“Yum,” I say. “Scallion pancakes?”
“Two orders of those.” He reaches into the bag for the cardboard boxes, and I lean over to help. “Chicken dumplings. And moo-shoo.”
“How much?” I reach for my purse to pay him half.
“I got it.”
“Oh.” I shove some bills in his hand. “No, I insist.”
He doesn’t fight me. “Okay, but if you won’t let me treat you for lunch, I’ll have to find another way,” he says as he fills a paper plate with food.
Before I can ask him what he means, Craig bursts into my office.
“Good,” he says, “You’re both here. Just the two people I need to talk to.”
“What’s wrong?” I say.
Craig heaves a sigh and starts pacing around the room. “Tonight is Climax’s biggest fundraiser party of the year. I was supposed to go—you know, shake hands with the business owners in town and the ones who come in from Minneapolis and St. Paul. It’s vital that the Cannons have someone representing us, especially with our need to increase fan interest. But my mother’s still in town, and she bought tickets to the opera in the city. Never asked, never mentioned it once, and when I told her I already had plans, she started to cry.”
“That’s too bad, Craig,” I say, not sure why he’s telling us this. “Maybe she can go with someone else?”
He shakes his head. “It’s something we do together. Ever since my dad passed, she only has me. They used to go to the opera together—it was how they met.”
“Oh. Well, I’m really sorry.” I clasp my hands in my lap. “What can I do to help?”
Craig reaches into his pocket and hands me two tickets. “You and Wild will go to the fundraiser in my place.”
“What?!” I sit up straight. “I can’t go to a party. I never go to parties. And I suck at schmoozing.”
“That’s why you’ve got Wild.” Craig nods at him. “He’ll handle the people part of it. Right, Cam?”
Cam’s gaze is focused solely on me like Craig isn’t even in the room. “Are you okay with this?” he says softly. “I can do all the chatting.”
“Exactly!” Craig points at Cam and then turns back to me. “You just have to be there to answer any team questions—you know, about tickets, our schedule, our history, things of that nature. You know it even better than I do.”
I’m already shaking my head. “No. I’m sorry, but I can’t. I have…” I don’t want to mention my dance performance. “I have something tonight until seven.”
“The fundraiser doesn’t start until nine.” Craig tips his head toward the tickets in my hand, and I see the time of nine o’clock clearly printed on them. “You’ll be fine.”
“I can pick you up,” Cam says to me.
But I’m not about to be persuaded. “Have Eric do it. He’s comfortable in big gatherings, and he’s your assistant coach. He’s the better choice.”
“His wife just went into labor a half hour ago.” Craig grimaces. “He would have done it otherwise. You’re all I’ve got left, Savannah. Don’t let me down.”
I clutch the tickets so hard that Cam reaches over and gently pries them out of my fist.
“I can hold onto them for us,” he offers as he pockets them quickly.
“That’s best.” Craig nods at him. “Savannah despises parties. She can barely handle our team holiday party most years. But you do well with Cam, Savannah. Why do you think I picked him?”
I glare at Craig who’s clueless to Cam grinning next to me.
“Maybe you’ll even like people one of these days.” Craig turns to leave. “But even if you don’t, make sure you show up to the fundraiser tonight. It’s at the inn on Main Street.”
He’s gone before I can argue with him further.
I slump down against the couch cushions, no longer hungry. But Cam fills a plate with food and hands it to me.
