She sat there for a moment, talking herself into relaxing the way her father had taught her. Then she glanced at her watch. Ten fifteen on a Monday morning. Her father would be doing his rounds at the hospital in the palliative care unit. He’d long since retired from his nursing career, and now he volunteered at various hospitals in Atlanta, talking to terminally ill patients, listening to them, helping them make peace with their mortality. How he did it, she had no idea. He was a special man. She picked up her phone again.
“Well, hello there, Peaches.” The nickname had nothing to do with Atlanta or Georgia at all, as she’d sort of implied to Adley. It was one he’d given her as a baby because she’d had barely any hair for her first year, just some peach fuzz on her head. His voice was warm and soothing, and Sabrina’s shoulders instantly relaxed.
“Hi, Dad. Am I interrupting anything?”
“Nope. Just playing gin with Mr. Caldwell here.” She heard the snap of a playing card.
“Is he kicking your ass?”
“He is very soundly kicking my ass.”
She laughed, just the sound of his voice making her world feel better.
“How’s things in…where the heck are you again?”
“Northwood,” she said. “Upstate New York. Cute little city, actually.”
“Just get off the phone with your mother?”
She blinked. “How did you know that?”
“You have that tone. The one you always get after you’ve talked with her. A combination of irritation and frustration with a little bit of sadness thrown in.”
“Yeah. I’m sorry.”
“Sweetheart, you have nothing to be sorry for. I’ll take any opportunity to chat with my best girl. So, tell me all about this Northwood.”
Sabrina made a mental note to make sure to call her father on other occasions besides just after she’d talked with her mother. She hadn’t realized she’d been doing that, but it made sense. Her father was like a soothing balm spread on her skin after she’d been rubbed raw with sandpaper. Her mother being that sandpaper.
Which wasn’t fair, really. Her mother wasn’t a bad person and Sabrina loved her very much. But she could be…cold. Stoic. Unfeeling. All Sabrina had ever wanted in life was to get her mother’s approval. And so often, it seemed almost elusive…
Giving her head a shake, she did her best to rid her brain of those thoughts. She didn’t want to deal with them now, not when she had to head over to the new Sweet Heaven site. She was the boss here. Well, she and Bryce Carter. Why her mother had to send him, too, she wasn’t sure, but she could either let it bug her endlessly or she could suck it up and do her job. She chose the latter. They were expecting her at the site by lunchtime, so once she finished talking to her father, she headed into her bedroom to change into something that wasn’t joggers and a hoodie.
Dressing for a construction site-type location was always a little weird. She needed to dress the part of boss, but a suit would definitely be overkill, not to mention get ruined by construction dust and debris. She chose dark jeans, a white button-down top, and a burgundy jacket. She rolled the sleeves of the top around those of the jacket and pulled the collar out. Black ankle boots with a small heel completed the outfit. She pulled her hair back in a simple ponytail in case she had to don a hard hat. Some foremen were sticklers about that, as they should be.
She gave herself the once-over in the full-length mirror in her bedroom. A nod of approval later, she was about to turn away when Adley popped into her head. Again. That had been happening more than she cared to admit. Would she be up for seeing her on a Monday evening?
“There’s only one way to find out.” She pulled out her phone.
* * *
Adley had promised herself she wouldn’t bother giving Sweet Heaven any of her attention. At all. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. She’d go about her business, continue to make her ice cream and serve her customers, and Sweet Heaven? What Sweet Heaven?
Yet here she stood, on the sidewalk in front of the building with the enormous vinyl banner.
Coming Soon! Sweet Heaven Ice Cream and Dessert!
Probably a good thing it was too high for her to reach because she had the sudden, almost irresistible urge to rip it down.
The windows were covered, so she couldn’t really see inside. Only light and shadows moving, so there were definitely people working in there. A glance up at the sign again and Adley was horrified to feel her eyes well up. This place could be the end of her business. The end of Get the Scoop. If it wasn’t already struggling, maybe she’d be okay, but now? The way things were? She had that sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach when she knew something bad was on the horizon. She blew out a breath.
“Goddamn it.” She said it quietly, only for herself, and then felt her phone buzz in the back pocket of her jeans. An incoming text. She pulled it out, looked, and just like that felt a hundred times better.
How do you feel about burgers and fries?
Adley smiled at the timing, how Sabrina seemed to show up just as she was wallowing, making her instantly pull herself out of it. She typed back.
We are bffs. Me, the burgers, and the fries. Very tight. She sent it and watched the dots bounce as Sabrina typed.
I hear there’s a lake around here. Was thinking of inviting them to dinner there, at the shore.
“Seriously?” Adley stood there for a moment, surprised. Have you been spying on me?
What? No. Why? And then a wide-eyed emoji.
Turning back toward her car, she walked as she typed. Because sitting in my car with a burger and fries and watching the water is one of my fave things to do…
And then Sabrina sent three emoji with hearts around them. In the spirit of our agreement, that’s where I’ll be. Just FYI. And a wink.
Adley laughed softly through her nose. Maybe I’ll be there, too.
Feeling considerably lighter on her feet, she got in her car and headed toward her own ice cream shop. Sitting at a red light near Jefferson Square, she looked around and was surprised when her eyes landed on a familiar tall, dark-haired woman in a blazer and jeans. Her big sister, Brody, clearly laughing. The door was being held for her by a handsome red-haired man, and Adley was just about to honk her horn to get her attention when the man bent down and kissed Brody. Square on the mouth. The red-haired man who was not her husband.
“Oh my God,” she said aloud, her hand hovering in midair over her horn. Brody and the man went into the restaurant, the door closing behind them. A light honk sounded, the guy behind her letting her know the light had turned green. She swallowed hard and continued to the Scoop, wondering what the hell was going on.
* * *
The evening was chilly. Overcast. Not rainy, not yet, anyway. All of this meant that the parking area Sabrina had chosen to sit and watch the water while she ate her burger was empty, save for her car. And then Adley’s slid up alongside her on the right. Glancing at her through her driver’s side window, Adley smiled softly, waved at her, and everything in Sabrina just…settled.