In which a girl attempts to outrun her past only to catch the attention of the ruthless leader of the Peaky Blinders.
or
In which the arrival of the new brown-haired barmaid at the Garrison should have been the canary in the coal mine for the trou...
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Elena:
It had been about a month since Cheltenham and things had been pretty normal for Elena. She spent her time either working at the Garrison or with Tommy. Since their first kiss at the races, the pair had been near inseparable. But much to Elena's confusion, they had yet to define what they were to each other. Elena knew they had become something more than friends but despite a few kisses, he had yet to make any further moves.
She was currently chatting with John and Arthur in the Garrison when she heard Polly and Tommy walk in. Tommy walked up to her giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before asking "Now John, why did you want this family meeting?"
The Shelbys walked into the private room while Elena went to get them a bottle of whiskey. Grace raised her eyebrows at Elena's action though she paid her no mind. Since Arthur had taken over the Garrison, Grace had begun working on getting information from him. Elena had tried multiple times to get Arthur to stop talking but he had pushed aside her worries.
Walking back into the private room she heard John start, "Polly, you know what it's been like since Martha died" Elena placed the bottle down in the middle of the table before going to leave sensing this was a delicate family matter. On her way out, Tommy grabbed her hand and pulled her back to perch on the arm of his chair. Tommy sent her a smirk before resting his hand on her thigh. Clearly, she was going to be staying for the conversation.
"God takes the best first" Polly acknowledged. Elena knew that John had lost his first wife, Martha, while he was away at war. He rarely talked about it to her, but when he did you could tell he greatly missed Martha.
"The truth is, my kids have been running bloody rings around me. Running barefoot with the dogs until all hours." John said nervously playing with his hands.
"Pol, give him ten pence for shoes. Is that it, John?" Tommy said snarkily. Elena turned around to smack his chest giving him a warning glare. The boys rarely got serious with each other but she could tell John needed to get something off his chest. Elena nodded at John for him to continue.
"What the kids need is a mother. So, that's why I'm getting married" John said. Elena looked around to see everyone had the same surprised look as her. John hadn't brought a girl around them so Elena was confused about who he was going to propose to.
"Does this poor girl know you're going to marry her or are you going to spring it on her all of a sudden?" Polly asked echoing her same concerns.
"I've already proposed and she said yes" John answered. Clearly, he had already made up his mind.
"I think there's a shell about to land and go bang" Tommy mumbled to Elena as he lit his cigarette offering her a smoke before he took his.
"It's, er... It's Lizzie Stark" John said finally. And that was the shell. Elena knew about Lizzie Stark and her profession. Tommy had told Elena about the relationship he had with her after the war in one of their many late-night talks. While Tommy had confessed to not seeing her since Elena had arrived, Elena still knew it was complicated given their history. A history that she doubted John knew the truth about.
