Page 33 of Scoop Me Up (Love in Maplewood #7)

Sam

The August day was warm, the sun bright as I moved around the shop, prepping for the busy day ahead.

Despite the fact that there were no festivals scheduled for the end of August, it was a busy time of year, and today would be no different—we’d scheduled a Summer Sundae Social for early afternoon, inviting the whole town out to celebrate our one-year anniversary as a shop.

In the quiet, I spent time wiping down tables and making sure everything was sparkling clean, filled the cases with tubs of ice cream, and carefully chalked the menu to display the day’s flavors.

Just as I was hauling out the waffle iron to make our homemade waffle cones, the front door burst open and Ellie ran in. “Sam! Good morning again!”

“Good morning again,” I said. “How was breakfast?”

“Yummy. I got pancakes. I get to be your helper today, right?”

I chuckled. “That’s right. I’m going to teach you how to make waffle cones, if you hurry and go wash your hands.”

“Okay,” she said, darting into the back of the store.

A moment later, the door opened again. This time it was Gabe, still looking sleepy, even though he’d left an hour ago with Ellie, who’d spent the night at our apartment, to have breakfast and pick up coffee. He crossed the floor and stopped at the counter to hand me a cup and give me a quick kiss.

“Morning,” I murmured.

“Guess who I saw at Special Blend.” He didn’t give me a chance to say anything before he barreled on. “Jennifer.”

“How was she?”

Gabe smirked and chuckled softly. “She had an overnight guest last night, apparently.”

“Oh?” My eyebrows shot up. “Did you get his name?”

Gabe’s smirk widened. “ Her name. Rosa.”

That was certainly an interesting development, but one we could discuss another time, because Ellie hurried in again, holding her hands up like a surgeon would, waiting for gloves.

“Ready,” she announced.

“Alright, Bug,” I said, sliding a stool up to the counter where the waffle iron waited. “Here we go…”

It didn’t take Ellie long to get the hang of making waffle cones, and soon she was pulling perfectly crafted waffles off of the iron and rolling them into cones.

“I have an idea!” Ellie said as she made the cones, struggling a little to seal the bottoms as she went. “What if we put a marshmallow in the bottom? Then the ice cream wouldn’t drip out.”

“That’s a great idea,” I said.

“I saw it at a different ice cream shop.”

I gasped in mock indignation and held my hand to my chest. “You went to a different shop?”

She giggled and rolled her eyes. “Mommy took me.”

“I guess I’ll forgive you. Gabe, do you think you can go in the back and find the mini-marshmallows?”

A few minutes later, we were stuffing the cones with marshmallows as we went, and I had to admit, it was a clever idea. As we were working, Cooper came in with a huge bouquet of balloons bopping around behind him.

“Where do these go, boss?”

“On either side of the door, outside.”

He nodded and saluted me before heading out to position the balloons. As I helped Ellie, Gabe came up from behind and slid an arm around my waist before pressing a soft kiss to my cheek. I hummed contentedly.

“Gross,” Cooper said as he came back inside.

Ellie spun to see us standing there and shrugged before going back to her work. “Uncle Cooper, do you want to help make waffle cones?”

He shook his head. “Looks like you’ve got it under control there. I’ll help you stack them once they’re cool. How about that?”

“Okay,” she agreed.

Cooper came up to stand next to me and Gabe. “You two are getting soft.”

I snorted. “How so?”

“Look how sappy you are. What happened to my skeptical-about-love best friend?”

Gabe shot Cooper a look, eyebrow raised, grin a mile wide. “I happened.”

With that, Cooper sighed. “I wonder if I’ll ever find someone or if I’m destined to be single forever.”

“With that attitude, single forever, I’m guessing.” I laughed and shook my head.

Before we could continue, Ellie hopped down off the stool. “Done!’ She looked around, probably trying to find more ways to help, when her eyes lit up. “The mayor is here!” She ran to the door and opened it. “Hi, Mayor!”

The mayor came in, holding something in her hands that looked like just a plain rectangle of stained wood. “Good morning, everyone. Ready for the social?”

“Almost,” I said. “What can we do for you? Early samples?”

She laughed and held up what she’d been carrying. “I wouldn’t say no to an early sample, but what I really came for was to give you this. The town council had this made up for you, as an anniversary gift.” She turned it toward me—a plaque that read, Life is sweeter thanks to Scoops on Maple.

“Thanks. This means a lot.” I offered the mayor a sample of our newest flavor, Maple Ever After, while Gabe went ahead and opened the shop for the day, with the help of one of our summer employees, Blake.

It didn’t take long for a line to build up, and even with everyone scooping and working the register, the line grew.

There were kids playing hopscotch out front, a live band was set up in the parking lot, and we debuted ice cream nachos, our new sample pack that came with four flavors, four toppings, and waffle cone chips on the side.

When things began to die down and the sun began to set, Jennifer stopped in to help us close up shop. With all hands on deck, it didn’t take long for the shop to be tidied and ready for business the next day.

“Get your things, El. You’re with me tonight,” Jennifer said, wiping down the last table.

Ellie nodded. “Sam, can you help me?”

“Of course.” I took Ellie upstairs to the apartment and helped her gather her belongings, stuffing them into her bag.

When we made it back downstairs, the shop was quiet and while the kitchen lights were on, the front was dark. “I guess your daddy turned off all the lights and forgot about us,” I murmured. Ellie just giggled.

“Gabe?” I pushed open the swinging door to the front of the shop to find Gabe in the center of the floor, standing and surrounded by strings of fairy lights on the nearby tables.

I frowned, confused. A moment later, Gabe nodded and Ellie ran off.

From somewhere, music filled the room and Gabe dipped down, dropping to one knee.

Butterflies fluttered in my stomach as I approached him, words eluding me as I stood just in front of him.

“Sam,” Gabe said softly. “For just over a year now, I’ve had the privilege of loving you.

I was a different person then. This town, this life we’ve built, this love we share, it’s changed me.

I can’t imagine anything different. Only one thing would make it sweeter.

Marry me, and let’s make this last forever. ”

“Of course I will,” I whispered, throat thick with emotions and tears in my eyes. I reached for him and pulled him up, into my arms for a tender kiss. We kissed for several long seconds before Gabe stepped back.

“This is for you.” He held out a ring box with a simple silver band before pulling the band out and sliding it on my left ring finger. A moment later, he raised his voice. “They said yes.”

Jennifer, Cooper and Ellie stepped into the room from the back, cheering and clapping.

“Where did you come from?” I asked. “Ellie and I walked right through the kitchen. Were you hiding?”

Cooper nodded. “We were in the walk-in.”

“I got them out,” Ellie said sincerely. “They were cold.”

I burst out laughing and shook my head. “I don’t know what I’d do without you. All of you.”

I couldn’t believe how different my own life had been fourteen months ago. I’d been a teacher, single, and convinced things were going to stay the same forever. Instead, all of my dreams came true. Life was sweeter than I ever could’ve imagined.

The End