“No, although I really wish it would have worked out with you and Oscar. I actually liked him—which is more than I can say for most of your boyfriends. What happened, anyway?” She has suspiciously avoided answering that question a few times already, which only makes me more curious.
“Oh, Katherine. You’re so hard on people. They weren’t all bad. Frederick was nice.”
I give her the pointed look. “Oh, yeah. The guy who cheated on you in your own bedroom was a real stand-up guy.”
She looks away for a second, then swings back to face me, regaining her composure. “Fine. I’ll admit, I haven’t been the best judge of character when it comes to men, but I’m sure I’m not mistaken about Archie.”
“And Oscar?”
She sighs. “He was nice, but honestly, he was just too weak for me. He said that my vehement refusal to go to the doctor’s was a red flag for him because he lost his wife that way. She hated doctors, but who loves them, anyway? It’s ridiculous.”
“Poor Oscar,” I say, shaking my head. “That’s terrible, and it must have opened up old wounds for him.” I try to meet her eyes. “That’s not weakness, Mum. He cares about you. You need to call him and make things right.”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe. I could—oh!” she exclaims as Finn starts to sprint on the pitch, zipping toward the Wexford goal. He breezes past the first defender, then cuts around the second with a flick so smooth it sends a collective gasp through the crowd.
“He’s fast,” Mum breathes beside me.
Finn barrels toward the box, scanning the playing field. Wade is charging in from the other side, arms waving—but Finn doesn’t pass it to him. He dummies once, twice, then launches a low, curling shot with his left foot that zips toward the far post…
And crashes into the net with a satisfyingthunk.
The crowd erupts, the home side cheering at the top of their lungs. The stadium itself seems to shake with the clamour. Finn pumps both fists in the air, then takes off toward the corner flag, sliding on his knees with the unshakable grin of someone who just scored an undisputable goal.
Mum flies to her feet and cries out, shawl flailing like a victory flag. I clap for Finn, but my eyes flick sideways—to Archie. He’s way down at the opposite end of the pitch, his gloves in the air as he joins the celebration from afar.
A smile pulls at my lips. Yeah. Maybe football is kind of exciting after all.
Halftime rolls in faster than I expected, and I leave our seats to grab Mum a drink. The VIP lounge is bustling, a blur of navy shirts, clinking glasses, and amateur match analyses from every direction. When I return, I spot Mum near the railing, animatedly chatting with two women. One has bouncy blonde curls and striking blue eyes; the other has sleek black hair and fair skin, her arms crossed casually as she laughs at something Mum just said.
Dread creeps up my spine, and I brace myself.
“Hey,” I say, slipping back into the row. “Here’s your drink, Mum.”
“Ah, there’s my daughter,” Mum says to the girls, then turns to me. “Kat, this is Roxy and Fallon. Fallon is Finn’s sister. You know, the one who just scored. And Roxy is married to Wade, the captain.”
“Nice to meet you both,” I say, offering a polite smile as I pass Mum her drink.
“You’re the neighbour, right?” Roxy’s smile is warm but definitely amused.
“I am,” I admit, already wincing. “You’ve probably heard awful things about me.”
They exchange a look that confirms my suspicions.
“Yeah,” Fallon deadpans. “But it’s over now. Just like I knew it would be. Statistically speaking, feuding neighbours are more likely to resolve their differences than other people. Proximity forces civility. Most neighbour disputes last under a year anyway.”
“Fallon’s a risk analyst,” Roxy says, as if to explain Fallon’s weird outburst of stats.
I nod. “I guess we’re pretty predictable, then,” I say, my lips curving into a reluctant smile.
Mum, naturally, steers the conversation from there, gushing about skin products, the team, her new shawl—apparently hand-dyed by a ‘textile witch’ in Cornwall—and at some point, asking if Roxy’s shoes are custom-made. And honestly, I’m grateful for her. I’ve never been much of a social butterfly. That said, there’s something easy about talking to Fallon and Roxy, and I find myself chiming in more and more. When the second half of the match starts, I’m actually a bit sad we have to halt our conversation.
But the moment Archie steps back onto the pitch, adjusting his gloves, jaw set with focus, everything we were just talking about vanishes from my mind.
Chapter 16
“The wildest we get is when someone double dips in the hummus.”
Kat
