“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 workedyour 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, areallife,” 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 asyou’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.
Hehadbeen holding back. Somethinghadbeen 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. Iwantto be a fool in love. As long as I get to beyourfool. 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 justgiggleat you.”
But she was smiling ear to ear, and looking almost as happy for Allie as she was for herself.
