Disclaimer: I do not own anything Peaky Blinder related, that belongs to the series creator Steven Knight.
Rosemary Shelby - Celina Sinden.
Chapter Thirty-Three: A Nice Dress.
Walking into the living room and setting down the washing basket on the table, Rosemary set about sorting out the washing that she had brought in from the line; she blew some hair from her face as she worked. It was quiet in the house, the radio playing quietly in the background and Rosemary was thankful that her mother had taken Kathleen for a few hours so that she could get some work down around the house.
Rosemary was thankful for the quiet, things had been so up in the air recently especially since the discovery that Ada was pregnant; it had not been a pleasant conversation in telling Thomas that news. Freddie had proposed to Ada at the train station when she had been set to leave Birmingham with the help of Polly to deal with the situation; which Ada had quickly said yes to but Freddie had refused to leave Birmingham stating that he wasn't afraid of Thomas.
Rosemary didn't think that Freddie understood the danger that he was putting Ada and their unborn child in, it wasn't Thomas that he should be concerned about but that Inspector. Freddie was a communist, his actions were what brought trouble to his door and Rosemary did not trust him; she didn't know what it was about Freddie that set her on edge when he was around.
Rosemary didn't know what Ada had been thinking, especially give Freddie actions as of late and his allegiances; she had heard him state that he regretted saving Thomas' life while at war. The two had been childhood friends, they became best friends at school and they used to go swimming in the river and get into trouble together. Things had changed so much since then and Rosemary knew that life had set them on different paths, messing around with Ada behind his back certainly hadn't endeared Freddie to Thomas.
Rosemary worked through the pile of washing, her thoughts turning from the mess that Ada was making of this situation and to the growing issue with the Lee family. Thomas had stopped to get a horse from Johnny Dogs in exchange for Johnny riding in the family car on the way to the fair with his brothers, who ended up getting into a fight with the Lee boys after they called the late Shelby mother a "Diddicoy whore".
It was truly the last thing they needed, Rosemary worried that Thomas was taking on too much and his plans would blow up in his face; it was bad enough that he was meddling in the races and Yvette had told her about Billy Kimber turning up at the Garrison. Thomas had not confirmed anything about the meeting, shutting Rosemary down when she had questioned him about it over dinner but assured her that he had it all in hand.
The Lee Family, Inspector Campbell, Billy Kimber, the list seemed never ending right now and all it took was someone to strike a match for the entire thing to implode in Thomas' face. The sound of the door made her jump, she peered over her shoulder to look towards the entrance as her husband appeared with a white box tucked under his arm.
A smile on his face that Rosemary didn't think she had seen in a while, things had been tense and Thomas had been ever so busy since this whole thing had started back up; he had barely had a minute when he did manage to make it home for dinner. Setting the white box on the table, Thomas took a seat before nudging the box towards Rosemary who raised an eyebrow at him while she carried on with the washing.
"What's this?" Rosemary asked, she didn't think that she had asked him to pick up anything on the way home from wherever he had disappeared to. It was increasingly hard to keep track of her husband, she doubted anyone knew what Thomas was doing these days; not even his brothers had the full blueprints for Thomas' plans.
"A gift," Thomas noted with a smirk, he leant back in the chair as he watched her wipe her hands on the apron that she was wearing before she carefully lifted the lid of the white box to reveal the green dress that lay inside. It was beautiful, far nicer than anything that she owned and it looked so expensive.
"We can't afford this," Rosemary breathed shaking her head, she dare not touch the beautiful dress fearing that she would sully the material if she so much as touched the material with her fingers. Thomas watched her intently, knowing that this dress was just the first time that he would get to treat his wife in the way that she deserved to be treated; she deserved nice things, to be shown off not hidden away.
"We recently came into some money," Thomas dismissed her concerns, he saw no reason that they could not enjoy something such as this; he had picked out the dress himself and he was more than certain that the colour would suit her. Rosemary opened and closed her mouth, almost feeling guilty for accepting such a dress when the money could have gone towards something more important.
"I have nowhere to wear such a dress," Rosemary stated instead, the dress wasn't something that she could wear in an every day setting; it was fancy and deserved somewhere nice to be worn too. A dress such as this deserved to be worn, not shoved in the back of her wardrove gathering dust; surely there was someone else that deserved to wear such a dress for a special occasion.
"Well I just might have the answer for that," Thomas replied, he reached into the jacket of his coat and produced to tickets for Cheltenham Races; he held them out for Rosemary too take from him. Her eyes wide as she took the tickets from Thomas, she turned them over in her hands wondering if her husband had completely lost his mind; that he thought that he could attend those races right now.
"Tommy," Rosemary warned him, she didn't think that this was such a good idea considering the visit that he had recently from Kimber and his men that had not gone well. Thomas stood from his seat, the chair scraping against the floor as he stood and took her hands in his own; his face reassuring and he knew that he had everything in hand.
"We have been invited to the races by Billy Kimber himself," Thomas told her with certainly, he drew Rosemary close and reassuring her that it was all going to be okay; his plan was perfect and there was nothing that could go wrong. Rosemary searched his face, a slight frown on her face feeling that she didn't have the entire plan; she loved her husband but she couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right.
"Trust me Rose, I have everything in hand," Thomas promised her, he could sense her unease about all of this and he understood it but he had a plan and it was all coming together for them to come out on top. Rosemary closed her eyes and leant into Thomas, rested her head against his and she allowed the tension to leave her shoulders as he held her.
"You deserve nice things, you and Kathleen deserve the world," Thomas murmured wrapping his arms around Rosemary, he would never forget the promise that he made to her father. It was not an easy path and Thomas knew that there was a lot riding on his plans, he wanted better for his family and he planned to make sure that they got the best of everything.
"Promise me you haven't done anything stupid," Rosemary said pulling back a little to look at her husband, she couldn't ignore the feeling in the pit of her stomach that Thomas had bitten off more than he could chew. The last thing that they needed was for this situation to get worse, she didn't like walking around with a target on her back; she knew how people looked at her and Kathleen, how they whispered when they thought she wasn't listening.
"I haven't done anything stupid," Thomas repeated, there were things in motion that he didn't discuss with his wife; it was better for her and Kathleen if they didn't know his plans. In the event that anything went wrong then Rosemary had deniability, he wanted to protect her even if something happened to him.
"I promise Rose, everything is going occurring to plan," Thomas promised her, she was everything to him and the reason that he was doing all of this. He rubbed his hands up and down her arms, seeing that she didn't entirely believe him but Thomas knew that it was all falling into place; he just had to play his cards right.
"Now why don't you go and try on the dress, we need to make sure that it looks perfect for the races," Thomas insisted with a smile, he watched her as she moved to take the dress from the table and head upstairs to try it on. Taking a seat again, Thomas looked around their home and he knew that he would have to speak with Victoria about watching Kathleen while him and Rosemary were at the races. Billy Kimber would be a hard man to impress but Thomas knew that it would be a lot easier when he had Rosemary on his arm and he was bringing a gift to distract Billy with.
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