Page 23 of Batter Up!

That got our attention, and we all walked over to the coach's door to look at the roster.

“Cruz! You! Buddy! You are the starter!” Each time I said ‘you,’ I punched him in the arm. I was so proud of him!

Ivan hadn’t looked at the list yet, and his eyes got big. He rushed to the door and turned around with the biggest smile. “ME!”

“You deserve it!” I said, hoping he understood me. We gave each other a hug with slaps on the back.

“Camilia!” He said and held up his phone.

“Yeah, my man, go tell your wife!” I said and watched as he went off to find a quiet place to call her. I looked over at Cooper, who was looking at the list again. “Sorry, bro. I bet you’re the number two or three starter.”

Cooper just nodded, “I’m happy for Cruz, don’t get me wrong. My dad has just been hounding me to be the best. He won’t be happy.”

“Fuck him, Coop. You can only do the best you can.”

“Ooohh, that might be the best I can do,” he said, and I turned to see what he was looking at. Lucy Adams was asking our centerfielder, Jordan Woosley, some questions.

“Hell, no,” Hayden said. “I don’t sleep with people I’ll see at work.”

“Well, mini Cooper doesn’t care.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m going to go watch some more tape of the Delaware Ducks. If you guys want to grab some dinner with us, meet us at Fultons.”

Food is a necessity, and people will always need food to eat. Thus, the bakery business is considered recession-proof and one of the most lucrative and popular industries in the world today.

“Are you ready?” Penelope asked as she came into the kitchen of the bakery.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I said. “I just threw up again. Probably because of the nerves.”

“Oh, that sucks! Do you need to sit down or anything?” Pen took the tray of cupcakes out of my hand. “Let me help you.”

“I think I’ll be okay,” I said as I reached in the fridge, grabbed a bottle of water, and took a drink to try and calm my stomach.

There was a knock on the door, and Penelope went over to answer it. “I’m sorry, but we don’t open for another hour.” We had decided to open up the same day as the Raptor’s opening day, and since their game started at 3pm, I decided to start my grand opening at noon and stay open until four, so people could stop by on the way to the game.

“I know, and I’m sorry to bother you guys on opening day, but I wanted to wish Molly good luck and give her an Opening Day gift,” said a familiar voice.

“Autumn?” I asked as I saw my realtor peek around the open door. “Come in! Come in! Pen, this is …”

“Autumn Rhodes. Yeah, we went to school together. Don’t forget it’s a small town, boss.”

“Hi, Penny. I didn’t know you worked here,” Autumn said as Nate walked into the bakery behind her, carrying a big box. “I am so sorry I didn’t get this here until today. I’ve been crazy busy, and I feel so bad that you can’t use it today.”

“Oh my gosh! Thank you so much!” I literally squealed when I saw the photo of the espresso machine on the box. “We’re having an afternoon start, so it works out fine. I can play with it tonight and then start using it tomorrow.” I gave Autumn a huge hug. “Don’t forget that you’ll get free vanilla lattes for life!”

“You’ll be sorry about that,” Nate said with a laugh as he headed towards the back corner of the bakery to put the heavy box on the counter. He looked around at my bakery with a huge grin. “It looks so great in here!”

On each one of the cases were signs that looked like baseball pennants to tell what the items were. There was a really big baseball sign above the case with my AF baked goods, which sat away from all the other cases. It let people know what special ingredients were used to bake the items and how they were prepared in a separate kitchen.

“Thanks,” I said with pride. “The walls are a little bare now, but I have ideas on how to change that.”

I looked through the front window and gasped. There was a line already out the window. I couldn’t believe it. “Oh, my gosh!”

Autumn and Nate both laughed, “Yeah, it’s around the block.

“But I don’t open for another hour. Why are all these people here already?”

“Have you seen the Raptor’s Fan Site?” Autumn asked.

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