Page 73 of Playing for Possession
I slid my hand along the couch toward her. “You will feel good playing football again.”
She shrugged. “Maybe.”
I’d seen the smile and determination on her face when she belted down that pitch with that group of kids before she took atumble. She had to be driven to get to where she was today. “It’s not a maybe. It’s a definitely. How are you feeling about going back to training?”
It was an unpalatable subject, but it couldn’t be avoided. We had one more day until we had to go home.
Joanie stretched her arms above her head and yawned. “Honestly? I’m nervous.”
“It will be OK. I promise you. I’m going to be there with you to support you.”
“You are?”
“Yes. Every session. I’ll hang around after the men’s training sessions so I can watch you.”
Her eyes widened. “You don’t have to do that. You’ll be so bored.”
“I won’t be bored if I’m watching you. I’ll be your cheerleader on the sideline.”
Tears glistened in her eyes. “You will?”
“Of course. Why are you crying?”
“Because you don’t know how much that would mean to me, Kieran.”
I kissed her head and pulled her in tighter. “Then it’s happening. I’ll be there at every training session and every match. I promise. I wouldn’t miss it.”
Chapter 32
Joanie
Kieran pulled off the main road into an empty parking lot.
“I thought we were going to the beach?”
He opened my car door. “We are. Just a quick treat first.”
I stepped out of the car and peered at the billboard of a bright red-and-green parrot ahead.
“The zoo?”
He grabbed my hand. “That’s right.”
A rush of excitement went through me. We walked to the ticket office, but the entrance area was oddly quiet. A café sat empty and there wasn’t a soul in the gift shop. It should have been humming with tourists, but there were only smiling staff in khaki uniforms.
“Where is everyone?”
Kieran slipped his hand around mine. “It’s ours for the day.”
“The whole zoo?”
“Yeah.”
A whole zoo for the day together was a dream come true. “Are you serious?”
“It’s one from your list, isn’t it? I arranged for us to look around, and then you get to feed the animals later.”
I glanced at him in surprise. That had been a fleeting mention. We’d spent so much time on the spicy parts of the list, I hadn’t realized he’d been paying attention to the other parts.
