Always on My Mind (Stanmore FC Soulmates #2)

Epilogue

Ten years later. . .

A small crowd held their breath and then released a collective groan as the clang of a ball against a crossbar rang out over the field. Sympathetic applause followed. None of the parents wanted to display poor sportsmanship to the children running off the pitch. A whistle blew, indicating half time, and Jamie called her squad around her.

“Sorry, Coach,” Daphne Frawley said with a shake of her head. Her dark curls inherited from her father were secured in a long plait down her back. “That was a sitter, I should have had it. I promise I won’t be shit in the second half.”

The other girls burst into a fit of giggles. Jamie rolled her eyes.

“Daphne, don’t say shit,” Jamie warned.

“Why not?”

“Because you’re eight.”

“So? I’m a footballer, aren’t I?”

“Swearing is for professional footballers,” Jamie said sternly. “That’s why your dad is allowed and not you.”

Daphne huffed. “Fine.”

“Now, listen up, girls,” Jamie said, and she squatted down to be on their level. “You’re all playing so well. I’m really proud of you. But I think if we communicate better, we might be able to get an equalizer in the second half. Daphne, don’t be afraid to call for the ball before you make a run. That way Laura can get it to you with better timing and you’re less likely to miss.”

Laura Knight cut her green-eyed gaze to the ground. “It’s my fault, Coach. I could have looked up sooner. . . ”

“No, Laura, it’s not your fault,” Jamie said gently. She moved one of the girl’s blonde pigtails off her shoulder to give it an encouraging squeeze. “The nice thing about football is that it doesn’t have to be perfect. It can just be fun.”

“Anybody want some orange slices?” a familiar, Northern Irish voice called.

Jamie smiled as her wife approached, rolling a large cooler behind her. Tessa waved to the kids. The whole team screamed with excitement, but none more than Laura, who bounced on the balls of her feet and grinned.

“Auntie Tessa!” she squealed, and darted over to wrap her arms around Tessa’s legs.

“Hello, love,” Tessa replied, stroking the girl’s head. “How’s the match going?”

“We’re losing,” Daphne grumbled.

Tessa rolled the cooler up and set it in the middle of the group. She flipped the top open and handed out orange slices and miniature bottles of some sports drink out to the girls.

“Losing by how much?” she asked.

“One-nil,” Laura told her. “We’re gonna do better though.”

“You’ll be brilliant, I’m sure,” Tessa said.

“But even if we don’t win, it’s like Coach Jamie says, as long as we do our best and have fun, we don’t really lose,” Laura said.

“Coach Jamie is a wise woman,” Tessa replied. “That’s why I love her.”

With that, Tessa finally gave Jamie a hello kiss. Jamie smiled through it and kept it brief. Otherwise she risked the girls making gagging sounds like they did whenever their parents kissed.

“I’ve got to finish my pep talk,” Jamie said.

“By all means. I’m away to sit with Billie and Ethan.” She peered through her glasses at the parents all lined up along the touchline. “Oh, Jordan and Laci are here too.”

She pecked Jamie’s lips one last time before walking over to join them. Jamie, a smile lingering, faced her team once more.

“As Laura said, it’s about doing your best and having fun, not about winning or losing,” she said. “If we win, what will we do?”

“Be good sports,” they echoed back.

“If we lose, what will we do?”

“Be proud of ourselves.”

“And most importantly?”

“We are more than football.”

“That’s right,” Jamie said. “Now let’s get back out there and give them the best of Stanmore under nine girls.”

“Yes, coach!” they all cried.

She high-fived or fist-bumped or hugged them all as they walked back out to midfield. It depended on what each child was comfortable with. Henry Knight stopped his little sister, Laura on her way out, and Jamie heard him wish her luck before giving her a hug around the neck. Laura hugged him back, her eyes squeezed shut by the size of her smile.

Jamie watched the second half unfold and gratitude threatened to overwhelm her. She never regretted retiring before she was forty, but she knew she wanted to do something meaningful with her time. She didn’t want to be a pundit or manage a professional team. She wanted to impact the culture of football from the early stages. It was Tessa who had suggested coaching a local, youth team. Jamie had been endlessly happy ever since.

Coaching her friends’ children only made the job more rewarding. Though she and Tessa did not have their own, they were happy to support their friends who chose parenthood. Billie and Ethan with Henry and Laura; Jordan and Laci with Daphne; and Hector and Zahra had a little girl that was turning three. Auntie Tessa and Auntie Jamie were always the requested babysitters. According to the kids, they were the most fun and always had treats for them. What was not to like?

Ultimately, Jamie enjoyed seeing everyone around her building their lives together. Billie and Ethan and Jordan and Laci especially, since they were getting to live the dreams destroyed by the tragedies of their past lives. Jamie and Tessa were getting their turn too. And they never took it for granted.

In the ten years since that fateful day in the hospital, Jamie’s ankle had healed, and so had her self-worth. Through sessions with Lila, she connected even deeper into her past self, worked through the grief of losing her brother, and discovered how to be the best partner possible to Tessa. She also formed a new relationship with her mother once she was divorced.

Dexter had not reached out since Jamie dismissed him. Not a phone call, text, email, or even a letter. He wasn’t missed. She dodged any and all questions about him from reporters, and eventually they stopped asking. When she announced her retirement from football, he didn’t come up. She did think of him that day, but only once, and then she let him go again.

These days, she only thought of him when she considered her words as she addressed her squad. She never wanted to make them feel even a small portion of what her father made her feel. She centered her coaching on boosting confidence, both on and off the pitch, and being your true, authentic self.

The match ended in a one-one draw. Daphne scored the equalizer, and Jordan leaped from his chair when he cheered, drawing more than a few stares from the other parents. Not to mention the people walking through the park.

After the girls all shook hands and congratulated each other, Jamie joined Tessa who stood with Billie and Ethan and Henry. Henry wrapped his sister up in a hug.

“Well done, Laura!” he said.

“Thank you!” she replied through a giggle.

Jordan scooped Daphne into his arms and spun her around until she shrieked with mirth.

“Careful, Jordan, you’ll make her sick!” Laci gently scolded.

“Can’t help it, I’m proud of my girl,” Jordan replied. He dropped a kiss on Laci’s head. “I’m proud of both my girls.”

“Would everyone like to go out for pizza?” Ethan said, checking his watch. “It’s a little early for dinner, but it’d save us all from cooking.”

“If I don’t have to cook, I’m all in,” Billie said.

“Come off it, Ethan does the cooking,” Tessa teased. “But I could go for pizza now that you mention it.”

“Aye, us too,” Jordan said, setting Daphne back on her feet.

“Pizza it is!” Jamie said.

They picked a place and headed to their cars. Jamie and Tessa retrieved their cooler and lifted it into the boot. Sliding into the driver’s seat, Jamie reached over and took Tessa’s hand.

“Happy?” Tessa asked.

“So happy,” Jamie said, and she wasn’t just talking about the pizza.

They kissed. The same way they kissed a million times before. The same way they would kiss until they were wrinkled and gray. The same way they would kiss when their lives slowed to a stop and they were at peace together at last.