Chilled to the Cone

by Ellie Alexander

  “That looked like Dad.” Laney’s shoulders crumpled.

  I helped her along the path. When we reached Nana’s, I left Laney with a long hug. “Please don’t hesitate to let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

  She forced a smile. “I appreciate it. It feels slightly better to talk about it, and I know that I have to tell Thomas everything. Hopefully, they can find whoever did this to Dad.”

  At Scoops, Steph had finished creating the new chalkboard menu design. The red, teal, and white chalk added an extra pop of color. She had sketched ice cream cones, coffee cups, and silhouettes of cupcakes on the sides of the menu, but left space in the middle to change out our weekly offerings.

  “That looks great,” I complimented her.

  “It’s okay.” Her eyes were shielded by strands of her purple hair. “Too bad we can’t tear down this old structure. It’s ugly.”

  I had to agree. Our cleanup efforts had lightened the garden, but ripping the ivy from the aging pergola above the coffee stand had revealed sections of rotting wood. In contrast to the newly stained bar, it looked gray and sad. Unfortunately rebuilding the structure would put us way over the money Mom and I had allotted for beautifying Scoops.

  “Alas, that’s not in the budget at the moment,” I replied.

  Steph tucked the loose strands of hair behind one ear. Her nails were painted black to match her lipstick. She wore a pair of intentionally ripped skinny jeans and black combat boots, and had a backpack slung over her arm. “Could we stain it?”

  “We could try.” I wasn’t sure that the structure could be improved.

  Andy chimed in. He had successfully removed any trace of graffiti and was in the process of bleaching the fridge. “Nah, I don’t think it’s worth it, boss. As my grandma likes to say, that would be ‘putting lipstick on a pig.’”

  Steph snarled at him.

  He threw his arms up in surrender. “Don’t shoot the messenger. Look at that thing—it’s half-rotted. I think it’s ugly too, but I’m more worried that it’s going to come crashing down on me and Sterling.”

  Sterling wrapped his hands around one of the pergola’s posts. He tried to shake it. “Feels solid to me.”

  That was a relief, but I didn’t want to take any chances either. I would make a call to our contractor later to see if he could come assess the structure.

  Steph shifted her backpack. “I’ve got to get to class.”

  Sterling reached for his hoodie. “Mind if I take a break and walk up to campus?” he asked me.

  “Of course. Go.”

  Andy had finished scrubbing the outdoor kitchen. The smell of bleach assaulted my nose when he opened the fridge for me. The racks had been sanitized and arranged to accommodate the supplies we’d be bring over. Every inch of stainless steel sparkled. The cabinets looked revived and fresh. “I’ve started organizing supplies, boss.” He walked me through his strategy for arranging cups, glasses, and plates.

  “Everything looks fantastic. I can’t get over how quickly it’s coming together. I had thought it might take much longer.”

  “You put in that order for the rest of the supplies last night, right?” Andy stacked a set of our red towels near the sink.

  “Yep. We should have the last of the list by the end of the week.”

  “Sweet.” Andy gave me a thumbs-up.

  We spent the next hour mapping out schedules and figuring out flow for the small kitchen. Given the tight space, there wouldn’t be room for more than two staff members to work together. That should be fine since we weren’t going to be baking anything in the new space. Aside from scooping concretes and blending shakes, most of the job would be packaging orders and making sure the garden dining area was kept clean. In addition to calling our contractor, I needed to place that ad for help. I made a note to do both.

  Andy and I disassembled the faded and stained umbrellas. We stacked them in a pile in the center of the garden. I hated throwing them out. They weren’t aesthetically pleasing for our new shop, but someone could probably get use of them. I added another note in my ever-growing to-do list to post a free ad.

  I saw Thomas park his police car across the street at Cyclepath as I tossed a pile of weeds into the yard debris bin. He waved and pointed to Laney’s food truck. He must be here for their meeting. If nothing else, now at least Thomas, Detective Kerry, and the Professor would know the Wizard’s real name and his connection with Laney.

