“You know me so well.”
They headed across the street and walked right into the ice cream parlor that was owned and operated by the Ledger family. Nora Ledger was behind the counter, and she smiled warmly at them when they walked in.
“Right on time,” Nora said. “I was wondering when the Beach Day committee would come in. Before you even ask, of course, we will be a sponsor. Now, how about I give you a nice scoop of chocolate chunk ice cream.” She didn’t wait for the answer. Nora opened one of the freezer chests and proceeded to scoop dark chocolate ice cream into two huge waffle cones.
“You’re good with the same terms as last year?” Jade asked Nora when her friend handed her the cone.
“Yeah, that’s fine. We’ll set up the little booth by the lifeguard tower.”
Jade wasn’t surprised by that. It was no secret that Nora had a massive crush on the man who ran most of the town’s lakeside projects. Jack Hayes was good-looking, but Jade didn’t see the appeal. Nora could have Jack, but to do that, Nora would actually have to string two sentences together when he was around, and the ice cream peddler was just way too shy for that.
The little bell over the door rang out, and Nora greeted the new client warmly. Jade wanted to be polite and say hey, but she was too busy licking the side of her ice cream cone. Her tongue was still poised on the cone, her mouth wide open when she locked eyes with the new patron.
Parker Dawson.
His eyes were hidden behind his sunglasses, but the hard clench of his jaw spoke volumes. He was obviously not in a very good mood.
“Well, hello, there.” Mom actually looked like she was batting her eyelashes at him. “Adele Curran. How do you do? May I introduce my daughter, Jade Curran? I believe you’ve already met.”
“Yeah, we have. Hey.” He nudged his chin at her, but he still didn’t take off his sunglasses.
“It’s so wonderful to see you out and about in our nice town. Youmusttry this chocolate chunk ice cream. One of the best here.”
“Thanks for the suggestion.”
“Oh, that’s what good neighbors are for,” Mom assured him. “Do you think you’ll get involved in the community association?”
“Mom,” Jade warned under her breath.
Her mother paid her no attention. “Don’t be like that, Jade, dear. You know how the townspeople are. They really do like when people, especiallynewpeople, get involved in all of our town activities.”
“Please ignore her,” Jade spoke directly to Parker. “She isn’t socialized properly. Blame it on small-town living her whole life.”
Parker laughed.
Not a chortle or a small little chuckle. No. It was a full and deep belly laugh. He finally took off his sunglasses and slid them into his back pocket.
“I’ll get used to the small-town ways,” he assured her.
“Well, so long as you don’t take anything too personally, you’ll be just fine. Have a good afternoon.” Jade smiled at him, all the while grabbing her mother’s free hand and tugging her toward the door.
“What the hell was that?” Mom grumbled. “We were chatting! You were just so rude.”
Jade rolled her eyes. “No, I wasn’t rude. But you sure as hell weren’t very subtle.”
“But you lied to me, Jade,” Mom’s voice was so loud and high-pitched that Jade was concerned that Parker would be able to hear it all the way in the ice cream parlor. “He isn’t wearing a ring at all.”
“I didn’t look,” she said. “Maybe Nora will be lucky this time around. Maybe Parker could be the one who helps her forget all about Jack once and for all.”
“Oh, she can keep Jack Hayes and hisman flip-flops. I wantyouto spend more time with Parker Dawson. My word, but is he ever handsome. Mrs. Francis told me he was hot, but I thought she was just being her kind old self. She barely did him justice. He really is quite something.”
Jade felt herself blush all the way into her hairline. Across the street, Parker was exiting the ice cream parlor with a cone in his hand. If Mom didn’t watch her volume, he was sure to hear her. How mortifying!
“Do you think we should stop by the liquor store before going down to the lake?” Jade asked in hopes that the strange question would start her mother off on a tangent.
It didn’t work. Mom’s eyes were too good for that. They zeroed in on Parker.
“Yoo-hoo!” Mom cried out, waving her free hand over at Parker. “Parker. I have a question for you.”