'So, Curly, how's he doin' then?', Tommy was petting the piebald Clydesdale in front of him. The horse seemed to have settled in alright and was happily chewing some of the hay Curly was currently offering him.

'Needs better care, Tommy…he's too skinny and his coat's too dull, see?', Curly was pointing out particularly rough patches of fur on the huge animal.

Tommy hummed in agreement. He had also noticed the poor condition the otherwise gorgeous horse was in. Clydesdales were hard to obtain these days, so many had died in the war alongside the soldiers. It was absurd to think someone would own such animals and let them go to waste as this owner had clearly done. Tommy quickly lit another cigarette to help unclench his jaw and clear his mind at least a little.

'Tommy?', Curly was looking at him nervously, his alert eyes flicking from him to the horse and back again.

'Yeah?'

'Is…is Ms. Evie okay?', Curly finally stammered, his eyes dancing back and forth between Tommy, the horse, and the tip of Curly's dirty shoes.

'That's my next stop, Curly', Tommy had asked Jeremiah to keep an eye on her house after he'd found out that the owner of the Clydesdale had escaped while they buried his other horse. What was even worse was that the man must have had help since Tommy himself had tied him up. He knew there was no way the man could have freed himself. His men were looking into it but at the pace things were going, Tommy was considering contacting Moss to see if the police would prove more helpful for once. It was frustrating and Tommy knew his patience was beginning to wear thin.

True to his words, he left the boatyard shortly after his conversation with Curly and drove to Evelyn's place. Curly had called her 'Ms. Evie' and Tommy wondered if that meant she'd introduced herself as 'Evie' to Curly. For a brief moment, he found himself wishing that his life was simple enough to allow him to wonder about such things. As it was, he knew he needed to check on her more so to ensure he could continue developing a strategy that would keep his family and the people associated with his family's name safe. The business was doing well and for all accounts and purposes at this time, there should have been no reason for anyone to antagonize the Peaky Blinders, much less their leader. Tommy realized he was gripping the steering wheel and clenching his jaws again. To remedy this, he lit yet another cigarette as he pulled into Evelyn's street. At this rate, he'd run out of cigarettes before the evening was over.

'Jeremiah', he greeted the preacher as he parked the car. The man had appeared almost out of thin air and Tommy was grateful to see the relaxed expression on the other man's face. Jeremiah had always been an open book.

'Evenin' Tommy.'

'Everything alright here?'

'She went out for groceries or something a little earlier and must have known I was following her. I almost lost her twice; she's either very clever or has experience…Otherwise it's been a quiet day', Jeremiah shrugged his shoulders and scratched his temples.

'Or a little bit of both', Tommy mused. 'Well, either way, you can go home now. Think I saw Isaiah with Finn on Watery Lane when I left.'

'Thanks, Tommy.'

Before he could knock on Evelyn's door it opened, and he felt something small and soft colliding with his shins. The hiss that followed made it abundantly clear that it was Oz. Tommy crouched down to pet the black cat who know stared at him with his neon green eyes narrowed into angry slits.

'Sorry, little guy.'

'He's not used to having people linger in front of the door', Evelyn gave Tommy a pointed look.

Tommy shook his head at her and slowly rose back up so that he could look down at her. She seemed fine on first impressions. She was actually wearing her blonde curls open and down for once and not in the tight braids she normally wore. Before he could think more about that, he realized that the hair covered a scarf that was wrapped tightly around her neck. Tommy was aware that for all intents and purposes he didn't know Evelyn Calman well. Yet, it seemed just like her to use the hair to distract form the scarf that only served the purpose of hiding her bruises and while her hair was unfashionably long, those golden curls were enough of a distraction that even his eyes had been drawn to the hair and not the scarf that seemed so out of place around her neck when the warmth of her home flooded out into the street.

Tommy let his eyes linger on her hair for another moment before raising them to meet her gaze. 'There's been some complications. I didn't mean to scare you by having Jeremiah around.'

'I wasn't scared but some sort of communication in the matter would have been appreciated', she was clearly choosing her words very carefully and while he thought he detected some hostility in her voice, she took a step back, letting him into her home. 'I'm afraid I'm out of your god-awful whisky.'

Tommy raised an eyebrow at her. He wasn't sure if it shocked him more that she'd actually been drinking or that she disliked his whisky. He had brought a rather good bottle over last night and what was more, he was fairly certain he hadn't had much of it either.

'What?'

'You heard me', she said confidently but from the way her eyes flickered to the ground he was fairly certain she felt more guilt about it than she wanted to admit.

'Well, as it happens, my brother owns a pub…'

'The Garrison?'

'Yep, that's the one', Tommy was lighting another cigarette. He was aware she didn't like it when he smoked in her house but suddenly, he hoped he could convince her to spend the evening at the pub.

'Will there be better whisky?'

'Now, what the fuck does that mean, huh?', he had tried to let it go but if she kept bringing it up then he deserved an explanation.

