by Fay Keenan
Afterwards they lay joined, covered in sweat and enjoying the afterglow. Anna ran a hand through Matthew’s dishevelled hair, caressing the back of his neck.
‘Are you all right?’ Matthew asked, seeing a strange expression on Anna’s face.
Anna smiled. ‘It’s been a long time…’
‘And was it worth the wait?’ he said, an indulgent yet slightly roguish smile on his face.
‘What do you think?’ Anna tilted her head and kissed Matthew’s lips again, but this time it was a tender, sated kiss. After the passion, she felt peace, and safer than she had for a long time.
As Matthew moved to lie beside her, she snuggled into his chest and felt the old, familiar drowsiness overcome her.
‘You don’t have to go anywhere, do you?’ she asked sleepily.
‘Not if you don’t want me to,’ he replied, placing a kiss on the top of her head.
Anna’s sleep was long, uninterrupted, and the best she’d had in over two years.
20
By Sunday lunchtime, they were still in bed. They seemed to unleash something in each other. Perhaps it was the knowledge that time was limited, but last night’s intensity gave way to a much more playful mood, which left them sated and giggly.
Stretching out his long frame in Anna’s bed, Matthew let out a satisfied sigh. ‘Why did we not get round to this sooner?’ He pulled Anna closer.
‘Oh, I think we’re making up for lost time now!’ Anna smiled, listening to the mesmeric beat of Matthew’s heart. Idly, her fingers played with the dark curls on his chest.
‘You can say that again.’ Matthew dropped a kiss on the top of her head. ‘I haven’t felt this relaxed in ages.’
‘What time’s Merry due back?’ Anna asked, unable, quite, to shrug off all parental responsibility.
‘She texted me earlier, saying Rosie’s parents are taking them both out to lunch, so I expect she’ll be back home mid-afternoon.’
‘Do you think she’ll mind that you spent the night here?’
Matthew gazed up at the whitewashed ceiling of Anna’s bedroom, watching the shadows from the horse chestnut tree outside the window dappling the paintwork. ‘I shouldn’t think so,’ he said mildly. ‘She’s been positively encouraging it.’
Anna giggled. ‘She keeps making jokes about me being her wicked stepmother!’
‘Well, you’re most certainly wicked, my darling, but are you sure you’re ready to be thrust into the role of stepmother just yet?’
Propping herself up on one elbow, Anna met his gaze. ‘I think we both might need a bit of time to think that one through!’
‘Perhaps you’re right,’ Matthew said. ‘As I’m singularly unable to think about anything else at the moment than the feel of your gorgeous body against mine, we’ll leave more weighty discussion for another time, shall we?’ He shifted so he was looking down at her, and Anna yet again marvelled at the way he was able to turn her insides to liquid just by being close to her. It took her another half a second to realise that Matthew was also proving more than ready to resume where they’d left off.
Sometime later, drifting in and out of sleep, Anna lay thinking, again, about how much her life had altered over the past year. After the immediate pain of James’ death had begun to subside, she’d been left with a kind of all-pervading numbness. Now, lying in bed with Matthew, she realised that since she’d met him, she was reawakening. She had no idea what the future held, but for once in her life, she didn’t care. This moment was all that mattered. As Matthew’s breathing became more regular, she wished she could stop the march of time.
*
That week, with Meredith away at the Model UN conference, Matthew became a regular feature at Pippin Cottage. He dropped in, with Sefton at his heels, after he’d finished work. For the first three nights, the customary glass of wine had extended into the night, with Matthew falling into Anna’s bed and both of them giggling like teenagers. He’d risen before Ellie and sneaked out of the door in last night’s clothes, heading back home for a shower and a change before starting work once again.
On the third morning, Ellie had looked her mother in the eye and asked point blank why Matthew never had breakfast with them.
‘Would you like him to?’ Anna had asked, trying to hide her astonishment.
‘Yes,’ Ellie had replied instantly. ‘And want breakfast with Merry, too.’
*
‘I think she must have spotted you without us realising it,’ Anna said that evening. She grinned ruefully. ‘And there I was, thinking we were being so careful and clever.’
