by Kyra Lennon
“Leah?”
Radleigh’s voice shook me from my thoughts and I looked up at him. “Sorry. What did you say?”
He smiled. “I said we should leave soon or you’ll be late.”
Glancing down at my watch, I nodded. Our lie-in and then the traffic-filled journey to his parents’ house had taken up quite a bit of time, and I only had forty-five minutes to get back across town to meet Freya and Bree. “Wow, you’re right. We should get moving.” I turned to Deanna and Mitch. “Sorry to run away so fast. Thank you so much for babysitting.”
“Anytime,” Deanna said, smiling. “Will I see you during the week for coffee?”
I nodded firmly. “Absolutely. Probably tomorrow if you’re free?”
“I am. And I’ll pick up some pastries for us too.”
I grinned. “Sounds like a plan.”
After saying a quick goodbye and grabbing Jessica’s things, we bundled everything into the car and headed into the city. I felt bad for rushing out so fast, but in truth, Deanna and Mitch were quite used to us running in and out at speed. There were a lot of times when collecting Jessica that we didn’t have the luxury of staying to chat because there was always somewhere else one of us had to be. Deanna and I would make up for it the next day.
She had been a Godsend for Radleigh and me. Not only were she and Mitch happy to take care of Jessica, she was fantastic company too. Often when Radleigh was at work, Deanna would come over, or we’d go out to lunch, or shopping, or for coffee. With Freya and Bree both working now, sometimes the days got a little mundane and doing things with Deanna gave me a break from that. Plus, she had a wicked sense of humour, and she and Mitch had taken me in as if I were their own daughter.
Radleigh dropped me off at a restaurant in the city and I had about five minutes to spare, which I spent kissing him goodbye. I was sad to leave after having such a brilliant night with him, and only just getting Jessica back, but I had a girly lunch planned, and then… shopping.
A shiver of joy rippled through me as I walked into the restaurant because wedding planning was the other thing that was taking up my time – and I loved it. With four months to go, we still had plenty to do and this lunch date with my girls was going to be spent discussing colours for bridesmaids’ dresses and then hitting the bridal shops for my own dress. The anticipation was killing me.
Bree and Freya were already waiting for me at a table by the window. Freya poured a glass of white wine from the bottle on the table, while Bree held a tall glass of water between her hands, eyeing the wine bottle enviously. I chuckled at her expression.
“Hang in there, babe. You’ve got a long way to go yet.”
Bree turned to me, giving me a slightly pained smile. “It’s going to kill me.”
She stood, still clutching her glass, showing off her slightly swollen stomach as she moved to the chair right beside the window so I could sit down beside her. I smiled at Freya across the table and she grinned back at me. She looked incredible with her blonde hair hanging over her shoulders, and the pale blue dress she wore clung to her slim figure perfectly. Her eyes sparkled in a way they hadn’t in a long time.
“I almost feel bad.” She raised her glass to her lips.
I couldn’t hold in my laugh, but I reached over and squeezed Bree’s hand. “It’ll all be worth it when you hold your baby in your arms. I promise.”
With an eye roll, Bree smiled. “Yeah. I know.”
Bree’s pregnancy was almost as unexpected as mine had been. She and Jude had only decided to try for a baby last winter, with the thought that it might take a while. They were in no major rush, but Jude’s sperm had other ideas, and Bree was pregnant within a few months. After a brief rough patch, Bree and Jude were happier than ever.
Freya hadn’t had it so easy. In fact, since Will died, almost everything had been a struggle for her. She’d finally gotten her anxiety under control, and work was no longer as torturous as it had been. Her life had certainly got easier since Tommy Salinger had transferred to Green Bay. His opinions about Freya’s relationship with Miguel had rippled through the Warriors and, while he wasn’t the only one who took a poor view of it, he was the only one who made a big deal out of it. I understood why people thought it odd and perhaps disrespectful for Freya to get involved with Will’s best friend, but the reality wasn’t so black and white. People treated them as though they’d both forgotten about Will, but the truth was, they’d needed each other. They’d needed to grieve and heal together. Was it unorthodox? Sure. Was it wrong? No. Strange as it seemed, there was something right between them. Something more than just two people leaning on each other. Nine months on, they were still taking things slowly but the way they looked at each other told me they worked.
Once we’d ordered our food, Bree reached down into her bag and pulled out a folder. Freya and I exchanged a grin as Bree placed the pristine white binder on the table and opened it up. She smiled as she caught our expressions. “Don’t mock me.” She giggled. “You know you love my wedding file.”
“I don’t think I’d recognise you without it these days,” I teased, and gave her a gentle prod in the side.
“You can joke, but you’d be lost without this bad boy!” Bree stroked her hand lovingly across the pages.
“She’s right,” Freya said, placing her glass on the table. “Your entire wedding is within those pages.”
