Page 10 of The Deal Maker

I chuckle and nod. “Congrats on the proposal yesterday.”

“Oh, you saw that?” she says, before waving her ring finger in front of her. “It was one of the best surprises ever.”

I catch a quick glance over at Maggie, and she’s still stuck in that frown. What in her past makes her irritated by a proposal? She never answered my question about it yesterday. Maybe she’s worried about losing her business partner and I was the one who vocalized the question..

Hope makes Maggie open the door and they both walk deeper into the store.

“He did a great job. I’ll have to write that down for the future. And I’ll be back to get a cone,” I say, keeping my feet on the outside of the threshold.

“Come have one now. I’ll open up the register while Maggie gets it for you,” Hope says, holding the door open.

“I’ll get the register,” Maggie calls out, a little too loudly. Is she still embarrassed about our chat yesterday?

I walk over to the ice cream counter, trying to decide which ice cream to try today.

“So, Duke. Who are you dating lately?” Hope asks.

“You make it sound like I’m a serial dater, which I’m not.”

“That doesn’t answer my question, though. Weren’t you and Annabelle Danton a thing a while back?”

I groan, shaking my head. “I took her on one date. Actually, her mom tricked me into the date and then kept bugging me to go out with her again. When I tried to push her off saying I was busy, she started spreading the rumor around town that we were going to get married.”

Longest month of my life.

“Oh, yeah, I guess I never got the real story.”

“I would suggest not getting on the Danton’s bad side.” It was a fact I’d learned the hard way. Mrs. Danton had told everyone to boycott the Italian restaurant, Francesca’s, because I worked there. The owner was apologetic but ended up letting me go because of it. I’d actually liked working there, which was a change from my other jobs.

Shaking my head, I say, “So, no dating right now. But a guy can dream.”

And there I go, making myself look like a dork. I get it, I’m used to it. I just wish I could have some more chill when meeting people. Maybe fool them for a bit. Then again, I’ve known these two for a long time. Maggie not as much as Hope.

“That’s so sweet.” Hope says. “What are you getting today?”

I glance to the side to see Maggie is standing still, as if waiting to hear my answer.

“Let’s do cookies and cream,” I say. I pause, wondering if Maggie is going to chime in the level for this flavor.

She says nothing, only going back to work to open boxes and refill bins.

“When’s the wedding?” I ask, trying to get the conversation back on track.

“Jason and I talked last night. We’re going to get married in a month.”

I may not know a lot about weddings, but that seems really fast.

“A month?” Maggie says from behind me. I turn to look at her. She could be one of those wax figurines at a museum, holding the candy bag in front of her as she’s frozen in a hunched position over the bins.

“Jason is getting deployed and we want to get married before he leaves.”

That’s fast. “Congrats. I’m sure that will be awesome. I can hook you up with a travel package, if you’re interested.”

“She’s not,” Maggie says, walking over and standing next to Hope.

“Are you kidding? That would be amazing.” Hope is grinning from ear to ear.

Maggie scowls. “Not if it’s a lifelong commitment.”

---