Bête noire → Peaky Blinders [Tommy Shelby] [ BOOK 1 ]

Forty eight.

Chapter forty eight: Articulate feelings

Caroline almost fell off her chair after reading over the same letter again and again, but with each line brought her a different wave of excitement. In the dimly lit room of her office whilst the wind howled beyond the brick walls, she cheerfully yelled in triumph, dismissing of food that was sent her way because her appetite was quite full with success.

"Thomas, Thomas!"

With open arms, he accepted his wife and held her tightly, curious as to why her face held a perfect dewy glow and her lips etched a smile. But, when she pulled back, she pressed her lips against his briefly before waving the piece of parchment promptly in his face.

"What's this?"

Beaming, she grinned. "The leader of the Birmingham City Council said yes to attending the Shelby Charity Foundation dinner. Everyone has said yes. Everyone."

To say money couldn't buy happiness was absurd to Caroline's ears. With her fortune, she and Tommy collaborated and made golden-hearted plans to create a building from the ground up. Purely with the intent to transform lives, the institution would be a foster home for the children who had a rocky start to life. With this, she'd be able to tend their every need and love them individually. 

Many years ago, she often contemplated creating her own organisation for such a greater good, but of course with life, she had always been sidetracked. As the years went on and the number of orphans increased, she knew she had to put her foot down and save innocent children while she still could. It didn't take a lot to persuade Thomas into helping, because she would have commenced without his permission. But, as a union and as parents, they planned to rescue children and rehabilitate them to good, safe, nurturing homes.

The dinner would invite stakeholders to participate in sharing a feast over the discussion of local poverty and what they could do momentarily to help children whilst funds were being raised. She invited far and wide, but she'd been expectant of the council's correspondence as they would be the ones to make the final judgement.

"My hand is so sore. I've been writing all night." She giggled happily.

Thomas leaned back on the lounge room's sofa. "What are you writing for? I bought you a typewriter."

Caroline chuckled. "You don't write letters of a social occasion on a typewriter."

"Oh, forgive me." Thomas' eyes glimmered gleefully as he sipped his gin.

She pulled a blueprint out from under the table and rested it against his lap. "I have the drawings of what they plan to do with the grounds of the house. There'll be an area for the children to play. Look! And the Birmingham Charity Commission have agreed to set aside their three rotten floorboards upstairs and grant us the license within a month."

Caroline's eyes averted from the document to Thomas who hunched over, watching her with a small smile. "You're not listening to me!"

Thomas cupped Caroline's cheek and feverishly kissed her. "I am."

She bit her lip, closing her eyes with the feel of his loving touch. "Do you think I am becoming obsessed?"

"Yes." He responded truthfully, then his voice trailed off. "I shouldn't have reacted in the way I did earlier. I was angry and the sight of you just-"

Caroline pressed her lips against his once more, cutting him off. "I understand, darling."

"So." He breathed heavily as he stood up, taking her hand to pull her up as well. "I hope sapphires will make up for it."