Page 1 of The Cupcake Cottage

CHAPTER 1

Daisy-Mae Ray made her way down the arena’s concrete steps, guiding the San Antonio Dragons’ mascot. She’d taken the job as a mascot handler in the NHL for two reasons. Debt and debt.

Well, the second reason was actually so she could be closer to the team captain, Maverick Blades. But as a woman who’d officially hit her thirties, it was entirely too humiliating to admit that. Especially when her longtime acquaintance likely had no clue how badly she was crushing on him.

The human-sized plush dragon beside Daisy-Mae suddenly plummeted downward, and Violet squeaked from inside the giant head, her short arms flailing.

“Sorry!” Daisy-Mae scrambled to right her friend before she slipped down another step and twisted an ankle.

“Don’t let me die a humiliating death!” Violet adjusted the dragon head, which had turned sideways.

Daisy-Mae guided her down a few more steps to a small landing overlooking center ice. “Sorry.”

“Come on! We’re the Dragon Babes! A new life outside of Sweetheart Creek full of mani-pedis, parties, and lunching out with players’ wives. Hot jocks and fun! We can’t be the babesif you let me fall and die.” She giggled, the sound muffled by the giant head she was wearing but coming through Daisy-Mae’s earpiece loud and clear. “Although I’m pretty sure I’d bounce in this thing.” She patted the dragon’s stuffed belly.

“Don’t try it,” Daisy-Mae warned her.

“Are we on the landing?”

“Yes. Do you want to practice a few moves?”

Violet waved to the empty arena where the Zamboni was driving in circles, resurfacing the ice. She held her head, covered her eyes with her giant costume hands, and turned away from the ice as though something bad had happened. Then she waggled her short dragon tail toward the rink and wiggled her hands near her ears like she was egging on an opponent.

Daisy-Mae laughed. “Whoareyou in there, Dezzie Dragon?” Her friend might be part wallflower in real life, but she came alive in the costume. She’d thought Violet was kidding when she said she was trying out for this position. Daisy-Mae had flippantly retorted that if Violet got the job, she’d apply to be her handler.

And now here she was.

Honestly, it was probably one of her better life choices. Even though the job was part-time and over an hour’s drive from her home in Sweetheart Creek, she was paid enough that she could close up several of her at-home businesses. Not that they brought in much, but still—their income had helped her eke out a living. Maybe her mom was right and former beauty queens weren’t cut out for business.

“You liked the tail wag?” Violet asked, doing it again.

“It was good. Very expressive. Want to go all the way down to the ice?”

Dezzie’s giant head wobbled.

“Was that a yes? If so, put more of your torso into it.”

Violet tried again and Dezzie’s whole body swayed forward dangerously. Afraid she was going to topple, Daisy-Mae grabbed her in a bear hug.

“What are you doing?” Violet asked.

“It looked like you were falling.”

“Well, you can hug me any time, because with Owen going back to baseball…” She let out a raspberry sound from inside her costume.

Violet had only just been getting her feet back under her romantically after being dumped at the altar a few years ago. She’d been closing in on Owen Lancaster, the two flirting like mad, when he suddenly had a big fight with his dad about the family ranch, then up and rejoined major league baseball, moving thousands of miles away.

If Daisy-Mae thought she had bad dating luck, Violet’s was even worse.

The Zamboni finished polishing the oval rink and exited the ice via its gate, leaving a shiny trail behind it like an oversized snail.

“What’s that sound?” Violet asked.

“The Zamboni doors are closing.”

Dezzie did a dance. “Yippee! Send out the hotties!”

“Violet!” Daisy-Mae laughed, her cheeks heating with embarrassment.

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