Bigger Than Beckham (52 page)

“Have you ever seen a more gorgeous pair of
lovebirds, Tony? There’s got to be some world-class beautiful
babies set to come from those spectacular genes.”

Tony cast a glance where Martha directed and
a sardonic smile lifted his lips. “Holly is surely one gorgeous
lady, although not as gorgeous as you. But Nate Carter? With his
ugly mug?”

Martha laughed. It would be too much to ask a
stud like Tony to label another man as gorgeous. “You hush up now,
or I’m going to have to find someone with better manners to escort
me to the wedding tomorrow.”

Tony slipped his arm around her waist and
gave her a possessive squeeze. “Just try it, love, and see what
happens,” he growled in a fake macho voice.

She was more than happy to nestle into his
embrace. In fact, her darn cup of happiness overflowed so much that
it brought joyful tears to her eyes as she surveyed the chattering
group of friends and family that had assembled to celebrate Nate
and Holly’s wedding festivities.

As she and Tony wended their way through the
crowd, her editor, Martin James, elbowed his way straight toward
them through a clump of ballplayers and their wives. Martha gave
her old boss a peck on the cheek as he hugged her tightly. “Glad
you could make it, Papa Bear.”

“Me, too. But, God, it’s colder than my
ex-wife’s heart outside and yet it’s like a damn oven in here.
Probably because ballplayers throw off a lot of heat, especially
when they open their mouths.” Grinning, Martin pulled a white
handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his damp brow. “Still, I
wouldn’t miss this dinner or the wedding. Especially not with my
superstar reporter actually in town for once.”

“Superstar, my ass, you old windbag.” She
turned to Tony and introduced the two men, who shook hands.

“Tony,” Martin said, still pumping his hand,
“I owe you big for bringing Ginny Cross to Martha. Ginny’s a hell
of a courageous woman, and I’m damn glad she’s getting some justice
at last.”

“As am I,” Tony said in a polite, neutral
voice.

“The paper’s never had a feature bought
world-wide, much less two of them,” Martin said. “Not a sports
feature, anyway. Both articles went front page almost
everywhere—Europe, Asia, Australia, you name it. Hell, Martha can
practically write her own ticket from now on, but don’t quote me on
that,” he finished with a sly wink.

Tony nodded. “I’m very proud of Martha. She’s
a consummate professional.”

Martha knew Tony’s concise words were totally
sincere but she couldn’t help wincing a little at the slight edge
that had crept into his tone. Tony had been really proud of Ginny
for letting Martha document her story. When the first article was
published, the one heralding Colton Butler’s comeback, it had
hinted at an even darker side to the famous golfer than his sordid
affairs had already revealed. And after the follow-up article hit,
accusing Colton of continuous spousal abuse over a period of years,
all hell had broken loose. Colton again withdrew from competition,
and his sponsors fled in droves this time. The London Metropolitan
Police had recently launched an investigation, and Martha was
fervently hoping they would judge that there was enough evidence to
lay charges against the abuser.

But in a Hail Mary attempt to salvage
something out of the debacle, Colton had launched a defamation
lawsuit naming the
Post,
Martha and Ginny as respondents.
According to the newspaper’s lawyers, the suit had very little
chance of success since Ginny had documented the abuse in both
diaries and photos that she’d kept locked away in case she ever
needed them to defend herself against Colton. Martha figured Colton
would drop the suit soon enough, especially if the police
investigation resulted in charges.

Tony, of course, had taken grim satisfaction
from seeing Colton brought to his knees. But the personal cost to
Ginny troubled him, as it did Martha. Ginny had stoutly maintained
that she felt a sense of vindication, but Martha and Tony both knew
that this most private of women had suffered greatly after the
sordid details of her tragic married life were splashed over the
front pages, the airwaves and the Internet. As much as Martha took
pride in engineering Colton’s fall, she prayed constantly that time
would confirm they had indeed done the right thing with Ginny.

Anxious to close down the uncomfortable topic
of discussion, Martha gave her editor an apologetic smile. “Excuse
us, Martin, but I need to give that Nate Carter fella a talking-to
right now. Catch you later, okay?”

As Martin mumbled his assent, she took Tony’s
hand and dragged him in her wake toward the bridal couple on the
other side of the room. Holly spotted the two of them immediately
and yanked on Nate’s arm to get his attention.

“Martha!” Holly cried out, and the two women
rushed to embrace each other while Nate and Tony engaged in some
manly back-thumping.

