Page 22 of Well Played

“Mom?” Alex interrupted. He pointed to the parking lot. “The ice cream man is here. Can I get something,please?”

“Sure.” I dug into my purse and pulled out a five. Alex snatched it and took off running. “Hey! What about your equipment!” I yelled after him.

“Thanks, Mom!” he yelled without looking back.

I shook my head and bent to lift the duffle. But Jeremy took it out of my hand. “Let me. I’m heading to the parking lot, too.”

“Thanks.”

We started to walk side by side. “So Alex said you guys live over at The Palm Inn?”

“We do. Alex’s grandfather passed away six months ago. He left part of it to Alex as an inheritance. So we’re living there while I work on trying to make a go of it.”

“It’s a beautiful building. I stopped in once when I’d first moved to town and Mr. Miller gave me a tour. I do construction, but I’m a closet wannabe architect.”

“Yeah, it’s a pretty incredible place.”

“It’s got something like ten bedrooms, right?”

“Fourteen. Butugh,don’t remind me. That just means more work. It’s pretty run down. I got an estimate for new air conditioning this morning, and it’s more than I expected to spend on the entire refurbishment.”

“Do you have a GC?”

“A general contractor?” I shook my head. “Well, I guess I do. You’re looking at her. I’m trying to save money by coordinating everything myself.”

“Well, if you need any help or any recommendations for reliable workers, just let me know. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you to get a few estimates for any big jobs. It still surprises me how much one company’s price can vary from another.”

“Thanks. That’s very nice of you to offer.”

“It would be my pleasure. Is the B&B open for business while you’re working on it, or do you have it shut down?”

“It’s closed right now to guests. Well, except Fern. But she’s not really a guest. She’s more like a permanent resident. She was a good friend of Thatcher’s. Levi is also staying there while he’s in town, too. He owns the other half with Alex.”

“I hope you don’t mind me asking, but are you divorced?”

I shook my head. “No, but only because I was never married. Alex’s dad and I were engaged, but we didn’t actually make it down the aisle. He lives in New York. We haven’t been together in a long time.”

“Well, why don’t I give you my number in case I can offer any help with finding good contractors?”

“That would be great.” I dug my phone out of my pocket and handed it to Jeremy. As he typed, I said, “I might bug you for the name of a plumber, if you don’t mind. We had a few pipes burst the other day.”

Jeremy looked up and smiled. “No problem at all. I’m happy to help. I’ll send you some later.”

He had a really warm smile and was also pretty cute. I’m not sure I’d even noticed that when I’d spoken to him at registration.

As he went to hand back my cell, Kat caught up to us. She noticed the phone passing, and her eyebrows rose with a smirk. “Hi, Coach. You look really good out there. I mean, the kids—the kidslook really good out there.”

“Thanks. They’re picking things up fast.”

“Hey, Brick!” one of the other coaches called. “You got a minute?”

“Sure.” Jeremy looked back at us and nodded. “Have a good night, ladies.”

Kat wiggled her fingers. “We sure will.”

“Bye.”

When he was barely out of earshot, Kat was all over me. “You lucky bitch.”

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