Chapter 1

C hocolate is the best way to start any day, and I needed the really good stuff today. I didn't hesitate to select the chocolate pastry from the fresh tray in the back of La Petite. I picked up the chocolate croissant and didn't even yelp at how hot it was.

"Don't burn your tongue," Maria warned me. Just like she did every time I picked up my freebie treat from a hot tray.

The best part of working at the little corner pastry shop was that Maria fully supported taste-testing her creations on me. I had to limit myself to one item at the beginning of my shift, and an extra at the end of the day if anything was left over. Maria refused to sell day-old stuff, but I didn't mind it one bit. I was pretty sure that the treats were the only reason I had hips.

Where Maria had the beautiful curvy features that made a man look twice, I had earned the nickname Lanky Lia in college, where a gourmet meal involved instant ramen. Not much had changed since with the amount of student loans I had to pay off.

Today's creation was my absolute favorite. The flakey buttery layers, with the dark chocolate center and a little extra drizzled over the top.

"You got it, boss lady." I nodded to Maria and licked the chocolate off my thumb. "This is your best batch yet."

She smiled, even as she said, "And wash your hands before you touch anything."

I bit into my breakfast with delight and savored every morsel. "I really needed this today."

That piqued Maria's curiosity. "The sun isn't even up yet, what could have possibly happened?"

"Late payment notice," I mumbled around another bite, and wiped away some of the flakey crumbs that had fallen on my jeans.

"What?" She asked and stopped mid-dusting of the top of her strawberry almond pound cake with powdered sugar. "But it's only the second."

"It was on my door this morning. Nearly locked my favorite scarf in the door jam I was so busy looking at the yellow paper."

Benny took it upon himself every month to post late payment notices by the second, no matter what. The banks were closed yesterday due to New Years, but holiday or not my landlord posted notices to fifty percent of the apartments in the building, according to my home-bound elderly neighbor Mrs. Jex.

She'd lived in the building for twenty years and took great pleasure in spilling the tea to me on the other folks in the building. She also enjoyed handing over her rent the moment Benny came to her door to put up a late notice. I think she watched through the peephole to see the moment he'd pull out his tape dispenser to post it. Then she'd whip open the door and hand him a check. Saved her the steps she'd told me with a wink the first time I saw the exchange.

This was my first time receiving the late notice, but if I couldn't pay I'd be out before I could say croissant ten times fast.

She stared at me, "Do you need a loan?"

I shook my head, and had to tuck a strand of my red hair back under my hat. "You're the best, Maria, but I'll figure it out. Benny said he'd give me till the end of the week to scrape the money together. Besides I have more shifts at the salon this week, and I picked up another one at the flower shop."

"Girl, you are the hardest working broke person I know. For how many jobs you have you shouldn't have a problem with bills."

"Don't I know it."

"How about you take an extra treat today."

I smiled at the offer. Working for Maria didn't pay much, but the regular pastries she gave me made up the amount of groceries I didn't need to buy. Maria was also the first friend I'd made when I moved to Glacier Bay and I did not want to bring my troubles to her doorstep. She had enough to worry about with business being slow. She didn't need my money problems on top of it.

"I hope they give you more to do than shampooing and sweeping."

"You and me both. I'm on walk-ins today."

"That's good right?"

"Definitely." I hoped that I sounded more confident than I felt. Being January second, I doubted anyone needed their hair done. Most people prefer to get their hair done before the holiday season, not after it.

Maria gave me a sympathetic look. "I have a couch if you need it."

"There's motivation if I ever needed it." I teased.

"My couch is not that bad."

"If I lived in the Stone Age. That thing is hard as a rock, even if it is pretty to look at."

"It's got good bones," she said and handed me a tray.

Taking the tray, I went up to the front to fill up the glass display with the freshest batch of muffins. I then flipped on the open sign, and unlocked the door. I was just about to pick up the tray to take to the back, when he walked in.

I greeted him with a playful smile. "Well, well, if it isn't Super Dad."

