Page 341 of Well Played

“Um … it’s not every day that we have a star footballer come to our field, ever to our practices. Do you think he would help us with our kicking? Mr. Liam is one of our all-time favorite players, and he’s even went to the same primary school as us here in Newry too. Now he even plays for Down, just like we all want to. His gran, who runs story time at the library, tells us he is a perfect ... inspurt … ah … ah inspert …”

“You mean inspiration?” Maeve questioned.

“Grand! That’s the word! We’re all so excited to see him in person and not the telly,” Lark piped in. “We didn’t mean to act like such gobshite eejits.”

“Yep, gobshite eejits,” Shona parroted back.

“Lark Murphy! Shona Coyle! Watch your mouths!” Maeve spoke, trying to not giggle at their stand at unity. “I know your mams would wash your mouth out with soap if they heard such language!”

“Sorry Coach Quinn,” the two friends said in unison.

Looking to Liam who was now surrounded by all the girls, Maeve could she he was covering his mouth while his body shook in mirth, listening to the very interesting logical reasons his young fans used to explain their behavior and gain some personal time with their ‘favorite’ player.

“Tell you what ladies,” Liam spoke to the group after stopping his own silent chuckling. “If your coach doesn’t mind, I would love to.”

Just like earlier, all twenty girls started talking at once. “Tell us ... what do we do? … This is the best day of our lives! … I can’twait to tell my older brother that Liam McCann was teaching us at practice!”

Maeve waved her arm toward the center of the field. “Please, be my guest. You have free rein for today’s practice.”

“Wicked.”

For the next forty minutes, excited pandemonium still ruled amongst the girls as Maeve and Liam worked together to teach each girl one on one and in small groups ways to tackle their newest football skills. She could see in the slight gestures he exhibited with the girls and occasional looks in her direction that Oonagh could be right, that he might still care about her and wasn’t the same man she watched shatter her dreams six years ago. Could she have made an error by holding on to her hurt feelings and never allowing him to explain what had really happened as he wanted to do now?

Deep in her heart, Maeve recognized the need to be honest with herself and admit that she was scared to discuss with Liam what had went wrong with their relationship and trying to understand after so many years had passed that both truth and reality were never partners working together. You had to ensure that you felt compelled to view any relationship at any given time, either through rose-colored glasses or sun-blocking shades.

By reviewing her past, Maeve now understood what was required in helping her to accept a certain amount of humiliation needed to face up to all the scariest parts of her memories with Liam. Once she faced those, she knew the genuine work would begin to rebuild the reality of what really might have happened between them. Only time would tell.

***

As Liam finished posing for one last selfie with seven-year-old Fiona and her mum, he hugged the spunky red-headed girl, giving her a few parting words of encouragement to keeppracticing her kicking skills. He had an enjoyable morning working with the kids, something he’d missed doing with his own two nephews and niece before they had moved away with this sister and brother-in-law to America. He tried to visit them as often as possible, but sometimes his game schedule didn’t allow the extra time needed to travel back and forth to the US.

Glancing at his watch, he wanted to get a move on. The football practice with her team had been fun and an unexpected bonus when he arrived at the field looking for her. Swallowing a sliver of his Irish pride, he ambled over to where Maeve was busy loading up the boot of her car, chatting with a few of the football moms.

“Maeve, do you have a minute?”

Saying goodbye to the moms, Maeve closed the boot on her car before turning to look at him.

“Sure, what can I do for you? Thank you again for helping with the girls. I haven’t seen them so excited and motivated. Maybe I should start incorporating their other favorite players into our skills lessons.”

“I think that is a brilliant idea. I know how it felt at their age when I met my favor player. Changed my life in more ways than I could have ever imagine both for the good and the bad.”

“Hmm, that’s a story I’ve never heard. Who was your favorite player that changed your life? We all have one.”

Looking down at his feet before answering, he gazed back up with a sheepish smile, as his hair fell across his forehead and into his line of vision.

“Your dad.”

“Really–my dad?”

“Yeah. That’s a story for another time. He probably hasn’t even mentioned that we still talk from time to time.”

“No, never mentioned it. Both my parents know you’re a sore spot, and we make it a habit to not talk about you. But I’m not his keeper; so, he can talk to whomever he wants to.”

“Good. Well, anyway, I wanted to ask if you are free this afternoon; go grab a bite? We’ve been avoiding each other and need to have a chat to clear the air between us. Are you free?”

“Sure, we can have lunch.”

“Brillant. Why don’t we just take my car, and I can drop you back afterwards?”

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