Page 57 of The Sweet Spot

A woman I hadn’t yet met came bounding over. She had one of my goat cheese and onion pastries on her plate. I couldn’t tell if she was happy or angry, but when she got to me, she smiled.

“Oh my god,” she said. “I have tried all of your appetizers, and I love you right now! I’m Sasha, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said. “And I’m happy you like them.”

“Do you cater?”

That caught me off guard. “I don’t. I used to do it back home.”

“Jon and I are getting married next summer, and we were planning to have a party here at the end of the season with all the friends we’ve made and for the Kodiaks family. Would you consider catering it?”

I didn’t know what to say to her. “Can I get back to you? I’d need to figure out thelogistics.”

“Please consider it. Your apps are delicious. Now I understand why the guys rave about your protein snacks.”

I had no idea how many snacks Ryan and Brandon were sharing with the team. I’d just assumed they were eating more than I’d thought two people could eat.

“You would make a killing with catering,” Amber said when Sasha went to raid the fridge to try my desserts. I’d told her some were vegan and that those were clearly marked. “You have no idea how often we have parties and get-togethers. We also do some charity events, and finding good caterers isn’t as easy as you think.”

“I’d have to think about it. Between my personal chef duties, I don’t know how I could swing it.”

But could I? Maybe I could with Delia’s help. And she probably knew people through her delivery job. If she went to culinary school, she could potentially recruit more people. Sasha’s suggestion had me thinking.

By the time my dessert tray came out, I had talked to everyone, been added to all their various group chats, been asked to cater more events than I possibly could dream of doing, been roped into volunteering for a charity event, and been invited to the next get-together after Christmas.

My head was spinning with information as we were leaving. Olivia asked me if Brandon and I would be at the Christmas party this year. I told her I’d get back to her. She’d already asked me to cater it, but I told her I couldn’t do it on such short notice. The issue was manpower, and she accepted that. She’d still asked me if I could bring along some things that she would pay for. I told her it wasn’t necessary since I still had no idea if Brandon wanted to attend. But as the captain, I’m sure he would.

“See, they like you more than they like me,” Jill said as wewalked to the car. Maddy had been so busy playing with all the other kids that she passed out in her stroller.

“That’s because you hate coming to these things. That vibe oozes off you,” Tangi said.

The two of them argued about that, but I didn’t care. The WAGS had been so nice to me, accepted me, and I was on cloud nine.

Chapter Thirty

Brandon

We won every game on our road trip. The team was on a high as we approached the short Christmas break. It sucked to be on a winning streak just for it to be interrupted by a holiday, but I’d take the wins wherever we could get them. I hoped the team had finally turned a corner, and we’d go from being mediocre and challenging for a playoff spot, to having a playoff spot and possibly winning our division and more.

But I had more pressing problems. My parents were due in town in less than a week. Thankfully, they were only staying three days. Three long days. I made it clear to them that I didn’t have time to entertain them. Sadly for my little brother, they were going to visit him in Lethbridge on the way back home. My little brother was playing out his last year of Juniors with the goal of making the Warriors team out in Columbus, where he was drafted. I wasn’t sure Bailey had it in him to make the team just yet. He’d likely have to tough out a year or two on their farm team, but he had a bright future and a ton of talent.

Dad hadn’t managed to break him down and harass himlike he’d done to me, probably because he knew the consequences of being overbearing meant that he had to answer to me. But Bailey had still dealt with his fair share of Dad, and somehow, the kid had turned out okay. By the time Bailey had come into the world, maybe our parents had mellowed a bit since the kid had been a surprise.

But back to my problems. I had to find a gentle way of telling Wolseley not to expect a warm welcome from my parents. Not even my mother, who could be just as judgmental as my father when she wanted to be. This was on the heels of Wolseley’s successful outing with all the Kodiaks wives and girlfriends.

“I was so nervous,” she said as she poached eggs. She was going all out with breakfast, with some kind of breakfast sandwich, oatmeal, and her breakfast potatoes, which I could eat piles of. My breakfast sandwich consisted of an egg on her homemade bread, avocado, cheese, her secret sauce, turkey bacon, tomatoes, and some lettuce. I think she snuck in some onions, but I wouldn’t find out until I tried them. “But they were all so nice. In fact, some of them asked me about catering, but there is no way I can do that. I explained that I needed staff for that, and it’s not something Delia and I could manage together.”

“See, why were you worried?”

“I’m a bit of a worrier.”

I knew that, and it made me even more nervous about my parents.

“I knew they’d like you. Everyone likes you,” I said, knowing my parents would hate her.

She gently placed the poached egg on the bread and left it open-faced. She then assembled the other side of the bread with the same setup. She had a huge breakfast for me thismorning, but I was starving after getting in late the night before. I planned to eat it all.

“They did like me. I felt like Sally Field. Have you ever seen that famous speech where she wins an Oscar and tells everyone that they like her, they really, really like her?”

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