𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙮, John Shelby

- 07

- CHAPTER SEVEN -

- IN WHICH BILLY PAYS THEM A VISIT

. . .

AS IT TRANSPIRED the grenade had indeed been in Thomas's car, and only moments later the sound of said bomb exploding near by rung through the entire house like a clap of thunder.

After that the group had begun to slowly and carefully return everything to their rightful draws and places, moving desks and chairs, throwing away broken objects and just generally making the entire den look how it had before anything had ever happened.

Soon enough it would appear that they'd all taken a moment to sit down; Scudboat still as traumatised as he was the hour before, Arthur talking anyone's ear off about what would happen to the Lees when he next saw them, John joining in simply for the fun of seeing his brother wound up, Polly calming them down and Rory nursing a cup of tea as she listened quietly.

Thomas was yet to return from wherever the grenade had ultimately been situated, and despite not liking him much, she really did hope nothing bad had come out of it for himself and any innocent bystanders - who seemed always be at risk of danger when the Shelbys were around.

"Right," Polly sighed, chair scraping back across the flooring as she rose from it and collected the variety of empty mugs littering the table before placing them all in the sink. "Tommy may not be here but customers certainly are."

"Joy." Arthur mumbled, running a cigarette across his closed lips as his chair scraped back along the kitchen floor before he turned for his office by the Betting Den doors.

"Look alive, Rory." John grinned at the Miller, placing his hand on her head and gently shaking it as he passed her towards the chalkboards where he'd have to redraw out the tables for the horses that day.

The girl watched him walk away, blinking every so slightly as her mind focused in on the job at hand before she took another single sip of her - now cold - tea and placed it in the sink. She could hear the Betting Den doors rattling as eager customers knocked, and swiftly took it as her cue to make use of her time and find a desk to take bets from.

Just with five minutes left, placing her notebook down on an empty desk in an attempt to claim it as hers until the end of work, Rory wandered through the emptier half of the corridor to where John was drawing out the table of bets and horses that day.

It had suddenly occurred to her that perhaps the meeting that morning was about his proposal to Lizzie Stark. She supposed he'd want his family's blessing, especially if it could ruin the Shelby name.

"Have you told Tommy about Lizzie yet?" Rory asked, leaning against the railing that ran around the edges of the steps leading up to the chalkboard.

The room was fairly deserted. Tommy was in his office, Arthur was in his, Polly was counting money, and the rest of the men were only just arriving. Now was the opportunity to find out whether the marriage was going ahead or not, what with barely anyone around to listen.

John wanted to scowl, but the Miller girl appeared to carry an air of brightness with her, and even as he told her about how they'd all laughed that morning when he gave them the news, when they all tried to make a point of how unfaithful she would be, when he was reminded that she slept with almost all of the Shelby men on a frequent basis, he still seemed to be smiling and laughing. He realised how unrealistic it probably was to ask her to marry him, if only he could find a reason to stop the wedding.