His encouraging words prompted her to take a deep breath. Knowing he believed in her was enough, for now. She brought her gaze up and replied, “I would search his office, and look for any clue as to why Lucy couldn’t trust him.”
“That is good.” Caleb dropped his arms but remained close. “Shall we do so tonight?”
Simone hesitated. Could she truly search her own father’s study, as if he were a suspect in one of her cases?
Caleb gave her a knowing look. “You can do hard things, Simone.”
“But he is my father.”
“More the reason to clear him of any wrongdoing,” Caleb responded.
Simone had to admit that Caleb did have a point. She nodded her acknowledgement. “I will search his study tonight.”
“Wewill,” Caleb corrected.
“That isn’t necessary?—”
Caleb spoke over her. “We are partners, are we not?”
“But this has nothing to do with our assignment,” she argued. “I can handle this on my own.”
He smiled, as if he found her stubbornness to be amusing. “I know you can, but I would be a lousy partner if I didn’t help you.”
Heaven help her, but she did want Caleb’s help. She knewwhat needed to be done, but she wasn’t strong enough to do it on her own.
“Fine,” Simone said, feigning exasperation. “You may help me search the study. It will be easier with two people anyways.”
Caleb’s smile grew. “That wasn’t so hard to admit, now was it?”
“It was, actually,” Simone said as she fought the smile that was threatening to form on her lips.
He gestured towards a black coach that was further down the street. “Would you like me to escort you home?”
“And risk my reputation by riding in a coach alone with a gentleman?” she asked. “I think not.”
Caleb chuckled. “You are right. Taking a hackney is much more respectable for a genteel woman such as you.”
Simone ran a hand down her worn gown. “That is why I wore this gown. No one gives me any heed when I wear these simple gowns.”
Caleb perused the length of her and asked, “How do you leave the house wearing that gown without causing unwanted attention from the servants?”
“They have just come to accept that I am odd,” Simone replied.
“You are not odd,” he said. “Stubborn. Maddening. Clever. Those words describe you better than odd.”
Simone heard the humor in Caleb’s voice and found herself being drawn to him. She couldn’t quite believe that she had only known him for a short time, but he had become so important to her. “Thank you,” she found herself saying.
“For what?”
She held his gaze steady while she replied, “For helping me.”
“That is what any good partner would do,” he said, dismissing her praise. “Besides, I didn’t do much.”
“You did enough.”
A smirk came to his lips. “I think you like me.”
Simone rolled her eyes. “Not this again,” she responded, attempting to be put out.
