Red On Her Hands | Tommy Shelby

Chapter Nine

C h a p t e r N i n e

"Hello, Darling."

The redheaded manager looked up from the pint she was pouring to see who had spoken to her, she smiled at the sight of Polly who stopped in front of the bar.

Lynnette passed the pint to the man at the end of the bar, before returning to greet Polly. Tommy followed into The Garrison behind her, whom she attempted to smile to, in order to avoid the awkward tension that had hung between them for the last two weeks.

"Evening," she greeted them. "Arthur and John are in there waiting for you both."

"Thanks love," Polly voiced, before she entered the snug. The door remained open behind her as they awaited for Tommy to join them, who stood on the opposite side of the counter facing Lynette.

"So how is Arthur treating you?" He questioned to the woman, trying to encourage her to talk to him.

There had been very little conversation between the pair since the day of the Cheltenham races, Lynette had been busy running the bar while the Peaky Blinders were constantly disappearing as the new protection for Kimber's stalls at the races.

Lynette nodded softly, clearing her throat before looking up to meet his patient gaze. "He's a good boss," she answered before gesturing towards the private room with her head. "Um...you should probably go start the family meeting, John seemed on edge."

Tommy nodded to her statement before silently entering the room and closing the door behind him. Lynette went back to work as soon as the barrier separated them, she had forgiven Tommy for the incident with Kimber, but their friendship - if she could call it that - would take more time to mend. Lynette was still confused on how to register dancing with him that day, she couldn't decide whether to forget it or to bring it up in private. Tommy had seemed to ignore it, so she concluded that it meant nothing to him. 

She spent the next few minutes serving customers that had arrived after finishing their work shift, when the front doors were opened with force. Lynette looked over in shock to see a small boy rushing towards the closed door of the smug.

"Finn?" she called, her tone surprised as she watched him open the door hastily.

"Tommy! We've been done over," the young boy exclaimed.

Lynette watched in shock as the four member of the Shelby family abandoned their meeting as they rushed to check on their shop. Arthur slowed as he pulled his coat on to turn to Lynette.

"Lynn, I need you to watch Finn!"

"Of course, go!" she encouraged before he fled the building after his brothers and aunt.

Lynette turned towards the door leading to the back storage room, her actions were rushed as she grabbed her jacket. "Harry!" she called, shrugging on her coat. "You need to come cover the bar."

She didn't wait for his response, instead she turned with the intention of offering Finn to go for a walk to keep him away from the betting shop and The Garrison. But as she opened her mouth to speak to him, worry hit her as the small boy exited the building alone.

"Finn, wait!" she ordered as she chased after him.

Lynette followed him along the street, her frustrations increasing as Finn was able to cover more space than her. The streets were busy as the men who finished their Tuesday shifts in the nearby factories made their way home or to The Garrison. His smaller figure made it easier for him to weave around the men, whereas Lynette struggled to push her way around them.

She called out to him once again as she saw him disappear into the garage space where Tommy kept his car. When she had finally managed to catch up with him, he was already climbing through the side window into the car.