“No,” came a voice from behind her father, who whirled around to see Jonny standing there, arms crossed over his chest. “If Ada hasn’t invited you in, then you cannot come in.”
“You,” her father said, his face darkening with rage. “You have ruined her! You?—”
“I only see her for the woman she is, one capable of so much more than you want of her,” Jonny said, stepping forward, causing Ada’s heart to glow for him that much brighter. “You were the one who tried to dim her spirit. That’s on you. Not on me. Now, time to leave.”
Ada’s father sighed, as though realizing that he had lost any chance he had at a battle against them. But he tried once more to save himself.
“The Carters are going to publicly announce Ada as the woman who shot Blackwood.”
Jonny snorted. “There’s nothing to prove it, and no one would believe it.”
Her father looked back at Ada, who bit her lip.
“Actually,” she said. “There could be a chance it would be believable.”
“What do you mean?” Jonny asked sharply.
“Well,” she said, wringing her hands together slightly. “There was this one time when we were watching a shooting competition. Among the boys, of course. They were all terrible, and I knew I could beat them, so once they had all finished…”
“Ada walked up and shot right in the middle of the target,” her father said, with both pride and resignation.
“Everyone saw how well I could shoot,” Ada said. “It was the topic of many a conversation for quite some time, although of course most of it was wondering why I would have such a skill.”
Jonny’s brows furrowed.
“The Carters would be idiots to say such a thing. Where will they sell their iron?”
“There’s high demand for it,” Ada’s father said in resignation.
“Ah,” Jonny said, “so you need them more than ever, or else your business is at risk.”
He shook his head at that, and Ada knew exactly what he was thinking — that they didn’t care about her but did about their business. She had to let go of that embarrassment for now. This was Jonny, and he was as angry for her as she was.
“Where are they now?” he bit out.
“The Carters?” her father said.
“Who else?” Jonny said, his nostrils flaring in annoyance.
“They’re going to announce it at the Manchester Chamber of Commerce meeting.”
“When?”
“Now.”
“Where?” Jonny demanded.
“The Free Trade Hall,” Ada’s father said. “It’s on Peter Street.”
“I know where it is,” Jonny said grimly. “Ada, I’ll be back.”
“I’m coming with you,” she said, already swinging her cloak around her shoulders.
“You don’t have to.”
“I know,” she said. “I want to.”
He didn’t argue with her as she stepped out the door, making sure it was locked behind her as the three of them hurried down the street in silence. Ada wondered about what Jonny planned on doing, but she didn’t want to ask in front of her father.
