Page 49 of A Very Roguish Boxing Day
Jenkins held up a hand.“Not so fast, now.You’re really going to be moving to Merstham?”
Tom nodded.“I am.Gwen and I will be marrying the day after tomorrow.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Tom noticed Robert waggling his eyebrows at his father.“Why do you ask?”Tom asked, curious.
“As I mentioned,” Jenkins began, “we often have more work than we can keep up with.Unfortunately, it’s somewhat sporadic.I don’t have enough to employ a man full-time, or else I’d have hired someone years ago.”
Tom felt something like excitement rising in his chest, but he didn’t want to get ahead of himself.“What are you saying?”
Jenkins nodded toward the anvil.“I wonder if you might like to pick up some work on occasion.It wouldn’t be steady, but I would send for you when we’re overrun.If you happen to have a few hours that week, I would pay you for whatever you’re able to give me.”
That sounded…perfect.“We could see.Now, the thing to understand is that I’m going to be helping Gwen with her bees.She’s looking to turn it into a proper business, selling honey.So, if she needs me, that will always come first.”
“That’s fine,” Jenkins said, waving a hand.“Even if you can only come half the time I call you, I’ll still be better off than I was before.Now, if you have a few hours today, I’ve tasks that you could do.”
So it was that Tom spent the next three hours pounding out spikes for the railway.It was a simple, monotonous task, which suited him just fine, as it gave him a chance to reacquaint himself with the hammer.
Then, he excused himself for luncheon, saying he would return the following day if he had a chance.Back at the cottage, he excitedly told Gwen about his new job.“It’s a little bit like you with your honey,” he said, spearing another slice of ham.“I have savings, but I’d feel a lot better if I had something coming in.”
Gwen, who had finished her lunch, was smiling at him fondly, two hands propped beneath her chin.“It would gall you to have to spend down your savings.”
“It would,” Tom admitted.“And I don’t want to run through your money, either, which was the reason for my first stop in town.”
Gwen tilted her head.“Oh?Where did you go?”
Tom slathered some of Gwen’s honey on a crumpet.“To see your solicitor, Mr.Reynolds.He’s going to draw up a marriage contract for us.He’s going to fix things so that the cottage stays in your name, and your money from Aunt Agatha, too.”He slashed a hand.“I want you to know that’s not what I’m after.”
Her lower lip trembled.“Oh, Tom!I didn’t expect you to do that.But it does mean a great deal to me.”She swiped at her cheek.“Truly, you’re the most honorable man I’ve ever met.”
There she went again.Honorable.Him.What a crock of shite.
Which wasn’t to say he didn’t like hearing such things.
And I’m going to have the rest of my life to enjoy them.
He grinned as she reached for her handkerchief, because he knew just how to lighten the mood.“Would you like to know where I went after I finished with Mr.Reynolds?”
“Where?”Gwen asked, dabbing her eyes.
“To the carpenter’s shop.”
“To purchase the boards I saw you stacking out back,” she guessed.
“Yes.”He waggled his eyebrows and dropped his voice low to make sure Mariah didn’t overhear.“And to order us a larger bed.Believe me, bun, we’re going to need it.”
Gwen threw a crumpet at him, but she was laughing.And Tom couldn’t recall the last time he’d been that happy.
Chapter21
The next few days were the best ones Gwendolyn had ever had.
Tom was just so nice to have around.It hadn’t occurred to her that she had been a little bit lonely until she was presented with the contrast of having him around.Considering the man she had spent the most time with was her brother she hadn’t imagined that a man could be so cheerful and good-tempered.Whether he was chatting amiably over the breakfast table or whistling while he mended her bee boles, he made every part of Gwen’s day more pleasant.He did more in three days to repair Aunt Agatha’s crumbling cottage than she had managed to do in six months.And he seemed to have a preternatural sense for when she was about to lift something heavy, because she would feel his warm hand on her shoulder and hear him murmur, “Gwen, bun, what are you doing?”before lifting it easily and carrying it wherever she needed it.
He managed to spend a few hours down at the forge.Word had spread that he was in town, and curious townsfolk found an excuse to stop by either the forge or the cottage to get a glimpse of the famous boxer and marvel that such an exalted personage was marrying their Miss Gwendolyn!Tom bore the gawking with good humor and gave boxing tips to the flocks of young men who came around asking for them.
At night, he seemed content to stay at the cottage with her, but on the evening her friends gathered for their weekly meeting of the Women’s Assistance League, he went with her to the Feathers Hotel and passed the time in the common room.When Gwen came downstairs, it was clear that he had befriended half the town.Men called out, begging him to stay, but he waved them off.“Why would I want to spend the evening with you, Drummond, when there’s fairer company to be had?”He punctuated this statement with a wink at Gwen, then proceeded to sing, cheerfully if out of tune, as they made their way home.
Gwen could scarcely believe her luck.Who would ever have guessed that an eminent figure like Tom would be so delighted by her quiet country life?She had a horrible foreboding that this impossibly potent happiness was nothing more than an illusion and that it would somehow come crashing down around her before the wedding.When had she ever had any luck, after all?
