CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“So who’s the woman?” Connor asked later that afternoon.
“Huh?” Luke asked, piling a shitload of pineapple grilled chicken, brown rice, and roasted vegetables onto his plate. He was fucking starving today.
“Tanner said you’re seeing someone?”
Luke tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling. “I’m gonna fucking kill him,” he muttered.
Connor snickered. “I take it that’s a no?”
“Jesus Christ, you people are nosy. No, I’m not seeing anyone. It was a hookup. It meant nothing. Don’t even know if it’ll happen again.”
He’d seen the earlier message from Sebastian and ignored it.
Things were getting … weird.
He didn’t like the way his job and his personal life were starting to overlap. The day with Harper had been one thing. But now he and Sebastian were kissing and having sex.
Sebastian had been to his fucking house.
Luke had let shit slip about his tattoos and his family and Sebastian had made that fucking comment about seeing Luke’s house during the daytime … yeah, no. This was bad. This was really fucking bad. Luke needed to put the brakes on before it got out of control.
Before Sebastian started thinking things were going to turn into something else. Something more.
“Hey, Sebastian?” Morgan poked her head into the back room. “There’s someone here for you?”
Sebastian’s thoughts immediately flew to Crawford and he made a face, wondering why in the hell it had ever crossed his mind.
There was no way in hell Crawford would ever show up here looking for him in broad daylight while the shop was open.
And why would Sebastian want him to?
“Sorry?” Morgan said, probably incorrectly thinking he was upset at her for interrupting his work.
“No, no, it’s fine.” He stood and took off his apron. The centerpieces for a small fiftieth birthday party could wait. “I’ll be right out.”
When he reached the front of the shop a few minutes later, he spotted a woman with strawberry blonde hair inspecting the pre-made arrangements in the cooler.
He cleared his throat.
“Ma’am? I’m Sebastian Breckon, the owner of the shop. Morgan said you wanted to speak to me?”
She turned, a bright smile lighting her face and crinkling the corners of her eyes. “Oh, yes. But please, call me Catherine.”
“Catherine,” he repeated because she was looking at him like he should recognize her or something.
She let out a soft laugh. “And I just realized you probably have no idea who I am.”
“I’m sorry, no.” Was he supposed to? Shit.
He wracked his brain. The name Catherine rang a vague bell in his head but she didn’t look familiar. He couldn’t quite pin down her age but all of the recent female job applicants had been around his age and this woman was older than that.
“I’m Catherine O’Shea.” She opened her mouth like she was going to continue.
“O’Shea. You’re Connor’s mother,” he said, finally putting the pieces together.
“Yes. Along with several other hockey miscreants.”
Nearby, Morgan made an ‘oh my god, this is a big deal’ face. Privately, Sebastian agreed. This was the kind of client who could open doors for his Boston shop.
“It’s so nice of you to drop by,” he said, although he wasn’t entirely sure why she had.
“Well, I am sorry I didn’t do it sooner,” she said with a laugh. “Apparently, Connor forgot he had your card. It wasn’t until he and Jesse came over for dinner the other night that Jesse reminded him.”
“Oh. It’s no problem. They seem like a great couple. Honestly, the whole team was amazing when they did the day for Harper. I assume Connor explained all that …”
“Yes. He did. How is your niece doing?”
They made small talk for a few minutes about Harper before Catherine cleared her throat. “Now, I want to get to the reason I stopped by today.”
“Of course,” Sebastian said.
“Well, to be honest, I wanted to scope out your work,” she admitted with a small conspiratorial smile.
“I hope it met your standards,” he said with a soft laugh because there was something very charming about her. She had a way of putting people at ease.
“Oh yes. It’s stunning. Beautiful use of color.” She glanced around. “Do you do private events?”
“I do,” Sebastian said. “What did you have in mind? Actually, why don’t you come back to my office and we can talk more in there. I want to take some notes while we chat. And I have portfolios showing my previous work if you’d like to look through them.”
“Sounds perfect. Lead the way.”
“Can I interest you in a coffee?” he asked as he led her down the hall.
