Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Despite the winter weather, Saturday’s match day dawned brightly, not matching Tommy’s mood.
“What’s wrong?” Minnie asked as she stood before him, smoothing out the wrinkles of his maroon-and-cream jersey.
“Are you sure you are well enough to play? The physician said you should rest, that your bruises would take time to heal, and your head could cause you to feel sick again if you push it too hard. Then there’s your nose—”
“I’m a bit battered still, but fine. Just nervous,” he admitted.
“I don’t think I’ve ever known you to be nervous,” she said, blinking those beautiful blue eyes at him.
“Can’t say I remember the last time I was,” he said with a bit of a laugh. “But today, when I do nothing to throw this match, it will be a sign to Blackwood that I’m not playing his game, and he will come after us hard. I know we’ll all be ready. But still, I don’t like not knowing what to expect.”
“I feel the same,” Minnie said, placing her hands on each side of his cheeks. “But we are in this together, and we have all our friends and your team on our side. What can be better than that?”
“Having this all behind us,” he said with a short laugh. “That will be better.”
“It will be behind us soon enough,” Minnie said. “Keep the hope.”
“During the match, you’ll stay with Emmaline, Lily, and Ada the entire time?”
“Yes,” she said. “And in sight of the men Rhys hired to watch over us. We’ll stay in the stands and not go anywhere we might be alone. I won’t give you any cause to worry, Tommy. Just focus on winning the football match.”
“You know, for the first time in my life, I have to say that I no longer care so much about what happens on the football grounds.”
“You will once this is all done,” she promised. “Besides, this is what it means to be part of a team. They will be there for you off the pitch, but you have to continue to be there for them on it. They need you.”
“Ah, so you think I am talented, then, do you, Min?” Tommy said with a wink, and Minnie rolled her eyes.
“Time to go,” she said, and Tommy startled with a smile when she patted him on the bottom to send him out the door. “Today is the start of the end of all this. For everyone.”
Tommy had a great wish that was true.
He had never been one to feel a great amount of tension before a game. To him, football was fun. It was where he could be entirely himself and no one cared, as long as he was playing football well, which had always come naturally.
Today, however, was different. The eight of them had come together and discussed how to go forward. They had a plan, but he was a key piece of it. He was glad of it and yet also found it to be a responsibility he wasn’t certain he was worthy of taking on.
As they took to the pitch, he couldn’t help but allow his gaze to wander into the stands to where Minnie was sitting, assuring himself that she was still there, still safe, under no threat from anyone who might wish her harm.
“Tommy,” Colin called out before running over to him as Rhys took to center field to inevitably lose the coin toss. “I know you well enough to know that look on your face. Your head is not in this game.”
“But Minnie—
“I know. I get it. I do. But there’s nothing we can do from the field.
You need to focus on the match and make sure that you do all you can for the team.
Besides, nothing is going to happen until after Blackwood realizes that you’re not following through with his demand to throw the game for him.
” Colin studied Tommy before shaking his head.
“Don’t let him win. Because if he gets in your head and you don’t play well, then you’re only giving him what he wants. ”
“You’re right,” Tommy said, letting out a breath, releasing all that fear as he looked around him, taking in the opposing team, the navy-clad Old Foresters Football Club from London. “It’s a football game,” he said more to himself than to Colin. “Just a football game.”
“That’s the spirit,” Colin said, hitting him on the arm. “Here we go.”
The umpire signalled for the game to begin, and the Old Foresters started with the ball, passing it amongst themselves with much more accuracy than Tommy remembered from the last time they had played one another. They would have to be on their game today.
Tommy’s heart was still pounding, and when he glanced once more at the stands, the glimpse he caught of Minnie’s golden hair and reassuring smile somewhat calmed him, and he took a couple of deep breaths as he forced himself to focus on the game at hand.
The Old Foresters came out strong, their forwards pressing hard against Manchester Central's defense.
Tommy found himself constantly on the move, darting and weaving to evade his opponents and create openings for his teammates.
But the London club was well-practiced and physical, matching them in their every attempt for the ball and the upper hand.
After an even fifteen minutes in, disaster struck. A miscommunication in Manchester Central’s backline allowed an Old Forester striker to slip through before he beat Hardy, the keeper, one-on-one to put the visitors ahead.
The few fans from London erupted in cheers as Tommy's heart sank. This was the opposite of what they needed at this moment.
Rhys’s voice boomed across the pitch. "Heads up, lads! Plenty of time left. Let's get one back!"
Spurred by their captain's words and their competitive spirit, Manchester Central surged forward with renewed determination.
Colin won a challenge in midfield, pinging a perfect through ball to Tommy.
He bounced it off his chest, let it settle at his feet, and then shot it forward, only for the ball to sail just wide of the post.
Chances came and went for both sides as the half wore on, the play fierce and fast-paced. Tommy's lungs burned and his legs felt like lead, but he pushed through, determined not to let his team down. To not let Minnie down.
Halftime was called with the Old Foresters still leading 1-0. At the Manchester Central bench, the mood was tense but determined. Rhys made some tactical adjustments, urging the wingers to tuck in and support the central midfielders.
"Tommy and Colin, I need you two to lead the press," Rhys instructed. "Force their defenders into mistakes. The goals will come."
