Chapter 4
LUCA
It’s absolutely ridiculous that I feel nervous right now, staring out the window that looks down onto the field where most of the players, the few temporary staff we’ve hired, and a smattering of family members are starting to mill about.
My goal today was to bring everyone together for the simple job of getting to know each other. It also gives me a chance to try and feel everyone out in terms of what they might want to see happen with the Thunder.
I should be down there with them all, but instead, I’m standing in my office, if you can call it that, at the stadium. This place is still a dump. I have no furniture, and there’s stains on the walls and a broken light bulb in the retro track lighting above me.
I insisted that my office be one of the last spaces fixed up.
I’m more than capable of working from home, or from anywhere until everything else is dealt with.
After all, the owner of a team isn’t as important as the players, the coaching staff, and everyone else who actually brings fans into the stadium.
But it’s not my run-down office making me nervous. It’s not the players that I haven’t met yet, or the renovations that seem to be taking forever.
No, these nerves are one hundred percent caused by the stunning woman with wavy red hair pulled back in a high ponytail who just walked in.
Against my better judgment, I don’t stop my gaze from traveling down her curvy body, covered in figure-hugging denim and an off-the-shoulder sweater that’s almost an exact match for the shade of blue on the Thunder’s home uniform.
My jaw clenches. I can’t be doing this. I can’t be looking at Isla and seeing anything other than the competent marketing consultant I’ve hired to help me turn this team around over the next several months.
Yet every damn time I’ve seen her since she started last week, I’ve fought a battle.
A struggle between the devil on one shoulder, telling me no one has caught my interest like Isla does since my ex-girlfriend back in Toronto, and the angel on the other shoulder, reminding me just how much younger than me she is.
To say nothing of her being my fucking employee. Everything about Isla is off-limits.
It doesn’t help that I overheard a conversation between her and Gabe in which she admitted to being single. All that did was make the devil even louder.
But the devil doesn’t care that me pursuing her could end in disaster.
For me, if she is offended by my advances.
For her, if anyone suspected she got the job based on my attraction and not based on her skills.
And for the team, if I lose the perfect person to make Cedar Creek fall in love with their baseball team again.
“Son, you ready?”
I turn at my dad’s voice. His back is stooped, his hair fully silver, but even at eighty years old, he’s still the strong man who raised me to be who I am today.
Focused, driven, yet compassionate and generous.
Those qualities are what I pride myself on, and I can’t allow one beautiful woman to throw me off course.
“You bet. Is Mom downstairs?”
He chuckles as I make my way over to him. “Of course she is. Probably convincing those players of yours to eat more vegetables.”
We both laugh. My mother is a retired therapist, with an uncanny way of getting people to spill their life’s story.
She’s also been a vegetarian since the seventies, and is constantly trying to get everyone around her, strangers and all, to see what she calls the “benefits of a rainbow diet.” She’s good-natured about it, and never forces or judges anyone, but it’s become a running joke for Dad and me, trying to predict who her next target will be whenever we’re out.
It could be the cashier at a store, or an usher at a theater. Heck, I’ve seen her try to peddle carrot soup as an alternative to lobster bisque at an upscale restaurant.
She’s determined, that’s for sure. Guess I come by my own tenacity honestly. And my propensity toward healthy eating.
Dad and I make our way downstairs and head down the tunnel toward the field.
The sound of voices gets louder as we grow closer.
Dad pulls me to a stop just before we round the corner that will take us out onto the grass.
Turning me to face him, he places his wrinkled hands on my shoulders and looks in my eyes.
“Luca, I’m proud of you. I know you felt untethered for a while after selling off GaitSync.
And I know coming back to Cedar Creek may not have been your first choice, but your mother and I really did appreciate the help after my fall. ”
“Dad, stop. Moving home was the right decision, and I don’t regret it. ”
Of course, that lack of regret was also the proof I needed that my last relationship was at its end.
Because moving back to be closer to my parents was more important to me than staying in Toronto like my ex wanted.
Truly, it was a timely wake-up call to the fact that we’d both been settling instead of chasing our happiness.
“Well, still, I hope you don’t hold yourself back from finding someone again.
Anyone would be damn lucky to have you. Look at you now, owner of the Cedar Creek Thunder, doing great things for the community.
I just…” he trails off, a soft smile creasing his face. “I’m just so damn proud of you, son.”
I pull him in for a gentle hug, feeling how frail he seems in my arms. It fucking sucks having aging parents, and when Dad fell from a ladder last winter, it really brought that hard truth home. I’d missed too many years, and who knew how many more I’d have left.
“Thanks, Dad. But remember, no one here knows I’m connected to GaitSync. I don’t want any attention being on me, or my leg, or my money.”
After graduating from the University of Toronto with both a Bachelor’s of Electrical Engineering and a Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering, I spent over a decade living and working on the East Coast, developing GaitSync.
A smart gait feedback module, it addressed the ongoing frustration of gait analysis wearing a prosthetic, and the constant adjustments needed to ensure no long-term joint damage was done.
When I eventually sold the technology to a Canadian company that specialized in advanced prosthetics in a private, anonymous sale that kept my name far away from it, I stayed back east, trying to think of my next step.