‘Well, she’s obviously not worried,’ Matthew smiled. ‘Or she wouldn’t have been so matter of fact about it.’ He shook his head and refilled their wine glasses. ‘Sometimes these daughters of ours are two steps ahead of us, aren’t they?’
‘I suppose I didn’t want to confuse her,’ Anna said. ‘I mean, if things don’t work out between us…’
Matthew put his wine glass down and took Anna’s from her. Very gently, he took her face in his hands, and placed a kiss on her lips, so feather-light she was unsure she’d even felt it. As the kiss deepened, she was lost, yet again, in the moment.
‘Sometimes I think we worry too much,’ he said. ‘Ellie’s seeing things in very black and white terms; perhaps we should do the same.’ He smoothed a lock of hair back from Anna’s eyes. ‘Let’s take each day as it comes, shall we?’
Anna was surprised at his lack of circumspection; he’d been cautious for so long, and now he seemed prepared to take risks in the name of their relationship. ‘OK. But she does ask a lot of questions when she first wakes up, and we might get invaded at an ungodly hour of the morning at times!’
Matthew grinned. ‘I can deal with that,’ he said. ‘In fact, it makes me a bit nostalgic for when Meredith was that age and still wanted to curl up in bed with me. Tara could never tolerate it, but Meredith spent quite a few mornings snuggled up next to me when it was just the two of us.’
‘You might regret saying that when she’s kicking you in the back!’ Anna laughed.
‘Oh, I think I’ll cope,’ Matthew put an arm around Anna.
The next morning, Matthew poured Ellie some cornflakes as Anna made him a cup of tea.
21
May progressed sultry and humid. On the Sunday of the second Bank Holiday weekend, much to Meredith’s amusement and Anna’s concern, and despite his previous assertions to the contrary about the state of his knee, Matthew had committed himself to playing for Carter’s in a charity rugby match against the local bitter producer, Framptons. As the morning of the match dawned, the weather was bright, breezy and warm. The match was taking place at a club two villages away, situated equidistantly between the two businesses. Weeks of dry weather had flattened out the pitch, but a last minute deluge of rain had made the top of it like glass.
As Matthew pulled into the club’s car park, Anna, Meredith and Ellie were in the now fixed Land Rover with him in rising apprehension and anticipation. Seeing several of the Framptons players already warming up on the sidelines, Anna’s stomach lurched. Apart from one or two old dogs, with slight paunches and battle scars, they all looked in remarkably good shape.
Quite a few supporters had already massed behind the lines as well, and Anna spotted the friends and families of some of Matthew’s employees who had signed up to play. She wished Charlotte had been able to come, but she, Simon and Evan had gone to Simon’s parents for the weekend.
‘Are you quite sure about this?’ she asked Matthew for the hundredth time.
Matthew laughed. ‘You make it sound like I’m going to be facing a firing squad. I might be deluded but I’m not daft! I’ll be on for twenty minutes, max.’
‘You’d better be,’ Meredith replied. ‘Apart from the social embarrassment of seeing my dad in shorts, I don’t really want to end up hanging around A and E this afternoon.’
Anna, who actually rather relished the prospect of seeing Matthew in his rugby kit, suppre
ssed a grin.
‘Looks like you can get a drink in the clubhouse if you want one,’ Matthew said as he slammed the door of the Land Rover. ‘I’d better go and rally the troops, if you three will be OK by yourselves.’ Giving Anna and Meredith quick kisses, and ruffling Ellie’s hair, he strode off to meet his teammates.
‘He’s such a saddo,’ Meredith gave Anna a sidelong glance. ‘You know he’s only doing this to impress you, don’t you?’
‘Don’t be daft,’ Anna replied. ‘At our age, we’re a bit beyond putting ourselves in physical danger to impress each other.’
‘Whatever you say, but according to Jen, his PA, since he agreed to do this game he’s been jogging between buildings at work – so it’s either a midlife crisis or someone’s having an influence.’
‘Is Flynn coming over today?’ Anna asked, desperate to change the subject.
‘You know he is,’ Meredith said. ‘You asked me that yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that…’
‘Oh, OK!’ Anna grinned. ‘I guess I’m just a bit nervous for your dad, that’s all!’
