Chapter 11

Eleven

MARIA

C harlotte picked me up from the bakery, and as I slid into the passenger seat, I felt the cold immediately seep through my coat. The storm had come out of nowhere, turning the damp air biting. Shivering I'm grateful for the heated seats and even more grateful for Charlotte's company.

She tells me about her day at the salon with Lia, and points to a little gift bag near my feet. "Lia got some new product in that needs testing. That's for you."

"Oh you two are the best." I peek inside and find a eucalyptus and sage relaxation kit.

We drive to our favorite seafood spot, for a quick dinner before book club. The restaurant is near the pier and has the best fish and chips I've ever had. Something that is absolutely divine on a day like today. Charlotte, ever the indulgent one, ordered a plate of crab legs.

As we're settling in to eat our food, the server approaches with a basket of rolls, his eyes glued to Charlotte. Not that I blame him, she's stunning with her newly dyed bombshell blonde hair and perfected soft glam makeup. It's not over the top, but instead highlights her natural beauty. Even without trying, she's the kind of beautiful that draws people in.

"Can I get you ladies anything?" he asks.

"To-go boxes would be great," Charlotte says sweetly, not missing a beat, "We have some friends that couldn't make it and asked us to grab some."

She puts in the order and the server walks away to put in the order.

"Who's that for?" I ask.

"Hannah and her friend. They'll meet us at the bookstore."

"Do we need to get something for the bodyguard too?" I tease.

Her eyes light up, and her smile turns dreamy, "I hope so. I haven't seen him yet."

"Because they didn't ambush you," I grumble, pushing the basket toward her.

The unexpected interrogation when I got home from the bakery was unpleasant. Except for Cinnamon, she'd snuggled right up beside me and put her head in my lap like she belonged there. If it hadn't been for Cinnamon I would have shoved my friends out of my apartment just to put a stop to their desperate need for gossip about my time with Lou. Needless to say, they were all quite put out, there wasn't anything scandalous for me to share.

Laughing happily, Charlotte takes the basket and pulls out a roll. "Some days, I really love that you are a bread snob."

"What's the point of having a bakery if I can't be picky?"

"True." She pulls apart her roll. "So, is he hot?"

I pick up a fry from off my plate and dip it into my ketchup. "Who?"

"Oh, you have it bad," Charlotte sing-songs. "How was your night with Lou?"

"Not you too!" I groan and drop my fry out of frustration. "Nothing happened. I grabbed cake from my bakery, he took me home."

"But you were holding hands."

"Because he was dragging me out of there." I snap.

She sighs in disappointment. "Really? That's it?"

"Yes. I'm sick of people thinking it's more than it is. Even the lady at the arena warned me to watch my back around him."

"What lady?"

"Doesn't matter." I pick up my fork, but my appetite is gone. "I'm just so tired of people thinking that there's more going on between me and him when there's not."

She's quiet for a moment, before leaning forward, her expression serious. "But he's been hounding you for a year to eat at your bakery, and you gave him two slices of cake at the party. Willingly."

"I wasn't going to ruin Lia's party," I say defensively. "Besides, he's stopped hounding me as you put it. I don't even remember the last time I came home to lemons at my door."

But as I think about it more, I realize it was sometime around Christmas.

She tilts her head, scrutinizing as she looks at me. "Really? And why would he suddenly give up?"

I poke at my food. "We have a truce of sorts."

"Over what?"

"He has the cutest dog." I admit, smiling just a little as I think of Cinnamon and how she nearly knocked Lou over when he got home.

"Oh my books!" She gasps, "He's totally duped you."

"Has not," I protest.

"He didn't stop hounding you, he just changed tactics. Instead of a direct attack on your shields he sneak attacked with a puppy. What's next, kittens?"

I roll my eyes, but her words cause a little unease to settle in my stomach. "You're being ridiculous."

"Mark my words, he hasn't given up. A man that determined--"

I cut her off, not wanting to hear it. "Now how about you? How did that blind date go?"

She slumps in her chair, picks up a crab leg and starts cracking it open. "Dating apps are the worst. I'm thinking about hiring a matchmaker."

"Do those even exist anymore?"

"Sure they do. And my requirements are simple, good job, good hair, doesn't want kids." She dips the crab meat in melted butter before eating it, some of the butter drips down her fingers, and she picks up another piece.

"How are you not married already?" I ask, grinning.

"I know!" She says, throwing up her hands in mock outrage. Drops of melted butter go flying.

We dissolve into a fit of giggles, the tension breaking, and we're both able to finish eating in peace.

I check the time after I finish the last piece of fish, "Oh we need to get going soon so we're not late."

"You just want time to browse the shelves."

"Guilty." I say. "Plus I want to see the new book club room."

