Page 3 of Power Plays & Proposals

"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.

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