Page 9 of Keeping Secrets

Chloe grinned. "I just made a fresh batch of pumpkin spice."

"Like it’s made with a pumpkin spice blend, or with actual pumpkin?"

"Both! It tastes like pumpkin pie."

"Sold!"

"Awesome. Any toppings? We have whipped cream, homemade sprinkles, homemade marshmallow fluff that I can toast—"

"That! Definitely that last one."

"Cup or cone?"

"Definitely one of your homemade cones. Please."

"Coming right up!"

The bell on the door jingled as another customer walked in, and she turned to see Chloe’s friend Willa. She was shorter than Keely with a mass of curly dark hair and a warm smile.

"Hey! Keely, right? Nick’s sister?"

"That’s me," she said wryly. She had thought that she’d escaped the ‘Nick’s sister’ tag when she graduated high school and left Rocky Hill. But she supposed that she’d asked for it, moving to the town where her brother had unexpectedly settled.

"Good to see you again," she said, then turned to Chloe. "Hi!"

"You again," Chloe teased. She handed Keely her mouthwatering tower of waffle cone, pumpkin spice ice cream, and toasted marshmallow before turning back to Willa. "What can I get for you?"

"How about a scoop of your ginger ice cream for each of us? Come and put your feet up for a minute."

Chloe wrinkled her nose in protest. "I’m working!"

"There’s no one here. It’s just us girls. Take your fifteen-minute break with us."

"Well, when you put it like that…" Chloe scooped out two spheres of cream-colored ginger ice cream and joined them at a wooden table in the corner of the shop, where she put her feet up on an empty chair and leaned back to enjoy her midafternoon snack.

"Keely’s been looking for a job around town," Chloe said between bites. "Do you know of anything?"

"I can’t think of anything," Willa said slowly, "but I’ll let you know if I do."

"Thanks," Keely said. Most of her attention was on the phenomenally delicious ice cream. It was rich and flavorful, with a strong kick of ginger and nutmeg over the mellow sweetness of pumpkin and cinnamon. The marshmallow fluff was phenomenal, recalling early childhood days of roasting marshmallows over a campfire.

"Chloe, this is amazing."

Her ever present smile widened. "Thanks!"

"I hate that there are no openings here at the ice cream shop," she said with a sigh. "Maybe I could fill in for you in a few months? When you go on maternity leave?"

"Maybe," she said brightly.

"What do you do for work?" Keely asked Willa.

She smiled self-consciously. "I’m a stay-at-home mom right now. Man, those are words I never thought I would say all in a row. It’s not forever, but I’m really happy. Like, so happy." She seemed amazed to be speaking those words all in a row as well.

"She works with CPR too," Chloe put in.

"That’s the Pelican Point nonprofit?" Keely asked.

"Yeah, Community Property Renovations. I don’t think the nonprofit would have gotten off the ground without Willa. Nat is brilliant when it comes to renovations, but I don’t know that she would’ve started the full nonprofit on her own."

---