"The one and only." He matched my smile as he confidently strolled up to the counter, taking his place across from me. The first time I'd seen him he'd been wearing a navy shirt with red lettering that called him Super Dad and the nickname had stuck.

For the past three months, Super Dad had become a weekly fixture in the bakery, selecting treats he thought his kid would enjoy, or a breakfast croissant before a busy day at work. Always incognito with a hat or the hood on his jacket up and those mysterious sunglasses on. Today he wore the Super Dad shirt. I loved when he wore this shirt. It hugged him a little too snugly, bearing the marks of many years and countless adventures, and showed off his great physique. His arms were particularly noteworthy and looked perfect for holding and protecting.

"You know you can take your sunglasses off." I teased as I leaned in conspiratorially, like I always did during our banter. "Or do you still want to keep your identity a secret?"

The truth was I wanted to see his eyes. Did they twinkle with mischief? I fully believed that the window to the soul was through the eyes, and it bugged me that I couldn't see his.

"Superheroes always need to stay secret." He replied, running a hand along the blond scruff on his jaw, a playful smile on his lips.

My stomach did that weird flippy thing it always did when he smiled.

"Picking up something for your mini superhero today, or just treating yourself?" I inquired, a playful smirk on my face. I'd asked once if he wanted something for his wife, and he swiftly clarified his single status.

"No sidekick today. But I thought I'd take some extras to work with me."

"That's very generous of you. How big of a box should I get?" He ordered extras on occasion, and it was always a big order. Some days I wondered if he was feeding a football team or something.

As I assembled his order, our playful banter continued, a delicate dance of words that held a spark of something more. Yet, that was the extent of it. By unspoken agreement between us, neither of us ever pushed for anything more. I sensed it in the way he'd mentioned his divorce that one time. His tone matched the way I felt when I thought of my failed relationship. We shared an understanding that went beyond the surface and we wouldn't be venturing into the realm of dating. No, I'd savor the thrill of these moments, without risking the pieces of my heart breaking further.

I brought his order of breakfast croissants to the register, and he paid with cash, telling me to keep the change. With one last smile, and one last flip of my insides, he left. I took the empty tray to the back while I had the chance.

Maria looked up when I walked in. "Super Dad?"

"The one and only."

The bell on the door at the front interrupted our conversation before Maria could tell me to ask him out, like she usually did. She didn't understand that if he ever asked me out, the little moments of what I shared with him would be ruined. I popped out of the kitchen to see a woman with frazzled blond hair wrangled into a bun staring blankly at the menu on the wall. She had a navy blue business suit on that fit her curvy figure beautifully. She topped her outfit off with cherry red heels that had my feet protesting just looking at them.

"What can I get you?" I asked.

"What do you feed the man of your dreams to get him to notice you?"

"Uh..."

"I said that out loud didn't I?" She sighed and turned to me, and with a shrug of her shoulders and a smile said, "That was supposed to be an inside thought. Please ignore."

"Happens to everyone, right?" I asked.

She positively beamed, "I knew I'd like this place the moment I saw it. It stood out like a ray of hope in the cold city as I trudged through the cold slush and snow in the depths of despair. I'm Hannah."

She held out her hand to shake.

"Lia," I shook it quickly. "Sounds like you're having a double chocolate muffin morning too."

"I don't know what that means, but I am definitely up for anything with chocolate."

"It's only the best thing to hit the breakfast and dessert menu, it's so good it makes me forget I'm broke and single."

She let out a musical laugh. "That sounds amazing. Do you ever have those days when you feel completely inadequate at your job? Like, I love my job, but I think they only hired me because my brother is on the team."

"The team?" I asked.

She gasped, "The Glacier Bay Hockey Team? They've only been on the biggest winning streak for a new AHL team ever."

"I don't really know anything about hockey."

"Blasphemy!" she grasped the pearls around her neck in mock horror.

"Lia, how many times do I have to tell you to not scare away the customers?" Maria teased as she came up to the counter.