My ex disagreed with me staying anonymous, and then the arguments over my lack of direction started up as well.
I was so aimless, and she didn’t understand that I hated it, too.
I simply couldn’t figure out what to do.
GaitSync had been my whole life, my passion, for so long that when it was no longer mine, I felt lost.
I didn’t want the fame or recognition in the tech world or the amputee world. I was plenty rich, but there was nothing in Ontario for me other than her. And soon, even that faded.
Moving here, my only thought was to be close to my parents as they got older. Buying the Thunder wasn’t a part of any plan, but when the opportunity came up, I suddenly had a purpose. I had something that mattered to me, and I don’t regret taking that leap.
“Thanks, Dad.”
He slaps my back a couple times and we step back. “Let’s go save your guys from your mother’s nagging, shall we?”
We move into the late fall sunshine, which may be bright, but isn’t exactly warm. Still, I squint and wish I had worn sunglasses. Moving through the crowd, I greet the players and staff I recognize, introduce myself to those I don’t, and try not to be too obvious in looking to see where Isla is.
“Luca, good to see you.”
I smile at Rafe and take his outstretched hand. “You too. Thanks for coming out today.”
He places his free hand on the lower back of a smaller woman with a head of unruly red hair. “This is my wife, Imogen,” he states proudly, and the love he feels for her is evident in that simple sentence.
“Great to meet you. Thanks for being willing to relocate so we could get your husband on board,” I joke, shaking her hand, too. That earns me a peal of laughter.
“Are you kidding? I should be thanking you for getting him out on the diamond again. Seven years of retirement was enough for this guy, he was starting to drive me crazy.”
Rafe leans over and kisses the side of her head. “Yeah right, as if you weren’t enjoying having me around. And don’t tell me you didn’t love spending six months traveling Europe. That wouldn’t have been possible if I hadn’t retired, you know.”
Imogen pats his chest as she rolls her eyes my way.
“Yes, there are some perks. But you need to work, and you need to be on the field. Besides, I love it over here.” She gives me an excited grin.
“We found an adorable house in the next town over, Dogwood Cove. It’s such a lovely town.
And the commute isn’t so bad for Rafe. I was able to get a job here in Cedar Creek as well, so it all just worked out perfectly. ”
“I’m glad to hear it. If you haven’t already, visit The Nutty Muffin. It’s got the best baked goods in town,” I say, just as I spot Isla off to the side. It wouldn’t be weird for me to say hi, would it? If anything, it would be weird if I didn’t.
What’s also weird is how this one woman has me feeling like a nervous teenager with his first crush.
“You eat pastries?” Rafe says teasingly. “I thought you were all about the organic healthy life. At least, that’s what Dom said when I suggested bringing donuts to our last meeting.”
I laugh. “He’s not wrong. I’m not big on desserts. But I’m a sucker for Nutella, and they have a Nutella-filled puff pastry that is a once-in-a-while indulgence. And I’ve heard from others that their muffins are worth getting up early for, since they sell out fast.”
It’s a struggle not to be obvious in how I track Isla as she talks to one of the interns hired to help with the relaunch.
“It was great meeting you, Imogen. Make sure you get some food before the players demolish it all.” I grin, gesturing to the long table filled with snacks that, sure enough, is surrounded by half the team.
I make my way over to Isla’s side, politely ignoring anyone who tries to stop me.
When I reach her, she’s chatting with Dom, of all people.
But his arms are folded across his chest, and his face doesn’t exactly scream open and welcoming, making some rarely-used protective instinct inside of me fire.
I know he doesn’t fully trust that she’s the right candidate for the job, but he trusts me.
So he better not be giving her any shit.
“I see you’ve met the thorn in my side,” I say, reaching the two of them. Isla startles, and Dom snorts. “I mean him, of course.” I toss Isla a casual smile. “He’s my best friend and holds the reins on what we can spend, so it’s best to stay on his good side.”
Isla purses her lips like she’s trying not to smile back. “I’ll keep that in mind when I start working up budget proposals.”
“You make it sound like I’m a cheapskate, when all I’m trying to do is make sure we have enough money to pay the players when the season starts,” Dom injects drily.
Isla’s smile breaks free but only for a second and I clench my jaw, trying not to react, even if I am suddenly filled with a desire to see it again.
“Don’t worry, Dom, I happen to be very good at finding cost-efficient ways to deliver high-impact results.”
Fuck, hearing her talk about her work shouldn’t turn me on.
“Good.” Dom’s gruff reply has me turning a frown on him, hoping Isla doesn’t notice.
But the asshole doesn’t look at me, and continues, still staring at Isla.
“We’ve got some pretty high expectations for what we want to achieve over the next nine months.
Think you’ll be able to give everything it’ll take? ”
“I think you’ll find I’m more than capable. I’ve surpassed high expectations before, and I’ll do it again,” comes Isla’s equally direct reply.
I clap my hands together, and plaster on a grin. “Listen, you two, we’re gonna do whatever it takes to make Cedar Creek fall in love with the Thunder again.”
“Go team,” Isla says weakly, but she’s smiling, and Dom seems to have softened, so I’ll take it.
“That’s right. Go team.”