“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Sutton,” Coach Kenner greeted. “Good to see you. I see you met Cope.”
I forced a warmer smile for Kenner. “Nice to see you, too. I need to get back to the bakery, but my cell is on the admission form if you run into any issues.”
Kenner’s expression gentled. “Luca will be fine. Don’t you worry. No one is going to play full contact.”
Relief swept through me. “You might not want to tell Luca that. He has his heart set on smashing someone into the boards.” I sent Cope a scathing look. “Apparently, he learned that from his favorite player, The Reaper.”
Cope winced, looking a little guilty. But I just headed for the parking lot and away from the man with the haunting blue eyes. Because if there was one rule I lived by, it was this.
No athletes. Never again.
It wasone ofthosedays. One of the no-good, very-bad ones. I tried to remind myself that none of it was catastrophic. Luca and I were safe and healthy. We had a roof over our heads and food on the table. But even after chanting that over and over in my head, I was still about to lose it.
“That bad?” Thea asked as I dropped my head to the fridge in the bakery’s kitchen.
I’d just finished meeting with my new supplier because my previous one retired. The new guy seemed on top of it, professional and polite, but his prices were nearly double.
“It’ll be fine,” I lied. I’d gotten good at lying. Because if I didn’t, Thea and Walter would try to help. And they didn’t need the weight of my problems.
Walter patted me on the shoulder in a grandfatherly gesture. “You’ve had a day.”
“And it’s not even noon,” I muttered, forcing myself to straighten. I turned and leaned my back against the fridge, letting the metal surface cool my skin. At least this time, it was overheated due to panic instead of hypnotic blue eyes and all the muscles. “Why didn’t you tell me Shep’s brother was coaching the hockey camp?” I asked Thea.
Her brow furrowed. “Trace or Kye? I didn’t even know they played hockey.”
I shook my head. “Cope.” Even saying his name made my skin heat.Damn him.
Thea’s green eyes widened. “Cope is coaching Luca’s camp?”
I bobbed my head in a nod.
“Shep said he was heading back to Seattle.”
“Apparently not. Because he was there in all his glory, and Luca nearly lost his little mind because Cope is also his favorite player.”
This time, Thea’s eyes nearly bugged out. “Cope is The Reaper?”
“Shouldn’t you know that?” I accused. “He is your boyfriend’s brother.”
Thea shrugged. “I’m not really a sports fan. Shep talks about Cope, but not really his career. And I don’t think he knows Cope is coaching.” She pulled out her phone and began tapping on the screen. “I’ll ask him what’s up.”
The bell rang, signaling a new customer. I forced a smile to my face and stepped out from behind the counter. I struggled to keepthat smile in place as I took note of the newcomer. Rick Anderson looked completely out of place in my bakery, even though he owned the building. He looked out of place in the small town altogether.
He wore a dark suit that had to make him sweat buckets in the almost ninety-degree heat outside, his dark hair was slicked back with far too much gel, and his eyes were beady like a rat’s.
“Sutton, it is so wonderful to see you. How are you and little Luca doing?”
The muscle in my cheek began to twitch. “Good. We’re doing really good. You?”
“Oh, I can’t complain. Just purchased two more buildings, so business is good.”
“Congratulations. That’s wonderful. What can I get for you today?” I asked, hoping like hell I could move things along.
Rick sent a look of disappointment that read faker than his veneers. “I’m actually here on business. In all my expansion, I’m afraid I realized that I’ve cut my tenants too much of a deal. I need to raise your rent for the bakery and the apartment upstairs. All the details are here.” He tugged a folded paper from his pocket and set it on the counter. “This will take effect at the start of the month for the bakery, and next week for the apartment since that’s week to week.”
“But can’t you only raise my rent once a year?” Rick had increased my rent three months ago. That had hurt, but I’d managed. Renting the apartment upstairs week to week had helped, but nothing would save me from another increase.