Martha held Holly at arm’s length, taking in
her tall, willowy form. For the rehearsal dinner, Holly had chosen
a simple, knee-length silk sheath in emerald green that blended
perfectly with her lustrous auburn hair and vivid hazel eyes. “You
are simply a vision,” Martha exclaimed with pride and affection.
“The South has produced nothing finer in all its gloried history
than Dr. Holly Bell.”

Holly gave Martha an eye roll though she was
grinning. “Nonsense. That title has always belonged to you, Martha
Winston, and always will.” They both laughed and hugged each other
again.

“Will you two knock off the girl crush
stuff?” Nate interjected. “Geez, you’re marrying me, not her,” he
complained in a faux aggrieved voice. “And I have no intention of
taking Miss Martha Pain in the Ass along on my honeymoon.”

Faking a pout, Holly patted her fiancé’s
cheek. “You’ll have to forgive the poor dear—he tends to get a
little testy when I give him anything less than one hundred percent
of my attention.” Then she turned to Tony. “You certainly look as
handsome as always, Mr. Branch. God love you, but you must never
let this amazing woman get away. I want to be following Martha down
the aisle soon, just like she’s doing for me tomorrow.”

Tony looked at Martha with mock alarm, his
eyes laughing.

“Hold on, now,” Martha said before he could
open his mouth. “Holly Bell, whatever could have given you the
notion I’d have this British hooligan if he asked?” She poked her
elbow into Tony’s muscled abs.

Holly put a finger to her chin as she adopted
a thoughtful expression. “Well, I guess it’s because I know for
certain that you
do
have a brain inside that lovely head.
Oh, and because there are several million women eager to jump right
into those wicked heels of yours if you don’t. The man is smoking
hot, for heaven’s sake!”

Tony actually blushed, which was Nate’s cue
to burst into laughter. The two men began ribbing each other while
Holly and Martha did a quick catch up on the day’s events.

But Martha’s good cheer soon gave way to a
soft groan when she spotted Dave Dembinski, the Philadelphia
Patriots’ general manager, heading their way. She regarded the guy
as a pompous blowhard, and had been surprised to learn Nate had
invited him to the wedding given their sometimes tense working
relationship. But Nate had told her he couldn’t avoid inviting
Dembinski since he wanted to have several of the other managerial
and front office staff in attendance.

Dembinski was accompanied by a dazzling,
curvaceous blonde who looked about twenty years younger than him.
Martha didn’t recognize her, and figured she must be another in
Dembinski’s revolving stable of girlfriends.

The GM clapped Nate on the back before
shaking his hand. “Congratulations, Carter. Gotta hand it to you,
you’re one lucky bastard to be marrying a woman of Dr. Bell’s
quality.”

“No, I’m the lucky one, Dave,” Holly said
with a smile that held a fine edge of contempt. Nate frowned but
managed to hold his tongue, which Martha knew was a major feat.

Dembinski gave a phony chuckle as he turned
to Martha. “Hey, Martha. Long time no see.” He reached a hand out
to Tony. “And you’re Tony Branch, right? I’m Dave Dembinski,
Patriots’ GM. Really good to meet you,” he said with grating
enthusiasm.

Tony politely shook his hand and murmured the
appropriate noises.

Dembinski nodded toward the woman standing
quietly by his side. “Nate, you know Taylor, of course. Everyone
else, I’d like to include Taylor Page, our new assistant general
manager.”

Martha did a double-take. The new babe didn’t
exactly fit the mold of the assistant GM’s she’d run across.

“I’m so pleased to meet all of you,” Page
said with a warm smile after the introductions were made. “Holly,
you’re an absolute goddess in that gorgeous, elegant dress. I can’t
wait to see your wedding gown tomorrow.”

As Holly thanked Page for the compliment,
Martha checked out the new AGM. And she wasn’t the only one doing
exactly that. In a tight LBD and skyscraper heels, the blue-eyed
young woman was something of a knockout with her silky, blond hair
that flowed over one shoulder, and her slim-waisted figure appeared
to be drawing quite a bit of male attention. Nate and Tony were
among those discreetly appreciating Ms. Page’s considerable
assets.

Martha couldn’t resist slipping a hand under
Tony’s suit coat and giving his firm butt a pinch. Her beau shot
her a laughing look then switched his attention back to the
conversation.

“I brought Taylor as my plus-one, so she
could meet some folks,” Dembinski said. “She just joined our
management team at the beginning of the month. I figured a brainiac
might be able to help a dinosaur like me get into the twenty-first
century.”