“At this time of day, I’m afraid not,” she said with a sigh. “Once I reached a certain age, I had to limit my coffee drinking, or I’d never get any sleep. It’s a shame, because I love the stuff.”
“How do you feel about herbal tea? I have a handful of flavors.”
“Like you might be my new best friend.”
Sebastian laughed.
In his office over a mug of blueberry ginger tea for her and a plain black coffee for him, they discussed some of what she was looking for while she browsed his portfolio. She worked with the Harriers Foundation, like Connor had said, and they hosted numerous events throughout the season.
She’d been unhappy with their current florist’s recent work and had been looking for someone new for a while.
It was perfect, an opportunity Sebastian was desperate to jump on, but the more she talked, the further his stomach sank.
“I’d love to say yes to you,” Sebastian said, his tone regretful.
“But I have to be honest, I am a little concerned about being able to manage that level of commitment. It really pains me to say this or even think about turning you down, but I am just getting off the ground here in Boston. I’m currently short-staffed and really struggling to find people willing to work at the level I’m looking for. ”
“It can be tough,” she said, her tone sympathetic.
“I’m happy to pay a competitive wage,” he said. “I’m just not finding people who are the right fit and I’m not sure why. I never had this problem in New York.”
“Well, we are a little different here in Boston,” she said, her eyes twinkling. “And we don’t always take kindly to New Yorkers.”
Sebastian laughed. “Is that my issue?”
She shrugged. “I was mostly kidding, but you never know. I am sorry to hear you say no, however. I love your work.”
“Believe me,” he said. “I wish I could take you up on your offer. I would love to do the work for you. I just have concerns that I couldn’t live up to my promises.”
“I respect that.”
He sighed. “The truth is, I also have a lot of outside commitments right now because of my sister and niece. My sister is a single mom, and my niece needs a lot of care. She has an entire team of doctors and physical and occupational therapists. So many appointments. My sister does her best, and her work tries to be flexible, but it can be tough. It’s gotten worse since her husband bailed on them and I am trying to pick up the slack but it’s really difficult and … ”
He stopped, mortified that he’d said all that aloud.
It was just that Catherine had been listening so intently, the look in her blue eyes soft and concerned.
Motherly. He cleared his throat. “Anyway, I am afraid I am going to have to say no. I hope that once I am able to get more help here, if you haven’t already found anyone else, you’ll still consider me. ”
“Of course,” she said. “But now I’m more concerned about you and your family. Is there anything we as an organization can do for you?”
“Oh, no, I don’t think so,” he said, taken aback. “That’s kind of you to offer though.”
“Uncle Sebby?”
He turned to see a sleepy Harper standing in the doorway, rubbing her eyes. She’d been upstairs napping in his bed.
Sebastian hadn’t had time to scrub the leather clean after Crawford’s bare ass had been on it last night and he hadn’t been about to make Harper sleep on that.
“Hey, kiddo,” he said in a soft voice. “How was your nap?”
“Okay. I’m kinda hungry though.” She climbed into his lap.
“Then it’s a very good thing I have snacks in my desk,” he said, pulling open a drawer. “Pick whatever you want.”
She rooted through the granola bars, fruit snacks, and trail mix packs he kept there, then grabbed a granola bar.
“Harper, would you like to say hi to the lady over there?” Sebastian asked, nodding across the desk. “That’s Catherine O’Shea. She’s Connor’s mom.”
“Connor? The captain of the bird men?” she said, turning to look at Catherine.
Catherine smiled. “Yes. He and Jesse said they had a really fun day hanging out with you.”
Her face lit up. “Dancing goalie?”
“Yes. That’s Connor’s boyfriend.”
“You need a boyfriend, Uncle Sebby,” Harper said, leaning back against Sebastian’s chest.
“Uhh, maybe someday,” he said. “Not right now.”
“I like Mr. Luke.”
Sebastian tried not to choke. He was pretty sure she didn’t mean anything by that. She was just rambling in that still-sleepy way kids did when they just woke up. Even more unfiltered and random than usual.
But shit. He really didn’t need Catherine getting the wrong idea.
“Yeah,” Sebastian said, clearing his throat. “For some reason Crawford is her favorite player. I have no idea why.”
