Page 35 of The Hellion and the Captain (Scandals and Scores #2)

Chapter Thirty

S ince her teammates already knew her identity, Emmaline declined joining them in the bathhouse, instead finding Lily, who stood outside the bathhouse door, waiting to wrap her in a gentle embrace as soon as she saw her.

“Oh, Emmaline,” she said, her eyes wide. “What a game. Are you all right? What did your brothers say? Congratulations on winning the game! Oh, my goodness, it is all too much.”

They laughed together as Emmaline nodded.

“It is a lot at once, isn’t it?” she said.

“I am fine, although I will have a sore shoulder for a while.” Rhys was still carefully watching her, so she didn’t want to say how much it was paining her.

The doctor had been right. Running had only made it all the worse, but it was still worth every bit of extra pain.

“My brothers were not pleased and basically threatened me with losing my freedoms. And thank you.”

Lily nodded. “How did the doctor treat you with the rest of the team there? ”

“Well, that is a story in itself,” Emmaline said, biting her lip as it was becoming harder to tell the story with the throbbing pain. Rhys seemed to understand as he quickly explained to Lily the team’s discovery of her secret.

“We should go home — wherever that means to you,” he said to Emmaline, concern on his face, and she shook her head.

“I would like us both to have this moment with the club,” she said. “I have a change of clothes. My own clothing, as Emmaline. Since the team knows, once they are finished, I will change and let’s go to the pub — at least for a short time.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I am.”

Lily helped her once the other men had left, promising to see her shortly, and soon enough, they were pushing through the heavy green door of the familiar red brick building.

Emmaline wasn’t surprised that her brothers hadn’t taken Rhys up on his invitation to join them, although she was eager and happy to meet Rhys’s parents. He didn’t hide the fact that he and Emmaline were more than friends.

His mother leaned in, lowering her voice. “Were you on the football field?”

Emmaline exchanged a glance with Rhys. “Why, yes, actually I was.”

“Good for you,” his mother said with a smile, and Emmaline could see where that part of Rhys that had accepted her and helped her came from.

His father had clearly passed down his silent gruffness, for he didn’t say much during their conversation, although Emmaline caught him eyeing his son proudly more than once.

“To our newest recruit!” Tommy called out as he stood from the table, a glass lifted in the air. “Who led us to become FA Cup champions!”

Emmaline’s cheeks heated as she waved away his words .

“Oh, Tommy, I hardly think?—”

“Just say thank you,” came Rhys’s whispered voice in her ear as he raised his glass along with the rest of the players.

“Thank you,” she finally said, dipping her head and raising her own glass. “To all of Manchester Central — a true team if I have ever seen one.”

The men cried out loudly in response, and Emmaline nearly hid her face in her glass as she drank with them.

It had helped lesson the pain, but she knew that while they had become champions and could now move forward with their lives, there was still so much they needed to address. She glanced over at Rhys, who stared at her adoringly.

She had a feeling, however, that they could handle it – together.

Rhys had hated watching Emmaline walk into her house alone.

Despite the late hour, he had offered to bring her home with him, to find somewhere else to stay, or to go into her house with her.

She had gratefully declined all his offers, telling him that it was best this way, as it would create the least amount of resistance for them to achieve what they truly wanted.

Even still, he arrived at the Whitmore residence the next morning earlier than he knew would be considered proper calling hours. He couldn’t wait another moment to speak to her family – particularly her father – and to ensure all was well after their discovery.

He was led into the drawing room, where he found the entire Whitmore family sitting together, tea and scones in front of them.

“Rhys!” Emmaline said enthusiastically, walking over and taking his hand before leading him to sit down next to her on the sofa. “I am so glad to see you.”

“Mr. Lockwood,” her father said, shaking his hand as Rhys looked around him in confusion. He had expected to walk into a tense atmosphere, one in which he and Emmaline would have to defend themselves and their actions, but instead, her family seemed almost… welcoming.

Well, with the exception of Freddie and Richard, who stared at him with some distaste.

“Emmaline has shared with us quite the story of this football season,” her mother said, sitting back, her hands wrapped around a cup of tea. “I have to say, it was quite the tale. Shocking, although it shouldn’t be, considering this is Emmaline.”

“Do you remember when she was ten?” Freddie interjected. “We lost her for half a day. We looked all over the house and grounds, and she was nowhere to be found.”

“Where was she?” Rhys couldn’t help but ask, even though he really wanted to shout into this strange tableau and ask what had happened, what the family knew of his relationship and intentions toward Emmaline.

“She was hiding in a tree in the woods,” Richard said, chuckling. “We had been playing hide-and-seek. Freddie and I couldn’t find her, so we assumed she had gone inside. When we entered the house, there were cakes of some kind on the table, and we promptly forgot about looking for her.”

“So, she was stuck in the tree?” Rhys asked, slightly horrified.

