Page 82 of Scoop Me Up
Seemingly out of nowhere, Ellie came bounding up. “Daddy! Sam! Look what we did!”
I glanced around and spotted Jennifer on crutches, coming around the far corner of the shop. As she did, bubbles appeared behind her, drifting along and rising.
“Jennifer?” Sam looked even more confused than they had been five minutes ago.
“Hi, Sam,” she said. “I hope this is all okay. I just finished setting up the bubble machine.”
“We’re throwing a party,” Ellie explained. “Mommy did it, but I helped.”
Jennifer laughed. “We had lots of help, didn’t we?”
Ellie nodded, her blonde ponytails bouncing. “Everyone helped.”
Sam looked around. “Everyone?”
From behind the shop, Cooper approached us. “Everyone helped,” he confirmed. “Everyone we could gather up today pitched in to decorate the shop for your grand opening. They’ll be back for ice cream when you open.”
Sam’s eyes were wide and bright. “This is amazing.”
Without warning, Cooper wrapped his arms around Sam in a tight hug. “I’m proud of you. You never gave up on your dream.” After a few moments, Cooper let Sam go. “Should we go inside?”
Ellie’s blue eyes lit up. “Yes! Ice cream time!”
We all laughed and headed inside. An hour later, it was time to open the doors. Sam kept hurrying around, adjusting things as if they hadn’t been moved a hundred times already.
“Will you open the door?” they asked me.
I shook my head. “No way. You should be the one to do it. This is your dream.”
They nodded and went to the front to open the door. I watched Sam flip the sign to Open before tugging open the shop door. Instead of coming back right away, they stopped and looked at the rest of us. “There’s a line. A long one. It looks like it wraps around the block.”
“Well, get back here and get scooping,” I said.
Mayor Axlerod was the first customer in line. She congratulated Sam on a job well done, telling them again how proud she was. After she tasted her scoop of Love You Berry Much, she smiled at Sam. “You've got something special here.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“Not just the flavor,” she clarified. “All of it. Your new family, your shop, everything. You’re doing a great job.”
Sam’s cheeks colored pink as they ducked their head. “Thanks, Mayor.”
“Looks like you’ve got quite a line here. I should get out of your way. How much do I owe you?”
Sam nodded in my direction. “Gabe will ring you up down there.”
There was a steady stream of customers after that, including a reporter from a nearby town. The reporter interviewed Sam for their local interest column while Cooper scooped ice cream in Sam’s place. Quite a few of Sam’s former students stopped by with their parents, choosing their flavors carefully as their parents watched or helped.
At one point, I looked up and noticed someone out on the sidewalk in front of the shop, a younger guy, holding a guitar and strumming a tune. I couldn’t suppress my smile at how quaint and small-town everything felt. As I was watching the guitar player, Sam tapped me on the shoulder.
They dropped their voice to a murmur. “We’re out of Berry Much.”
I beamed at Sam. “I told you it was a winner. What do you have in the back to replace it with?”
“I’m not sure. Can you hold down the fort while I go look?”
I glanced at the long line. “I’ll do my best.” I scooped ice cream and rang people up as quickly as I could while Sam searched the freezer for the perfect flavor to put out. Cooper even jumpedin to help again, scooping while I held down the register. Eventually, Sam returned with a big tub to settle into the case.
“What’s this one called?”