“I know, and I’m extremely grateful. But damn…” I laughed. “I’m not used to Bree being this organised!”
“I did this for my own wedding,” Bree said. “It was super helpful to keep everything together, and also… I love weddings!”
She wasn’t kidding. The second she found out Radleigh had proposed to me, she’d put together this binder of wedding stuff which included everything from choices of venue to menu ideas to bridal magazine cuttings to wedding favour ideas and floral display suggestions. And that was just a taster. The folder was crammed. Thankfully, she wasn’t a stubborn wedding planner, and she happily switched out her own ideas for mine as we went along. Not that much needed changing. She knew me well and had exquisite taste.
“Alright,” I said, leaning closer to Bree’s magic book. “What have you got for us today?”
She beamed at me before flicking through the pages to a section I hadn’t seen before. Well, I’d seen the section, but I hadn’t seen her latest collection. The bridesmaids’ dresses. The first page showed some long, floaty dresses in pastel colours.
“Okay.” Bree slapped her hand over the page. “I had all kinds of ideas when we first got started, but then I messed up by getting pregnant so fast, and now I’m going to look like an elephant on Leah’s wedding day. So, I guess my first question is, does anybody mind if I make the first suggestion on a style choice?”
“Not at all,” Freya said. “We all need to feel comfortable as well as look good. What did you have in mind?”
“I was thinking maybe knee-length, or at least something with a loose skirt to hide as much of my baby bump as possible. I know I can’t be selfish because there are a lot of us, but I don’t want to ruin Leah’s wedding photos by being enormous!”
“That’s never going to happen.” I laughed, but I was a little worried about how we would choose something everyone would be happy with. Maybe I should have kept it simple and just had Freya, Bree and Jessica as my bridesmaids, but I wanted everyone I was closest to to be a part of my big day. The major issue was that we were scattered all over the place. My sister-in-law, Chrissie, and my niece, Grace, plus Jesse’s girlfriend, Izzy, were all in the UK. And not even in the same place in the UK. Jesse’s sister Kayla was still in school so she wouldn’t always be available for everything we had scheduled so we just had to do what we could whenever we had the time.
“What about colours?” Freya asked. “Any thoughts?”
“Well,” Bree said, with a chuckle, “I’d like to recommend the ever-slimming black…”
“Ha!” I interrupted. “I’m getting married
. It’s a happy occasion. I am not mourning the loss of my single life, I’m celebrating marrying the man I love!”
Bree stuck out her lower lip into a pout then laughed. “I know. The other issue we have is that we all have different skin tones and finding the right colour for everyone will be a pain.”
I should have hired an actual wedding planner. I could have just given her the measurements and a few ideas and let her run with it.
I took a huge swig of my wine then poured another glass, making Bree and Freya laugh. “Okay. Let’s see what you’ve got.”
While we awaited our lunch, we scoured through Bree’s suggestions, offering input here and there, and narrowed our favourites down to five out of the twenty she had given us. We all knew that once we went shopping, everything would probably change and we still hadn’t decided on dresses for the younger bridesmaids. We were counting Kayla as an adult, but Jessica and Grace would need something different. I put that to the back of my mind – I was a sucker for cute dresses and choosing something for the little ones would take forever. Jessica already had almost as many clothes as Bree. I dreaded to think of how bad it would get as she got older.
When our food arrived, Bree tucked the file away and we changed the subject from weddings to less stressful topics, and a tad more wine was consumed by Freya and I before Bree drove us into the city to shop for my dress.
Chapter Three – What About The Rules?
Originally I was intending to go to Deanna’s in the morning after swinging by Freya’s place to pick up my wedding dress. However, a call from Richard Bailey, the Westberg Warriors’ manager, asking me to go to the training ground caught me entirely off guard. After obsessively checking to make sure Radleigh was okay – because an injury was really the only reason he would have had to call me during training hours – and getting his reassurance that all was well, I bundled Jessica into the car and headed over.
There was always something about arriving at the training ground that felt like going home to me. Perhaps it was because it was one of the first places in Los Angeles I knew. The place where I’d met most of the people who had since become my family. Sure, a certain amount of drama had occurred there, but in spite of that, the Warriors’ training ground held mostly happiness.
I took the back entrance to Richard’s office as he’d requested so I didn’t have to walk past the pitch. I wasn’t sure what all the cloak and dagger stuff was about, but I did as he asked and waited for him in his office, with Jessica on my lap. Within minutes of my arrival, Richard walked through the door and greeted us with a smile. My former boss was still one of my favourite people in the world, and he leaned down to kiss us both on the cheek. Jessica reached up for him and he took her from me and gave her a hug.
“This is just what I needed after a hard morning’s work,” he said, placing another kiss on Jessica’s head before passing her back to me.
“I think she’s pleased to see her Uncle Richard too.” I laughed, looking at the huge grin on my daughter’s face.
