Red On Her Hands | Tommy Shelby

Chapter Five

C h a p t e r F i v e

The men in the private room of The Garrison continued to groan as they attempted to zone out the drunken songs taking place outside. The card game before them did not help as much as they had hoped, if anything the game was going horrible as they were becoming distracted from the singing.

Tommy slouched in his chair, knowing that eventually the others in the room would question why he had let Grace organise the new arrangement for Saturday nights. Hearing the door beside him open, Tommy looked up to see the familiar redhead carrying a bucket of mild beer.

"Excuse me boys," she apologised as she lifted the metallic container onto the table, causing them all to pick up their cards to make room. "You sure you don't want any Whiskey?"

"No, just beer," Thomas replied as he watched her. Lynette nodded as she started to fill the empty pint glasses across the table, while doing so Arthur turned to his brother with a questioning gaze.

"Why no whiskey, Tommy? You expecting trouble?" When the oldest Shelby received no answer, he turned his attention to the only female in the room, "Oi Red! Where were you last night?"

"I had the night off," she replied, continuing with her task.

"But you never take the night off...?"

"Exactly," she pointed out with a laugh. "I made a deal with Grace, she covered my shift."

John started to nudge the older brother on his right with a mischievous grin. "I think Tommy boy missed you last night, Lynn. Maybe you should get out there and put those lungs to good use to make up for your absence!"

The men laughed as the dirty cloth that had hung on the redhead's shoulder hit him in the face before falling into his lap, a wicked smirk on the barmaid's face. They watched as Tommy kept a neutral expression as he focused on the cards, ignoring the comment completely.

"Jesus Christ, Tommy." John exclaimed, passing the cloth back to Lynette. "What the hell made you let them sing? They sound like they're strangling cats out there."

Tommy laughed as he listened to the horrendous singing outside, taking a draw of his cigarette before they all returned to their cards. "All right, 20 to play," he heard Arthur mutter as he watched Lynette leave the room silently.

He had been meaning to talk to her last night about his plans for the races, but had not had the chance after he discovered she wasn't there. Grace had taken her place behind the bar instead. He had debated going to her house to look for her, but convinced himself that it wasn't that important, when in reality he didn't want people to realise that he had focused so much attention onto the Scottish woman. He had a reputation to maintain, and showing his interest in a woman for more than one night would reveal a side he didn't want the men who worked for him to see.

"What did make you change your mind though, Tommy? Mmm?" Arthur spoke again causing him to return his attention to the table.

"It's about time, Tommy," John added as they both stared at him expectedly.

Tommy shrugged, acting unfazed as he responded to them. "Time for what?"

"Time you took yourself a woman."

"Just play the bloody hands," he spoke warningly to cut short their suggestive comments about Lynette and himself.

It would never happen, it wouldn't work out. She was a runaway who was starting a new life, and he was one of the most popular names in Birmingham. Their relationship was strictly business, even if he did find the woman attractive.