“I guess I should take this guy home before the fireworks start.” And then Sabrina was petting Sprinkles again, so there was her hand again.
Adley was surprised to find herself reluctant to give up the puppy. When she’d lost Ty nearly two years ago, she forced herself to accept that she was at the shop way too much to have time for a dog. If she’d run an office, she could’ve brought it in with her, but she couldn’t have a dog in the ice cream shop. Laws and health codes and shit. And she’d resigned herself to probably not getting another one for a long time.
And now she was yearning.
Was she yearning for Sprinkles or for his mommy? That really was the question, wasn’t it?
She let Sabrina take the puppy out of her arms, trying hard not to touch her without looking like she was trying not to touch her. Of course, she failed, and Sabrina’s warm hands touched hers, brushed against them, and they were soft and yeah, more yearning. How could she hate somebody and want them so badly at the same time?
“It was so nice to meet you, Scottie, and thank you for the wine.” Sabrina’s voice held sincerity, which impressed Adley, since she knew Scottie was Adley’s bestie. And then those eyes locked on hers and Adley wanted so much to look away. And she couldn’t. She was a prisoner. “It was really good to see you, Adley. Thanks for the help. Come visit him anytime you want, okay? You know where we are.” There was a beat and their gazes held and then Sabrina turned and walked away and Adley let go of a lungful of air.
“Jesus Christ, I hate her.” She shook her head, then turned to meet Scottie’s gaze.
“Yeah, I can tell by all the hand touching and eye sex.”
“What?”
Scottie snorted. Actuallysnorted. “Ad. I love you. I love you more than life, you know that. But you have it bad for that woman. And what’s more, she has it bad for you.”
“You think?”
Scottie gave her a look that saidduh. Then she actually said, “Duh.”
Adley sighed. Long and deep. Because none of this was news. “I know. It’s just, the situation is so…icky.”
“I know.” By unspoken agreement, they began to walk toward the fairway where the rides were set up, eyes scanning for Marisa and Jaden. Scottie texted them to ask where they were, then glanced sideways at Adley.
“What can I do for you, sweetie? How can I help?” She ran a hand down Adley’s arm.
“If you could fix it so she’s, I don’t know, a doctor or a teacher or something, that’d be really great.”
“Lemme see what I can do.”
Chapter Twelve
Honestly, it could be better.
Adley stared at the words from her CPA on the screen of her laptop. They didn’t come as a surprise, not really. Couldn’t anybody’s bottom line be better? Isn’t that what business owners strove for? A better bottom line? No, it wasn’t a surprise. But damn, it was no fun seeing it typed out like that, words staring at her in all their computerized glory, telling her she was failing miserably.
Scrolling on her phone, she stopped on the calendar where an entry for tonight had a question mark next to it. Netwerx. God, couldn’t people just spell things correctly? Did it always have to be some fun phonetic spelling?
“Wow, I’m a barrel of laughs lately, aren’t I?” She said the words quietly to the empty kitchen of the Scoop.
It was a networking meeting that occurred once a month at rotating locations for women who owned businesses. It was informal and often held at a bar or restaurant, and women would grab a cocktail or coffee and mingle with other like-minded women. Casual. Informal. Sometimes, there was a presentation, sometimes not. Adley had always thought such things were a waste of time and just excuses for socializing, but as she sat there and reread the email from her CPA, she sighed heavily, knowing she had to do whatever she could to save her floundering business.
“Hey, boss.” Mandy came in through the back door, chipper as always. “What’s new in ice cream world?”
Adley absently closed the laptop. No reason to get her best employee worried about the state of the business. “Not much at all.What’s new in Mandy world? How’s Terra?” Asking her about her daughter was likely a good way to derail any curiosity, and she was right. The rest of the morning and into the early afternoon was spent listening to Mandy talk about Terra’s various summer activities, everything from day camp to piano lessons to horseback riding. The kid was barely seven and Adley wondered if she ever had a chance to sleep.
Business wasn’t terrible that day. Not busy, but fairly steady. Not bad for a Wednesday. At one point around three in the afternoon, a bus pulled up and emptied out about twenty-five kids from a summer camp, so that was nice. Adley jumped into the fray and helped scoop, swirl, and sprinkle for nearly ninety minutes. A rush like that always lifted her spirits, and she was in a good enough mood after that to make the decision to attend the networking meeting that evening.
“You think it’s a good idea?” she asked later, on the phone with Brody, as she changed clothes.
“Absolutely.” Adley could hear the sound of pots and pans in the background as her sister made dinner. “I’ve gone to several of those meetings. Even if you meet only one person, chances are you can pick each other’s brains for marketing ideas, sales, customer relations, all kinds of stuff. And the presentations are always informative.”
“I do like that.” Chatting with like-minded women and sharing ideas for business success sounded like a worthwhile evening. “I don’t love walking into a room of strangers, though.”
“Bet you ten bucks you see at least two people you know there.”
