She was halfway through when her phone, discarded on the floor next to her water bottle, rang. A photo of Jessica and Maisie showed on the screen.
Gregor handed it over. “You can talk and finish your set. I’ll count for you.”
“Hello?” Jessica wouldn’t call unless she needed something. Erin’s schedule was set—training from nine until three thirty, every day, without fail. “Everything okay?”
“You wouldn’t be able to watch Maisie this afternoon, would you? Betty’s called to say she has the flu and so can’t take her, and I have meetings until five.”
“Yeah, sure. Do you need me to take her the rest of the week, too? Flu isn’t exactly a quick recovery.” Erin hoped Betty would be okay. Jessica’s elderly neighbour had been a lifesaver for her when it came to Maisie, delighting in helping out once her own grandkids were too big to need a babysitter.
“Is that all right?”
“'Course. You know I’ll never say no to spending time with her.”
“Thank you, Erin.” Jessica’s relief was palpable. “I don’t know what we’d do without you.”
“I don’t know what you’d do without me, either.” Erin didn’t need to be on FaceTime to know that Jessica was rolling her eyes. “Let her know I’ll be there to walk her back to mine when she finishes.”
“Thank you. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
* * *
Lia was on her way out of the training ground, freshly showered and ready for an afternoon of sitting on the couch watching Netflix, when a gasp stopped her in her tracks.
A young girl stood a few feet away, mouth gaping open. Wearing a school polo shirt and shorts, she couldn’t have been older than eight or nine, a backpack almost as big as her slung over one shoulder and a football tucked under her arm. “You’re Lia Ashcroft!”
“I am.” Lia glanced around but couldn’t see anyone else nearby. None of her teammates had kids this age, but she could be the child of someone who worked at the club. “And you are?”
“Maisie.” The girl spoke without hesitation, her mop of curly brown hair blowing in the wind.
Lia fought the urge to lecture her on stranger danger. Though considering the girl knew exactly who Lia was, she wasn’t technically a stranger. “Do you know someone who works here?”
Maisie nodded. “My aunt. She looks after me sometimes when my mum has to work late. She forgot something inside and told me to wait here 'til she gets it.”
Okay. So Lia didn’t need to call the police to report a missing child.
Maisie wandered closer and peered at Lia with big green eyes. “Can I have your autograph?”
“Sure. You got anything to sign?”
Maisie gave her football a thoughtful look before dropping her bag to the floor and rifling through it. “My English book?” She offered it toward Lia with hopeful eyes.
Lia smiled. “I’m not sure your teacher would appreciate that.”
“I don’t know. She’s an Albion fan—maybe she’d give me extra marks.” Maisie discarded the exercise book, though, and triumphantly held out a piece of paper. “Here!”
As she took it, Lia noticed words on the other side and turned it over. “I don’t think I should sign a permission slip for your trip to the Science and Industry Museum, either.”
“Shoot! I was supposed to give that to my mum yesterday!” Maisie grabbed it and stuffed it back into her bag.
Lia refrained from telling her that probably wasn’t a useful way to ensure she gave it to her mother later.
“There must be something else in here. Hang on.” Maisie leaned further into her bag until she all but disappeared into it.
Lia tried to hide her smile. But it fell from her lips anyway when Erin walked out of reception. Wearing sweatpants and a tight tank top that left her muscular arms bare, she looked better than she did in a football kit.
Which was saying something.
