“Go, Maia!”someone shouted.
Tears pricked Maia’s eyes as she spotted Isabella, her husband, and their son.As she scanned faces, it felt as if half of Middlemarch had come to watch her play.Her heart beat faster, and her hands trembled, but her smile was full of happiness.No one had ever supported her like this before.
“Quite the cheer squad,” someone muttered, their tone snarky.
Maia frowned, but the caustic player now wore a bland expression.She met Jan’s gaze, and the other woman shrugged.Maia let the sarcasm wash over her.She felt fit and was ready to give one hundred percent effort.
The whistle blew.Maia focused and fell into the zone.Rebecca, Jan, and Zara were in top form, and they played more like a team.
Maia hooked the ball from the back of a scrum and fed it to the backs, the speed taking the other team by surprise.Jan crossed the line to score.
Maia leaped at her friend and hugged her hard.“Great job.”
That was the first of their three tries.When the halftime whistle blew, they led 21-3.
“Excellent,” Rose said.“More of that, please.Maia, you’re off.Yvonne, you’ll take her place.”She mentioned two other position shuffles and offered advice.Then it was time for the second half.
Maia took the empty seat next to the reserves.
“How’s the head, Maia?”Cameron asked.
“I feel great.”And it was the truth.
“You played an excellent game.Check with the team doctor next week,” Cameron said.“If you’re not experiencing side effects, we can get you signed off to play a full game.”
“Thank you,” Maia said.
“Excellent game, but don’t get comfortable in my position,” Amanda said with a smile from the seat beside her.
Maia laughed.“I won’t.”The team was still playing well, although their backline had a hole, the player out of position.If she could see it, she was sure the opposition could.
Yep, they’d seen it, and one of their forwards surged through and scored a try.
Finally, the end whistle blew.
“A win.Not pretty, but we’ll take it.”Rose stood.“Good game, Maia.Keep that up.We’ll see you at training next week.”
Maia rose.“Thank you.”
“Amanda, I want you to come to training.Make sure you get the sign-off from the anger management people; otherwise, you can’t play once your stand-down period ends.”
Amanda gave a stiff nod.“I let down you and the team.It won’t happen again.”With a wave, she set off for the car park.
Rose and Cameron followed Amanda off the field, and Maia jogged over to Henry and her cheer squad.Henry came to meet her, sweeping her into his arms.Levi was a few steps behind.
“Maia, you do play rugby,” Levi said.
“I told you.”
She turned back to Henry, but Levi tugged on her jacket.
“Maia,” he said.“Will you help me train?”
Her gaze met Henry’s, and he gave a tiny nod, telling her this would be okay with Jacey and Megan.“We can arrange that.”He was still young, but she’d already noted how active the boy was.She thought he might keep up during a run.
“Yay!”Levi shouted and ran off to tell his friends.
Henry slipped his arm around her shoulders, and they ambled to their Middlemarch cheer squad.