Martha swore that Page gave Nate a little eye
roll.

“It’s great to see you again, Taylor,” Nate
said with a gracious smile. “By the way, Dave, I know Jack was
looking for you earlier,” he added, referring to Patriots’ manager
Jack Ault. “I think he’s in the other room.”

Dembinski frowned, seeming to take the hint
that he’d interrupted a conversation. “Well, I suppose I’d better
find him, then.” As he guided Page away, she smiled and fluttered a
hand in farewell.

“I gather you don’t much care for that man,”
Tony said to Nate.

Nate snorted. “Dembinski’s an arrogant
jackass. He almost drove my buddy Jake off the team a couple of
seasons ago.”

“I’ll tell you the whole gruesome story
sometime,” Martha said to Tony. “But Nate’s right—the guy’s a turd
of a human being, even though he’s been a halfway decent general
manager.”

“Halfway is right,” Nate muttered. “Though I
guess I have to give him credit for hiring Taylor. She’s got a lot
of potential, as far as I can tell. But, speaking of management,
let’s move on to a more pleasant subject. Man, Tony, you’ve been
doing one hell of a job with Martha’s sad-sack soccer club.”

Martha threw a quick left jab that connected
solidly with Nate’s bicep. “If it wasn’t your wedding, Carter…” She
let her voice trail off menacingly.

“Ouch.” Nate winced dramatically, holding his
arm. “Hell, six wins and a draw out of your last eight games—that’s
pretty much a miracle by anybody’s standards, bro. What’s your
secret?”

Martha rolled her eyes as Tony gave Nate a
bland smile. “Dumb luck, I suppose,” Tony said. “Football’s a funny
game. Anything can happen on any given night.”

She appreciated Tony’s attempt to downplay
his almost miraculous achievement, but Martha wasn’t going to let
him get away with it.

“Dumb luck, my behind,” she scoffed. “Tony’s
turned that bunch of under-achievers inside out, y’all. He brought
Owen Clark over from England to be assistant manager, and leaned
real hard on Sam Brockton to adopt Owen’s attacking style of play.
Brockton got the message, and so did the players. We scored
eighteen goals in those last eight games, compared to nine in the
previous eight matches.”

“Gave up a few more, too,” Tony said with a
grimace, but she could tell he was flattered, as well as
justifiably proud of the team’s success.

“Sure, but we kept winning,” Martha
countered. “And next year’s looking promising, too. Season ticket
sales jumped as soon as Tony got on board, and then really took off
once the team started playing more exciting soccer.”

“I’m sure your father would have been
terribly proud of you, Martha,” Holly said in a soft voice, giving
her arm an affectionate squeeze.

“I agree,” Tony said. “But do you know what
else our fans are happy about?”

“What?” Holly asked as Martha started to roll
her eyes, knowing what was coming.

“They’re practically delirious because we
promised we’d sell decent beer at the stadium next year instead of
that disgusting Steam Train swill,” Tony said. “I figure that
promise sold more season tickets than anything the squad did down
on the pitch.”

Nate and Holly both laughed, but Holly
quickly changed to subject. “On a more serious note, is it true
what Nate’s been telling me, Martha? That you’re selling your condo
because you’re not coming back to Philadelphia?”

That was indeed true, although Martha hadn’t
told many people yet since the decision was so new. But she and
Tony had finally reached the point in their relationship that
called for plans—solid, long-term plans. Only last week they’d
agreed to divide their time for the foreseeable future between his
London home and her father’s house in Jacksonville.
Her
house, now, she’d reminded herself. Hers and Tony’s. She already
had ideas rattling around in her head for a major renovation and
redecoration project, one that would turn the cool, formal house
into a welcoming home.

Their plan meant they would rarely have to be
parted for any length of time, and that suited her to a tee. Living
arrangements would have to be fluid for a while until the Thunder
situation was fully stabilized, and until Martha figured out
exactly how she was going to focus her career moving forward.
They’d spent the past three months jetting back and forth between
Florida and London in a whirlwind of excitement that had seen their
relationship grow into a full and loving commitment. And while it
continued to be a work in progress, she and Tony had agreed that
whatever happened and wherever her career took her, they would
never let themselves be separated for long. The only thing she knew
for sure was that she was done with covering a full-time sports
beat for the
Post.
So, as much as she loved both the
apartment and the city, it no longer made sense for her to keep the
condo.