  Sterling returned from walking Steph to class shortly after three. I sent him and Andy back to Torte to help with closing. I used the time alone to posts ads for summer help and the umbrellas, and left a message for our contractor.

  Thomas knocked on the gate. “Hey, Jules. Mind if I come in?”

  “Not at all.” I waved from the kitchen. I looked up to see him amble into the garden. He wore a pair of navy blue shorts that matched his police uniform, tennis shoes, and sunglasses. The badge pinned to his chest glinted in the sunlight.

  He hadn’t changed much since high school. I appreciated that he found a way to retain his optimistic charm in a field that had to be trying, especially at times like this.

  “I spoke with Laney Lee,” he said, leaning his muscular arms on the countertop.

  “She told you about the Wizard?”

  “She did. Although this won’t surprise you, the Professor suspected as much.”

  It didn’t surprise me. The Professor was one of the most astute people I had ever met. Not much got by his keen and discerning eye.

  “Does it make a difference?” I asked.

  “What? Knowing who the Wizard really was?” Thomas removed his sunglasses and placed them on the top of his sandy blond hair.

  “Yeah.”

  “Absolutely. I already put in a call to Kerry. She’s pulling medical records now. That should give us some insight. We’re still waiting for the coroner’s report to see if there were any drugs in Jim’s system that might have played a role in his death.”

  “Does that mean you don’t think he was killed?”

  “No.” Thomas picked up a sketch of the new menu that Steph had been working on. “We’re sure it was homicide, but we need to know what may or may not have been in his system. There’s a possibility that the killer drugged him, or given what I’ve learned from Laney, that he could have been taking prescription medication that could have interfered with his cognition.”

  “What about Sky? Did you find him?”

  Thomas tapped the sketch. “No. Not yet, but I have officers looking for him. I’m sure he’ll turn up.”

  “But, what if he’s in danger?” I expanded on our earlier conversation and repeated what Laney had told me. “If the Wizard—Jim—and Sky both witnessed something, Sky could be in trouble.”

  “I know.” He folded his hands on the counter. “I understand why you’re upset, but there’s not much more we can do. I would bet that Sky’s hiding, which is probably a good thing. If we can’t find him, then the killer can’t either.”

  That was a fair point.

  Thomas glanced around. “It’s just us, right?”

  “Yep. I sent my team to Torte.”

  He relaxed his shoulders. “Good. There’s something I want to show you.” He took one more look around the garden, then reached into his shorts pockets and removed a small black felt jewelry box.

  My stomach dropped. Thomas and I had a history. We had shared many wonderful early memories together. He had been my first love, but that was in the past. When I had first returned to Ashland, I think we both felt a bit of the spark we had once held for each other, but that was fleeting. Young love burns hot, but the flame rarely lasts. Isn’t that why Shakespeare penned Romeo and Juliet?

  I had thought we both understood that. The sincere look in his robin’s blue eyes made me wonder if I’d been mistaken.

  “Jules, why does your face look funny?”

  “Huh?” I sucked in my stomach and tried to compose myself.

  “You look like you
’ve seen a ghost. What’s wrong?” He checked behind us.

  “Nothing. What did you want to ask me?” He wasn’t going to propose, was he? That would be crazy. He knew that Carlos and I were trying to figure things out. Thomas wouldn’t put me in that position, would he?

  “Jules, you’ve been my best friend ever since I can remember.” His voice was thick with emotion.

  I felt my body pulling away from him. “Uh-huh.”

  “I can’t begin to tell you how important your friendship is to me. I guess I didn’t realize it when you were gone for all those years. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I missed you, but when you came home it was like no time had gone by. We picked up where we left off, and I feel so fortunate to have you as a friend.”

  Thomas was scaring me. Had I read our relationship wrong?

  He strummed his fingers on the countertop. “Jules, you know me well. You probably know me better than anyone else in town and I’m so nervous to tell you this.”

  I felt queasy. Where was he going with this?

  “I don’t want things to change between us. I want us to be friends for life.”

