Page 29 of A Shop Girl’s Christmas (Pennington’s Department Store #3)

The discreet knock on his office door diverted Joseph’s attention from the mass of glove designs spread out on his desk. ‘Come in.’

‘Mr Carter?’ His secretary, Mrs Green smiled. ‘I have your father here to see you.’

‘My father?’ Surprised and pleased, Joseph immediately stood and walked around his desk. ‘Then show him in. Thank you, Mrs Green. Could you arrange for some coffee, please?’

‘Of course, sir.’

She stood back and Robert Carter ambled into the room, his smile broad and his blue eyes shining. ‘Son. How are we this fine day?’

Joseph laughed. ‘All the better for seeing you, Pa. What are you doing here? It’s been weeks since you dropped into the store.’

‘Which is exactly why I’m here.’ He embraced Joseph and held him at arm’s length. ‘Nothing wrong with an unexpected visit from your father, is there?’

‘Not at all. Come and have a seat.’ He led the way to the seating area in the far corner of his office and they sank into two overstuffed leather armchairs. ‘You’re looking well. I assume your trip to the capital wasn’t as bad as you feared?’

‘No, but that brother of mine has a lot to answer for. He thinks, now we’re both retired, we should be kicking up our heels like we’re men in our twenties. He’s got more energy than is good for him.’

Joseph laughed. ‘Well, I’m glad for it. You look happy, Pa.’

Slowly, his father’s smile dissolved and concern immediately dropped into Joseph’s stomach. With everything else he was dealing with, he wasn’t sure he’d have the mental strength needed if anything was upsetting his beloved father.

‘Pa? What is it?’

Robert Carter opened his mouth to speak when Mrs Green entered bearing a tray with coffee and a plate of biscuits.

‘Thank you, Mrs Green. There’s no need for you to pour, I’ll take care of it.’

‘Yes, sir.’

The moment the door closed behind her, Joseph faced his father and raised his eyebrows, waiting.

His father studied Joseph before leaning back in his chair and placing his hat in his lap. ‘I spoke to Elizabeth when I was downstairs.’

Dread unfurled in Joseph’s stomach, tension immediately inching across his shoulders. ‘And?’

‘And she’s worried, son. Worried about you.’

Annoyance simmered deep inside Joseph. He felt more than a little betrayed that Elizabeth should discuss him with his father behind his back.

He picked up the coffee pot and began filling their cups. ‘She has no need to be worried.’

‘Don’t lie to me.’ His father’s tone was clipped and firm. ‘She’s a strong woman, Joseph. She can handle pretty much anything life throws at her, but when it comes to you, I’m not so sure. The woman loves the bones of you, which is wonderful, until that love becomes a person’s weakness. Their vulnerability.’

Swallowing hard, Joseph passed his father a cup. ‘She’ll be fine. I’ll ensure it.’

His father cautiously sipped his coffee. ‘And how are you going to do that when it is you that is causing her pain?’

‘Me?’ Angry, Joseph glared. ‘It isn’t me causing her pain. It’s the bastard who is here, in Bath, and killing again. How do you expect me to ignore that another woman, not acting in any way dissimilar to Lillian, has been murdered? I’m convinced the man who killed the woman by the slum a couple of weeks ago is the same man who killed Lillian. This time he will be caught. I don’t care what I have to do, or how I have to do it, I will ensure he is found.’

‘And you won’t get any argument on that score from me.’

‘So, what is this all about if not to warn me off?’

‘Because I fear you’ll miss seeing that you have a wife who needs you, too. A wife who is alive and well and trying her best to be there for you.’

‘I know that. I love Elizabeth. She’s everything to me.’

His father arched his eyebrow. ‘Everything?’

Joseph clenched his jaw, his anger slipping away as guilt took over of how he’d been speaking to Elizabeth recently. He swiped his hand over his face and forced himself to hold his father’s wily gaze. ‘Yes.’

‘Then calm yourself down when you’re around her. Show her that you see her. Hear her. She wants to feel she is helping you. Supporting you. She’s not going to believe she is doing that if you ignore her and go off gung-ho on a one-man mission.’

Joseph stared, before lifting his coffee cup and sitting back in his chair. He exhaled. ‘She told you about Gower, didn’t she?’

‘Yes. And, for what it’s worth, I think involving him is the right thing to do. There can’t be any more time wasted. Lillian deserves to rest in peace.’ His father’s cheeks reddened, his eyes cold. ‘Her killer needs the rope. It’s as simple as that. And if this Gower character can facilitate that happening, then you had no choice but to employ his help.’

Relief loosened a little of the tension in Joseph’s shoulders and he lifted his cup. ‘So, if you’re not mad about that, you really are just concerned about Elizabeth?’

‘I’m just giving you some advice. Take care of her, Joseph. I don’t want to see her walk away from you.’

‘She’d never—’

‘She would.’ His father glared. ‘Don’t ever underestimate what her arse of a father did to her. His treatment of her, his refusal to acknowledge her intelligence and capabilities, will run deep in her for the rest of her life. If Elizabeth thinks you are treating her in any way similar to Edward Pennington, you risk losing her. Mark my words.’

Joseph briefly closed his eyes and bore the jolt of pain that slashed across his heart. His father was right. Elizabeth had been dismissed and ignored for the majority of her adult life by a man who was supposed to love her more than any other.

Now, Joseph was that man in her life.

He swallowed hard, his foolishness washing over him, making him want to flee from his office to find Elizabeth. He needed her forgiveness. Her belief that he would never, ever do anything to consciously wound her.

‘Damnation. I’m hurting her, aren’t I? She wants me for life, Pa. She wants my children.’

Robert Carter grinned, his eyes lighting up. ‘Then give yourself to her, Joseph. Yourself, and some little ones.’

‘But Lillian—’

‘Will always be a part of your life. But she is also now part of Elizabeth’s. Don’t ignore that. Let her know how much you love her for pursuing Lillian’s justice right beside you. Show her you couldn’t do this without her. Goddamn, son, bloody well love the woman.’

Joseph put his cup on the low table in front of them and stood. ‘There’s somewhere I need to be, Pa.’

‘Aye, I think there is.’ Robert Carter put his cup beside his son’s and stood, pulling Joseph into his embrace. ‘Take care of her, Joe. Elizabeth’s not as strong as she likes to think she is. None of us are.’

Tears shamefully pricked the back of Joseph’s eyes as culpability pressed down on him. He blinked them back and nodded, easing out of his father’s arms. ‘I understand, Pa. Trust me.’

‘Good. Then off you go.’

With another nod, Joseph headed for his office door.