Mason passed out, as usual after Thanksgiving dinner at his parents’ house, and woke up to the sound of people chatting, children playing, and thoughts of Ruth. And that last part was not good. Pleasant, but not good.
Why had his life collided with Ruth’s again at the worst possible time?
The Swiss basketball league didn’t pay anywhere near what the NBA paid, but he’d still done well enough financially that he’d been able to live off his savings after he retired while learning a new trade. He still had a good-sized nest egg left, but it wouldn’t last long. He needed to make his business a success and that would take focus. It would be stupid to get involved in a relationship right now.
That didn’t stop him from wishing he could though.
With a moan, he set up and rubbed his eyes trying to clear her sweet face from his mind.
“Are you okay, Uncle Mason?” his nephew, David, asked. The boy was eight years old and reminded him a lot of himself. Mason hadn’t had nearly enough time to get to know him since he’d moved back but he liked the kid.
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Just trying to wake up.”
“You want to play basketball with me?”
Mason looked at David’s hopeful face and smiled. Ruffling his hair, he stood up. “Let’s hit the court.”
The court was actually just the driveway, but when Mason had been in junior high, his dad had widened the driveway so it would be a good place to practice. Mason had spent countless hours out here working to improve his skills so he could someday make it to the pros. And he had—though he hadn’t had the career he’d hoped for. Still playing in Switzerland’s national league, the SBL, had been amazing.
Now that he was chasing a different dream, and working until he felt broken every night, it was nice that he could still have fun playing the game he loved.
He and David had been outside for an hour or so when his sister, Lori, came outside and called, “Do you guys want some pie?”
“Ooh, yeah,” David said. He shot the ball, but only half-heartedly, so it went about five feet wide of the hoop. “You coming, Uncle Mason?”
Mason chased after the ball. “I’m right behind you.”
Clearly more excited about dessert than he was, David ran inside. Mason dribbled the ball a couple of times and threw up a shot. As the ball swished through the net, he realized Lori was watching him with her arms crossed.
“So, what’s up with you today?” she asked.
Mason rebounded the ball and dribbled as he walked towards her. “Nothing. Why?”
“You can’t fool me. You’re here but you’re not here.”
“Sorry. I guess I’m just under a lot of stress with the opening.”
“You’ve been stressed about that for weeks. There’s something else. Now, stop dribbling that stupid ball and spill it.”
Mason sighed and picked up the ball. Resting it on his hip, he gave in. “So, I told you about Ruth who owns the cookie shop next to me?”
Lori nodded. “You went to school with her.”
That was all he’d told her, so he wondered if she’d even be able to give him advice on this, at least without exposing his inconvenient and growing attraction to Ruth. “Yeah. Well, last night she told me about the Candy Cane Ball and how she’s submitting a bid to cater the dessert.”
“Hey, yeah.” Lori smiled enthusiastically. “All the rich people go to that. You could definitely grow your customer base there with people who can actually afford your super expensive chocolate.”
Mason rolled his eyes. His family always gave him a hard time about how they couldn’t afford to buy it. “Which is why I’m considering putting in a bid.”
“Considering? You’ve got to. Why are you even hesitating?”
He started dribbling the ball again, just for something to do, because he didn’t know how to explain further. Then Lori kicked her foot out with perfect timing and sent the ball rolling across the driveway. Mason sighed. “Okay. It’s just that Ruth is already worried about me taking all her business.”
Lori stared at him with raised eyebrows. “What happened to my laser-focused, competitive, take no prisoners brother? Why—” She broke off. “Wait. Do you have feelings for her?”
“No,” Mason answered, too quickly.
“Oh, my gosh. You do! I’ve got to go down and meet this woman.”
“No, don’t. Look, forget I said anything.”
“As if I could. So, she’s single, huh?”
Mason rolled his eyes and headed into the house. “I think so but I’m just guessing. She doesn’t wear a wedding ring, and she hasn’t mentioned a boyfriend or fiancée or anything. But it doesn’t matter, Lori. Even though I think she’s amazing, I don’t have time to date anyone. And if I did, it couldn’t be her. She works as much as I do.”
Lori stood beside him as he picked up a plate and cut himself a large wedge of pumpkin pie. “Okay, so no big deal. There’s time to figure that out. Let’s focus. Whether or not you like her, this is business. She’ll understand that you have to take every opportunity available. And she’s the one who told you about it, right?”
Mason nodded and added an enormous tower of whipped cream to his pie. “And she immediately regretted it. I could tell.”
“Come on. Do you want to make your business successful or not?”
Frowning, Mason took a bite of his pie. He did, of course. He just didn’t want to alienate Ruth in the process.
***
Friday morning, Mason spent the early hours tempering chocolate and running his candy bars through the machine that wrapped them in gold foil. The work kept his hands busy but let his mind focus on making a good bid for the Candy Cane Ball. Lori was right, he needed to do it. But while he guessed at numbers and estimated costs versus long-term profit, he had a sick feeling in his gut—nerves over telling Ruth that he was going to put in a bid. He felt like their relationship had shifted slightly towards something friendlier. There was a magnetic awareness between them when they were close, especially when their eyes met. He was pretty sure she felt it too. And now he was going to risk ruining that—whatever it was.
