3. Ellie
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Ellie
The brownie batter was going to be the death of me.
“You’re eating the inventory again, aren’t you?” Danny appeared from the back with a crate of strawberries and set it on the prep counter without looking at me.
The Ice Cream Shack T-shirt stretched over his broad chest, and when he reached up to grab the cutting board, a hint of tan skin showed. I used to tease him: How did the football champion of Howletts High open an ice cream shop in the middle of nowhere?
Now I was grateful for it.
“No,” I lied, immediately swiping my hand across my face. I never had a sweet tooth before, but now, this was the most dangerous job for me.
“You have batter on your shirt.”
I looked down with a wince. “That’s from the double scoops for the twins!”
“The twins get cherry and rainbow every time. That is brownie batter.” He pointed, turning with a grin. “I’m going to have to take it out of your paycheck.”
I snorted. “Please. You emptied out my grandmother’s fridge every freaking day for ten years. I think you can forgive a spoonful of brownie batter every now and then.”
“More like a bucket every day!”
“Hey!” I gasped, and he laughed, heading back into the fridge.
We’d grown up two streets apart but lost touch after high school when his parents moved away in his senior year.
Several months ago, after a particularly brutal conversation with Victoria, I logged back into an old social media account and saw that he’d friended me.
We’d reconnected, and when I needed a place to go, he didn’t hesitate to offer me a job.
It was cash and no questions. His friend owned a small apartment building in town and rented to me without a formal contract. It seemed meant to be.
It wasn’t forever, but it was where I needed to be now. Clover Hills was a small, sweet town four hours from my home. I had no connections to it other than Danny, and I knew Gideon didn’t know anything about him.
I hadn’t meant to hide for this long from my husband, but the longer I stayed away, the harder it was to reach out. And I still didn’t know what to do or where I was supposed to be.
“You can head home. With the storm tonight, I don’t expect many more customers between now and close.”
Frowning, I glanced at the clock. My shift was over, but Danny had inventory.
“Is Sophie running late?” I asked.
“She called out. Her kid has that stomach flu that’s going around.”
“Oh, poor Danielle. Okay, well I can close. It’s no big deal, and I could use the extra money,” I said cheerfully as I pulled up the stool and straddled it. “You can dive into your inventory, boss.”
“You opened, Ellie. Go home,” he growled.
“A few more hours won’t kill me.”
“In your condition-”
“You’ve got to stop calling it a condition,” I laughed.
“I’m fine. I would let you know if I was getting tired.
Besides, it’s Thursday, and that’s when Sid upstairs has his kids, and they’re currently practicing for their end-of-year concert.
Believe me, being here is less brutal than listening to a two-hour recorder concert.
They are cute, but they are not musically inclined. ”
“Marigold hasn’t complained yet?”
“Marigold can barely hear,” I pointed out. “So it doesn’t bother her.”
“All right.” With a sigh, he finished chopping the strawberries and brought them over to the topping station. “At least take a quick break and run across the street and get some dinner. You can bring me back a sandwich.”
“That I can agree to.”
With his cash, I skipped quickly to the diner across the street and ordered some dinner. Sitting heavily at the table by the window, I stared out. Storm clouds had gathered overhead, and the sidewalks were nearly empty.
Normally, the diner and the farmers’ market down the street drove foot traffic past Danny’s window and through his door in a fairly reliable stream after school let out.
I’d learned its rhythms over the past six weeks.
While kids were in school, the more exotic flavors tended to go first. Lavender honey and ginger pineapple were current favorites.
After school was a different story. Even their parents tended to go for more traditional flavors, as if their kids gave them permission to enjoy the simple things again: chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla.
Cookies and cream. The fun-colored ones, like cotton candy and birthday cake.
It was a good little life. A strange joy that I would have never experienced as Gideon’s wife and the kind of joy that I apparently needed right now. Hell, any joy was what I needed. I was bitter about the fact that it wouldn’t last forever, but I couldn’t deny the crack in my heart.
I missed my husband. The question was whether I missed him enough to jump back into the war that had become my life.
After glancing over her shoulder to make sure that her ogre of a manager wasn’t around, my waitress slipped into the booth and held out her hand. With a grin, I slid the cup of banana and rocky road blend that I’d smuggled over to her. With the first spoonful, Sherry practically melted.
“This is amazing. Ass Hat hasn’t given me my break yet,” Sherry muttered. “Are your boobs getting bigger?”
I glanced down at my shirt. Were my boobs getting bigger? “Do you think Ass Hat will give me a discount?”
“Yes. God, he’s so gross.” She scarfed down the rest of the ice cream and shoved the cup back across the table like she was afraid of getting caught with the evidence before she stood up.
“So that’s a water and a coffee,” she said loudly like she was taking my order. “Wait, are you allowed to have coffee?”
