Page 55 of The Game

Colin took it from his hands and inspected. "Wow, that will be worth something."

Sammy snatched it back and clutched it to his chest. "It's mine."

Colin laughed and held up his hands. "Okay, little guy." My heart pierced when I heard Colin calling him 'little guy'. It was the nickname that Anthony had begun the day Sammy had been born when he'd rung us all from beside a crib and told us the little guy had arrived.

A tear rolled down my cheek. It was all too much. Too many memories, too many worries, too much anxiety, fear that people would think I was never good enough for Sammy when in truth I would die for him if I needed too. He was the nearest thing to having my own child I knew, and for that, I loved him even more.

Blythe stepped forward and flung her arms around me. "Come on," she said, turning me back for the hallway. Colin kept Sammy back, talking about the card that had been signed by a man I'd slept with and that there was a good chance I really, really liked. But who I knew wouldn't speak to me tomorrow because the game was more important. "What's wrong?" She asked when we arrived back in the kitchen, and it was clear that the tears weren't going to stop anytime soon.

I did that sob thing when you try and speak and cry at the same time. It was a noise of a farmyard variety.

"I don't want you to take Sammy away from me."

Her hands pushed on my shoulders. "What are you talking about, Alyssa?"

"You said," I brushed the back of my hand at my face, dashing at the droplets of water. "You said you were going to contest the will."

Her eyes widened. "Yes, nearly a year ago."

"But?"

She shook her head. "We were angry, hell we'd just lost our only daughter, but we respect her wishes even though she's not here anymore."

My body sagged. "So you’re never going to take him away from me?"

She looked at me in amazement. "Do you have any idea how much that child loves you? You are all he's talked about all weekend, you and the Lancashire Lion. You're a hero in his eyes."

I flushed. "We're just friends," I assured her.

Her hand landed on my shoulder. "We know what you've given up for our grandson; just make sure that you are happy as well."

I breathed in and out a few times, something very close to how I’d imagine Lamaze breathing sounds. "Oh." And that's all I had to say. The little universe I'd carved out for my little guy and me, exploded into a world of possibilities.

"And you wouldn't mind if I played again?" I'd never considered it as an option. I'd locked the desire so deep within myself that I hadn't given a chance for the idea to develop.

"I thought you were injured?"

My cheeks flamed. "Oh, yes."

Blythe looked at me in horror. "Oh, you crazy child." And she gathered me in her arms and I fell into that strange scent all mothers had that hinted at comfort and understanding and perhaps just a little ridicule.

Later, once I'd made some green tea for myself and located the last of my parents’ bottles of wine so Blythe could have a drink, she straightened herself in her seat. Sammy had been in bed for an hour, but they were still here, talking to me. It was weird, and then it became even weirder.

"We wanted to talk to you, actually, Alyssa," she said. My stomach dropped and tightened into a bowling ball.

"Yes."

"Well we don't want to encroach on your space here, and we know you have a lovely housekeeper who Sammy adores, and we would never want to change that…"

"Yes?" My voice tightened a notch.

"But, well, we are retired, there's nothing tying us to the Midlands. We were wondering if we should look at a house down this way so we can help more. We would love that, and then maybe you could, I don't know..."

A bristle ran along my spine and I dropped my teacup onto the table where it rattled precariously. "Mum and Dad offered as well you know, but we didn't want to upset you."

"I'm sure," her face flickered as she watched me sloshing green tea. "No one is fighting you, Alyssa. You don’t have to be on the defensive all the time."

Weren't they? Because I'd spent the last year thinking that a fight was coming my way and my defences had been constantly up in ways that when I thought about it was entirely absorbing and exhausting.