Stay Sweet(69)

Then can you come down for couple of minutes? I can give you a ride home.

On my way!

Grady helps Amelia pack up the Cadillac with the ice cream, and then he drives her down to the stand. Popping open the trunk, he pauses, taking it in.

“Where were those boards you said were rotting?”

Amelia had forgotten about the repairs the stand needed. Things have been so crazy. “Over here.” She has to use the light of her cell phone to show him which ones.

“And there was something else, right?”

“The roof tiles. A bunch of them are loose and broken. But if you do anything up there, please don’t throw any away.”

“Huh?”

“You’ll see.”

“Okay. Whatever you say.” Grady’s phone rings. It’s his dad. He puts it to voice mail. “You sure I can’t drive you home? I really don’t mind.”

“Cate’s got me tonight. But I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He helps her carry the ice cream inside. All the girls are in the office. Not just the ones on shift. All of them. They’re laughing and talking, though when they see Grady, things get hushed.

“Thanks for the help,” Amelia says.

“Of course.” He looks like he wants to kiss her, and of course she would love him to. Instead, he gives her hand a quick squeeze.

Amelia walks into the office.

Cate says, “Ugh. Is he gone?”

Amelia’s heart lurches, but she tries not to let it show. Though lots of things are changing, Grady is still their enemy. “Yeah. What’s going on?”

“Staff meeting. Girls only.” Cate claps her hands. “Okay, girls! I know we’ve had quite a rocky start to this summer. The ice cream drama, Grady . . . and, of course, Bern’s unfortunate sparkler incident last night.”

At this, all the girls crack up, and Bern acts indignant but then joins in. Amelia smiles, even though she doesn’t know the story.

“But some big, breaking news today. Amelia has taken over ice cream production.” Cate gestures to Amelia, and there’s a smattering of applause. “And”—Cate flicks her hair off her shoulder, so that the Head Girl pin is visible—“I’ll be taking over down here.”

The girls gasp and rush over to Cate, examining the pin on her collar.

Amelia bites the inside of her cheek.

“To me, being a Meade Creamery girl has always been about hanging out and having fun with some of the coolest girls I’ve ever met. Yes, we busted our butts, we earned every penny in our paychecks, but we always had a blast doing it. So much so that it almost didn’t feel like work at all, you know?” Cate sighs wistfully. “But that’s the exact opposite of how it’s felt around here this summer. In fact, I’m kind of shocked that none of you have quit yet.”

A few of the girls laugh nervously, like they’ve been outed. Amelia forces down a swallow, though her throat and mouth are bone dry. Did it really come close to that? Girls quitting? It seems unfathomable to her.

Glancing around, Amelia realizes no one will look at her. Not a single girl.

Maybe she is to blame, Amelia thinks. By leaving them short-staffed all those shifts. By not throwing any parties, planning any adventures. Amelia never showed up with a cool lipstick for everyone to try. She was too busy pestering them to clean.

“But today’s a fresh start.” Cate looks over at Amelia and winks. “Today, we’re taking our summer back.”

Amelia thinks if the fresh start Cate’s promising will help hit the reset button on everyone’s perception of her, then she’s all for it. So when she sees her chore chart crumpled in the trash, Amelia makes herself look somewhere else. Anywhere else.





CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO


WHEN IT COMES TO MAKING ice cream, Amelia is getting better, faster, more efficient. Like this morning, instead of plucking individual honeysuckle flowers, she’s in the driveway using a pair of pruning shears to snip blossom-laden branches, putting those glass vases inside Molly Meade’s cabinets to good use.

“Amelia! Can you come here for a sec?” Cate is standing half out the side stand door, waving her hands.

Amelia sets down her bundle and heads to the stand.

She’s thinking maybe Cate has a question for her about something stand-related. She’s probably diving into the things Amelia has been neglecting. “How’s it going?”

“Terrific!”

Amelia looks at the tip jar. It’s bursting with money. “Looks like you’re killing it today.”

“Customers are happy again, now that all the flavors are back.” Cate smiles, pleased, and dumps the jar out on the desk. “You should talk to Grady. However long he’s going to have you up at the house, you’re losing out on tips.” She starts smoothing out her bills.

“That’s true,” Amelia says, though she has no intention of talking to Grady about that. She has been happy working up at the house. On the corner of the desk, she notices a stack of papers.

Newbie applications. There are maybe fifty, filled out.

“I put them out yesterday,” Cate says, and then winks. “Word travels fast.”

“You’re hiring newbies? But summer’s half over.”

“Um, yeah! How else is the legacy supposed to go on? You want Bern or Sophie to have to hire and train five girls next summer?”