“Yeah,” Imogen said excitedly, looking from Gabby to Nora, and then to Sammy-Jo Costa. “I can’t believe you’re all here.”
“We heard there was a player worth looking at.” Nora winked at her. “Nora Brady,” she said, holding out a hand to Imogen, then to Billy and Rosa. “This is Sammy-Jo—”
“Costa,” Imogen finished for her, a little starstruck.
“Alright,” Sammy-Jo said, grinning mischievously at them. “You played a blinder today.”
“Thanks.” Imogen blushed.
“Indeed,” Gabby said. “And I was thinking you might like to come along to the Annex and do some training with the academy team…maybe have a look around and see what you think.”
“Are you offering me a trial for Harriers?”
“I guess you could call it that. But in all honesty, I’ve seen enough today to be pretty sure we might be your next move…that is, if you’re serious about the sport.” Gabby smiled. “Tuesday afternoon?”
“I’ve got school.” Imogen slumped.
Billy stepped forward. “She’ll be there Tuesday. Time?”
“After lunch. We can do the tour and then you can jump in with training for the afternoon.”
“Good luck,” Nora said as they all turned to walk away.
“Won’t need it, though,” Sammy-Jo added, waving.
Imogen stood in silence.
“How exciting is that?” Billy said. Rosa was frowning. “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t just take her out of school.”
“Course we can,” Billy said. “It’s not like she’s skiving off—this is an opportunity. They’ll understand, and if they don’t…tough.”
Imogen grinned. “You mean it? I can go?”
“Nothing and nobody will be getting in the way of you and your dreams. Like Ms Dean said, if you’re serious about this game, and we’ve just witnessed your talent for it, then yes, you can go,” Billy said.
“Mum?” Imogen turned to Rosa. “Can I?”
Rosa glanced back and forth between them, smiled slowly, and nodded. “Yes, of course.”
Spotting Robbie, Imogen said, “I’ll be right back.”
As she ran and got further away, Rosa spun around to Billy and glared. “Don’t you ever do that again. You do not get to make decisions like that for her without consulting me first.”
“I just—”
“No,” Rosa said firmly. “That’s the problem—you just didn’t think and you made a decision that wasn’t yours to make. You put me in a bind. We should have discussed it and decided together. Instead, you put me in the corner of agree or be the bad guy. That was unfair, Billy.”
She watched as Imogen jumped around with Robbie, excited teens happy for each other.
Billy ran both hands through her hair. “God, you’re right. I’m so sorry, that was… I didn’t think, I got carried away with it all. I was excited for her and—”
“You didn’t think I might be too? That still doesn’t mean we just make decisions without talking it over. This is exactly why we fell apart before.”
“That’s not fair, Rosa,” Billy protested.
“Isn’t it?”