'It means that I don't like your Irish whisky, Thomas Shelby', Evelyn was actually grinning at him while she put on her coat. He noticed the grin didn't reach her eyes though and so it looked more like a grimace. Something was definitely off, and he found himself hoping that liquid courage was all that would be needed to get the conversation going.

'I see', was all he said as he stepped back out into the street and started the car. Neither said anything during the car ride and while Tommy normally felt that their silences were comfortable, this one felt heavy with words that were yet to be shared.

'After you', Tommy told her after opening the door to the Garrison. He noticed how the men initially looked at her but quickly averted their eyes when he stepped into the pub behind her. If people had connected her to him or the Peaky Blinders following their Saturday nights, they would certainly do so now, and he hoped that would help in preventing a repeat of the events of last night.

'Evelyn, meet my brother Arthur. Arthur, this is…'

'It's Evie. Nice to meet you, Arthur!', she interrupted him and quickly put her small hand into Arthur's big one. The wide grin she gave his brother actually reached her eyes this time. So it was 'Evie', he thought. Or at least it was for Curly and Arthur.

'What can I get you to drink, luv?', Arthur inquired, giving her his most professional smile.

'She doesn't like Irish whisky…', Tommy rolled his eyes dramatically.

'She does like Scotch', Evie continued beaming at Arthur who somehow found this extremely funny. Whether it was because she was obviously ignoring him or because to Arthur there was no difference between one type of alcohol or another, Tommy wasn't entirely sure.

'You have poor taste', Tommy told Evie but raised his own glass of Irish whiskey for a toast. To what they should toast, he wasn't quite certain, but Evelyn drank her whiskey in such a quick gulp that he wouldn't have had time to say anything either way.

'Oi, Tommy, I like this one!', Arthur's booming voice drowned out every other sound in the pub. He was already refilling Evelyn's glass.

'Look at that, it's the vet', John was stepping out of the snug with a grin on his face that rivaled Evelyn's.

'Evie', she said as she got up from her chair to shake John's hand.

'John', John was wagging an eyebrow at Tommy while shaking her hand. 'Arthur, come on, where's my next drink?'

'I was serving the lady!', his older brother defended himself. It was a wonder that Arthur managed to keep up with the pub these days. Times had been good for everyone in Small Heath and people had money to spend on drinks.

'Didn't think you'd come by the pub tonight', John continued grinning at Tommy like it was Christmas morning. 'Told Johnny he'd have to find you tomorrow, but he should be back here any time. Went to look at your new horse.'

'It's not his horse', Evelyn piped up at that. 'It's Curly's if he wants him.'

'Aye, you heard 'er, John', Tommy shook his head at Evelyn but found himself agreeing with her decision. Curly would look well after the horse and find a good purpose for it. There could not be a better owner for the Clydesdale. 'Let's wait for Johnny in the snug.'

'The snug?', Evelyn asked, looking up at Tommy now and he pointed at the door to the private room.

'Oh, honest mistake. I thought that was the hospital wing of this place', Evelyn said mockingly and he could tell she had picked up on the fact that his brothers would keep her glass well filled if she gave him enough of a headache. The strategy was certainly paying off, he thought, as he watched her throw back her third shot since they'd entered the pub. He reminded himself that she'd also had most of a bottle of whisky at home at some point. At this rate she would either be absolutely wasted within the next 10 minutes or she'd be the first person to drink Arthur under the table. Well, he'd find out soon enough.

'How about a round of poker?', Arthur asked joining them in the snug. He'd clearly decided that his duties as the owner of the pub had been fulfilled for the evening.

'With a lady?', John gasped jokingly.

'Where are you hiding a lady, John?', Evelyn shot right back. He wasn't surprised. She'd picked a profession that was reserved for men, why would she care about playing men's card games?

It quickly became apparent that she was a phenomenal player and John almost immediately began cheating. Tommy suspected that Evelyn was well aware of this, but she seemed to indulge them by ignoring John's increasingly obvious attempts at swaying things in his favor.

'Tommy boy!', Johnny Dogs stepped into the snug before they had finished their first game of poker. 'Been looking for ya!'

'Johnny Dogs', Tommy greeted him and moved closer to Evelyn to make room for his old friend who was now staring at the woman beside him. He looked genuinely shocked. Seeing any genuine emotion on Johnny Dogs' face was rare enough but for it to be shock was even more surprising to Tommy.

'Little Lynn', Johnny said before Tommy could inquire what the fuck was going on. All eyes were now fixed on Evelyn who stared at Johnny with a look of utter surprise that was now quickly giving way to embarrassment as she noticed everyone's eyes on her. It made her cheeks burn red and she wet her lips before she replied with a shaky voice.

'Johnny. It's been a long time.'

'Aye! Come on, little Lynn, I don't get a hug anymore?', Johnny Dogs had obviously recovered more quickly than she had and was grinning at her now. His eyes were as mischievous as ever. Tommy scowled at him, how did these two know each other?

Evelyn awkwardly stepped around Tommy and actually went to hug Johnny Dogs who held her at arms length afterwards. His eyes stopped on her scarf before flickering to Tommy.

'So, you're the one that got attacked last night?'