“Ice cream shops. Or buildings that could be converted into one.”
“Oh.” What? Ice cream shops? “I…oh.”
“It’s weird, right? I know.” Sabrina shifted in her seat, turned a bit, and brought one leg up onto the bench so she was facing Adley. And this time, she looked right at her face, right into her eyes. “Listen. You and I have one very important thing in common: We’ve both been in icecream for years. We both love it. We bothknowit.” She paused there, maybe to see if Adley was following? Which she was trying hard to do, but found herself just blinking a lot. “I know how to run an ice cream business. I’ve done it my entire adult life. I’ve been around the best.”
“Your mom,” Adley said, finally finding her voice.
Sabrina nodded. “Yes. But what I don’t know is the creation part. The invention. The experimentation. Flavor. I haven’t the first clue how to handle any of that.” She swallowed audibly, her nervousness showing once again. “But you do.”
Adley flinched and sat back slightly, as if Sabrina had pushed her. “Me?”
Nodding. “You. I’ve never seen anybody who can create flavor combinations that work so remarkably well. You have a gift, Adley. And I want to hire you for it.”
She was so confused. “Wait, what? You want to hire me to work in a Sweet Heaven shop?”
“No. No, no.” Sabrina shook her head. “I told you, I don’t work for Sweet Heaven anymore. No, I bought a shop that’s just mine. Here in Northwood. In fact…” Sabrina glanced down at her hands and cleared her throat. “In fact, I bought yours.”
Adley stared. Blinked. “What?”
“I bought the building Get the Scoop was in. I want to open a new shop in the same space, update the place, invest in new, more modern equipment. And I want to focus on theartisanpart of it, and I want to add desserts. Make them an experience in and of themselves. I figure adding desserts to the ice cream will lend itself to off-season business. People eat ice cream in the summer, but they eat dessert all year long.” She held Adley’s gaze for a heavy moment before adding, “And I want to hire you as my business partner.”
More staring. More blinking. “What?” Apparently, that was the only word in her vocabulary at the moment. “I mean…what?”
“It’s a lot, I know. But I have so many ideas, Adley. So many.” She could see, hear, and feel Sabrina’s excitement just by watching her talk now. “I would take care of the money, all the financial stuff, the ordering, the payroll, the marketing and advertising—which is my favorite part. And you would be in charge of the product itself. All of it.” She studied Adley. “You’d be the face of the business. This town knows you. I’d stay behind the scenes.”
Seemingly done with her pitch, Sabrina went quiet. Adley sat there with everything Sabrina had said floating around her. She was completely confused…and she wasn’t. What Sabrina wanted was pretty clear. She wanted to hire her to go back to work in the place she loved doing exactly what she loved. It really was as simple at that.
“I know this is a lot,” Sabrina said again. “You don’t have to answer right away. Roll it around. Sleep on it. I’m looking to open July first, so don’t, like, wait a month to tell me.” Her soft laugh was tinted with uncertainty. She seemed to take a beat to collect herself, and when she spoke again, her tone was firmer. More confident. “Look. Like I said, I’ve been in this business my entire adult life. I’ve seen a lot of shops. I’ve seen a lot of others in this business. But I’ve never seen anybody with your talent and dedication. You’re fantastic at what you do. I’d offer you a more than competitive salary, plus options to co-own. And to be honest, I think we’d make a great team.”
Seriously? Was she just going to gloss over the other part?
“How does your mother feel about you coming here to compete with her business?” Yeah, there was some snark in her tone. She couldn’t help it. Didn’t think she had to—the question was legitimate, regardless of its snottiness.
Sabrina nodded slowly and gazed off into the distance. “Sweet Heaven isn’t really on the same level as something artisan. They do cheap, fast, loud, family. It’s what they’ve always been good at, and they use it.” She turned to look at Adley. “That’s not what our place would be.”
Our place. Adley had trouble even absorbing that. “What about our…” She searched for the right word. “History?”
Sabrina exhaled and nodded. “Yeah. There is that.”
“There is that.” They sat quietly for a while then. Adley felt like her head was overstuffed with too much information, pretty sure it was seeping out her ears as she sat on a bench in a dog park. “So, you, like, live here now?”
“Yeah. I bought a little house over near Jefferson Square. In the same neighborhood where I rented that Airbnb.” Adley must’ve made some kind of shocked face because Sabrina laughed then. “I know, I know. Like I said, it’s a lot.”
“It’s so much. God, Sabrina. It’sso much.”
Sprinkles sprinted back to them and collapsed at Sabrina’s feet, clearly wiped out. The poodle had been leashed, and his mom was walking him to the exit. She tossed a wave in their direction, and Sabrina waved back.
“So,” Sabrina said as she reached down to pet Sprinkles, “I’m fine with you thinking it over. Take some time. Talk to…whoever you need to talk to.” And her tone right there on that last line? Her slight stumble? Adley almost laughed because it was so utterly clear Sabrina had only realized in that second that maybe Adley had somebody. A partner. A girlfriend. A wife. What was also clear? She hated the idea.
Interesting.
Adley felt a little spark of something ignite in her belly.
“Well. I certainly can’t answer this now. I’m definitely going to need to think it through. Talk to some people.” She left that vague on purpose.
“That’s all I ask.” Sabrina seemed excited, and Adley wondered if she’d expected her to say no right off the bat. Maybe she should have, but something about sitting there next to Sabrina again was so surreal. And looking into her big blue eyes right then? Yeah, that had her world standing still.Okay, she still has the power to make time stop. To make me feel…Yep. Good to know.“What do you say, buddy?” It took Adley a second to understand Sabrina was talking to the dog. “Ready to go home?” With a glance up at Adley, she added, “Still have some unpacking to do.” She clipped the leash onto Sprinkles just as the goldens in the big-dog area started barking. Sabrina stood, then looked down at Adley—pretty much the only time she was ever taller than her, which made Adley smile. “Thanks for meeting me,” Sabrina said softly. “I wasn’t sure you would.”
“I wasn’t either,” Adley said.