  “Me too. I want that too.” I thought about saying something like, “If you want us to stay friends then please, please don’t say whatever you’re about to say.” But I kept that thought to myself.

  “Jules, I think I’m in love,” Thomas gushed. The tips of his ears turned red, a smile permeating his entire boyish face.

  “Okay.” My mouth went dry. How was I going to get out of this conversation tactfully?

  “I shouldn’t say that I think I’m in love. I know that I’m in love. I haven’t felt like this for a long time. Maybe it’s rash. Maybe I’m following my heart instead of my head, but I don’t care.” His words came out fast. “I’m in love and I want to shout it from the top of Ashland Springs.”

  I bit my bottom lip. This was terrible. What had changed? I searched my brain for any recent exchange between Thomas and me. How had our signals gotten this crossed?

  “Jules, I’m ready to propose.”

  I held out my hand. “Thomas, wait—”

  He cut me off. “No, I have to say this. If I don’t I’m going to lose my nerve. I can’t risk that. This has been weighing on me for too long.”

  “Okay.” I braced myself.

  “You must know how I’m feeling.”

  “I’m not sure I do.” My stomach knotted.

  “Jules, don’t be like that.” Thomas bounced from one foot to the other. “You do, I know you do. I can’t escape these feeling. I can’t deny my love and as much as I don’t want to risk losing our friendship, I have to do this.”

  I wanted to scream, “Don’t!”

  He flipped open the velvet box to reveal a shimmering diamond ring.

  “That’s beautiful,” I said, trying to think of what I could possibly do to salvage his feelings when I turned him down.

  “Be honest. I value your opinion more than anything. Tell me what you really think. Do you like it?” He pushed the box closer to me.

  “I am being honest—it’s gorgeous.” The square-cut diamond was elegant and simple. Its mirror-like shape drew in the light.

  “Oh good.” Thomas let out a long sigh. “I’ve been worried. It’s been in my pocket for a couple weeks now. I’ve been sure that someone is going to figure out my secret because every five minutes I touch my chest pocket to make sure it’s still there.”

  “Thomas.”

  “Wait, I’m not finished. I’m glad you approve. If you didn’t like it I knew it would have to go back.” He shut the box and tucked it back into his uniform pocket.

  I ran through every scenario in my mind. Despite the fact that Carlos and I had been separated for the last two years we were still technically married. Thomas knew that. We’d had dozens of conversations about how conflicted I’d felt. Carlos was living with me. He was here to try to make our relationship work. I couldn’t believe Thomas wouldn’t respect that.

  “I’m so nervous, Jules.” Thomas held out his hands. “Look, my palms are sweating.”

  Mine were too.

  “Jules, there’s one more thing I need to tell you.”

  My breath caught in my throat.

  “I want you to be one of the first to know.” He paused ever so briefly, as if working up the courage to continue. “I’m going to ask Kerry to marry me.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “What?” I threw my hand over my mouth because I was sure I had screamed so loud that everyone in the nearby vicinity had heard me. I leaned across the counter and wrapped him in a hug. “Thomas, that’s so exciting. I’m thrilled for you. You don’t need my approval.”

  His cheeks spotted with color. “I’m glad you’re excited. I was worried that you might be upset.”

  I released him from the hug. “Why would I be upset?”

  He looked at his feet. “I know you and Kerry didn’t get off to the best start initially. She can be kind of tough until you get to know her. It’s a coping strategy. One I wish I was better at sometimes.”

  “Thomas, your heart is what makes you so good at your job.”

  “Thanks, Jules, but you’re biased, you know.” He pointed to the white-and-blue squad car parked nearby. “Although they do call us peace officers here in Ashland. That’s always been my slant. To keep the peace.”

  “You do it well.” I gave him a wide smile. “I can’t believe it, you’re going to propose!” My joy was genuine. For that brief moment that I had thought I was the object of Thomas’s affection, the idea of hurting him felt terrible. It was validation that our relationship was exactly where it was meant to be—as friends.

  “Crazy, isn’t it?” He touched the pocket containing the ring.

