Page 14 of Chocolate Cherry Cabin

Both were enough to send a woman off to la-la land for considerable amounts of time.

Kind of like the little fantasy playing out in her mind right now. Louis was wrangling with Thomas’s mattress, getting the fitted sheet put on in a way that stayed when a bouncing boy climbed—actually bounded—into bed each night.

“You have a crush!” Athena giggled.

“I do not!”

“So totally do,” Cassandra said with a small smile. “And who can blame you?”

“Maybe I’ll have to develop a fainting condition.” Athena winked at her. “That seems like a good way to catch a man around here.”

Hannah gave an exasperated sigh while her cousin laughed.

Someone knocked on the front door, then it swung open and a male voice called out, “Knock, knock! Just returning your cookie container.”

Seriously. Louis Bellmore had the worst timing in the world.

* * *

Louis made himself at home in Hannah’s kitchen even though he could tell she didn’t particularly want him there. Her friends, however, were so curious he could practically feel the energy crackling in the air. He knew Athena, of course, the team’s dietician and Hannah’s cousin. The gal with the wild brown curls he was pretty certain was the woman his goalie, Landon Jackson, was using as his nanny or was dating or something. Honestly, there weren’t enough hours in the day to keep up with his players and their love lives.

He nodded at Athena, then said to the new gal, “I’m Louis, Hannah’s neighbor.”

“Cassandra.” She gave him a firm handshake, with a no-nonsense look that brought up a strong urge to salute her. Then she popped up and reached for the largest cup in the cupboard. “Want coffee?”

He sniffed the air. Cinnamon and spice… “Actually, is that chai tea I smell?”

Cassandra’s smile grew. “A whole pot for the taking.” She lifted it and poured him a cup. “Honey? Milk?”

“Yes, please. Although, really, I should probably go...”

“Just how Hannah takes hers.” Cassandra practically pushed him into a chair next to Hannah. It looked like he was staying.

Thomas raced in with a gigantic smile as Louis doctored his beverage.

“Hey, kid. How are your intergalactic missions going today?”

“I destroyed some drones!” Thomas held out a fist, and Louis gave it a bump while taking a gulp of his tea.

He finally allowed himself to glance at Hannah. She was watching with what seemed like a mixture of warmth and disgust. He set the empty cookie container in the middle of the table. “Thanks for theneighborlygift. Your cookies were amazing.”

Her cheeks turned pink. She looked cute today, with her wavy brown hair pulled into a loose knot and wearing a baggy sweater that hugged the lovely curves motherhood had given her.

“Athena!” Thomas declared, jostling Louis from his thoughts. “Do you have any new books about galaxies? I want to read about Tatooine! It’s where Luke Skywalker is from.”

“Why would you have a book about galaxies?” Louis asked her. He’d known the dietician vaguely in high school. Their paths crossed in a few meetings and here and there at work, but he was in the dark about her personal life. Although he knew she’d published a few cookbooks and that she was Hannah’s cousin—a fact that had almost caused him to ask about her on multiple occasions. But as far as Louis knew, Athena didn’t have kids of her own, and didn’t look as if she might be aStar Warssuperfan.

She shrugged. “Just a project my sister and I are working on.”

“She’s opening a bookstore in Sweetheart Creek!” Thomas exclaimed.

“Really?” Louis felt a flash of alarm. Was she quitting the Dragons? He needed the best professionals Miranda Fairchild could hire. They were making strides this season as a new team with a lot of older players, but losing the woman who nagged them about proper nutrition wouldn’t help move them forward to more wins.

“Tatooine is a fictional planet, Thomas,” Hannah said. “It’s not real.”

“I know.” His focus was fixed on Athena, who hummed thoughtfully.

“There are a lot of interesting books aboutStar Wars, and I have a new shipment coming early next week,” she told him. “I’ll text your mom if there’s anything good in there, okay?”

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