Catherine’s smile widened. “He’s a good guy. I know on the ice he’s a menace, but he has a big heart under all that gruffness.”
“Mmm,” Sebastian said. He’d sort of seen it with Harper but otherwise, he wasn’t so sure about that.
“Is he gonna be okay, Uncle Sebby?” Harper craned her neck to look at him. “You were s’posed to find out.”
“Uhh,” Sebastian said. “I’ll have to check later.”
“I am sure he’ll be fine, Harper,” Catherine said. “He’s a tough one and the players get the very best care there is.”
“Dat’s good.” She munched on her granola bar.
Sorry, Sebastian mouthed at Catherine, aware it probably wasn’t the most professional meeting he’d ever held. He was just making a mess of this left and right, wasn’t he?
But Catherine’s expression turned even softer as she looked at his niece. “Harper, did you know I have several granddaughters who are right around your age?”
“Yep,” Harper said. “Connor and Jesse are their daddies. They showed me pictures!”
“Yes,” Catherine agreed. “Those are two of them. Would you like to meet Evie and Maura sometime?”
“Can I, Uncle Sebby?”
“We’ll have to check with your mom, but probably.”
“You might also like going to some of the arts and crafts events we host at the children’s hospital,” Catherine said. “We have one coming up.”
“Oh, you work there?” Sebastian asked.
“Volunteer,” she corrected. “It’s part of the work the Harriers Foundation does. Some of the players stop by sometimes too but much of it is done by current and former WAGs—uhh, SAPs.”
“Saps?” Sebastian asked.
“Spouses and Partners. It’s a more inclusive term than WAGs. I believe it started in Toronto with Charlie Monaghan but most teams seem to be using it now to refer to anyone seriously dating or married to a player.”
“Ahh.”
“Can I go to that too, Uncle Sebby? I love arts and crafts, Miss Catherine. Oh! I go get my drawing and show you.”
She slid off Sebastian’s lap and went to fetch it before either of them could respond.
“She seems like a wonderful kid,” Catherine said.
“She is. A little lonely, I think,” Sebastian admitted. “She’s been dealing with the condition since birth, so she spends a lot of time at doctor’s appointments, and she isn’t in kindergarten yet. Brie is hoping she’ll be able to start in the fall though.”
“Well,” Catherine said with a smile. “It seems to me that the arts and crafts events and meeting some of my grandchildren would be perfect for her then.”
Sebastian hesitated. “I just worry that I’m being unprofessional—”
Catherine scoffed. “Oh, screw professional. I think there’s far too little community building these days.
It’s a wonderful thing to run a successful business but I respect someone like you who is doing that while being honest about their capacity to take on additional work because they’re prioritizing their family. ”
“I appreciate that.”
“Now, it seems to me that you and your family could use a little bit of community. Are you going to allow the Harriers to help you with that?”
There was a kind but firm note in her tone that made him feel like he was being scolded by his own mom.
“I’ll talk to Brie about it,” he offered. “Ultimately it’s her decision but I’ll see if I can get her on board to at least take Harper to the arts and crafts event.”
“Sounds perfect.” She smiled. “Now, what if I had a suggestion about someone you could hire?”
“It depends,” he said slowly. “What were you thinking?”
“My niece is studying at the Massachusetts School of Art and Design. She’s been looking for a part-time position.
She doesn’t know flower arranging specifically, that I am aware of anyway, but she has retail experience, a great artistic eye, and has afternoons free.
I won’t be offended if you’re looking for someone who has previous experience with flower arranging, but if you are interested in some part-time help to give you some wiggle room in case of emergencies with your niece … ”
“That would be great,” Sebastian said with a sigh of relief. “Have her email me, please.”
“I will.” Catherine made a note on her phone. “And let me give you my card. If you’re interested in anything else I’ve offered, you’ll know how to reach me.”
By the time Catherine O’Shea left with hugs for Harper and a big bouquet of flowers she’d purchased, Sebastian felt slightly dizzy.
What the hell had just happened?
Sebastian belatedly thought of Crawford and how much he wanted to keep a distance between his work and personal life and groaned under his breath.
He was gonna be pissed.