“I’m glad to hear it!” He smiled as he took his seat behind his desk but then his face turned serious as his eyes met mine. Richard’s “business” face had always made me nervous, and I shifted awkwardly in my seat. Jessica responded to my movement and wriggled in my lap. I pulled her in closer to me and she snuggled into me, holding onto her favourite toy bunny.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “Is everything okay?”
Richard nodded, his eyes still fixed on mine. “Yeah. Well, not completely, but I think they will be.”
My eyebrows pulled together because Richard wasn’t usually so rubbish with words. If he had something to talk about, he would normally get right to the point. It was a habit that came with him being so extremely busy.
“What’s going on, Richard?”
He tapped his fingers on his desk as if contemplating something. “I asked you to come in the back way because I didn’t want anyone to know I’m having this conversation with you. I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up until I know how you feel about my proposition.”
“Okay.” I sat up a little straighter. “You wanna tell me what it is before I die from the anticipation?” The corners of my mouth twitched and Richard laughed.
“I’m getting to it.” He picked up a piece of paper from his desk and handed it over to me.
I scanned my eyes over the letter, and as I read, my eyes widened in surprise. Looking back up at Richard, I said, “Okay…?” I gave the letter back to him and he stared at me, waiting. “It’s a letter of resignation from Johnny.”
Richard nodded. “He gave it to me this morning. In four weeks, we’re going to be without a physiotherapist.”
My heart involuntarily sped up a little. “And this involves me… how?”
He smiled. “I have a position to fill. I considered posting an ad for the vacancy but I wanted to talk to you first. I know you have Jessica and you’re happy doing the mom thing, but I couldn’t not ask you if… if you might consider coming back. I know you still have a great relationship with pretty much everyone on the team and I know for sure they’d love it if you worked with us again.”
His words filtered through to my brain, making my heart pound harder; a reaction I hadn’t expected at all. The Warriors was by far the best place I’d ever worked, and I’d never had a harder time adjusting than after I left there. But I’d sort of resigned myself to “doing the mom thing” as Richard had put it. Being a mum was what I wanted, but the idea of getting back to work again? It sparked something inside me I didn’t know was still there.
Christ. What kind of mother was I? The first hint of a job and I was ready to ditch staying at home with my kid? It had only been nine months. Not even a full year. Guilt rushed through me instantaneously and I shook my head.
“Richard, I loved working here, you know I did. But… things are so different now.”
“Please.” Richard held up his hands. “I don’t want you to make this decision right now. I’d really like it if you’d think about it before rejecting the offer.”
“But… what about the rules? You know, the whole no fraternising with the players thing?”
Richard laughed. “You’re marrying Radleigh. I think that cuts down on the chances of you fraternising with anyone else.”
“It wasn’t just about that, though. It was more about the everyday drama that occurs when you’re with someone. Just because Radleigh and I have got our crap together, doesn’t mean we won’t still fight.”
“I know that. And I know it’s not always ideal for people to work together and live together. But when you’re here it’s not as if you’ll be under each other’s feet all day. He’ll be doing his thing and you’ll be doing yours. I remember how easily you avoided him before.” The smirk on Richard’s face made me laugh.
We’d definitely come a long way since my first stint working for the Warriors. And Richard was right; I’d gotten keeping out of Radleigh’s way down to a fine art back in the day. God, how things had changed.
“Have you mentioned this to Radleigh yet?” I asked.
Richard shook his head. “No. I haven’t mentioned it to anyone but you. I figured if I told anyone else I was considering asking you back, there’d be too much pressure on both of us to make it happen and I want you here because you want to be, not because everyone else talked you into it. Think about whether this is something you might want, and talk to Radleigh about it.”
“When do you need an answer?”
“I can give you a couple of weeks before I really need to advertise the position.”
I nodded, and that little burst of adrenaline shot through me again. Maybe I could make this work. The way the schedules worked out, we would be away from home every two weeks for a night, two at the most. If Mitch and Deanna would agree to have Jessica while we were away, we could hire a sitter to take care of her the rest of the time we were at work.
You are a terrible mother.
Glancing at Richard,
I sighed. “I can’t lie. I’d love to come back. But I don’t know. I wanted to ensure Jessica had parents who wouldn’t palm her off to a childminder, but now you’ve offered me this…” I shook my head and looked down at my little girl who was snuggled into my chest and the guilt returned full force. I softly stroked her hair, breathing in her sweet scent. How could I even consider going back to work? “I don’t know.”
Richard gave an understanding smile then glanced down at Jessica. “I understand. I had the hardest time leaving my girls behind, and I know it’s not quite the same for a dad as it is for a mom, but I do understand why this isn’t an easy decision. Take your time. Think it over and get back to me.”
“I will,” I promised. I blew out a breath and smiled thoughtfully at my former boss. “Thank you. I do appreciate the offer. I’ll let you know as soon as I can.”