“Not at all,” Freddie said with a smirk. “She was more than capable of climbing down. She was committed to the game and refused to come out until she was sure she had won.”

Rhys let out a surprised laugh, although the story made sense. That was Emmaline.

“How is your shoulder?” he asked. Her arm was still in a sling across the front of her butter yellow dress, telling him she must have had help in addressing it.

“It is sore, but the physician returned and said I will be just fine.”

“Good,” he said, as Lord Daughtry leaned forward, his expression turning serious.

“I know how much you love football, Emmaline, but we do not want to see you hurt again.”

“I know, Father, and I am sorry for that,” she said, sobering. “I was only hurt because I was targeted by Victor Reeves.”

“Who is to say that you will not continue to be targeted?” Richard asked, frowning.

“I have made a decision, one I want to share with all of you, but most of all, you Rhys.”

“Of course,” he said, waiting, holding his breath.

“None of this should come as a surprise after our previous conversations. I have decided that I will no longer play with Manchester Central. It was the time of my life, and I will forever be grateful for you and all of the other men on the team – for looking out for me, believing in me, and sharing the pitch with me. But Reeves targeted me once, and it is likely that others will as well. It’s a cruel world out there, especially toward women. ”

“However, we keep working toward change,” her mother interjected, her jaw set determinately.

“We will,” Emmaline agreed. “That is why, even though I will no longer play with Manchester Central, I am not going to give up on the women’s club that I would like to see formed.”

“Oh, Emmaline,” Freddie said, but she shook her head stubbornly.

“When I shared all with my family last night,” she told Rhys, “they were concerned about what I had been through, but, thanks to my mother, they understood. ”

She smiled warmly at her mother, who inclined her head.

“That doesn’t mean I liked to see my daughter put in harm’s way, but I can understand what it means to fight for something that means so much to you.”

“My brothers,” Emmaline said with a glare toward them, “were not quite as understanding, but Mother and Father reminded them of how we were raised, and how important freedom is in our family. Isn’t that right?”

Her brothers mumbled their acceptance. It might not be truthful, but Rhys would take it.

“I know that people are not going to be accepting of our football club. At the very least, there will be mixed responses,” Emmaline said, holding her head high.

“But maybe we start small. We play and practice in secret. We find other teams to scrimmage against. And we slowly work toward making change within the families of the women on our club. Of the general public, it will come eventually. It has to. Whether we will see it in our lifetime or not is another story.”

“One step at a time,” her mother said resolutely.

“There is another reason I will no longer be playing for Manchester Central,” Emmaline said, her eyes seeking Rhys as she smiled triumphantly at him.

While Rhys loved every side of her, he thought that he loved this proud, confident, outspoken side the best. “I don’t want to cause any controversy when I marry the captain. ”

“Emmaline!” Her mother’s empty teacup clattered onto the saucer on her lap. “What did you just say?”

Emmaline began laughing as she laced her fingers through Rhys’s. He knew it was more affection than most of her ilk showed, but he would take it.

“I know Rhys probably came here to ask Father for my hand and all of that, but I figured it was easiest just to tell you all, as we already decided.”

“Did you now?” her father said, lifting a brow behind his spectacles. He seemed such a quiet, unassuming man, but Rhys had a feeling that he had always planned for his daughter to marry someone much more… refined than he was.

“I would still like to ask you for her hand in marriage,” Rhys quickly interjected. “I would like to ask all of you, for you all play such a great role in Emmaline’s life. I do not know how much you know about me, but I am happy to share more.”

“I told them that you are a bank manager, and that you do well for yourself,” Emmaline said, placing her hand on his leg and looking at him deeply in his eyes. “But most importantly, I told them I love you, and that you love me back.”

“Do you love her?” her mother asked, and Rhys nodded.

“Very much so.”

“Well, then,” Lady Daughtry said, shrugging her shoulders.

“I am not certain what else we can say. We always told our children they could marry someone they loved, as we did, Michael. I cannot imagine asking them to do any differently. Mr. Lockwood, you seem like a good young man. Emmaline tells me that you have built your career from the education your parents insisted on and became not only a bank manager but the captain of a football club. That is admirable.”

“What we truly care about,” her father said quietly, “is that our daughter is looked after.”

“I vow always to do so,” Rhys said.

“Very well,” her father said. “You have my blessing.”

“Hold on a minute,” Freddie interjected, standing. “You do realize that Lockwood here kept Emmaline’s secret all season? That he allowed her to play on a football pitch with men? How is that looking after her?”

“From the way I see it, he protected her as best he could while allowing her to make her own decisions,” Lady Daughtry said in a tone that was lightly chastising her grown son. “How is that any different from what your father does for me?”

“Well, I—” Freddie began, but then it seemed he couldn’t think of an answer.

“I appreciate what you have done for our daughter, Mr. Lockwood,” Lady Daughtry said. “At this point, we are all trying to say, welcome to the family.”