“He does know that we’re friends,” I pointed out. “I don’t think you have to pretend you don’t know me.”
“Are you kidding? Gary picked up my pills from the pharmacy two hours ago and dropped them off because he wanted to see my pretty face, and Ashley threatened to fire me for it. I had to talk Gary out of coming back with a shotgun. Is Danny hiring? No, wait. I hate kids, and there are just so many kids at an ice cream shop.”
Amused, I grinned. “You have four kids.”
“I do, and I blame Gary for every one of them, but it’s hard for him to keep his hands off me. I’m too fabulous. How unfair that my boobs never looked like yours. Crap, here he comes. Quick, look busy.”
She scampered off before I could remind her that I was a customer, not that it mattered.
Ashley glared at me like I was one of his waitresses before he marched across the doorway and stared out.
The wind had started to pick up. After muttering under his breath, he walked out and dragged in the daily menu sign.
“Hi, Ashley,” I said cheerfully. “It’s probably going to be slow tonight, huh?”
“You better not have brought any of that sticky ice cream with you, Eleanor,” he snarled. “I keep a clean place here.”
“Yes, you absolutely do. I’m very proud of you for it.”
Behind him, Sherry made a face, and I laughed.
A few more customers did come in, so I ate quickly, paid, and scurried back across to the shop with Danny’s sandwich.
It was starting to feel more and more ominous.
It was my first summer storm outside of the city, and I was looking forward to it.
I didn’t mind a little thunder and lightning.
It was like the world needed to unleash a little tension, and I knew exactly what that was like.
A few families braved the storm for ice cream before the skies turned so dark that it felt like the sun had set and unleashed the first torrent of rain.
The lights flickered.
“Go ahead and close up!” Danny shouted from the back. “I’ve updated the website that we’re closing early tonight. I think we’re going to lose power.”
I gathered the ice cream buckets to get them back in the freezer and close the till, but I forgot to lock the doors until I heard the bell tinkle overhead. Outside, thunder boomed.
“Sorry, we’re closing early because of the-”
The word storm died in my throat.
He stood just inside the doorway, one hand still on the door, taking up more of the frame than I remembered.
The five-o’clock shadow I usually found so sexy was thicker, threatening to become a beard.
His hair was longer than he’d ever worn it, curling slightly at the collar, and his clothes were wrinkled.
Jesus, was he wearing jeans and a T-shirt?
I hadn’t seen him in those since before our wedding. No watch. No cufflinks.
This was a version of Gideon I’d never seen before.
His eyes found me immediately. They were red at the rims with dark circles beneath them.
For a moment, neither of us moved.
“I took the helicopter. Faster.” His voice came out rough, stripped down. “The pilot almost refused me because of the weather.”
Still behind the counter, I inhaled sharply and pressed a hand to my belly. He’d found me. For the first month, I looked over my shoulder every day expecting him to show up, but eventually, I realized he wasn’t coming. There was some freedom in that, but once again, he was proving me wrong.
The silence lasted exactly one second.
“I’m sorry,” he said, and his voice cracked.
At the apology, I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to hear it.
I just wanted a few more days of peace. Maybe another week or month.
A year or two. Just to figure out what I needed.
“Whatever you think you heard or saw with Meredith and me, it wasn’t that.
I swear.” He pushed a hand through his hair. “I can explain when you’re home.”
My heart skipped. I breathed through it. “I’m not going anywhere, Gideon. Not right now. This is my home.”
Something flickered in his face. “Please. You said you needed a few days to think about things. It’s been weeks. I promise I’m not angry. I just need to talk to you.”
“We do need to talk, but not right now.” Nervously, I licked my lips.
This was not how I envisioned our reunion.
Not with me in a stained T-shirt and a bubble gum pink company hat.
Not when I hadn’t figured out what to say.
“You know where I am. You know that I’m fine.
I’ll call you. I promise, and we’ll figure it out. ”
I didn’t want him to come any closer. He was already taking up too much space, and if I remembered what he smelled like or remembered how he touched me, I’d get all confused again.
“Ellie.” His jaw worked back and forth. “Please.”
“I heard you, Gideon.” Thunder boomed again, and I flinched. “I heard exactly what you said. And I’ve had eight weeks to sit with it, and I’m still not sure what I want to do. I need more time.”
“I’ll give you whatever time you need.” He moved again, a half-step toward the counter, trying to close the distance, and I put my hand flat on the surface between us.
“Don’t.” Oh, God. He was going to see me.
He stopped.
Gideon’s gaze dropped to my belly, and it stayed. The bump was still small. I’d stared at it enough in the mirror, wondering if it was just too much ice cream, but it wasn’t, and he knew it.
“Jesus Christ, is that…”
“Gideon.”
His gaze flew back up to mine, and his eyes were just as stormy as the world outside. “Are you fucking running away with my child?”