“My ice cream. A reward for helping you with the never list.” He steps forward, and his scent, I couldn’t even begin to describe because it’s so inherently him, makes its way into my body, making me lose all my balance. “Unless…” He throws me that dirty look, suggesting I would trade something for ice cream.
I get out of his field of vision, and he follows me. Because, of course, he’s following me.
“I know you’ve thought about it!” He catches up to me as I move to the ice cream shop.
Maybe I have thought about it, or without wanting to,dreamtabout it, but that will stay with me until I’m in thegrave.
“Shut up before I regret buying you ice cream.”
He chuckles and finally stands beside me.
“I love how you take care of me and my needs.”
I throw him a glare, and he winks at me.
We walk across the main square, and on the other side is O’Conneley’s Ice Creams. I go to Linda and say, “Hi! How have you been?”
“Great.” And she gets out of the counter to hug me, but somethinghugeis blocking.
“You’repregnant?!” I ask excitedly.
“Yes! Seven months. And I’m also engaged.” She responds, showing me the ring in her left hand.
It’s her essence. Elegant and discreet.
“Oh my god!You’re kidding?!Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Jesus, you sound like a dying dolphin…” Jake cringes beside me.
“That’s great!” I continue, ignoring Jake. “You and Patrick were always my fairytale couple.”
Linda is ten years older than I am, and she would babysit my sister and me through the summer, when my dad would have dinner with his friends, like the Wests. And Patrick was the West’s babysitter, so we would go to each other’s house, and eventually Linda and he got together, and they were thecutest. Made the romance books and movies real.
“When will the wedding be?”
“We want it to be before this little girl is born, so we were thinking about next month. We are starting to send the invitations, and you and Jake are obviously getting one.”
“Great. I’ve always imagined how your wedding would be…” I say, hopeful and dream-like.
“You’ve always been a hopeless romantic, Maddie. What will you have?” She asks, pointing to the ice creams.
“It’s not for me, it’s for this guy.” I clarify, pointing to Jake and sighing, just because his presence is annoying.
“Sorry, Jake, I haven’t talked to you yet. Everything alright? Where’s Amanda?” She sincerely asks, wanting to know, and I snort, trying to hide the laughter. It’s funny, because everyone in this village knows that they haven’t left each other’s sight since they met at the beginning of every summer since they were thirteen.
“They haven’t laid eyes on each other yet.” I grin.
“Ha ha.” Jake responds.
“Oh.” Linda smiles, embarrassed.
“It’s okay,” Jake says. “I would like one ball of strawberry ice cream.”
She takes the spoon and serves him. I pay, say goodbye to Linda, and we get out of there. I direct us to the village’s board. It’s where all the important information about what’s going on in the village is.
I see that the annual fair is to be held a month from today.
“Brown!” West startles me. “There’s gonna be a talent show on the main stage at the fair, a month from now.”
