Page 8 of Rebel Secrets (Devils Hockey #3)

Chapter Six

Three weeks before the wedding

E rin

“Hey Erin, did we get that monster romance in for Mitzi? I can’t find it in the pile.”

The bookshop’s part-timer, Abigail Kantrell, called from the checkout counter in the front as I headed toward the area set aside for the book clubs.

Since the romance book club generally drew pretty well, we’d added a few more chairs to the romance nook along the far side of the store.

The table for the snacks and drinks had to be crammed into the corner between the bookshelves.

I’d just finished cleaning the kitchen after a busy day in the bakery, but I was running late and book club would start in less than an hour.

“Yeah, sorry, it came in yesterday, but I haven’t had time to unpack the boxes yet.”

“She said she’ll pick it up tonight. Here, let me help you with that.”

Taking one of the trays I had balanced precariously on top of the other, Abby shook light brown hair out of her eyes, dark-frame glasses perched on her nose.

She was only a year younger than me, but she dressed like a ninety-year-old on her way to a church potluck.

Baggy tops and sweaters and skirts that covered her from her waist to just above her ankles.

When we’d met at her interview for the job, I’d thought maybe she dressed that way because of her religion. It didn’t make any difference to me what she wore, just that she could do the job. Which she handled spectacularly well. She loved to talk books and read voraciously.

But then I’d met her husband, and I realized why Abby hid behind her clothing.

Just thinking about Dale made me want to spike his daily coffee with castor oil.

I always made sure to schedule Abby late on book club nights so she had an excuse to tell Dale she was staying.

Otherwise, he’d have some reason for her to be home.

“Thanks. The bakery was a madhouse today. We were mobbed from open to close. Good thing I made the treats for book club yesterday.”

“Everything looks great, as always.” Abby put the tray on the table and took the other one out of my hands. “Ooh, you made the chocolate cake. I really shouldn’t have that, but I’m going to be bad tonight.”

It took everything in me to bite my tongue.

I made that cake specifically for Abby. But for some reason she thought she shouldn’t eat sweets.

And I knew exactly why. Because fucking Dale thought she “could stand to lose a few pounds.” He’d actually said those words when he’d come to pick her up one night after work.

Asshole.

And I’d thought of the perfect way to stick it to Dale. “You given any thought to coming to work for me full time?”

I really could use the help. Business had started to pick up at the bakery and I couldn’t spend as much time in the bookshop as I should. Why the hell had I thought it’d be a good idea to run two businesses?

In my defense, at the time, the bakery had been kind of slogging along, breaking even but only just. And when I’d opened the bookstore, it’d been a little slow, not even breaking even the first three months.

Granddad had warned me that the locals were slow to give their business to “out-of-towners.” And even though Granddad had lived here for more than ten years, and the townspeople finally, grudgingly, considered him local, I still wasn’t.

Which is why I went out of my way to kill everyone with kindness. But that was a boundary I needed to figure out another day. I did need someone full-time to help me run the store. And if Abby couldn’t, or wouldn’t, take the job, then I needed to find someone else.

“Actually,” Abby said, drawing my focus back to her, “I think…yes, I’d like to.”

I blinked, a little stunned. That was totally not the answer I’d been expecting.

“Really? Abby, that’d be great!”

Her round cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink, set off by the fringe of straight-brown hair around her face, and her wide smile made her face kind of extraordinary.

Abby was shorter than me by a few inches and had curves I envied, though I knew she didn’t appreciate them.

Probably because Asshole Dale thought she should “lose a few.”

I really don’t know how I’d managed to keep my mouth shut about that dick, considering I usually couldn’t keep my mouth shut about anything.

“Yeah, I think…I think I need this. Dale’s been, um, working a lot lately, and I keeping busy will be good for me.”

Okay, I was no psychologist, but I’m pretty sure there was something else going on behind the scenes with Dale and Abby.

And while I would never say anything to Abby about her dickwad of a spouse—unless she said something to me first—I would not be sad to see Abby get rid of the deadweight.

Which wasn’t exactly fair to Dale. The guy did have a decent job working on a local dairy farm but?—

He was still an asshole.

“This is great! I’m so happy you’re going to be here all the time.”

