Page 104 of Play On

“Are you going to run at it?” Noah asks.

“I want to see how much power I have, and I think a bit of a start will help me out.”

“I see. Well, I’m ready when you are.”

I take a deep breath. I have no idea what will happen when I kick this ball, but as long as I don’t miss it, or land on my bum after kicking it, I’ll consider it a success.

I run up to it and put all my might into the kick. At the very same moment, I hear Nicholas yell, “DARBY!” and Noah turns his head to look at him.

And in that split second, I drive that football straight into Noah’s privates.

He immediately drops to the ground and covers his crotch with his hands.

My hand flies to my mouth. “Oh no!”

I hurry over, dropping down beside him, as he writhes on the ground, wincing.

“I’m so, so sorry! I just wanted to see how much power was in my leg!”

I hear Nicholas and Amelia hurrying towards us, and Noah stares up at me. “I hope you didn’t want children,” he quips.

GAH.

“Noah, are you okay?” Amelia asks with concern in her voice.

He exhales and sits up. “Yeah. I’ll be fine.”

“Vi, just a bit of brotherly advice: Trying to wreck the crown jewels is not a way to make a great impression,” Nicholas says, grinning.

“Oh, shut up!” I cry, blushing. “Noah, I’m truly sorry.”

“It’s my fault. I’m a footballer, I should have been paying attention.”

“No, it’s Lord Knobship’s fault over here,” Amelia says, nudging Nicholas with her shoulder. “He’s the one who distracted you for no good reason.”

“I had a good reason. I wanted to talk to him.”

Noah draws a breath of air and stands up. I still feel horrible, but when he pulls down on the brim of my bucket hat and smiles at me, I feel infinitely better. “It’s all good,” he says cheerfully.

“Well, since you’re both here, we could hang out for a bit and all go to the pub together,” Nicholas suggests.

“I’ll drive. I have to drive us back to the cottage anyway. That way you all can drink,” Noah says.

“I’ll take you up on that. It’s been a long day of finding new leaks from the storms last night.”

I grimace. I don’t know how Nicholas will ever find joy in running this estate with the endless list of repairs, but he seems to have been born for it.

“Working here has been so eye-opening,” Amelia adds, looking at Nicholas with nothing but admiration in her eyes. “He works so hard. And I had no idea how many leaks a home like this could have at one time. And I mean none, and I even live on an estate.”

I watch them with a smile on my face as Noah engages them in conversation about Wintersmith Hall. Nicholas and Amelia are both animated in talking about their day, with Nicholas affectionately putting his arm around Amelia’s shoulders as they talk. Nicholas and Amelia were made for each other and have been since they met as teenagers. Once again I’m reminded of the stupid misunderstanding—and being too young to have the maturity to discuss and handle it—which kept them apart for years.

Yet here they are. It’s funny how life sorts things out like that.

I wasn’t meant to find my person that young. Or even at St. Andrews, despite going out on a number of dates. I didn’t find anyone back here in Dorset, or on my many trips to London.

Then Noah made a comment about pick and mix during a barbecue, and my whole world turned upside down.

Now I’ll see if more pieces of our puzzle fit together. Nicholas is my twin. Anyone I fall for would have to get on with him. There’s no debate about that. We are half of each other, and I cannot imagine being with a man he didn’t like.

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