Chapter 2
Chapter Two
H er chocolate-making days might be over, but Oscar Granger had absolutely no say over how much ice cream Lily Hart could produce.
And it was a lot.
Apparently, rage ice cream making was a thing.
“Our freezer is going to overflow soon.” Lily’s roommate and best friend Sadie Hudson breezed through the kitchen in her slacks and button-down blouse, setting her purse on the Formica countertop.
“Not if I eat it all first.” Lily stuck a spoon into the top of her two-gallon ice cream maker, sampling the pistachio raisin flavor she’d just finished. Hmm. Not enough sugar in this batch. Grrr. She unhooked the base and carried the ice cream to the sink.
“Are you seriously going to throw that entire batch away?” Sadie reached for the base and grabbed a fresh spoon. Dipped it in and took a bite.
She groaned. “This is amazing. Lily! What’s wrong with you? It would be a crime against humanity to throw this away.”
“It’s not amazing enough .”
The glow of a western sun cast golden light through the window.
Was it seriously already early evening? Sadie was home from her copywriting job, so it must be.
And what had Lily done with her entire day?
Made a lousy batch of ice cream that was either going to melt into oblivion or find its way into her mouth, adding another five pounds onto her hips like the ones she’d gained in the last twelve days.
Since being fired. Losing her career.
Epically failing at the only thing she’d ever wanted.
No wonder she was consuming ice cream at an alarming, just-a-taste rate.
“Hey.” Sadie hip checked her. “Don’t let Oscar get into your head. You’ll find something else.”
“I’ve already exhausted all of my old culinary school contacts. Nobody is hiring. Or maybe it’s just that nobody is hiring me .”
“You’ve got to give it longer than a week and a half, friend. Be patient.”
“Patience is not a virtue I naturally possess.” Lily worked her fingers through her pale blonde hair, now streaked with a little, I-lost-my-job-depression lavender. “Maybe my look is the problem. I could dye my hair brown and serious like yours. It worked for Kayleigh.”
Kayleigh, who had already left for Nashville and texted Lily a picture of her gorgeous new kitchen at her gorgeous new resort job.
Meanwhile, Lily was sweating it out in her tiny apartment kitchen day in and day out.
She’d tried making chocolates, but her stovetop kept giving her fits.
Thus, the ice cream. Besides, something about the whirring machine—watching the vanilla and cream swirl together to create something beautiful and rich, something surprising—comforted her.
As much as one could be comforted when one’s whole world had fallen apart, of course.
Sadie tugged on one of Lily’s waves. “You’d never make it as a brunette. We’re too serious.”
Her playful comment twisted something in Lily’s gut. “And that’s my problem, isn’t it? It’s always been my problem.” Turning, she pulled two bowls from the cabinet and scooped pistachio ice cream into each one. “I’m not serious enough.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Sadie gathered two fresh spoons from the rickety drawer that needed fixing.
“You’re creative and fun and spontaneous.
That’s why we’re such a good pair. You make my life far more interesting.
Think about how boring the last ten years would have been if you hadn’t moved out here to live with me. ”
“That’s true. You are pretty boring.”
“I didn’t say I was boring.” Sadie made a face and stuck the spoons into the ice cream, then stole one of the bowls and headed for the worn red couch in the den.
She gestured around the room, with its bright green accent wall, yellow side tables Lily had rescued from the apartment dumpsters and refinished, and a giant painting of the beach done in retro pinks and blues.
“Remember how this place looked when you first moved in?”
Uh, yes, she did. Drab browns and grays. “I thought you hated all the color.” Ice cream bowl in hand, Lily joined her friend on the couch, sinking into the soft deep cushions and propping her feet up on the dazzling blue coffee table. “You said it looked like a paint palette threw up in here.”
Sadie laughed and pushed against Lily’s knee.
“You know I just like to tease you. The point is, you bring life and color to all you do, and that’s something I deeply admire about you.
So don’t let stupid Oscar try to take away what makes you special.
He’s one man with one opinion. Listen to someone who really knows you. ”
“And see, that’s why you’re my best friend.”
“Only because you were nice to me whenever I came to visit Gramps and Gran every summer.” She dug into her ice cream. “By the way, have you talked with Dani lately?”
“Not since I visited the island last month. She’s busy with the Tourism Bureau. I told you about her crazy idea about rebuilding the Grand.”
