Chapter nineteen: Cinnamon Girl
Seven days later,
The gentle touches of lips on her neck cause her to faintly smile. She looks upwards at him as Thomas Shelby leans down to kiss her quickly on the lips. She blushes and sets the list of invitations aside to move into a better position on the settee so she can see him clearly.
"What are you doing?" she asks.
"Checking in on you." he comes around from the back of the couch. "You've been in here since breakfast and probably could use some fresh air."
She moans. "That does sound lovely, but, I've got to get these out today. I've been procrastinating too long."
"Right." He sits down. "What can I do to help?"
She stares at him. "You're actually offering to help to me?"
He nods. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I?"
"Well, isn't that working in Emmett's favor?" she inquires.
"The way I see it," he reaches for an invitation and opens it, studying the elegant transcript. "the sooner I get you out of here, the sooner I can spend some time alone with you. The more time with you…the more the odds are in my favor."
She stares at him in surprise as the doorbell rings. She swallows and looks down at the invitations. "Alright, there's one hundred to write the address on."
"Right, I can lick the envelope; put the stamp on and cross the names off the list."
"Emmett's here." Rosemary says glumly as she walks into the room. Her eyes narrow. "What are you doing?"
"I'm helping your sister."
Rosemary snorts. "You really shouldn't."
Kate shoots her a look as Emmett and her mother walk into the room together. Emmett looks the same as always, but…there's something different. A different feeling to him. There's one other thing that scares her; the sight of him doesn't strike guilt inside her soul. Thomas Shelby, true to his word, was making his case and advances known to her. She feels… nothing towards Emmett and that terrifies her. Because you clearly can't marry a man that you feel nothing for. Thomas, had opted to talk more with her as opposed to his romantic advances and they discussed deep and intimate subjects. And during those discussions, she'd felt feelings towards Thomas that were so strong that she thought she could never feel anything like that in her life.
"Katherine," her mother smiles broadly. "Emmett has a wonderful surprise for you. You'll never believe it!"
She blinks and sits up straighter. "Thank you, but….you do know I hate surprises, right Emmett?"
"Well, it's not really a surprise." Emmett explains as he extends an envelope towards her. He pauses as he sees Thomas sitting beside her. "You're back again, Mr. Shelby?"
He nods. "Still working with Mr. Kovach."
"But you were gone."
"Family emergency." He sates calmly.
Kate swallows and takes the envelope from Emmett. "I guess, I better find out what the surprise is." she needs to diffuse the tension between the two men. Emmett never liked him; maybe he seemed to realize that Thomas had intentions towards her? That thought only served to make her even more nervous.
"I don't mean to be rude, Mr. Shelby," her mother states. "but might you leave the room for a minute? This is a family moment."
"Mother!" Kate can't keep the surprise from her voice at her mother's statement. "That was rude of you. Especially since he's been helping me with the invitations."
Her mother frowns. "They're supposed to all be in the mail by today. You mean, you haven't finished them by now?"
Kate bites her lip and opens up the envelope, intent on ignoring her mother's words. "Well, you know how Kate is." Emmett says kindly. "I'm sure she's been doing her best."
"Playing around, far more likely."
"She'd probably get more done," Thomas stated. "if she had some more help from the family. "I'm not even invited and I'm putting on postage and sealing the envelopes."
Kate reaches inside and sees there are two tickets for passage to France. She stares at them in horror as the words blur before her eyes. Her heart starts to pound in her ears and her throat goes dry.
"What did you get her?" Rosemary asks as the tickets fall from her numb fingers.
"Tickets to France!" Emmett's pleased voice gets quieter and quieter with each moment as her heart threatens to explode in her ears.
Her mother has probably started gushing with pleasure, but she can't hear anything. She closes her eyes, wanting the silence and darkness to swallow her whole. She wasn't rewarded with that. All she saw was red. God, not again! She hadn't had one of these turns in years! Now, the cries and shouts of the dead and wounded have started to fill her ears.
"Kate? Kate? I need you to open your eyes." she inhales as she looks at Thomas, who's kneeling on the floor, looking up at her. "That's it. Look at me." his tone is firm and gentle. "Breathe."
