Page 22 of Permanently Pucked

In my performance.

In myself, in general.

The game and the loss sucked.

The fact that my girlfriend is going to be jetting off on her honeymoon with another man sucks.

The fact that right after she gets home from that trip, she’s going to be leaving with her other husband on her second honeymoon also sucks.

But I realize as I stand in front of our brownstone, looking up at the house that we bought, renovated, and moved into together with high hopes for the future, I don’t have it so bad.

This is home. I feel happy, comforted, and safe here.

The three people inside are the most important people in my life.

And I still get to play hockey.

Sure, my boss might be pissed at me, but he did still replace my cereal and my Gatorade when he placed our grocery order yesterday.

I figure he can’t be too mad if he’s still buying me Fruity Loopies and Peanut Butter Coco Balls.

Yes, he did get the generic brand ones with no toys inside, but that’s a Nathan thing to do, not a Mr. Armstrong thing to do.

CHAPTER 7

Dani

"Thanks, Austin. Have a good night." I wave as our bookshop employee heads to the front door at the end of his shift.

Austin gives me a cheerful wave back before exiting.

He helped run another successful book club tonight, this one for mystery and thriller lovers. Since the previous fall, our attendance at these events has been steadily growing and we now have book clubs for varying genres and nonfiction interest groups twice a week. It’s been exciting to see an explosion of interest in reading in our community, and we’ve hosted two author signings now as well.

I suspect one or two of the dedicated attendees are just hoping for a sighting of a certain professional hockey player, but they’re destined to be disappointed. Crew hasn’t been around Books and Buns for months given his training and practice schedule with the playoffs and the championship. Now that the season is sadly over, he’s mostly been brooding in his hot tub or hanging out in his game room in the basement of our house. It’s a little concerning but both Michael and Nathan have assured me he just needs his space to recover from the disappointment of losing the championship.

I rise up slowly from my chair and take a deep breath. I’m tired all the time these days and I need to have a serious conversation with Luna about the future of our shared business venture. We both love our respective sides of Books and Buns, and what we’ve created together, but I don’t know how much time I have to dedicate to it right now, especially now that both sides of the store are booming.

Luna is in the bakery, helping Lydia remove all the remaining pastries to put in the fridge for the night since we’re closing in a couple of minutes. I’m so proud of what she’s done with the bakery. Everything she bakes looks, smells, and tastes amazing.

"Can I have a pain au chocolat before you put those away?" I ask as I approach the counter.

"Of course. No more morning sickness?" Luna uses tongs to grab a bun and put it on a plate for me.

"It’s definitely better. Now I’m craving sugar nonstop. Michael says it’s something to do with my body self-regulating insulin levels since I wasn’t eating much and deficiencies in something or other because of the pregnancy."

"You are growing a human from nothing," Luna says cheerfully.

The thought has me feeling warm inside and out.

I still can’t quite believe we’re having a baby. The reality of that hasn’t fully sunk in yet.

"He says I need to eat more protein but this pastry seems way more appealing than grilled chicken."

"Amen to that." Luna grins.

Lydia reemerges from the kitchen. "How was book club?" she asks me.

She’s been working primarily for Luna since before Christmas and she’s in high school. She also happens to be dating Owen Phillips’ son, Brady, which has been adorable to watch. Brady looks at Lydia like she’s the most beautiful girl in Chicago and I love seeing that.

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