Tommy nodded, catching Colin's eye. An unspoken understanding passed between them. They would leave everything on the pitch in this second half.
While the entire team was usually in synch, Tommy and Colin had played together since they were children and knew how one another moved almost better than how they moved themselves. They knew how to create openings, to distract when possible, to find the space they needed to score.
As play resumed, Manchester Central came out firing, trapping the Old Foresters back in their own end. Near the middle of the second half, Colin stole the ball from a dawdling center back, sending it to Tommy, who easily stroked the ball into an empty net, tying the game.
The home crowd roared as Tommy wheeled away in celebration, his teammates mobbing him in delight.
The Old Foresters fought back, but Manchester had the momentum now.
With twenty minutes to go, Tommy collected the ball after a cleared corner kick, cut inside onto his right foot, and curled an unstoppable shot into the top corner, making it 2-1 Manchester.
The stadium erupted as Tommy and Colin celebrated with the rest of the team on the field.
The final minutes were a blur of desperate defending and frantic counter-attacks as the Old Foresters were not going down without a fight.
Hardy, however, played brilliantly, and along with Jonny and Mickey defending in front of him, they were able to keep any attacks at bay. The final minutes ticked down until, finally, the umpire called the game with Manchester ahead.
Tommy looked up to the stands, as he had periodically through the game, finding Minnie standing there, smiling down at him, clapping her hands together.
Tommy kissed the tips of his index and middle fingers of his right hand and then lifted them, pointing at her, to show her that this was for her.
Everything he did in his life was for her now.
It was still crazy to think that mere months ago, she had still been a dream. A beautiful woman just out of reach. Now, she possessed the entirety of his heart.
“We did it!” Rhys called out in elation as the team gathered around him. “One more game, lads!”
To Rhys, winning the FA Cup was everything — well, almost everything, besides Emmaline.
Tommy found winning fun — who didn’t? — but for him, it was more about the team, the family, the time they spent together.
They were defending champions this year, and it meant something to Tommy that they had come this far, but if they didn’t win, that was fine with him. All that mattered was that his family — including his wife and the men around him — were happy and safe.
As his gaze rounded the stands of Pomona Park again, this time his eyes stopped on a familiar figure standing at the edge of the crowd — this, however, was not a friendly face.
In fact, if he never saw it again, he would be happier than he could describe.
Garrick’s arms were crossed, his eyes trained on Tommy.
Tommy tried to remind himself that this was the plan they had discussed after practice the other night.
Part of their plan was to raise the ire of Blackwood, to go against his wishes, to shake him out of hiding — but it still felt unnerving, to know that Blackwood’s favorite thug was here, watching him so closely, especially with Minnie in the crowd.
“Tommy!”
He swung his gaze around to find his parents and sister sitting near the edge of the rail close to him, and he ran over, taking their hands and accepting his mother’s kiss on his forehead.
He was both ecstatic that they were here to watch him play and terrified that Blackwood would use them as another way to get to him.
He had no way of protecting both Minnie and his family.
“Where’s Minnie?” his mother asked.
“She’s up in the stands,” Tommy said, pointing above him, taking a second look when he couldn’t see her. “At least… she was.”
He tried not to panic but couldn’t help his desperation as he flipped his head from one side to the other. Garrick was also no longer standing where he had previously been.
“I’ll be back,” he said to his parents before he began pushing his way through the crowd. This couldn’t be happening. This would be his worst nightmare coming true. He couldn’t take this again. He—
“Tommy!”
He whirled around again, his entire body immediately relaxing when he saw her, happy and unharmed.
“Minnie!” he called out, doing all he could besides pushing people out of the way to get to her.
He didn’t care who was watching when he reached her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tightly against him.
She returned the embrace for what felt like minutes until she finally leaned back away from him and stared up at him, her gaze narrowing when she read his expression, finding it not as celebratory as she must have imagined it was going to be upon their win.
“I’m sorry,” Tommy said before she could speak. “I probably don’t smell the best, but I… Minnie, I couldn’t find you, and Garrick was here, and then he was gone, and I just… I panicked.”
“Oh, Tommy, I’m so sorry,” she said, her smile dropping. “The ladies wanted to come down to the field, so I stayed with them, as I promised, with the men following along behind us.”
“Thank you, Min. I know this isn’t ideal. Something amiss is happening here, though. I can feel it in my bones.”
“Well, then,” she said with more confidence than he felt, “we best face it together. You played brilliantly out there today, Tommy. You must know that.”
“Which Blackwood will not be happy about,” he muttered.
“Likely not.”
“This was the plan we set in motion. Jonny proposed it, and we all agreed. Draw Blackwood out. Make him come to us, show too many cards, and bring him down that way,” he said.
“I’m going to change. Will you come with me?
All of you ladies, and wait outside? Then we will continue to the tavern together. ”
“Of course.”
“Good,” he said, leaning down and placing a quick kiss on her lips, loving her taste and craving more, as he always did, but knew now was not the time. Not with so much more awaiting them. “I love you, Min.”
“And I love you, Tommy,” she said.
His words warmed him through as he changed as quickly as possible.
She loved him and had given him the power to see that she was safe and well.
It was time he delivered on his promise.