For a moment, he weighed the possibility of not telling her. If he didn’t get the bid, she’d never even need to know. But it took only a second of imagining how hurt she’d be if she lost the bid to him without being prepared for the possibility for him to know that was a bad idea. She’d go right back to the frigid but professional distance she’d put between them that first day. Anything was better than that.
Half an hour before it was time to open, his back door opened. He looked up, both hoping and dreading to see Ruth come in with another box of warm cookies. He’d been craving them almost as much as he craved a chance to see her. See but not talk to her.
Fortunately, the twist of nerves in his stomach relaxed when he saw it was only Brianna, his new employee. Good. He had more time to figure out what to say to Ruth.
“Thanks for getting here on time,” he said.
Brianna smiled, her straight white teeth flashing. “Of course. I’m ready to get started.”
“Great. You can hang your coat up and put your bag down in the office.”
When she came back a minute later, he saw that her long, blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail like he’d asked her to do, and she wore jeans and a white t-shirt. She was still in college, but all of her classes were in the late afternoon and evening so she would be able to work morning shifts and Saturdays. This would allow Mason more time to work on his chocolate until it was time for her to leave. She’d had experience in retail, a friendly personality, and a cheerful smile. He suspected his customers would love her.
Mason handed her an apron. “Okay. Let me show you how to weigh and package the chocolate and work the register. We’ll be opening in thirty minutes, but you can call me up front if you have any problems.”
She smiled. “I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it in no time.”
Fortunately, she was right. It only took fifteen minutes before she could work the register as well as he could. This gave him some time teach her about all the different chocolates so that she could better help the customers.
“Feel free to try all of them so you know what they taste like.”
She raised her eyebrows and laughed. “I hope you don’t want me to try them all this morning. I don’t think I could handle that much all at once.”
Mason grinned. “No, just a few at a time over the next week or so. It’s better if you space them out anyway so your palette is clean for each one. Otherwise, you won’t be able to taste the nuances in flavor.”
“This is definitely the best training I’ve ever had for a job.”
Just before nine o’clock, there was a knock on his back door. He barely heard it since they were out front, but it made his heart pound like someone was attacking with a battering ram. He wasn’t expecting a delivery this morning, so it had to be Ruth. “Excuse me,” he said to Brianna as he turned.
When he opened the door and saw her, he didn’t even try to stop the smile that formed on his lips. “Good morning. You know, you can come in whenever you want. Especially since I couldn’t come to the door if I was in the middle of tempering chocolate or something.”
“Okay. I’ll remember that.” She held out a box. “Want some? I went a little crazy making Christmas trees this morning and didn’t feel like icing them all.”
He reached for the box while mentally kicking himself. Here she was bringing him more cookies while he was plotting to steal a catering job from her. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t exactly like that, but it felt like it. He clenched his jaw in an effort to control his emotions, then said, “Thanks.”
“Everything okay?” she asked.
He turned and put the box down on the marble countertop and forced himself to relax. “Yes. How was your Thanksgiving?”
“Great. It was the first time my sister has ever hosted, and we barely fit in her little house. No one cared, though. She and her husband had a baby girl a few months ago, so I spent the day cuddling my niece and eating too many carbs. How was yours?”
As she spoke, Mason felt himself responding to her melodic voice and smile. “It was great. I passed out in a food coma for a couple of hours afterward and then played basketball with my nephew. And then ate more.”
She laughed and shifted closer to him. “That sounds fun. I know how much you like to play ball. I went to a lot of your games.”
That surprised him. The funny thing, though, was that she looked as surprised as he did, as if she hadn’t meant to say that. “Oh yeah?”
“The games. Not your games. I didn’t go just to watch you.”
He couldn’t fight the grin that spread across his face. “Of course not.”
She looked down at the counter for a few seconds, as if his stack of finished candy bars was the most interesting thing in the world. Then she looked up and said, “You know, I still haven’t heard the story of how you went from pro-basketball player to chocolatier.”
Mason’s heart rate amped up as he realized that if he did want to ask her out, this was the perfect opportunity. It was almost like she was deliberately giving him an opening. With his logic and desires at war with each other and the looming need to tell her about making a bid for the ball, he froze. From the way she was looking up at him though, with wide eyes that looked both hopeful and unsure, the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her.
“Yeah. We’ll have to get together and talk soon. There are things I want to know about you too.” His voice came out softer and rougher than he wanted.
What she might have answered, however, he’d never know. The door to the front of the shop swung open and Brianna came through. She paused and shifted uncomfortably when she saw them. “Um… it’s nine o’clock and there’s a customer outside. Do you want me to open the doors?”
Mason cleared his throat and stepped away from Ruth, leaning back against the counter. “Yes, please. Thank you.”
He looked back at Ruth and saw a slight pucker between her brows as her eyes followed Brianna. “Is that the new employee you told me about?”
“Yeah. Her name is Brianna. This is her first day.”
Ruth nodded and then smiled. Somehow though, she seemed more distant than before. “Well, I’ll let you get back to work. I need to open up as well.”
She was gone in a blink, and Mason was left feeling like something had just gone wrong. And he hadn’t even told her about the bid.