Page 28 of A Scoring Chance
“Oh, I’m not giving you her number.”
My eyes narrow at Alise. Two can play at this game. “Then you’re not getting those tickets.”
“We both know all I have to do is call Auntie Mel and she’ll make you give me everything I asked for.”
“We also both know you’d have gotten it anyway, so why are we playing these games?”
“Because I like to see you sweat.”
“Fair. Have I sweat enough for you?”
“Not even close, but I’m feeling generous today. I won’t give you her number, but she has yours and can call whenever she pleases.”
Damn. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. Ramona is, in fact, the mother of a player on my team. However, now she has my number and can use it whenever she wants. Now I just need to figure out a way to make sure she wants to use it. Wait, no, that’s not what I want at all. At least it’s not what I should want right now. I just need to make sure she’s okay, apologize for whatever happened when Alise came to check on me, and then… I don’t know what then.
“I hear you have a promise to a horse to keep. Mona will be at the farm until 11:30 sharp. Trust me when I say she’ll be pulling out of that parking lot at 11:30 on the nose.”
Realization dawns on me the minute the words leave her mouth, and I check my watch. “You’re the best, Lissy Loo Loo.”
I’m already moving out the door towards the parking lot as the words leave my mouth. I have just enough time to run home to shower and make it to the farm on time. Fingers crossed Momma hasn’t already made that apple pie.
Chapter Ten
Ramona
“Right on time.” I smile as I pull into the staff parking lot of Matthison’s Farms.
I have precisely two hours and twenty-five minutes to have lunch with Alise and make my shift at The Pit Stop on time. Everyone keeps telling me I work too much, and they’re probably right, but I need to make sure I can take care of my mom and Darius. Her social security check and military retirement pay from my dad only cover so much. Thanks to my parents’ money savviness and the pretty awesome refinance interest rate we got on the house, all of our basic expenses are covered. But then we have to feed ourselves and a growing eleven, almost twelve-year-old boy, not to mention school supplies, clothes, hockey club fees, hockey gear, and anything else Darius might need.
Just as I’m about to turn over the ignition, my cell phone rings, the small display on my old-ass radio showing Alise’s number. I answer without even bothering to say hello. “I swear on everything that is holy, if you are calling to cancel on me…”
Alise and I have been planning our lunch date for weeks. Although Alise works a regular eight-to-five schedule with the occasional weekends, my schedule fluctuates from week to week.I’m always at Matthison Farms before the sun comes up to feed all the animals and take care of any other tasks Mr. Matthison has for me, but I’m usually finished there by dinnertime, though there is the odd occasion he needs me to stay later. Then I usually have to head right to The Pit Stop to work the bar. Tips are the best in the evening, so I pick up all the shifts I can. I need the money. That’s the only reason I’m heading in today of all days.
“No, I’m not canceling,” Alise responds, and I sigh in relief. “However, I need you to stay exactly where you are.”
“I’m in my car. You just want me to sit here?” Alise has asked me to do some pretty crazy things in our years of friendship, so this isn’t anything out of the ordinary, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little worried about what she’s thinking.
“Your car? Where? Did you already leave the farm?”
“No, I was just getting ready to.” I glance down at my watch to check the time. “I only have two hours and twenty minutes before I have to be at The Pit Stop to start my shift.”
“That’s oddly specific, girlfriend.” I hear Alise mumbling something in the background. She must still be at work. No! That won’t work. She takes about fifteen minutes to get from the rink to the farm, and then it’s another thirty-minute drive to the restaurant. Even with the extra time I factored in for any unexpected curve balls, we’ll never be able to have a real lunch. Looks like we’ll be grabbing sandwiches from The Pit Stop and having a car picnic again. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. It’s obviously not the first time that Alise and I have spent lunch similarly, but today is special. I just wanted to do something different.
“Tell your overactive, worst-case scenario brain to calm down. Everything is going to be fine. We will not be going to The Pit Stop or just having lunch with Auntie at your place. Today isa special day, and I’ll be damned if everything doesn’t go exactly as planned.”
I pull in a deep breath, trying to stop my brain from spiraling out of control. I should’ve known that Alise wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize our plans today. “Wait. You aren’t coming?”
“No. I’m not, but don’t fret. If I’m right, and I usually am with these types of things, your lunch partner should be pulling into the parking lot right about now.”
“You’re diabolical.” I sigh as Cooper Hendrix climbs out of his truck and heads straight toward the farm entrance. Alise must not have told him I wasn’t working today.
The best thing about him not noticing me is being able to ogle him in peace. I thought he looked good in sweatpants and a crewneck, but Cooper Hendrix in a pair of dark-washed jeans, a mossy green long-sleeved Henley, and a backward baseball cap is drool-worthy. I never understood the appeal of Man of the Month calendars until right this second.
I discreetly brush the corner of my mouth, ensuring I don’t have any drool hanging from the corner of my mouth. “You could’ve given a girl some warning.”
I look down at the burnt orange corduroy pants I paired with my favorite waist-length, off-white, oversized sweater. I always choose comfort over everything else, but if I’d known Cooper was going to be coming with me today, I might have dressed differently. Wait, who am I kidding? Even if this was a date, which it isn’t, I’d have dressed exactly the same.
Since he hasn’t noticed me sitting in my car like a lunatic, I pull down the visor and use the vanity mirror to check my hair. I did something a little different today, choosing to pull my locs into two adorable space buns instead of leaving them hanging like I usually do. Special occasions call for special hairstyles, right? Now if I had followed my mom’s advice and not left the house without some makeup on… What I wouldn’t kill to have aset of false lashes, mascara, and something other than the clear lip gloss I keep in my car.