"I'm going to miss not sitting between the rows of shelves."

"Me too."

Charlotte excuses herself to wash her hands thoroughly, the little wipe insufficient for all the butter she used. I can't help but pull up my phone and look at a picture I'd secretly snapped at the party. Lou's talking with a guy on his team, relaxed and laughing over something. The cut of the suit looks great on him, but the truth is he looks just as good in the shirt and shorts I've seen him wear to take the trash out.

When we arrive at the bookstore, I immediately spot a familiar Jeep in the parking lot. My heart skips a beat, and I convince myself that it's nothing. Probably Hannah borrowing it while she's in town. Although he has made a few references to reading books lately, so maybe he's picking up something new to read, and just dropped his sister off at The Book Garden. I grab my plate of cookies from the back seat of Charlotte's car and follow her inside.

But as I browse the shelves, I hear his voice, unmistakable as he greets Charlotte just one aisle over.

My heart skips faster, even as a feeling in my stomach sinks.

"Tell me, Lou," Charlotte says, her tone has a playful edge to it as she asks, "What brings you here?"

"Books," Lou says.

"Really?" Her voice turns sharper. "What would you say to a story about a hockey player duping a baker with a heart of gold?" Charlotte asks.

"What kind of duping?" He sounds calm, almost amused.

"You tell me."

"You're the one reading the book."

I hear Charlotte's huff of impatience. "Did you join book club just to get lemon bars?"

There's silence. He doesn't deny it, and it hits me like a punch to the gut.

I can't listen to anything else they'll say. I leave my aisle, almost running into Lou as he's walking away from Charlotte too.

His eyes go big as soon as he sees me. "Maria."

I hold up my hand to silence him, my familiar armor of anger falling into place.

Sofie chooses this moment to walk through the shelves and spots us. "I see you've met one of our newest members," she says cheerfully.

I turn my back on him and abruptly walk away. I'm feeling too raw to hear whatever his reasons are. Charlotte catches up to me and we find seats near Lia in the corner of the new book club room Sofie has built.

The room still has shelves, but they only run along one wall. A table is set up near the door and is filled with the cookies I brought, as well as treats from the cafe. Including some of the book brownies Sofie had specially contracted with me for the exclusive sale in her store. The water cooler serves both hot and cold water, and there are packets of tea and cocoa so people can decide if they want to mix something up.

I ignore it all and just sit in my corner trying to gather my thoughts.

As the room fills with people, I feel increasingly out of place. There's so much changing, and not in a way I like. More unfamiliar faces, including a woman with auburn curls chatting animatedly with Lou. He smiles so openly and honestly as he talks with her, each smile feels like a stab at my heart.

Charlotte leans close when Hannah arrives with her friend. The bodyguard is here, and I barely register her words. I'm too busy feeling the sting of Lou's betrayal, wondering how I could have ever thought a truce was possible.

As Sofie introduces the new members, including Lou, and some others from Crestfield, I can't bring myself to care. The seat I chose was a mistake. I can't escape Lou's gaze, and the way he keeps looking at me, like he's waiting for something.

S leep after book club didn't come easy. It didn't help that I could hear Lou's voice through the wall, low and sad, talking to Cinnamon. Not what he was saying word for word exactly, but the tone of it tugged at something inside me, something I didn't want to feel. Was he saying goodbye to her? The thought made my heart clench. As much as he said she wasn't his dog, she completely was.

I wake up exhausted, and with a headache that settles in like a heavy fog. By the time I drag myself to the bakery, my body is past demanding caffeine, and I immediately go for my emergency stash of the good Coca-Cola. The good kind that only comes from Mexico that I keep for days like today.

After a long sip of the cold drink, the painkillers I took earlier are working, and the ovens start preheating. Then and only then, do I pull on my apron and start on the custom order of cupcakes.

The routine, and rhythmic hum of the batter mixing usually soothes me, but today, it's just noise. I force myself to focus, and try to shake away the pressure building in my chest. I left my anxiety pills at home, and today is not the day for a panic attack. I don't have time for it.

I'm finishing the frosting on the last row of cupcakes when I hear the back door unlock.

"Something has you in a mood," Isa says as she walks in, her voice bright as usual. "Do I get one too?"

Wordlessly, I hand her a fresh Coke and keep working on the cupcakes.

Isabella's ability to always arrive precisely on time, looking ready for a commercial shoot amazes me. This morning is no exception. Her dark hair is pulled up in a pretty twist. How she gets her waist-length hair to smooth and twist without turning into a frizzy mess is a mystery to me. The sleeves on her butter yellow bakery tee are rolled up, and as she is putting on her apron I spy a knot tied near the bottom hem of the shirt. Her little stylizations and alterations meant the shirt flatters her figure more, and paired with her jeans and ballet flats she looks effortlessly chic.

