“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.