Chapter 24 Allie
ALLIE
Allie sat at one of the small tables in the ice cream shop, looking out the big front windows at the park across the street.
Small children were playing by the swings while their parents and caregivers chatted on the benches. Couples walked hand in hand, and shoppers greeted each other on the sidewalks, shifting bags heavy with gifts from one hand to the other as they talked.
But in spite of all the happy hustle-bustle, she couldn’t keep her eyes from the pavilion, where Ash had spoken with her and slipped that pretty ring on her finger.
It was all pretend, she reminded herself.
“Two maple creemees,” Charlotte said, sliding into the seat opposite Allie’s and blessedly distracting her from the view.
“Hey,” Allie said. “Thank you.”
“What’s a favorite sister-in-law for?” Charlotte asked, quirking a brow before digging a spoon into her treat.
Creemees had always been Allie’s favorite. The uniquely Vermont concoction was like a smoother version of soft-serve ice cream, and the maple flavor at the shop came from Hayes Farm, right here in Sugarville Grove.
She took a bite and her eyes closed with bliss, like always.
“Makes everything a little better, right?” Charlotte asked.
“Yes,” Allie admitted.
“I know things didn’t work out the way you hoped they would,” Charlotte said carefully. “But are you sorry you gave him a chance?”
Allie let her memory carry her back to the ball for a moment, and what it had felt like to swirl around the floor in Ash’s strong arms.
“No,” she said softly. “I couldn’t be sorry for that.”
“I’m glad,” Charlotte said, nodding. “And who knows what might happen in the future? You might feel differently about his business.”
Allie shook her head and put the creemee down on the table.
“I know what I want,” she said firmly. “Finally. And I’m going to hold out for it. Even if it means getting to be a cool aunt is the end of the line for me. I’d rather be true to myself.”
“I can’t think of a better person to be true to,” Charlotte said, holding up her own creemee and offering a toast.
Allie picked hers up again and tapped it to Charlotte’s before taking another heavenly bite.
“So, what happens now?” Charlotte asked her.
“I’ll keep tutoring Maya,” Allie said. “Just because I’m not dating her dad doesn’t mean I can’t be her favorite teacher.”
“Agreed,” Charlotte said.
“And I think I’ll keep working on this greenhouse project,” Allie decided.
“I might not have the money behind it for maintenance now that I didn’t hold up my end of the deal with Ash.
But I still think it’s a good goal. Maybe I can apply for grants or do corporate fundraising to get the money together. ”
“You should definitely do that,” Charlotte said excitedly. “And I’ll help any way I can. Maybe my marketing background will come in handy.”
“Thanks,” Allie told her. “I might take you up on that. It’s funny, things didn’t work out with Ash, but he changed me.”
“How do you mean?” Charlotte asked.
“I guess knowing him made me start to feel like a lot more is possible,” Allie said. “Maybe one no isn’t enough to make a person have to quit. Maybe it’s just a starting place.”
“I’m glad you feel that way,” Charlotte said, glancing over Allie’s shoulder. “Because I have a feeling you’re not the only one who’s thinking the first no is just a jumping off point.”
“What?” Allie asked.
But Charlotte just slipped out of her seat and headed back to the counter as the bells over the door jingled merrily. When Allie turned to look, Ash Tailor was standing just inside.
He was back in his flannel and jeans with a navy peacoat on top, and his dark hair was slightly ruffled, as if he’d been running his hands through it.
His jaw tightened as he spotted Allie, and his eyes were filled with what looked like a combination of wild hope and steely determination.
“Ash,” Allie heard herself murmur as she rose from her chair.
“I knew you’d be here,” he said, his voice a husky growl.
“How?” she asked.
“You said it was a place to come when you were sad,” he said. “And I’m so sorry I made you feel that way, Allie. I’ll never forgive myself. But I made things right today.”
“What do you mean you made things right?” she asked.
“I told the investors to get lost,” he told her. “I’m not taking TBC national. I’m keeping total control.”
“But it’s all you’ve ever wanted,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s your family legacy.”
“It’s not what my grandfather wanted when he created the recipes,” Ash said. “He just wanted to share a treat with the people he cared about. I’m the one who thought I had to go big or go home. But I don’t have to.”
“Really?” Allie asked, not daring to believe it.
“Really,” he told her firmly. “No more investors. And no more Turbo Tailors. I didn’t want to make them in the first place.”
Her heart soared, but then something terrible occurred to her.
“This can’t just be for me,” Allie said. “You’ve worked your whole life for this opportunity. However you might feel right now, you would end up resenting me for it. I’ll still work with Maya, no matter what you do.”
“It’s already done,” Ash said with a smile. “I called everything off this morning, before I even talked with you about it. And I would have done it regardless.”
Allie waited, hoping he could explain.
“I’ve always had a competitive streak,” he said slowly. “I think you probably picked up on that.”
She nodded, and tried to hide her smile as she thought back to the day of the snowball fight and his insistence that he’d better not play. Of course Ash was highly competitive. He wouldn’t have gotten as far as he had if he weren’t.
“Well, I’m done letting it run my life for me,” he said softly. “I have enough. I want to go deeper with what I have already.”
“What does that mean?” Allie asked. “Going deeper?”
“It means I can trust my staff with more projects, pay them more, invest more in their education,” he said, looking excited about it.
“If I’m not trying to impress investors, then my profits don’t need to keep growing every quarter.
The business is already very profitable.
I’d like to go all in on quality, with my people and my product. ”
“Wow,” Allie said.
“It also means going deeper into having a life, a real life,” he said, his voice gentler now. “I want more time with Maya. And if you’ll allow it after the way I made you feel, I want more time with you, Allie. I want as much time as you’ll give me.”
“Really?” she asked again, feeling like she was in a dream.
“It will be different now, Allie,” he told her.
“I was holding back before, trying to make this thing between us into something sensible, something good for Maya, something smart for you and me. I was maximizing it like some kind of investment or new product. And I didn’t want to get hurt, or look like a fool again.
I was doing everything except listening to my heart. That’s what was missing.”
Her own heart skipped a beat as his words landed on her.
He had been holding back. Something had been missing.
“But you’re in my soul, Allie Lawrence,” he told her, his voice husky again with emotion.
“I know that now, and can’t hold back anymore.
I don’t mind being a fool in love. I want to be a fool in love.
As long as I get to be your fool. Maya told me that you taught them about how fairytales always teach a lesson. Well, I’ve learned my lesson, Allie.”
“Oh, Ash,” she said happily, flinging herself into his arms.
He held her close, enveloping her in his warmth and a hint of the spicy scent of his aftershave.
When he pulled back, she tilted up her chin to look into his eyes and he cupped her cheek in his hand and bent to brush her lips with his.
Allie’s heart fluttered in her chest and her cheeks burned and she knew to her toes that this was right.
This was everything.
“I know you’re not trying to be sensible right now,” Charlotte said from behind the counter. “But when you join a famous ice cream family and a famous root beer family, there’s some obvious business potential just sitting right in front of you. I’m just saying.”
Allie’s eyes met Ash’s and suddenly they were both laughing, still clinging to each other like they would never let go.
“I don’t know what’s so funny about that,” Charlotte muttered to herself. “You try to give people a million-dollar idea and they just giggle at you.”
But she was smiling ear to ear, and looking almost as happy for Allie as she was for herself.
And that was something, because Allie was really, really happy.