Especially with Rowdy and Tressy’s wedding in just a little over a month.

Miss Raffi and I had been double-teaming the details the past couple of weeks.

She was handling the catering of the plated meal, and I was handling everything else from the bakery, from appetizers to rolls to desserts and the cake.

It was almost too much for me to handle, but with the help of Rain and my staff and most of the Angels Dance Team, we were making it work. No, we were doing better than that. Tressy and Rowdy deserved it for their big day.

“I really appreciate you giving me the chance. I haven’t had a full-time job since Dale and I got together, and I’m looking forward to feeling useful again.”

My brain glitched for a second as I tried to understand why this smart, sweet woman would think she wasn’t useful. And the only reason I could come up with was…Asshole Dale.

A smile wasn’t hard to conjure up for Abby, but it was almost impossible for me to swallow down the words I wanted to say about her significant other. I would gladly put tiny bits of glass on that man’s morning donut. Just saying.

“You have been the most useful person in this place since I hired you.” And I wasn’t even blowing smoke up her ass.

I meant every single word. “I’m grateful you took the job.

Rain and I couldn’t have kept this place running without you.

I can only do so much, and Rain’s been spreading herself thin between the team and trying to help out here.

I should be thanking you for giving us your time. ”

Abby lit up, her gray-green eyes bright.

“You know I love working here. I was so excited when I found out an actual bookstore was opening in town. I mean, I love the library, and I read so much that I would blow a fortune on books if I had to buy all the ones I want to read. And,” she rolled her eyes, “Dale used to have a fit when I spent money on something that wasn’t food or stuff for the house.

Now that I have a discount, he doesn’t say as much about the books I bring home.

And I just mix them in with the library books and he never knows the difference.

And now I feel like I’m actually using my degree, at least a little bit. ”

Abby had told me she’d graduated with a BA from Penn State, but she and Dale had gotten married right out of college so she’d never really had a chance to create her own space in the world and fend for herself.

Fucking Dale.

And I really needed to stop thinking about him like that or one of these day’s I was going to slip and call him that to his face.

Unclenching my jaw, I nodded and reached for her hand.

“I’m really glad you said yes.”

“I know how busy the next few weeks are going to be for you, with the wedding prep and all. And Rain told me you have dance lessons coming up for the wedding.”

Shit, I’d almost forgotten. But just like that, the realization that I was going to be dancing with Rebel in just a couple of weeks hit me. I’d be standing in front of him, putting my hands all over him. Well, at least on his shoulders. Our bodies pressed together?—

Dammit, had it gotten hot in here?

Forcing a smile, I turned away to start arranging the treats on the table.

“It’s no big deal. It’s just one dance, but Miss Raffi wants us to look good doing it.”

Abby snorted out a laugh. “And what Miss Raffi wants…”

“Miss Raffi gets,” I finished, grinning over my shoulder at her. “I guess she doesn’t trust her boys not to embarrass her on the dance floor.”

“I don’t think those boys would ever embarrass anyone. Rowdy’s such a great guy and the few times I’ve met Rocky, he seemed like a real sweetheart. And Rebel… well, I don’t really know him, but he seems…nice?”

I huffed out a laugh at her diplomacy.

“I mean, I’ve never really spent much time with him,” she hurried on, “so I don’t really?—”

“Abby, it’s okay, really. Rebel’s?—

“A pain in my ass most of the time, and he can be kind of a bitch,” Rain said from almost directly behind us. We both turned to see Rain hurrying through the store, carrying a cardboard box.

“Sorry, I’m late. I had to pick up a few extra bottles. Found out we’re having a couple special guests tonight.”

I’d left a space for the drinks in the center of the table, and Rain plopped the box there with a little huff.

This was already our largest book club meeting, if everyone who’d responded showed up.

The book had been popular. I’d even had time to read it.

The fact that it was a romance had helped.

Not the kind I usually read, with cowboys or billionaires, but one with magic and elves and a grumpy heroine who failed a lot.

Actually, Rowdy had been the one to suggest the book, which had shocked the hell out of me. Not the fact that he read, which I knew he did, voraciously. But because this book was out of his normal genre. He usually went for mysteries, thrillers and the occasional space opera.