‘In fact, I think I can see him over by the goal line,’ Meredith scanned the crowds. ‘Do you mind if I…’
‘Not at all,’ Anna was secretly relieved. She was far more worried about Matthew than she was letting on, and she needed a moment or two to collect her own thoughts, Ellie excluded. ‘I’ll see if I can get a place under the canopy in the shade.’
‘Fair enough, see you later.’ Meredith bounded off, leggy and gazelle-like across the field.
‘Want to go with Merry,’ Ellie grumbled.
‘You’ll see her later, darling,’ Anna replied. ‘Shall we go and get something to drink?’ Taking her daughter’s hand, she strolled across to the clubhouse, smiling at Patrick Flanagan as she passed him. Patrick was the coach for the Carters team, and was taking things very seriously, checking off each player’s name on a piece of paper on his clipboard.
‘Joel, is Kev on his way?’ Anna heard Patrick ask as the young packer sidled past him.
‘Yeah Paddy, chill, man. He was stuck on the M5 when I rang him but he reckoned he was near the exit.’
Patrick shook his head. ‘Should’ve got that minibus sorted,’ he muttered. ‘Bloody boy racers wanting to bring their own motors everywhere.’
Anna found a place under the canopy by the bar, and sipped a bottle of Carters own Eloise variety cider in an attempt to calm her nerves as she waited for the kick-off.
First came the Framptons team. They were a variety of shapes and sizes, ranging in age from around twenty to forty. Their orange shirts showed up vibrantly against the stinging green of the cut grass, and, for one member of the team at least, clashed with his hangover red face. They were laughing and joking together, kicking out their legs and talking last minute strategy. Then came the opposition from Carters, dressed in royal blue and forest green shirts, reflecting the corporate colours. Anna spotted Joel the packer, and one or two other young players, a smattering in their mid-thirties, and then one or two older men, including, somewhere in the middle of the team but head and shoulders above most of them, Matthew.
Anna couldn’t help staring. For a man over forty, he knew how to work a rugby shirt, and his white shorts showed off tanned, muscular legs. Feeling a tingle of lust, Anna momentarily forgot her concerns for Matthew’s safety and simply enjoyed the view.
After the obligatory pleasantries, the match kicked off. Not being entirely familiar with the game, Anna couldn’t work out what was going on for a lot of it, but she could see Matthew was getting well into the fray, and was fairly certain he managed to set up a few of the points being scored. After the first fifteen minutes or so, she started to relax, knowing his stint would be over soon.
About fifteen minutes into the first half, it was clear that the Framptons players were taking things more seriously than their cider-producing counterparts; far more blue and green shirts seemed to be hitting the deck than orange ones. As Anna felt the first prickle of unease on the back of her neck, Meredith slid up beside her, hand in hand with Flynn.
‘Hey you two,’ Anna smiled, to hide her concern. ‘Looks like it’s going to be an exciting match, even if I don’t have a clue what’s going on!’
Flynn nodded. ‘It’s pretty full on.’
‘Flynn plays on the wing for the school seniors,’ Meredith said proudly. ‘I’ve seen him play once or twice.’
Anna nodded. ‘Matthew’s quite impressed with that, I think!’
Meredith rolled her eyes. ‘Not that you’d know it. He’s barely spoken to Flynn yet!’
‘He looks pretty knackered out there,’ Flynn was scanning the players on the pitch. ‘He can’t have much longer, surely?’
‘Patrick agreed to take him off after twenty minutes,’ Anna replied. ‘He’ll be back on the bench soon.’
At that moment, there was a shrill peep from the referee’s whistle and a collective groan from the assembled Carters supporters. Gradually, players stopped running and collected around a crumpled figure. The course medic jogged onto the pitch.
‘What’s happened? Who is it?’ Anna strained to see.
‘Can’t see at the moment. Oh, hang on, they’re getting back to give the medic a bit of room.’ Flynn had his arm around Meredith now, trying to stop her from racing onto the pitch.
