Two to Tangle (A Tangle Valley Romance #2) - Melissa Brayden Page 0,15
a tool belt?”
“A woman doesn’t tool and tell,” Gabriella scoffed. “Ryan was very professional. She did give me a much appreciated pepperoni endorsement that earned her street cred, however.”
“Pizzamino’s,” the group said in near unison.
Gabriella blinked. “You have to stop holding out on me. We’ve talked about this.”
Becca pulled out her phone like a boss, dialed, and waited. “Hi, we’d like to order two large pepperoni pizzas to be delivered to the Tangle Valley tasting room.”
Gabriella turned to Joey with conviction. “Listen to me. This is why you can never let her go. Did you see the response time?”
Joey melted. “I don’t plan on it. She’s kind, smart, and gets important things like pepperoni in a pinch done.”
“There’s pizza coming,” Gabriella announced to the vastly empty room.
Becca clicked off the call. “Twenty minutes.”
“You’re getting an awesome Christmas present,” Gabriella said, pointing at her.
When the pizza arrived piping hot, Gabriella beamed. While it wasn’t her mama’s dough, or her own for that matter, she liked what Pizzamino’s had done with the pie. The pepperoni, as Ryan promised, was crispy and flavorful. She planned to chat up their kitchen later in the week and swap tricks. She made a mean pizza, but the perfect pepperoni crisp eluded her, and she didn’t want to lie awake for weeks trying to figure out why.
“Hey, how did the softball thingy go with Clem?” Joey asked, once they’d gathered around the table for their impromptu meal. Pizza paired with sangria certainly didn’t suck.
“Oh, you’re doing it?” Madison asked, dabbing the sauce from the corner of her mouth.
Gabriella sat taller as a shot of excitement hit like lightning. “Yep. I stopped by the Biscuit during their lull and talked with Clementine about the team. Muskrats is an interesting name, but I’m working it through. They can be feisty when called upon, I imagine.”
“Have you seen their logo?” Joey made a little muskrat face.
“Oh no.”
“Oh yes,” Madison said, enjoying this. “Please make that exact face every time you’re at bat.”
Joey made the face again. It was remarkably accurate and disarming.
“You have to stop that,” Gabriella said, laughing. Then all four of them made the face, and it was forever seared into her memory. “Well, I’m a Muskrat now, so you’re going to be looking that way a lot.”
“Not a problem,” Joey said and made half her fist into a tiny paw shape. “Total battle cry. I’m ready. When’s the first game?”
“In a week. I’m third base.” She made a yikes face. “I guess I should practice. I already missed the team’s one and only. Is this league competitive?”
“Does Al Roker have sexy glasses?” Loretta asked emphatically around a slice.
Gabriella squinted at her friends for help. “Does he? I don’t know this stuff.”
Joey took over the explanation. “It’s a pretty competitive league. Slow-pitch. Four coed teams all named after various rodents. No one is clear on why. The Muskrats, the Otters, the Prairie Dogs, and the Gophers.”
“Technically otters aren’t rodents,” Madison said, raising a finger. “They’re from the order Carnivora, which—”
“They’re close enough,” Joey said. She turned back to Gabriella. “Two teams emerge to the championship game, which is what everyone talks about. One becomes the season winner and is revered across Whisper Wall for eight months before we do it all over again.”
Gabriella blinked. “I want to be revered across Whisper Wall. Held upon shoulders. Sprayed with the most expensive of champagnes.”
“I see a lot of third base outs in the future,” Becca said, raising her sangria. She gestured to Gabriella with her glass. “Also? That face is a lot more formidable than the muskrat one.”
“Well, we’ll be there to cheer you on,” Joey said.
Becca nodded along. “Wouldn’t miss it. Sky loves outdoor sports.” Becca had adopted her dog Skywalker from a rescue ranch on the outskirts of town. They’d hit it off in a big way, and he’d become a kind of fixture at the vineyard lately. The Tangle Valley mascot. Guests loved him, and he loved them back.
“Oh, you need to drop him by the remodel sometime. Ryan brings her dog to work. Dale. He has the sweetest eyes and most rubbable belly. Sleeps a lot, though.”
Becca furrowed her brow. “I can’t believe you’re cheating on Sky.”
“I was scouting him friends. He’ll be thrilled. If he can find a way to wake Dale.”
They clinked glasses. “You’re actually right. I’ll swing him by.”
Madison sat back in her chair and folded her arms. “Like you’re not practically living in the Big House.”