Page 40 of Meet Me at the Fudge Shop

“Thanks.” Declan found the lip of the panel and popped it off. “Hmm.”

“You’re just pretending to know what you’re doing, aren’t you?”

He flashed her a look. “Do you want my help or not?”

“Fine.”

“What’s wrong with it, again?”

“Shutting off before the cycle’s done. I’m getting slightly colder mush. Not ice cream.”

“Sounds like it isn’t running long enough, cold enough, or both. Could be the sensor.”

She’d stepped up, next to him, peering into the wiring. “So, how do you know so much about ice cream machines?”

He’d found the sensor, and unattached it with the flathead. “During my freshman year of college, I worked in an ice cream shop.” He handed the screwdriver back.

“I’m having a hard time imagining you serving up scoops in the Windy City.” Lily placed the flathead screwdriver back into the plastic tub. “Did you have one of those cute retro paper hats?”

“Yes. And an apron too.”

“Bet that was a real chick magnet.”

Declan pulled the sensor out of the machine, studied it. Looked like the sensor plate had dulled. “As a matter of fact, yes. My first college date came after I served a group of ladies their cones.”

He glanced at her, grinning. And was it just his imagination, or was there a flash of something—maybe even jealousy—in Lily’s eyes?

Oh? Declan cleared his throat. “Your thermostat sensor is rusty. Do you have a small scrub brush?”

“Maybe.” Lily fished around and grabbed an old toothbrush. “Will this work? If not, I think there’s some steel wool under the sink.”

“We can try it.” He gently scrubbed the end of it until the dull end had some shine. He set it back in place. “Let’s try that. I recommend ordering a new sensor, though.”

Replacing the panel cover, he plugged the machine back in. “Did you save your mixture?”

“The last one, yeah.”

“Okay.” He plugged the machine back in. “Give it a go.”

Lily grabbed the cream mixture from the refrigerator and poured it back in. Turned on the machine. “Now we wait.” She turned to him. A beat. Finally, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. See, that wasn’t so terrible, right?”

She looked away, and maybe it had been. Ouch. Then she sighed and met his eyes. “I don’t understand, Declan. Why are you trying to run me out of my family’s fudge shop? Your family already owns enough restaurants on this island. They don’t need this shop. And besides, their legacy of fudge isn’t nearly as long as my family’s.”

She held so much pleading in her eyes he wanted to hold up his hands, to agree.

Except, “I’m doing this for my grandma.”

Lily frowned. “What does any of this have to do with your grandma?”

Oh. “I guess I thought you knew.”

“Knew what?”

Huh. “My grandma’s house is being foreclosed on. The whole ordeal was so stressful for her that she had a small episode—not quite a heart attack, but close.”

“Oh, Dec, I didn’t know.” And just like that, in the softness of her tone, he saw her. The Lily he once knew.

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