Chapter 12 - Molly

“So, I have some interesting news. I’m not sure if it’s good or bad,” my insurance agent, Amber Fletcher, said. She was the cousin of my realtor, Autumn. “Gerald and Lisa Portillo, who own Uncle P’s Dry Cleaning, have decided not to rebuild. They are going to take their insurance pay out and are moving to Florida. As you know, they have the lot next to your bakery. I talked to Autumn, and if you are interested in buying it, I would make an offer quickly. That way, you could have a larger bakery, not to mention a bigger living space above. She also mentioned that you could buy both lots, just have more living space above, and rent out the second lot for more income.”

I looked at Tyler and sighed. That was a lot of information to take in and a big decision to make.

“With two babies, more living space would be nice,” my husband mentioned. “How much more are we talking? I make a little more in Double A and don’t spend very much.”

“Actually, not much since it’s just the lot,” Amber said, gesturing to the contractor. “The out-of-pocket expenses will be discussed when you talk to Mr. Stefan McDonald here.”

“Have you ever thought about just taking the pay out?” Tyler asked, out of nowhere.

“What?” I asked, almost in shock.

“I don’t know. It’s nothing we’ve ever discussed before, but maybe you could rebuild your bakery in Bristol and be closer to me.”

“What happens when you move up to triple A in Bluffton and play for the Storm? And then when you get called up to the Coyotes? Do I move my bakery to every city? What if you get traded to the St. Louis Vikings? Do I move my bakery there?” I was so angry I was practically shaking.

Tyler held his hands up in surrender. “Molly, baby, I am so sorry! I didn’t think…”

“No. You didn’t.” All of a sudden, my emotions were all over the place, and I felt tears well up in my eyes. “Do you know how badly I would love to be closer to you all the time? Don’t you know how much I miss you? If it were just us, I would say to the heck with it all and get a food truck to follow you around from stadium to stadium. But we have these babies to think about. I want them to have a stable home. I want to rebuild here, Tyler. I feel at home here. This is central to all the Coyotes’ minor league teams, which just makes sense. I know it hasn’t been that long but…”

Tyler stood up during my speech and was now kneeling in front of my chair. “Molly, shhhh, I’m sorry.” He kissed my tear-soaked cheeks. “I wasn’t thinking. I just want you close to me, too. I was being selfish. After almost losing you in the tornado, I just want you as close to me as possible. I’m sorry I upset you. I’m glad you feel comfortable here, and we’ll make this your dream bakery. We’ll find a way to buy both lots and have a bigger home upstairs for our babies, okay? We’re going to need the room because I want at least five kids. You can design it however you want. If I have to borrow money from Landon, or we have to take out loans, I want you to have your bakery and our home.”

“Five kids?” I cried out. “Who is giving birth to all five of these babies of yours?”

“You are!” Tyler said with a chuckle. “Seven is my lucky number, and I want a family of seven, including us.”

I wiped away my tears and leaned into him for a hug. Man, these pregnancy emotions were really all over the place. “I love that. I will give you five kids, Tyler Stone.”

“So, if I’m hearing you guys correctly, you want me to call my cousin and have her put an offer on the Portillo lot?” Amber asked.

“Oh my gosh!” I exclaimed and covered my face in embarrassment. I had totally forgotten we were in a conference room and having a meeting with the insurance agent and contractor. “That was so unprofessional. I am so sorry!”

“I have a six month old baby at home, honey. I know how pregnancy hormones are,” Amber said. “And let me tell you, I wish your bakery had been open to make the cupcakes for my baby shower. The ones my mom got were not good at all. I am so relieved to hear that you want to rebuild here.”

“You know, Pen’s cousin wanted us to make her wedding cake. Maybe we could make cakes and other bakery orders out of Pen’s kitchen until Cupcake Curveball reopens. It would be a way to keep income coming in. That way, we could pay for the second lot.”

“Well, the insurance policy you got with Mrs. Fletcher was a very good policy. We can do a lot with the amount they are giving you. You will get some extra from the Tornado Relief Fund, and you have the option to take out loans, if needed,” Stefan McDonald said as he looked over the paperwork in front of him. “I have the blueprints from the former Cupcake Curveball, and we can recreate it exactly as it was, or we can start over from scratch. If you are going to expand into the second lot, you will definitely start from scratch. We do have different models you can look at to get ideas.”

“I know I still want two kitchens in the back. That is non-negotiable.”

Tyler’s phone began to ring, and he showed me the caller ID. “It’s Mack. Are you ok if I take this out in the hallway?”

“Of course,” I said. “Hopefully, Nico is awake and doing okay.”

As Tyler went into the hallway, I looked over some of Stefan’s ideas and decided we would definitely do a lot of the same things downstairs. If I were to expand the bakery, I figured I could put in more seating and even a children’s area, like Pen and I had been considering. I couldn’t wait to go over a lot of the ideas with her.

Stefan also told me that his wife, Angie, was an interior decorator and could help with picking out furniture and everything for the apartment upstairs to make it a home. I couldn’t wait to talk to her about making the nursery baseball-themed.

“I just got a text from Autumn, and you’re in for the lot next door,” Amber said. “She’ll work up all the paperwork.”

“Awesome! Thank you so much!”

Tyler came back in the door with a grim look on his face.

“Oh my god! Please, tell me Nico is okay! If he…”

Tyler put his fingers to my lips and shook his head. “He’s alive, don’t worry. But he’s gonna have a hard road ahead of him.” Ty looked down at a piece of paper in his hand that I hadn’t noticed before. “I wrote it down so I’d get all the info correct. The doctors got the results of the scan, and it looks like Nico did hit his head during the tornado. It caused disruption to the blood flow to his cochlear nerve. Because of that, he has lost all of his hearing.”

“Oh my gosh! That poor baby!” I said and hugged my husband. “I’m so relieved he’s okay, but man. He’s lost his mom and his hearing.”

“Mack’s freaking out, and with the team on the road, he wanted…”

“Say no more. Let’s go back to the hospital.”

“This is why I love you,” Ty said and squeezed me tighter to him. “You can stay here and do your planning. Are you okay if I go? I would need to borrow your car. Mack wanted me to stop by his place and gather some of Nico’s toys and clothes that are familiar to him.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?”

“I would love for you to come, but you need to get this stuff worked out because you’ll be coming on the road with me soon. I’ll get my Molly time, then.”

“Give Nico a hug from me,” I told him. “And so you know, I just might stop by and check out those kittens. I think Nico will need one, and I might pick out one for us.”

“I’ll double check with Mack about how he feels about a kitten and let you know. If you find one that you love for us, let’s do it. Make sure it’s okay with Pen, since you are staying with her, but I’m okay with a kitten.”

I squealed with excitement. I leaned up on my tip toes and gave him a kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” he said. “But only one cat!”