Chapter 3
THREE
STEVEN
Across the country, Steven sat on a sand dune, staring out to sea. His brother, Andrew, and Andrew’s wife, Nina, sat next to him. Steven’s six-year-old niece, Hanna, came scurrying past them, sending sand flying everywhere.
“Calm it down,” Andrew said. “Uncle Steven doesn’t want half the beach in his sandwich.”
Steven didn’t care. He loved the sound of Hanna’s laughter ringing in his ears.
His mother busied herself laying out a picnic. Steven was perfectly capable of organising refreshments. She wouldn’t hear of it.
With the sun out, they had decided a trip to the beach was in order. As a family, they tried to get together as much as possible. Steven’s family lived in Solihull, a good couple of hours’ drive away. So it took a degree of effort.
Usually, Steven instigated these meetups. He’d been away for a lot of his childhood, playing football. Now those days were gone, he spent as much time as possible reconnecting with his loved ones.
“Shit result yesterday,” Andrew said.
Steven handed him a beer from a cool box and took a swig from his own. He’d only been out of the game a few years and he still loved the fact that he could drink alcohol whenever he liked. It wasn’t that he went crazy. The freedom was more than enough.
“Yeah. The team aren’t bonding that well,” Steven replied.
“Holtmann?”
Steven nodded. “He’s definitely not the same player he was at Chelsea. Up here, he can’t even pass properly.”
“He’s one of the best players I’ve ever seen,” Andrew continued. “We saw him last season. He might as well have been dancing on the air.”
“Maybe it’s the cold?” Naomie, Steven’s younger sister, suggested.
She lay on a blanket, soaking up the rays.
“Thank you, Naomie,” Steven replied. “I’ll go and get him some thermal underwear, shall I?”
“Not a bad idea.”
At eighteen, Naomie had been a late and surprise addition to the family.
Steven had already been playing then so he’d been a distant figure in her childhood.
When he’d retired, he’d vowed that he would spend more time with her.
She still lived in Solihull where Steven had grown up, which made it difficult.
Then his father had died and everything had changed.
He watched his mother happily laying out some homemade rock buns. She was so resilient.
“Not got yourself a fella yet?” Naomie asked.
All eyes were on Steven.
“Nope,” he replied. “Chance would be a fine thing.”
He caught Andrew’s sympathetic stare.
“A little bird tells me you have a man,” Andrew said to his younger sister.
She sat bolt upright. “Who told you that? Mum?”
Steven would be forever grateful to his brother for changing the subject. Hanna made another run past the picnic, sending more sand perilously close to their feast.
“Hanna. I won’t tell you again,” Nina said. “Slow down.”
“I can’t, Mummy,” she replied. “There’s a dog in need. He might die.”
With that she plonked herself down next to Steven and began administering first aid to a cuddly dog. He kissed the top of her head.
“She’s obsessed with being a vet,” Nina explained.
“Come on then,” Steven said to Naomie. “Who’s the lucky man?”
Naomie sat up. She stared daggers at Andrew and her mother.
“This is news to me,” Steven said. “Tell me about him.”
“Kyle’s a sales executive for Streamline Sports,” Naomie proudly announced. “As well as a DJ in town.”
Steven raised an eyebrow. Streamline were a decent-sized company who had rapidly gained a name for themselves in leisure wear.
“Impressive,” he said.
“He’s great. Dead good-looking,” she enthused.
Andrew and Steven shared an amused glance.
“Does he have a six-pack?” Andrew teased.
“Good kisser?” Steven added.
They were rewarded with taps on the head from their mother.
“That’s enough. Leave her alone.”
“Yes, boys,” Nina added. “Listen to your mother. Stop teasing.”
They had the beach pretty much to themselves. Even so, the odd person walking by gave Steven a double take. He still remained a famous face. Although he planned on fading into the relative obscurity of football management.
Unfortunately, one of Hanna’s patients leapt—was thrown—into the air and landed close to the food.
“Right, that’s it,” Andrew said, getting to his feet. “Time for a paddle, I think. Someone needs to cool off. Do we have time, Mum?”
“We have plenty of time,” she said. “Go and get your feet wet.”
Nina, Andrew and Hanna all ran down the dunes, hollering and whooping as they raced to the shoreline.
Steven’s mother came and sat next to him. Absentmindedly stroking the cuddly toy that had been abandoned in its hour of need.
“I love us being together,” she said. “I wish you’d got a job near home, Steven.”
Ah. She got here in record time today.
His mother never missed a trick of making it clear she would very much like her eldest son to live round the corner. Steven had no intention of moving nearer to the family. He wanted to stay at Brockton long-term. He loved his working relationship with Javier.
