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Jess frowned. “What are you guys doing here?”
“Hi, Mom!” Jay yelled. “Surprise!”
The group filed into the shop despite her protests. Blake snuck around the counter and gave Zach a long, lingering kiss. Rory handed Tyler some of the balloons, then pointed to different places for him to tie them up. Calvin clapped Kevin on the back, asking how things were going so far. Melanie skipped over to her and placed a large box down on the counter.
Jess peered up at Melanie. “Is that…?”
Melanie beamed. “We’re so proud of you, Jess. Happy opening day.”
She opened the box, and sure enough, it was a cake. A sloppy-looking cake, with yellow frosting and an amateur drawing of a bike on the front. In thin icing around the bike, each Scooper signed their name.
“I may or may not have made this from a box,” Melanie started. “Don’t hate me.”
“The box stuff is honestly great. What flavor?”
“Uh…yellow?”
Jess chuckled. “Yellow is a great flavor.”
“Jess, get over here so I can give you a hug that I know you don’t actually want,” Rory chirped.
She rolled her eyes and made her way from behind the counter, allowing Rory to throw her arms around her and squeeze tight.
Calvin wrapped her up in a hug next, giving her an extra squeeze. “Things look great, Jess. You should be proud.”
She stiffened. “What if it’s not enough, though?”
Calvin paused, an arm still around her shoulders, keeping his voice low so no one else would hear. “Let’s regroup when you get home and we’ll go through the numbers, all right? Bring Kevin.”
She nodded. “Yeah, okay.”
“Sissy?”
Jess felt like her heart jumped to her throat at the sound of that voice. She pulled away from Calvin.
Dakota stood by the door, one hand on her now very round belly, the other clutching a bouquet of wildflowers, her amethyst ring shining under the shop’s downlights. Jasper was behind her with a hand on her shoulder. His hair was longer now, braided into thick cornrows that trailed down his neck.
“Dakota,” she breathed, taking a step closer. “How…why…”
“I’ve been keeping up with the news on socials,” she answered. “I wanted to see you in action. Sorry if we, um, disturbed something.”
“You didn’t. I’m with these losers all the time, it’s fine.”
“Mom, I don’t like being called a loser,” Jay quipped from behind her. “It’s going to cause psychological damage, you know.”
“Send me a bill,” she jeered, not taking her eyes off Dakota.
Jasper chuckled, looking around the shop. He also wore an engagement ring on his left finger, a simple black titanium band. “This place looks awesome, Jessie. I actually can’t remember the last time I was in here.”
“Who are these people,” Melanie whispered to Rory.
Jess turned toward the group. “Scoopers, meet my sister, Dakota, and her fiancé Jasper.”
“You have a sister?” Jay balked. “How did I not know that!”
She looked back at Dakota. Hurt flashed across her sister’s face, but she mastered it, tucking it away and giving Jay that sweet smile she knew so well. “Yes, she’s my younger sister. And about to be an aunt,” she replied, tapping her belly.
“Congrats, Dakota,” Calvin said. He knew of her at least. As did Kevin, who was now standing close to Jess, his hands tucked into the back pockets of his jeans.