Heart in her mouth, Anna peered through the crowd of players. She could see the injured man lying on the ground, but still couldn’t make out who it was. Then, as the players got back to their places, she saw Matthew. He was on the ground next to the injured player, chatting to him, obviously trying to keep him calm as the medic performed his assessment. Anna felt weak with relief.
‘It’s Joel,’ Meredith said, filling in the last piece of the puzzle. ‘God, his leg looks bad.’
Joel was still on the ground, knee twisted at a hideous angle, face green with pain.
‘Well, it was a bit of a hospital pass,’ Flynn replied. ‘It’s a wonder his leg’s not broken.’
As they watched, the medic beckoned to his colleague, and with brisk efficiency they stretchered Joel off to the sidelines. After a quick, reassuring word with Joel, Patrick Flanagan strode out onto the pitch and conferred with the rest of his players. There were one or two nods of assent, including one from Matthew, and then they were in play again.
*
Some minutes later, the knot of anxiety tightened in Anna’s stomach even further as Matthew, sweating profusely in his rugby top, jogged back up to the home end.
‘Isn’t it about time he came off?’
‘You know Dad,’ Meredith said, biting her lip.
They both watched as Matthew picked up a bottle of water that was thrown from the sidelines and took a deep pull. He was breathing heavily, wiping the sweat from his face with a grubby forearm.
‘Do you think I should go and talk to him?’ Anna asked.
‘I think he’ll probably tell you where to go if you do!’ Meredith forced a smile. ‘You know how stubborn he is. With Joel out, he’s going to want to stay on.’
‘But this is insane! You said he hasn’t played for over twenty years. Some of those guys on the other team are half his age!’ Anna made to move away to the other end of the pitch, but Meredith’s hand on her arm stopped her.
‘Seriously, Anna, we have to let him do this. He signed up for it. If he messes up, we can pick up the pieces later.’
The seconds were ticking down, and Anna and Meredith knew Matthew only had to get through ten more minutes more at most. He’d covered the pitch end to end countless times; even managed to convert one or two tries. But he was spent, and from his gait they could tell his knee was giving him hell. Jogging back up the pitch, Matthew was faced with a scrum of younger, fitter players. Somehow he got the ball out, began to run for goal. Anna and Meredith willed him on, along with the collective yells of the Carters supporters.
‘He’s going to do it!’ Meredith screamed. ‘He’s going to do it! Come on,
Dad!’ Jumping up and down, she clutched Anna, both of them caught up in the excitement of the scene unfolding before them.
Matthew thundered up the pitch, racing for the try that would put his team ahead. Seeming to summon every last shred of willpower he had, he strained towards the line. And then, suddenly, inexplicably, ten feet from victory he hit a wall. Going down, tackled by a young whelp from Framptons, his knee finally gave in. With a roar that screamed of pain and frustration, he met the ground hard, breaking his fall with his right wrist and surrendering the ball. Anna and Meredith held onto each other, united in panic.
The Framptons defender shoved the ball back down the line, and play moved on for a few seconds, until the ref blew his whistle. Jogging over to where Matthew was struggling to his feet, the player responsible for the tackle thrust out a hand and helped Matthew up.
‘Are you all right, mate?’
Matthew, disoriented, looked at the younger man. Then he grinned. ‘Great tackle, well done! Wish I still had the nerve, and the energy to take someone out like that.’
The defender looked relieved. ‘Thanks. If you’re sure you’re OK?’
‘Just wait a few months before you come and ask me for a job, all right?’ Matthew began to move away, but his knee creaked in protest. Limping to the sidelines, he beckoned to Patrick. ‘Think I’m done here, Paddy.’
Patrick nodded, partly in relief, partly in exasperation. ‘Is your knee OK?’
‘Yeah, but my wrist is fucked.’
‘We’ll get the medic to look you over. Get to the First Aid van before you get in the shower.’
Meredith, Anna and Ellie, with Flynn trailing diplomatically in their wake, had raced up the sidelines, ready to escort Matthew, kicking and screaming if necessary, down to the First Aider.
‘Dad!’ Meredith careered into Matthew.
‘I’m all right, don’t be so melodramatic,’ Matthew murmured, kissing the top of her head. Reaching out his good arm, he put it around his daughter. Anna stood back a little, unsure how to react.