“Maybe in the future. Today, I’m going to teach my niece how to kick a football. Shit, I left it in the car.”
He got up.
“Can you bring another blanket as well,” his mother said. “There’s an edge to that breeze.”
She felt the cold wherever she went. It had been a running joke when they were kids. They would all be tearing around in shorts and not much else. His mother would be wrapped up in a cardigan.
He began to climb the dune that led to the car park. Naomie chased after him.
“Need a hand?” she asked.
“Sure.”
They walked in silence for a while.
“Does this guy treat you well?” he asked.
He might have been a distant figure in her upbringing. However, after they had lost their father, Steven had taken the role of protective older brother without question.
“Of course,” she replied. “I wouldn’t go out with him if he didn’t.”
They reached the path and he slung his arm around her shoulder. She might be an adult now but that didn’t mean she didn’t like a cuddle now and then.
“You make sure that he does. You’re a special person who deserves that. Hey why don’t you bring him to the barbeque?”
Since he’d retired, Steven had hosted a family barbecue every summer.
It had become a fixture in the family’s calendar.
Everything they did revolved around food in one way or another.
His mother had Christmas, Easter, picnics, Sunday roasts and big birthday celebrations locked down.
Thankfully Steven’s vast garden was perfect for outdoor entertaining and he’d claimed this festivity.
“Can I?”
“Of course.”
If she was even remotely interested in this guy, Steven wanted to meet him.
They walked in silence for a minute or two.
“I wanted to have a quick word. You know, privately.”
Here it comes.
“What’s up?”
“You know how I’m trying to become an influencer?”
Steven didn’t really know what that meant. He’d heard from his mother that Naomie had got this into her head. Of course, mother didn’t approve but Steven had persuaded her to at least listen to what Naomie wanted.
“I do. Wouldn’t you be better going to university?”
“Don’t you start,” she replied. She picked a leaf from a bush and examined it.
“Whatever you have to say, please spit it out.”
She sighed. “It’s expensive. I’ve got to make content every day and no one wants to see boring shit in my bedroom.”
“How many followers do you have?”
“Ten thousand.”
Impressive. Perhaps she did have a point with this.
“How do you know it isn’t going to go the same way as the dog walking?”
Naomie pouted. “You can’t blame me for that.”
“You let the husky off the lead,” Steven said, shaking his head.
Poor Naomie had spent the next hour searching for the freedom-loving fur baby.
“Let’s cut to the chase. How much money do you need?”
“Five thou?”
“Five thousand pounds?”
“I told you, it’s expensive.”
He didn’t want to be that person that pissed on her dreams. He also didn’t want to throw money away.
“I’ll do you a deal,” he replied. “I’ll transfer one thousand pounds today. If you come up with a plan for how you’re going to spend the rest, then I’ll think about it.”
Naomie seemed ready to argue then thought better of it.
“I’ll email you something this week,” she mumbled.
“Nice one. Now let’s get this blanket. Mum will be frozen solid by now.”
She grinned.
“Thank you. Do you reckon I can get behind the scenes at Brockton too?”
Steven shook his head. “You drive a hard bargain, sister of mine. Let me speak to Howard. PR is his domain. He gets funny if we don’t run things past him.”
She squeezed his arm. “You’re the best.”
They got the things from the car and raced to the family spot.
“Naomie. Can you go and get the others. It’s time they had some food,” their mother said.
She nodded and ran after the others who were a long way away. The tide was out yet it appeared Hanna had every intention of pushing her father into the water.
“Tell Andrew if he gets wet, there are no clean clothes.”
They might be grown, but to his mother, they were all still babies. Years ago, Steven would have found that suffocating. Nowadays it was a comfort.
Naomie sped off.
“She’s a good kid,” Steven said. “Have you met this Kyle?”
His mother shook her head. “Not yet. It’s pretty new. She’s always at his place. She reckons it’s to do with the influencing. Who knows.”
Steven made a mental note to check out Naomie’s profiles. If she was serious about this, he could speak to some experts. What was the point in being connected if he didn’t help his baby sister out?
“Are you okay, son?”
“Of course I am. Work stuff on my mind.”
She took his hand. “Now is the time to slow the job down. You’ve given the best years of your life to football.”
This was a direct hit. In his late thirties, he didn’t feel ready for the retirement home just yet.
“I do enjoy it, you know.”
“There are other parts of your life that need attention.”
Steven took a swig from his beer bottle. Andrew had done his duty with providing her with grandchildren. Why did she even care?