"I should send you to the arena," I tell her. "You're way more camera-ready."

She shakes her head, laughing as she finishes tying her apron. "Oh no. There's no way you're passing that off to me. Not when you and that hockey hunk need to get your chemistry all figured out."

I can't help but roll my eyes. "There's no chemistry to figure out. Unless you want to see a disaster. We're like oil and water, don't mix."

"Don't you mix those all the time?" Isabella teases.

"If matchmaking was as easy as baking--"

"Then you wouldn't be single." She finishes for me. "But I read your horoscope today, and it said--"

"Isabella," I cut her off, exasperated but smiling, "I love you like the sister I've never been blessed with, but stop with all of the horoscope nonsense."

"But it said--"

"If the universe wants to send me a message, it's going to have to set something on fire, not ask me to pay for some psychic's vacation home," I say. "Now I have to get these cupcakes to the arena so that the new PR manager can okay everything for the morning news spotlight. This could be the big break the bakery needs."

Isa's smile softens. "Everyone is going to love you and your bakery."

"They better." I check the time and the pressure in my chest that had eased, returns in full force. "When I'm gone, remember to keep the back door--"

"I have everything under control here. So pack up your cupcakes and let's get your cupcakes on the road."

After that pep talk, my cousin gives my hair and face a quick once over, and I triple-check the cupcakes as I finish packing them into the carriers for transporting to the Glacier Bay Hockey Arena.

As Isabella drives down the road closer to it, the silhouette of the arena is so much larger than I remember. It looks so much larger without the crowds from game day, and casting a long shadow against the early morning sun. The arena is easily one of the biggest buildings in Glacier Bay. I've been to the arena for exactly two games. One last season when Lia left with an engagement ring on her finger. Hannah had gotten me the ticket before she moved to Tennessee for bigger and better things in her career and to stay closer to her boyfriend. No doubt a ring is in her future too. The second time, was the game Lou scored the goal against his team.

I frown as Isabella pulls into the parking garage Carrie emailed me directions for. We pull up near the elevator, and I unbuckle my seatbelt. Before I can open my door, she reaches over and gives me a hug.

"Remember Maria, let the universe guide you."

Hugging her back, "It's not the universe that got me here. Thank you for the ride, please go back to the bakery so it can open on time." I accept her words of support and nothing more.

She shakes her head at me. After I get the cupcake carriers out of her car, she waves, and drives away in her car.

"Maria?"

I turn to find Lou standing inside an open employee elevator, already dressed for practice, because I don't think they have a game today, but I haven't kept track lately. He's got all his hockey gear on, including his skates with guards on.

"Please tell me you're not who Carrie sent to meet me?" I say, barely keeping the irritation out of my voice.

A little line forms in the middle of his brow and I fight the ridiculous urge to smooth it away. Not that I'd do something so outrageous in a million years, but the desire still hits me. Instead, I cling to my irritation.

"You're in luck," he says. "I just needed to grab something out of my Jeep."

"Oh." I glance around the parking garage searching for someone else, anyone else. "Well, I don't want to keep you."

"I couldn't possibly leave you in a dark parking garage all alone," he insists.

The parking garage is brightly lit with cameras are all over the place. "I'm sure--."

Interrupting whatever excuse I'm about the spew, he slaps a hand over the door of the elevator to stop the doors from closing. "Our friends would never let me hear the end of it. I insist."

"It's really not--"

"Get in the elevator Maria." His tone is firm, leaving no room for debate. "I'll take you to whatever office you're clearly here to visit, and then I'll be on my way. Or we can sit here and you can argue until we have an audience."

My protest dies before I can speak it, and with an exasperated huff, I carefully step into the elevator. Carefully balancing the containers of cupcakes.

"Want me to hold those?" He offers.

"No." I clutch them tighter. "I've got it."

No doubt he would take every single one of the cupcakes for himself and ruin my reputation for good at the arena.

The elevator doors close, and suddenly the space feels a lot smaller. The silence is thick with unspoken words between us. Sparking with tension that threatens to strike.

"What brings you to the rink?" he asks.

"None of your business," I snap.

"It is if you want me to know what button to push."

Closing my eyes, I want to melt into the floor. "I'm here to see Carrie. I was invited to be part of some PR stunt."

"She's down on the ice."

"Great."

"With the rest of the team."

What he doesn't say makes my heart sink, and I let my head fall back until it hits the elevator wall. "Even better."

Because now, instead of just dealing with Carrie, and showing off my cupcakes for a camera, I'm going to be spending my morning with Lou, and I'll have an audience for this disaster.