they support themselves, but Tommy could give back to his family and help his ill sister.
It was what Jonny had always wanted for himself.
He stood with his coat slung over his shoulder, feeling for a moment like he didn’t belong with the rest of them, all coupled up and happily married.
The crunch of carriage wheels behind him had him turning around, and soon enough, the very carriage he had become familiar with two nights before came to a stop beside him.
When the door opened, out came Lily, Emmaline, and Ada, followed by Colin and Rhys.
“Ah, I see I missed the invitation,” he said wryly as they joined him.
“You live five minutes from Tommy,” Colin said incredulously, pointing to the house.
“Still,” Jonny said with a shrug, “maybe I wanted a ride.”
Rhys clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Next time.”
He nodded before following them in, knowing that Tommy was the reason he was here with them tonight. The two of them had become close over the past couple of seasons, and even when everyone else had distrusted him, Tommy had always been there, supporting him.
It was a loyalty Jonny wasn’t entirely sure that he deserved, but he appreciated all the same.
“I’m so glad you came!” Minnie greeted them all enthusiastically, squeezing his hand as he walked by, surprising him. Jonny attempted to smile at her, knowing it likely came out looking more like a grimace, but he couldn’t help it. He wasn’t exactly practiced in his smiles.
Ada glanced over at him, frowning as though she didn’t approve of the way he had greeted Minnie, but he only shrugged. He wasn’t here to make sure she was happy with him at every moment of the day.
He tried not to pay her any attention, but she was wearing a dark green gown that brought out the blue-green in her eyes and hugged her curves in all the right places. He had a feeling that if he ever saw her in anything besides the large dresses she wore, he would be pleasantly surprised by what was hiding beneath — but that was hardly his place to think about. He wrenched his gaze away and instead focused on the company around him.
They ate early in the evening, most of them having come from work, before settling in to play a few games. When Lily asked that they take some time for the ladies to sit alone in the drawing room, Ada pulled him aside and asked for a word alone.
He nodded, hoping she had been smart enough to have brought the ledger with her. His time was running out. Soon enough, Sharpe was going to demand the ledger, or he would take his frustration out in another way.
“You can sit in the kitchen,” Minnie said, overhearing Ada’s request before bestowing a small smile on them as she watched them go. Jonny knew what they thought — that there was something going on between them. It would make this all much more convenient for their friends if the two of them paired off, but he wasn’t about doing something just to make someone else comfortable. Then there was the whole issue of her being practically engaged.
The wooden kitchen chair creaked loudly as he scraped it backward, and when Ada began dragging a chair to sit beside him, he sighed before standing to help her.
She glared at him, likely thinking that he was annoyed athaving to assist her, but that was far from what was truly bothering him.
It was that she would be sitting so close to him, that he would be capturing her scent on his every inhale, that he would have to keep his hands to himself despite their proximity.
She reached into the bag next to her, and he sighed in relief when she pulled out the ledger and placed it on the table before them. The worn cover was a stark reminder of the danger it represented. It was full of history that could cause all kinds of ramifications, depending on whose hands it settled in.
“Did you read it?” he asked Ada, who passed the book toward him.
“Yes, I looked over all of the pages,” she said, “even though it took some time as my parents kept me rather preoccupied.”
“And?”
“You can see for yourself,” she said, gesturing to the book. “But I would say both of our families are mentioned enough that our ties to Blackwood, Sharpe, and their operation are thoroughly solidified.”
