Chapter 53
Chapter fifty-three
At the final whistle, once Imogen had finished celebrating with her team, she dashed across the pitch to her parents.
“Mums!” she gasped, throwing an arm around each of them and pulling them both in until they were almost cheek to cheek. “Did you see my goal?”
“Of course we did.” Billy laughed as they were finally released from Imogen’s grip. Rosa was blushing, and Billy had to look away just in case she gave Imogen any clue.
“You were brilliant, darling,” Rosa offered. “And what a day to put in that kind of performance,” she added, sounding as though she knew what she was talking about.
Billy raised a brow at her and almost laughed.
“What?” Imogen said, just before her name was shouted across the pitch. They all turned and found her coach waving her over. Beside him stood three very well-dressed people.
“Oh my God, is that—”
Billy leaned in, confirming, “Yep, and it looks like they want to talk to you.”
“It’s Nora Brady,” Imogen said, dumbfounded.
“Come on, let’s see what they want.” Rosa took charge, leading them all across the field. “And then we’ll go out and celebrate with lunch,” she said, looking between Imogen and Billy, “as a family.”
Imogen grinned and put her arm through Rosa’s. “Thank you. It means everything to me.”
“We know,” Rosa said, pulling her closer.
Billy nodded at Rosa in silent agreement.
“This is Imogen,” Coach said as they came within earshot. He turned to Imogen, telling her, “Ms Dean would like a quick word with you.”
“If that’s okay,” Gabby said, stepping forward. The woman was all blonde hair and glamour, wrapped up in an award-winning smile. She shook everyone’s hand.
“Yeah,” Imogen said excitedly, looking from Gabby to Nora, and then to Sammy-Jo Costa. “I can’t believe you’re all here.”
“We heard there was a player worth looking at.” Nora winked at her. “Nora Brady,” she said, holding out a hand to Imogen, then to Billy and Rosa. “This is Sammy-Jo—”
“Costa,” Imogen finished for her, a little starstruck.
“Alright,” Sammy-Jo said, grinning mischievously at them. “You played a blinder today.”
“Thanks.” Imogen blushed.
“Indeed,” Gabby said. “And I was thinking you might like to come along to the Annex and do some training with the academy team…maybe have a look around and see what you think.”
“Are you offering me a trial for Harriers?”
“I guess you could call it that. But in all honesty, I’ve seen enough today to be pretty sure we might be your next move…that is, if you’re serious about the sport.” Gabby smiled. “Tuesday afternoon?”
“I’ve got school.” Imogen slumped.
Billy stepped forward. “She’ll be there Tuesday. Time?”
“After lunch. We can do the tour and then you can jump in with training for the afternoon.”
“Good luck,” Nora said as they all turned to walk away.
“Won’t need it, though,” Sammy-Jo added, waving.
Imogen stood in silence.
“How exciting is that?” Billy said. Rosa was frowning. “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t just take her out of school.”
“Course we can,” Billy said. “It’s not like she’s skiving off—this is an opportunity. They’ll understand, and if they don’t…tough.”
Imogen grinned. “You mean it? I can go?”
“Nothing and nobody will be getting in the way of you and your dreams. Like Ms Dean said, if you’re serious about this game, and we’ve just witnessed your talent for it, then yes, you can go,” Billy said.
“Mum?” Imogen turned to Rosa. “Can I?”
Rosa glanced back and forth between them, smiled slowly, and nodded. “Yes, of course.”
Spotting Robbie, Imogen said, “I’ll be right back.”
As she ran and got further away, Rosa spun around to Billy and glared. “Don’t you ever do that again. You do not get to make decisions like that for her without consulting me first.”
“I just—”
“No,” Rosa said firmly. “That’s the problem—you just didn’t think and you made a decision that wasn’t yours to make. You put me in a bind. We should have discussed it and decided together. Instead, you put me in the corner of agree or be the bad guy. That was unfair, Billy.”
She watched as Imogen jumped around with Robbie, excited teens happy for each other.
Billy ran both hands through her hair. “God, you’re right. I’m so sorry, that was… I didn’t think, I got carried away with it all. I was excited for her and—”
“You didn’t think I might be too? That still doesn’t mean we just make decisions without talking it over. This is exactly why we fell apart before.”
“That’s not fair, Rosa,” Billy protested.
“Isn’t it?”
“No, it isn’t. It’s not the same thing at all.”
Rosa sighed. “Right now, we’re going to play happy family and have lunch with her, and then we’re going to talk about this.”
“Okay, I want to do that, but I’m not playing at anything.”
Imogen ran back over to them. “Okay, just need to get changed, then I’m ready to go.”
Rosa smiled at her. “We’ll be outside.”
Billy watched Imogen enter the small brick building that housed the changing rooms, then spun around to Rosa.
“I’m sorry.” She reached out and took Rosa’s hand, elated when Rosa let her. “You are absolutely right to be upset with me. I’ll make sure in future that I pause and speak to you regarding anything to do with Imogen, or any other issue we might face together.”
Rosa studied her face.
“I’m not the same person I was, Rosa. You know that. And you’re right, communication was the biggest problem before and I’m not going to let that be an issue moving forward.”
As people started talking and closing in, Rosa pulled free, thrusting her hands into her pockets.
“I need to trust you, Billy. I need to know—to really believe—you have my back in this, because if you thought having a baby was difficult enough…” She scoffed.
“You’ve got no idea about a teenager. You see her for a couple of days a week, when she’s all happy and enjoying the way you spoil her.
There’s more to parenting than giving her everything she wants. ”
“I know that—”
“Do you? Did you stop to think about how she’s going to get to this trial? Will you be taking the time off of work to pick her up from school and take her? Because it’s across town, too far for her to walk.”
Billy nodded. “You’re right. So, let me do more. Let me show you I can handle this…that I’m in this.”