  “How are you going to ask her?”

  “Tell me what you think of this.” Thomas strummed his fingers on his pocket. “Kerry isn’t much for big gestures. She’s pretty private. I know she wouldn’t want an elaborate proposal. I was wondering if I could hire Torte to make us a romantic dinner. If you’re up for it, you could deliver it to my place. My mom is going to deck my apartment out with flowers from the shop, and you know Kerry loves your donuts. I thought I could have a plate of them ready for dessert and I would tuck the ring box inside the stack. Or maybe a donut cake. Can you make a donut cake? I don’t know. What do you think?”

  “I think that she’s going to love it. You know her so well. And, whatever you need, I’m in. Donuts, donut cake, you name it.” I could feel my features softening. Not only was I relieved that I wasn’t Thomas’s intended, but I was genuinely happy for my friend. “Do you have a specific dish in mind?”

  “She loves pasta. I remember a dish your mom used to make with chicken and sun-dried tomatoes. Do you know the one I’m thinking off? It was really creamy.”

  “Not only do I know the dish you’re talking about, but you’re going to freak out when you hear its name.”

  “What?”

  “Proposal Chicken!” I tapped my bare ring finger. “I’m not even kidding. My dad made it for my mom on their first date, and she teased that it was the pasta that made her fall for him. In fact, it used to be an annual Valentine’s Day tradition. Mom gave it up after Dad died. She said it was too painful to make it without him, but I remember they used to have a running tally of how many proposals had been done over plates of Torte’s Proposal Chicken. It was a joke around town that if you ordered it, you were destined for love.”

  “Are you serious?” Thomas grinned.

  I made an X over my heart. “I swear.”

  “Alright, I’ll take an order of Proposal Chicken and a box of donuts—or a donut cake. Whatever you think would be best.”

  “Done.” I gave him a huge smile. “I think both. I’ll put my creative energy to work. When is the big night?”

  Thomas pressed his hand to the ring box again. “Is Friday too soon?”

  “Not at all.”

  “Thanks, Jules. I’m relieved that you’re excite
d and willing to help.”

  “Anything for you, Thomas.” I walked around the counter to give him a hug. “There’s only one catch.”

  “What’s that?” His brow furrowed.

  “You have to promise that Torte can cater the wedding.”

  “I don’t know if Kerry will even want a wedding. She might want to go to the courthouse and keep it simple.”

  “That’s fine, but you’ll have to have a celebratory dinner at some point.”

  “True.” His cell phone buzzed. “I’ve got to go. We might have a lead on Sky. Thanks for your support, Jules. I’ll drop by Torte tomorrow and finalize everything.”

  “Deal.” I watched him drive off. My childhood friend was getting married. That was if Kerry said yes, but she couldn’t turn Thomas down. I’d seen the way she looked at him. They were a good match. Kerry kept Thomas grounded and he brought her out of her shell. Secretly, I hoped that she would want a wedding. There was nothing better than a wedding to bring the community together, and I was already dreaming of a donut-inspired three-tiered cake.

  The sound of a door slamming behind me made me turn around. Addie stormed out of the side exit to the yoga studio. For someone who taught an ancient calming, spiritual practice, she always seemed on the verge of blowing up. Aside from her yoga attire, I would think that she worked on Wall Street.

  She stomped down the stairs. “Ugh! I’m so mad! I want to hit something.”

  I wasn’t sure if she was talking to me or herself.

  “Is everything okay, Addie?”

  “Jules, jeez, don’t scare me like that!” She clenched and unclenched her hands. “I didn’t know you were here.”

  She answered my question for me.

  “Sorry. Just organizing.” I motioned to the stack of plates on the counter.

  “Before I forget, where are my cameras?”

  “They’re on top of the fridge.”

  Addie walked into the kitchen and stood on the tips of her toes to check the top of the Andy’s sparkling-clean fridge. “They’re not here.”

  “What?” I looked for myself. She was right, the cameras were gone. “Andy must have moved them when he was cleaning. I can call him.”