Hannah dropped her horrified expression and exchanged it for a somber one. "Please tell me you know about the Hockey Team."

Maria snorted, "You mean the hockey team that has the pretty blue banners with a bear on every light pole in the city?"

Hannah grinned and made a little fist pump. "Those were my idea."

"They are gorgeous, makes me think about getting one for my shop," Maria said. "Do you work with the team or the city?"

"Team." She grinned. "That's why I'm here. I'm in desperate need of muffins for a meeting in..." She looked at her watched and squeaked. "Thirty minutes."

"Well, we can't have a bunch of hangry hockey players can we," I said and started boxing up the muffins Hannah asked for. Classic blueberry, decadent chocolate, orange cranberry, banana nut. She pointed and it went in the pretty white box with Maria's logo printed on a sticker across the top.

"Are they really as hot as the pictures make them look? It's not just photoshop?" Maria asked, as she pulled out a sports magazine from her pile of yesterday's mail. A man in a Glacier Bay Jersey and jeans stood before an ice rink. His blond hair was long enough to run my fingers through, but not long enough to flop over his eyes, with icy blue eyes he stared intently from the cover. Text boldly pronounced him as January's Mr. Hockey.

"Definitely better in person." Hannah sighed dreamily and put a hand on her curvy hip. "And he's one of the best."

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

"If you saw him with his daughter you would understand. Some players are little more than muscles and testosterone. Not Nate. He's the nicest guy, unless you trigger his protective streak that's a mile wide."

I placed the last muffin in the box. "Well, sounds like he's better than my ex anyway."

Hannah looked at me questioningly, "If I had more time, I would ask for all the details."

Maria smiled, "Join our book club, we can make her spill everything over finger sandwiches. Lia hasn't spilled the tea on her ex to us yet."

"There's no tea to spill." I protested. "It was all very amicable."

Maria and Hannah shared a look that said loud and clear that they didn't believe me.

"You broke up then moved here and still haven't told me all the details."

I'd hoped that she'd forgotten about it. The last thing I wanted to do was dwell on the embarrassment of my breakup. Ted had been perfectly sweet, and he checked all the boxes when it came to being the exact kind of man my parents wanted for me. My mother had cooed over him more than once on our calls. She'd certainly never coo over a hockey player, and my dad would probably have a heart attack. My cousin Haley on the other hand, well, there was a reason I'd moved to the other side of the country a year ago.

"Now I really need to join your book club," Hannah said. "But I have to warn you, I'm a die-hard Pride and Prejudice kinda girl."

"You're going to fit right in." Maria reassured her. "We celebrate Pie and Prejudice Day every March."

The three of us laughed, and Maria rang Hannah up for the muffins while I put the muffin boxes in a larger kraft paper bag. Maria added a few extra danishes to the bag for free for good measure. Then she wrote her number on the back of her business card and handed it to Hannah. "Text me. Especially if you have another muffin emergency."

"You're a lifesaver. Both of you." Hannah took her muffins and with a little finger wave was on her way.

The morning rush started pouring in, and I forgot about book club, hockey players, and eviction notices as I served up danishes and donuts to customers. It felt good to see the trays in the glass display dwindle until Maria was able to trade them out for lunch options. Her business was finally getting the traction it deserved, and today was a good day.

I hung up my apron on a hook near the back door. Then used the bathroom in the back to swap my bakery shirt and jeans for my black salon clothes. I put on my puffy white winter coat and lucky yellow scarf and waved at Maria.

"I'm off to the salon."

"Good luck!" Maria told me as she handed me a to-go cup full of peppermint hot chocolate and marshmallows.

I walked around the counter to the self-serve station and gave myself a generous helping of rainbow sprinkles on top. Maria shook her head at me and I just shrugged. No matter how old I got, I'd never turn down a hot chocolate with marshmallows. If I was going to drink diabetes in a cup, then it most definitely needed to be done properly. This cup of goodness topped with sprinkles was now complete.

On to job number two of the day.