"What's the matter with Kate?" Rosemary sounds far away and terrified.
"She needs water." Rosemary bolts from the room. "Hey." He cups her face in both of his hands. "It's alright. You're all right. I've got you."
"Not going back." She croaks quietly as he nods understandingly. "I can't."
"You're not." His tone is firm, but assuring. "He'll exchange those tickets for somewhere else."
Those words instantly bring relief to her until her mother speaks. "He will not! Emmett did a sweet thing for her. I won't allow her to spit on his kindness like this."
"If he loves her," Thomas maintains eye contact with her. "he won't put her through hell."
"I said," she says as tears build in her eyes. "I was never going back to France." She looks up at Emmet, who looks so uncomfortable with this scene that he doesn't even bother to come over to see if she was all right. He was still standing by her mother, while Thomas was holding her and comforting her. Was Emmett really this oblivious? "You knew this."
"Drink." Thomas orders as he places the glass to her lips. She places her shaking hand over his steady one. She drinks the water down, drawing strength from his touch. He adds in a lower voice. "I've got your back."
"Kate," Emmett exhales. "I don't understand this. Can you help me understand why you're so upset?"
"You bought her tickets to France." Thomas fills in.
Emmett exhales. "That's it?"
"Why did you buy those tickets?" she demands, her voice rising. Thomas releases her face and places his hands on top of hers, which are resting on her knees. "You say we need to save money and then, you go and buy tickets for passage to France!?"
"Easy Kate." Thomas says quietly.
"You said that you kept your medical kit and thought maybe," Emmett explained feebly. "we could have a decent honeymoon."
"I told you," her voice started to rise. "no France. I said anywhere but France!"
"That was years ago." He explains. "I thought you'd change your mind."
"Stop being such a selfish person, Katherine!" her mother snaps. "Emmett did a wonderful thing, he saved up so you two could have a proper honeymoon."
"I'm never going back to f**king France!" she screams, causing her mother to drop her tea in shock. "Ever!"
Her blood is pounding in her ears and tears blur her eyes. Her mother stands up. "I'm not sure what has been the matter with you recently. Talking back to me, being disrespectful to your fiancé and now these unnecessary hysterics! You were just a nurse and the war is over!" Kate jumps up from her seat. "Just get over it and use this trip as an opportunity to move past whatever childish antics you're using as an excuse! You endured nothing!"
"That's enough!" Thomas shouts, just as the dam behind her eyes break and she starts sobbing hard. She hasn't thought about France for years, but it's all coming back. She's furious with her mother and Emmett. It's all rapidly becoming too much for her. She almost hits the floor, but Thomas has her. She can't see anything clearly through the wash of tears, but she knows it's him holding her. "I've got you. I've got you."
"Why the hell is Kate even marrying you?" Rosemary shouts as Kate clutches onto him, fearing that she's losing her mind. "Can't you see she's crying? You should be the one holding her, not Mr. Shelby!"
Rosemary's words hit Thomas hard. Emmett still hasn't moved from her mother's side to check on his practically hysterical fiancée. He's too stunned to even react to Kate's breakdown. "Go to your room Rosemary!" her mother shouts.
"I will not!" she stamps her foot. "Father will be coming home soon and he'll need another family witness about how you made Kate cry!"
"Rosemary," Thomas orders above Kate's sobs as he lifts her up into his arms. "I need you to follow me. We're taking your sister upstairs."
"Is she going to be alright?" Emmett asks. "Shall I call for a doctor?"
Those words tempt Thomas so badly to turn around and grind Emmett's glasses into his eyes. But he can't do that, he needs to be strong for Kate. He knew France had left a mark on them all, but Kate, it must have been bottling up inside her for years until Emmett's thoughtless present had broken her. He can only imagine how many times her mother tried to stifle her emotions and her father wasn't around long enough to see it.
Rosemary sniffled and followed him. "What can I do?"
"Your sister needs to lie down." He glances behind him to see Emmett and Kate's mother have finally moved to follow them. "I need you to get in her room and lock the door as soon as I enter."
