Page 25 of Scoop Me Up (Love in Maplewood #7)

Sam

The summer was flying by and we only had a few weeks before the opening of Scoops on Maple.

I had big plans to work at the shop every day until opening, testing recipes, building up our stock, ordering supplies, and doing anything else I could think of to prepare for the grand opening at the end of August. I’d gotten a business loan to cover a lot of the opening expenses, but money was tight so I couldn’t hire any employees quite yet, not when there wasn’t steady work or income to be had.

That meant doing a lot of work alone, or begging for help from Cooper and Gabe.

They always seemed happy to help, but I hated asking, worried I was going to ask too much and they’d burn out on helping.

I remembered Cooper’s words about letting fear drive people away, though, and tried to swallow my anxiety and ask for help as much as I could.

One weekday about three weeks from the opening, I planned to spend the day at the shop.

Gabe was spending the day with Ellie and Jennifer, which he did often.

I was happy that he was able to spend so much time with Ellie—once he headed back to the city, that time would dwindle back down to every other weekend.

As I crossed the final block to get to the shop, my phone rang—it was Gabe, which was weird. He usually texted if he had something to say. I frowned and answered right away. “Hey there.”

Gabe let out a breath in what sounded like relief. “Are you at the shop yet?”

“Not quite.” I stopped walking. “What’s wrong?”

“Jennifer fell and twisted her knee or something a little while ago while she was out on a run. She called me to ask if I could drive her to urgent care.”

“Okay. No problem. I’ll see you tonight?”

“Yeah, of course. But… here’s the thing,” he continued. “Ellie. I don’t want to take her with us, and I couldn’t get in touch with Cheyenne, who usually babysits for her.”

“Bring her to the shop.”

He exhaled sharply. “Are you sure?”

I started walking again, a little faster. “Of course. Gabe—I’m here to help. Teamwork.”

“Teamwork,” he echoed. “Okay. I’ll be there in a little while.”

Less than a half hour later, I was at the shop when Ellie came bursting through the front door, Gabe close behind.

“Mix,” she called joyfully. “Look what I’ve got!”

I emerged from the kitchen to see Ellie in an apron I’d made her that said “Ice Cream Queen.” With a laugh, I reached out to her and she ran to me for a hug.

“That looks great on you, El. You ready to help me in the kitchen today?”

Before she could answer, Gabe cleared his throat. “I’m going to go. Will you be okay today, Bug?”

She nodded sincerely and turned back to me. “Can we make ice cream now?”

I laughed again, ruffling her hair. “Of course we can.” With a glance at Gabe, I shooed him away. “Go. Take care of Jennifer. We’ll be fine.”

“Thank you,” he murmured before rushing back out the way he came.

Not long after, Ellie and I found ourselves in the back of the kitchen, Ellie helping me take inventory of the supplies that had arrived and put things where they belonged.

We stacked cups, ice cream bowls, spoons, and more, but Ellie seemed to be growing more and more bored with every passing second.

“Is it ice cream time yet?”

I laughed. “When we’re done, we’ll start putting together new flavors, okay El?”

She nodded and smiled up at me. “Do I get to help pick out a flavor?”

“Help? You’re going to create one all by yourself.”

Her eyes lit up. “I bet it’s going to be even better than the ones at Frozen Fest. If it was a contest, I’d win for sure.”

“I don’t know,” I said slowly, with a teasing tone to my voice. “I bet I’d win. I’m the reigning champion, after all.”

“Nope.” She shook her head, her blonde braids swinging. “Me.”

“Well, why don’t we just wait and see. Deal?”

“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.”

I was both embarrassed and flattered by the sentiment, one I’d heard a lot more often lately than ever before.

I wasn’t sure what had gotten into the townspeople to make them draw attention to my happiness so often.

Well, you do know one thing that’s changed, I thought.

Gabe’s in your life now. Honestly, though, I was happier.

Once the mayor was gone, I pulled out my phone and texted Gabe for an update on Jennifer.

I was getting hungry and I knew Ellie must be, too, so I wanted to make lunch plans sooner than later.

Gabe didn’t respond right away, which I assumed meant he was still with Jennifer at urgent care, so I tucked my phone away.

A few moments later, the sound of Gabe’s voice called out from the front entrance, making my heart flutter with excitement.

“Sam? Ellie? Anyone here?”

Ellie immediately hopped out of her chair and hurried to Gabe. “Daddy!” She ran into his arms and he scooped her up.

“Hey, Bug. How’s it going here?”

“I’m the Ice Cream Queen,” she said.

“I know,” he said seriously. “I saw your apron.”

“My flavor is Maple Stardust Sprinkle and it has crackle candy in it. It comes from my planet in outer space.”

“That sounds amazing,” he agreed, putting her back on her feet.

“It is. But then I got kidnapped and the other aliens tried to steal my ice cream crown.”

Gabe nodded solemnly, listening as Ellie continued to tell her story. Watching them warmed my heart. He was an excellent dad. Patient, loving, devoted. Everything a kid could want.

I waited until Ellie had run back off before speaking. “How’s Jennifer?”

“Sprained knee. She’ll be fine though. Nothing torn or broken, no need for surgery or anything. She’s on crutches and wearing a brace. I dropped her off a little while ago with some painkillers and anti-inflammatories and instructions to rest.”

Ellie came back out, carrying the stepstool she’d been using to reach things all day, and placed it behind the counter.

“Daddy, take a picture. I’m the ice cream seller.

Mix, you can be my customer.” I got into place and Gabe snapped a few photos on his phone before Ellie hopped down. “I want to see.”

Gabe showed us both the pictures and once again, my chest constricted.

I thought back to what the mayor had said.

“Living the Maplewood dream.” Were we? Maybe we were.

I just needed to gather the courage to talk to Gabe about it.

A little voice in my head said, This could be real.

This could be forever. You just have to let it happen.

My stomach fluttered with nerves and I swallowed hard.

“I’m going to get Ellie home for lunch,” Gabe said, slicing through my thoughts. He put his hand on my arm and squeezed gently. “I’ll see you later?”

The thought warmed me. “Yeah, of course.”

As they left, my stomach ached with longing. I wanted it to be real. I wanted us to be a family. I wanted to live the Maplewood dream.