“The Sullivan Hotel? Wow.” Sadie took another bite. “Too bad your family didn’t own an ice cream shop. You could go back to the island and open that.”
“Right. Can you see the scandal?” Her hand ran through the air, like a headline. “Hart Family Fudge gets frozen makeover. My grandparents would roll in their graves.” She finished her ice cream. “No. Florida is where I belong.”
“Please.”
“Seriously. The farthest state away from Declan Kelley.”
“He’s not even in Michigan anymore.”
“Illinois is close enough,” Lily said.
“You’re going to have to forgive him sometime.”
“Eat your ice cream.”
Sadie laughed.
“Unfortunately, ice cream won’t solve my problem.
” She set her bowl on the coffee table. “Oscar might be a jerk, but he’s a jerk with a good reputation.
Any potential employer will see that I spent the last five years working for him, and they’ll want a reference.
Besides, there’s the pesky little thing about not finishing culinary school.
Why would an employer even give me a chance when there are a slew of perfectly qualified candidates graduating with honors every year? I’m just a washed-up has-been.”
“Are you tasting what I’m tasting?” Sadie shoved another bite of ice cream into her mouth.
A little dribbled onto her white blouse and she wiped it with her finger, licking it off.
“You are not washed up. No matter what kind of dessert you’re making, you’re talented and experienced.
” She also set her bowl on the coffee table and turned to face Lily.
“And okay, so say you’re right and nobody in Orlando will hire you.
There’s still a possibility you aren’t considering. ”
“And what’s that?”
“I’m not enthusiastic about this option, mind you. But maybe it would make you the happiest.”
“Spit it out, girl.”
“Well.” Sadie absently smoothed her finger along a crease at the top of her black pants. “When you got home from visiting your family, didn’t you say your brother and his girlfriend asked you to reopen Hart Family Fudge?”
“I mentioned why I like Florida, right?”
“Seriously. From what I heard, Declan Kelley hasn’t been back on the island for nearly a decade. I think you can set your defenses at Defcon 3.”
“Maybe.” Lily got up, picked up the bowls.
“But yes, Mia asked me to reopen the shop. She was trying to fill the vacancies on Main Street with viable businesses to bring people back to the island. Jonathon Island is famous for its fudge. Or used to be. Plus, they had this crazy scheme to give every new business owner an abandoned downtown home for just one dollar—an enticement to draw people there.”
“That’s really smart. So you’d even get a place to live out of the deal.”
“True. But I told them no.” Because she’d already been this close to getting her own kitchen, to impressing Oscar. Or so she’d thought.
“It’s still your family’s shop though, right? Even though your parents had to close it, they still have the lease for it.”
“True.”
“Which means you could reopen it any time.”
“Also true.” Huh. She set the bowls in the sink, ran water in them. “As long as Mia hasn’t opened another fudge shop. I’m guessing they would only want one, at least in the beginning.”
“One.” Sadie smiled. “Wasn’t the whole reason you decided to move here and go to school was so that someday you could, and I quote, ‘eventually move back to the island and beat the pants off the Kelley family fudge shop’?”
“Also true.” Man, Sadie was on fire. “But then the shop closed, and I stayed.”
“And the only reason it hasn’t reopened since the pandemic ended is your mom’s arthritis. But you could do it. You could move home and bring your family’s legacy back to life.”
The words reverberated in Lily’s chest. A family legacy. Cody was reopening the family fishing business. Why shouldn’t she also have a piece of history? Why couldn’t she make her family just as proud as Cody made them?
Show them she could be serious and practical and successful.
Maybe this was how she did it.
“You sure you’re not trying to get rid of me?” She came back over, plopped down beside Sadie. “You’d rather have a roommate who will let you get away with your ugly colored furniture?”
“Absolutely. That’s my evil plan.” Sadie nudged her.
“I want you to be happy. Imagine it. You could experiment to your heart’s content, no dull Oscar holding you back.
You could put out all the best flavors. Elevate Hart Family Fudge higher than it’s ever been, even when your Grandpa Hart ran the shop. ”
It sounded amazing. Better than amazing. To be back on the island, with her family…
To finally live up to Grandpa’s legacy.
Still. “I really hate leaving you.” And now her eyes burned. “Maybe…” She grabbed her friend’s hand. “If I did this, you could come with me. You can do copywriting from anywhere. Your Grandma Henrietta would love it. I would love it.”
Sadie squeezed, a sad smile taking over her face. “You know why I can’t do that.”