“They’re playing the Athletics again on Saturday,” one man said, his excitement infectious.
“After beating them last season?”
“Soundly at that.”
“With the woman…”
Their conversation faded as Minnie and her parentsreached the carriage, but she couldn’t help that her mind was still on the football pitch. She remembered firsthand what it was like to attend a match, to lose herself in the roar of the crowd and the thrill of the game.
The only time she had attended, she had been the guest of her friends Lily and Emmaline. Lily, whose grandfather was the Hanson in partnership with her father, was now married to one of the footballers. At the time, Emmaline had been playing with the team, in a disguise that only a few of them had known about. Minnie had played a fun role in that part of the drama, but it had been over sooner than she would have wished.
She had been quick to agree to help Emmaline, for it had given her something of interest to do in her otherwise dull life. Since then, the season had finished and Minnie had no other reason to attend, although she did enjoy any social event Lily and Emmaline invited her to, along with their husbands and the football club.
It wasn’t just the football she wanted to see again, however, but a certain centre fielder whose quick grin, deep dimples, and twinkling eyes she couldn’t get out of her mind. That, and the flirtatious way he spoke to her, was quick enough to excite her.
In fact, if she didn’t know better, she could see him watching her, from just beyond the docks.
Which was a ridiculous thought. It was just her mind playing tricks on her. There was no reason for Tommy Ward to be here. She was sure he had far better things to do with his time.
Her daydreams were wrenched from him and the all-too-brief time they had spent together when she entered the carriage, and her mother immediately started in on her about keeping herself out of her father’s business.
“You’ll make a fine wife someday, Minnie, and run a successful household,” her father said.
Her mother nodded enthusiastically as she added on, “It’s time to focus on finding a suitable match.”
A suitable match.
Shehadtried to find one. In fact, it was the only thing she had been given to do. But every man she met just promised her a continued monotonous existence.
So far, she had come up short in finding anyone who could provide her the sense of excitement she longed for.
If she had lived two centuries prior, she had a feeling she would have ended up on a pirate ship with a mysterious captain to entertain her, but alas, none had appeared on her doorstep thus far.
Perhaps it was time to look elsewhere and find a man of her own.
She knew just where to start.
The football season was beginning again. Minnie needed to find a way to be there. At least a football match would provide something she had found nowhere else in her life — an unpredictable outcome.
Tommy grinned in exhilaration as he twirled around, flicking the ball between the feet of the defender, before breaking past him toward the goal lying in wait.
He missed having Emmaline on the right side of the field, for he had always been able to count on her being there, ready to score. Joey was a good player, but he was slightly slower than he had been before, still not able to place the entirety of his weight on his injured knee — he likely would never be able to – but he had improved enough to rejoin them and keep up.
So, instead, Tommy streaked alone toward the goal, sending the ball flying into the top right corner of the net.
He wheeled back around, arms raised above him victoriously.
“See that?” he called out to Colin. “Underthe top bar!”
Colin Thornton, his closest friend since they were children, rolled his eyes at him, although he did smile and clap his hands together to congratulate Tommy. Colin was probably the best football player Tommy had ever seen, yet he had one major flaw when it came to shooting the ball — it was often a foot or so too high.
“Good game, Tom,” their captain, Rhys Lockwood, called out, patting a hand on his back as the players began to file off the field toward the bathhouse at the back of Pomona Gardens, where they changed after the games.
Tommy was just about to walk through the door when he stopped so abruptly that Colin cursed as he ran into the back of him.
“What the hell, Tommy?”
He didn’t care what any of them had to say to him, however, for his gaze was focused on one spot in the stands.
