Page 75 of Sweet Spot

And she wasn’t the first. This was the tenth interview and none of them were a good match. I was really glad I asked Kate to join us because I was starting to think I was the problem not the other way around.

“Thank you for coming over. I’ll let you know what we decide,” I said for the tenth time as I walked her to the door. I waited until I heard the engine of her car then watched her drive away before I returned to the kitchen.

Kate and Everett were already shaking their heads as they spoke.

“Another no?” I sighed.

“Absolutely not,” Kate said first.

Everett agreed. “Rosie would eat her for breakfast.”

“At least it would cut down on the grocery bill.” How on earth were we going to find someone who could essentially be part of the family? “We need to rethink this. We can’t hire a stranger.”

Everett slung back some coffee. “We already canvased the island.”

We tried friends of our parents, kids we grew up with, anyone who’d know us, but no luck. “Maybe someone who works with the Mantas? Like a college kid or one of the player’s girlfriends?” I was grasping at straws. I knew that.

But Kate snapped her fingers. “Hannah!”

“Hannah?” Who was Hannah? I actually didn’t think I’d ever known a Hannah before.

“Hunter Holland’s mother. She’s been staying with Hunter and coming to all his games this season.”

How did I not know that?

Everett began nodding furiously. “Oh…that might just be perfect, Kate.”

“Why is she so perfect?”

“She’s bored,” Kate shrugged. “All her kids are off to college now and she divorced her husband. She’s been working odd jobs, trying to find herself. She’s a lot of fun and I like her a lot.”

“Same. Plus she bakes really good cookies.” Everett rubbed his belly.

Cookies? “Is that where the cookies keep coming from?”

Kate nodded. “And the bagels. She needs a job, somewhere to live, and she loves kids.”

“How do you know she loves kids?”

“She says it all the time. Now I want cookies.” Everett got up and snagged a chocolate chip cookie from the plastic container. “She makes sure Hunter takes a picture with every kid who comes down to the net.”

I wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth. “Can you set up an interview?”

Kate grabbed a cookie too. “I’ll ask her if she’s interested. If she is, you can just talk to her at the game. She’ll be there.”

“Plus Kate and I already approve.” Everett grabbed two more cookies.

“Hey, what happened to your diet?”

He shoved one cookie in his mouth. “Willa thinks I’m making myself miserable and reminded me I’m supposed to be having fun. So I’m having fun.”

I couldn’t argue with that.

Hannah was perfect, excited, and willing to move in immediately. Plus she wanted to travel to as many away games as possible, so I didn’t have to work that out at all. The only issue would be the fact that one of my players was related to my new employee and any complications that might come if Stirling traded Hunter away one day.

But the Hollands were happy and chill. Hunter’s mom loved baseball as much as her son and was excited to be able to combine something that she loved, and had been such a huge part of her life, into a new career.

Plus she really did love kids. I couldn’t wait to introduce her to Rosie and seal the deal on all of this.

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