Another love

Part Thirty-Four

Sarah quickly sped away so that Sabini's men couldn't apprehend her, rushing through the nearby bar, not looking where she was going

"Ooh sorry...wait it's you... Grace?"

"Oh... Eliza... Sara..."

"Sarah." She confirmed for the woman

"Don't suppose you've seen Tommy, have you?" Grace asked stiffly

"Um no, look I'm working right now so..."

"Just like Thomas. Always working, too busy for the important things."

Sarah turned back to face her with an amused look "Well, it's a horse race, and Tommy is a racketeer, he sort of needs to know who's competing. He also has a horse racing, so he needs to be here for it, and well, it's Tommy."

"I know who Tommy Is, thank you very much." She snapped, "besides, as for the racketeering, Tommy is legitimate now."

Sarah pulled her lips into a thin line to stop herself from laughing at the up-herself woman. Grace seemed like a toff through and through. What Tommy saw in her Sarah did not understand, hell, Lizzie Stark would be a more compatible match than her. She took a deep breath to compose herself,

"Well, good luck with Tommy, you're going to need it." Sarah only managed to take a few steps away when Grace pulled her attention back

"When I first met Tommy he told me his heart was already broken, that you?" Sarah surprised herself as she found her eyes welling up in tears, she knew it was her that had broken it, but hearing it out loud from the so-called love of Tommy's life hit differently. Pushing her tears away, Sarah turned to face Grace, yet again

"I can't answer that for you."

"Was it you that shot him?" She asked curiously. Sarah was startled that she'd assumed that it was her "He told me, the first time that we were...together...that the scar on his shoulder was from an ex-girlfriend, was it you?"

Sarah pursed her lips, becoming annoyed about the way she was being painted into all these stories of Tommy's past.

"If I was you, Grace, I'd think carefully about Thomas Shelby. That scar is matching, narrowly missing my heart and going straight into my arm. I'd hate it if you weren't as lucky as myself."

Grace rested her hand on her stomach as she considered Sarah's information. Would she and the baby ever be safe from Tommy's world? Could he put them first and keep them safe? Grace decided that she disliked Sarah, disliked that she was so upfront, disliked how she knew Tommy so intimately, disliked how Tommy had revealed so little about a woman who seemed to know a lot about him, but most importantly she disliked that Sarah was something that she'd never truly be, a Shelby. By everything but the name, it didn't matter how many children she had with Tommy or if they ever married, the Shelbys would never accept her like they had Sarah. And just like that, an invisible line had been drawn between the two women. Grace watched as  Sarah rushed away to carry on whatever work she had left to do, without another glance or word as Grace was left to do what Sarah had spent a lifetime doing, waiting for Tommy.

It was only when she caught up with John and Arthur that it finally dawned on her what had happened. Alfie must have known who Sarah was to both Sabini and the blinders but said nothing, maybe he chose not to say anything, either way she had to know, but right now she had a bigger priority. She stopped when she saw her family, spotting John and Lizzie in deep conversation. Strolling past Arthur and crouching down next to Lizzie and taking in her appearance, interrupting her and John's conversation, she knew straight away what must have happened and more importantly why. Pulling Lizzie into a hug, she whispered soothingly into her ear, "It's OK, you're going to be OK."