Page 65 of Scoop Me Up
“Deal.”
It wasn’t long until we were working on flavor combinations. Ellie wanted me to make Red, White, and Blueberry in honor of her Frozen Fest entry, but insisted that wasn’t the one she was going to create alone.
I handed her a piece of paper and a box of crayons and let her go to town while I started the machines. Eventually, Ellie came to me with her paper. She’d drawn several ice cream cones depicting her flavor with different toppings and listing out the ingredients in the flavor.
“What’s this one called?”
“Maple Stardust Sprinkle,” she said proudly.
“Ooh, tell me more.”
Ellie launched into an explanation of her flavor, which involved maple, of course, along with a crunchy, crackling candy—which was the stardust sprinkle part. She told me a meandering story of how the flavor was created involving the Ice Cream Queen being kidnapped from her home planet and taken to another planet. When she was done telling me about the flavor, she looked up at me with wide eyes.
“I like helping you.”
My heart gave a squeeze. “I like having you here,” I confessed.
“I’m going to miss you at school next year.”
That tugged at my heartstrings even further. “Don’t worry. You can always come visit me here at the shop, anytime you want.”
“Promise?”
I put my arm around her and gave her a side hug. “I promise.”
We went back to our tasks, Ellie working on creating more flavors while I worked on loading machines with ingredients and preparing to place an order for more ingredients—specifically the ones to put Maple Stardust Sprinkle on the menu. Just before lunchtime, a knock at the front door startled me.
“El, can you go see who that is?”
Ellie hopped up and poked her head around the corner. “It’s the mayor,” she said matter-of-factly before returning to her coloring.
“Oh!” I stopped what I was doing, turned the machine on low, and gave Ellie strict instructions not to touch before I hurried to the front to unlock the door and let Mayor Axlerod in. “Mayor,” I said warmly. “What brings you here?”
“I just stopped by to check in. How are things going?”
“They’re great,” I assured her. “Want a tour?” When she nodded, I led the way, showing her each part of the shop we’d finished. There still wasn’t any furniture besides the built-in counters, but the bathrooms were finished, and of course the kitchen, which was full of equipment. “We’re expecting tables and chairs to arrive next week.”
“I’m impressed. It’s coming together quickly.”
“That’s mostly Luke’s doing. I’ve only been coming in to help until recently. Once the kitchen equipment arrived, I started ordering supplies and stocking up. Today’s the first day of actual ice cream making at volume.”
“Well, I’m glad to see it. You and Gabe are truly living the Maplewood dream. I’m proud of you.”
“Me and Gabe? The Maplewood dream? What do you mean?” I asked.
“You’re becoming quite the happy family. You, Gabe, and Ellie. Plus coparenting with Jennifer. Building your business. Your success and joy is exactly what I want to see for every Maplewood family, whether they’re born here or a transplant.”
The words flustered me. We were hardly a family—I barely knew where Gabe and I stood, other than having a physical relationship. We didn’t talk about the future. “Thanks,” I murmured. “I appreciate the kind words, but we’re not really a family.”
“Oh? I was sure you and Gabe had made things official by now.”
“We’re friends,” I protested, but even to my own ears, it sounded weak.
That made the mayor laugh, a soft chuckle as she shook her head. “If you say so. Well, if you’re not an official family now, you will be soon. Mark my words.”
My face flushed with heat and I looked at my feet for a moment. “Thanks, Mayor.”
“I’m just glad to see you happy, Sam. You’ve been here a long time, and you deserve it.”
