“Taste this.” Suddenly, Adley was right there. Next to her desk, holding out a spoon piled with something that appeared to be chocolate ice cream. Dutifully, she opened her mouth, and Adley spooned it in, then waited, watching her face carefully.
“Mm,” Sabrina said, giving it a minute. She’d learned quickly this week that when Adley asked her to taste something, it meant she wanted her totasteit. Slowly. Deliberately. Then give her opinion. “It’s good,” she said, rolling it around on her tongue. “Chocolate and…cherries? And oh. Wait.Ooh.” A spice hit her then on the back of her tongue. Something hot with a little smokiness. Then hotter. “That’s got a kick.”
“Too much of one?”
Sabrina tipped her head one way, then the other, and felt her nose start to run, before nodding. “Maybe a little bit, yeah.”
“I was afraid of that. Okay.” She turned on her heel to head back to the kitchen. “Toning it down!”
Yeah, Adley Purcell in her element was a sight to behold indeed.
It had been three weeks since Adley had accepted the job Sabrina’d offered, and it was now Thursday of her first full week in the shop. The first day had been a bit awkward, the two of them trying to find their footing with each other, and it still surprised her how quickly that had passed. And now? Adley was running the kitchen with the precision of the pro she was. And what was more, she was happy. Sabrina could see it on her face, in the way she carried herself confidently around the room. In the way her dark brow would furrow when she tasted something that wasn’t quite right and she was trying to figure out why. Watching her work was fascinating to Sabrina.
Her phone pinged with a text, interrupting her daydream. She glanced at it, then pushed to her feet, a wave of excitement washing through her.
“Come with me,” she said to Adley as she passed her and headed out into the front of the shop.
“Bossy,” Adley said, but her voice was light, and she tossed the towel that had been draped over her shoulder to the counter and followed Sabrina out.
At the front door, she turned and said to Adley, “Okay, close your eyes.”
“What? Why?”
Sabrina tipped her head. “Please? Just close ’em.”
Adley sighed loudly, like she was so put-upon, but there was a ghost of a grin on her face as her eyelids closed.
Sabrina grabbed both her hands and slowly walked backward out the front door. “Keep them closed. Just walk. I’ve got you. Okay, step down. One. One more.” Adley followed her instructions until they were out of the shop. Sabrina led her a little farther into the parking lot, then turned her around by her shoulders so she was facing the front of the building. Just for added security, she put her own hand over Adley’s eyes.
“Okay. Ready?” she asked, her voice soft. God, she hoped this had the effect she intended.
“Ready,” Adley said.
Sabrina nodded to the guys in front of her who had just finished their job. She removed her hand from Adley’s face and said, “Open. Ta-da!”
Adley opened her beautiful dark eyes, took in the front of the building, complete with its brand new sign. Above the door and across the entire front of the building were the wordsA Second Scoop. Underneath it in smaller letters wasArtisan Ice Cream and Dessert Experience. It was all done in a lovely peachy-orange that was both bright and summery, but with a touch of earthiness, just like the walls inside.
Adley said nothing.
She just stood and looked, and just when Sabrina started to feel slightly ill, Adley’s eyes welled up. She blinked rapidly until her tears spilled over and ran down her cheeks.
Sabrina grabbed her hands again. “Hey. Hey. I’m sorry. I thought you’d like it. I meant it as a sort of sequel to your old place. Please don’t cry. We can change it. No problem.”
That’s when she felt Adley’s hands grip hers back. “No,” she said with a sniffle. “No, no, don’t change it. I love it. Iloveit.” Her gaze shifted and captured Sabrina’s, and she felt it all the way down to her center. “I love it, Sabrina,” Adley said one more time, this time as a whisper. “Thank you.”
And then she was wrapping her arms around Sabrina, pulling her into a hug, and it took Sabrina a second or two to realize what was happening. When she hugged Adley back, she held on tight, inhaled the creamy, nutty, chocolatey scent of the ice-cream-making version of her, squeezed, took her in, and tried not to think about how long it had been since she’d had Adley in her arms.
“Wow, that looks incredible.” It was Kirby, who had clearly come outside to see the final mounting of the sign. “Nicely done,” she said to Sabrina, who had to work to keep her smile from being comically wide. All she’d wanted was for Adley to love the new name, and it seemed like she’d gotten her wish. Her relief was, well, a relief. And seeing Adley so happy… Sabrina didn’t want to dwell too long on just exactly how that made her feel.
“This is so awesome,” Kirby was saying now, and Sabrina forced herself out of her own head and back to the present. She liked Kirby, had liked her right away, her kind, fun energy emanating from her constantly. Sabrina had learned it was hard not to smile with Kirby around. She stood now in jeans that were spotted with countless different colors, work boots, a sleeveless red T-shirt that had clearlyhad sleeves at one time, and a baseball hat backward on her head, tufts of blond hair sticking out the fastener hole. “I remember coming here as a kid with my dad.” Her voice took on a slightly dreamy quality. “Lotta good memories here for me. I’m glad it’s back.”
“Me, too,” Adley said, and when she turned those dark, dark eyes to Sabrina, there was more in them than Sabrina was ready to analyze.
“Listen,” Kirby went on as she glanced at her watch, “it’s almost five. I’ve got some cleanup to do in there and then I’m meeting my girlfriend out for happy hour. You guys interested in grabbing a drink? I know how hard you’ve both been working this week because I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Meet me out? First round’s on me.”
Adley looked at Sabrina, and they had a silent conversation that basically boiled down toIt’s impossible to say no to Kirby Dupree. She’s too nice.
With a nod, Sabrina answered for the both of them. “Sure, we’ll meet you. Where?”
