Chapter Seven
“What did you do after I dropped your clothes off this morning?” Christina asked with nosy interest.
Susan checked the expressions of the nearby people and decided she was safe. “We went shopping. Tyler wanted to buy art supplies and a present for his daughter. By the time we had a late breakfast, there wasn’t that much time before the game.”
“Tyler is an artist?”
“Yeah.” Susan recalled the drawing he’d done of her, the one currently tucked inside her handbag. “He’s good.”
“How do you know?”
“How do you know what?” Maggie asked as she joined them on the sideline. She wore a green beanie and her breath emerged with a puff of steam. “Julia and Ryan had a last minute appointment to view a house. They’ll be here in about half an hour.”
“I hope this one suits,” Christina said. “They’ve been looking for ages.”
“I’ve got a good feeling about this house,” Susan said. “My spidey senses tell me so.”
Christina snorted. “We’ll see.” She grinned at Maggie. “Susan needs to spill some details about her date.”
“We had a very nice time,” Susan said in a prim voice. “The game’s starting.” She scanned the faces and bodies, finally recognizing Tyler. He ran up and down the field, doing warm-up drills with the rest of Connor’s team. A spurt of anxiety filled her for a moment until she saw how competent he was with the football in hand.
“At least it’s not pouring with rain,” Maggie said. “Connor said I didn’t have to come, but I know how much he likes me to watch his games. After the last one, I was soaked by the end of the first half. I got a spanking for not using my common sense.”
Susan grinned while Christina said, “I don’t want to hear about your love life. You and Julia have hunky men to hold you in the middle of the night. Now Susan has a sexy farmer. There’s no justice in this world.”
Maggie giggled, a joyful and intoxicating sound that pulled an answering grin from Susan.
“Your birthday is coming up soon. Maggie, Julia and I can chip in and buy you a new battery operated boyfriend,” Susan said.
Christina let out a huff. “I knew you got some last night.”
“Never said I didn’t.”
“Quiet,” Maggie said. “The game has started.”
Usually Susan attended to games to keep Maggie company and to support Connor since they’d been friends for a long time.The Tight Five ruled again. She thought of her circle of friends and the nickname for their group, the name of Tight Five taken from a rugby term where five players bound in a tight formation to face the opposition team. They were like that. Four women and one man—friends—who used to work together at the accountancy firm and who maintained the friendship away from the job. Although at the rate they were adding husbands and friends, they’d soon manage an entire rugby team.
“Tyler knows what he’s doing,” Maggie said.
“He’s certainly does,” Susan said.
Maggie and Christina turned to smirk at her.
“Glad to hear it,” Christina said. “Are you going to spend tonight with him?”
Julia and Ryan hurried up to their group, followed by Caleb.
“Have we missed much of the game?” Julia’s blonde hair flowed around her shoulders and healthy color filled her face. She’d bloomed since Ryan’s return.
“About ten minutes,” Christina said. “How did the house hunting go?”
Julia beamed. “It’s perfect. Five bedrooms, open plan with a few acres of land and some outbuildings we can renovate for Ryan’s music.”
“What about you, Ryan?” Susan asked. “Did you like it?”
“The property is just what we were looking for,” Ryan said with a wink at his wife. “Plenty of room for kids and a nanny and for the guys to crash if we end up working late.”
“Wait—kids?” Maggie asked with a rush of excitement. “Are you…?” She trailed off and Susan knew she didn’t want to upset Julia.