Rosemary nods and opens Kate's door. He hurries into the room and uses his back to slam the door shut in Emmett's face. Rosemary instantly locks the door, causing the two on the other side to start shouting. "Let us in!"
Thomas sets Kate on the bed before grabbing a chair and securing the lock. "F**k off until Kovach comes back." He growls as he moves to put Kate on her bed. She's trying to regain control over herself, but he suspects that this cry has been due for years. "You two are useless."
"It's not proper-
"Go away!" Kate suddenly screams out. "Just go away!"
"It's alright." he assures her as he puts her down on the bed. He checks her nightstand drawer and there's her gun. He empties the bullet from the chamber, causing her to start gasping. "Rosemary, stay with her for a moment."
Kate begins shaking her head. "No, don't."
He ignores her as he unlocks the door. Emmett is trying to make his case. "I'll change out-
Thomas steps out, aiming the gun in Emmett's face and orders. It would be so tempting to shoot him now and end this whole thing, but Kate would never forgive him. "Both of you, f**k off now, or that wedding will be a funeral." His threat works and they both quickly hurry down the stairs. He exhales and steps back inside the room, locking the door behind him.
He glances around the room. He's that surprised it's cream with gold and red embellishments. Her mother probably picked the décor out. He opens a door to find the bathroom and he immediately runs a towel under the sink faucet. He comes out to see Kate is lying on her side, tiring to get her sobs under control. He gets on the bed, causing her to jump and bolt upright.
"It's alright," he assures her. "it's alright. Lie back down." He looks at Rosemary, who looks terrified as he lays Kate back down. "Remove her shoes." She nods and starts to unlace them. "Kate, I'm going to undo two buttons. Is that alright?" she can only nod as he undoes the two buttons, which seems to instantly allow her to breathe easier. He then wipes her forehead, she's so warm and he can feel her pulse in her head. Kate's breathing changes and he watches her eyes attempting to stay open. "Sleep Kate. You're alright."
She closed her eyes and he pressed the rag to her neck, causing her to shiver. He lies on his side and wrapped his arms around her. One on her waist and the second around her shoulders. Her breathing became calmer and he started talking to her in Romani. They were all things he couldn't say because Rosemary was in the room. How much he loved her, wanted to care for her and wanted to take her away from this place. He thought his father had been horrible to him, but her mother had been treating her cruelly for years. How she'd not broken down before now, with all the stress of the wedding, he'll never know. She was strong; far stronger than anyone could ever imagine.
"What can we do for her?" Rosemary asks as Kate relaxes for just a moment. "Will she be alright?"
He nods. "She'll be alright. She's seen things that…you can't even imagine."
Rosemary nods as she gets into a sitting position on the bed. "She should marry you." Rosemary says quietly as she reaches for Kate's shaking hands. "You really love her." Thomas says nothing; he moves his hand from Kate's waist to assuringly rub Rosemary's arm. "Please," Rosemary asks tearfully. "make her fall in love with you."
He sighs as he looks at Kate who has fallen into a fitful sleep. "I'm doing my best Rosemary. I promise." A part of him hopes that after this, Kate will want to leave this whole life behind and start a new one with him. She's been in a cage too long and he hopes that she can see the freedom in the life that he's offering her. She deserves better than this and he will give her much better than this.
Guest: He certain does!
Cordapia: Well, after the way things went down today, she'll won't be resisting much longer.
Danydareynolds1997: The other side is coming out now.
Wildestdreams8913: In more ways that one...
Thehoodedassasin: Poor Kate, she's in a small pickle now. And you were correct about the argument, it was a doozy! Things will really be interesting when her father gets home!
Idcam: All my reviews finally came in just as I posted this chapter. It was fun reading so many at once, but I'd rather not do that again. (The last review I got was on the 21st from Thorin no-can shield!) I know, he had a very good speech, which probably would have convinced any woman to say yes to him. Thanks to her mother, Emmett and his poorly picked honeymoon destination, they've succeeded in driving those two closer together.