Page 95 of The Singing Trees
“Oh, that’s neat. You must be Annalisa, right? Harry’s told me about you.”
“That’s me. Is he around?”
“He’s in the back. Let me grab him. I know he’ll be excited to see you.”
While Nino eyed the tubs of ice cream through the glass, Annalisa picked up Celia and said to her swaddled baby, “This was my old life. Your mommy used to work here.”
Celia was adorable and had started to develop a more distinct look, so clearly divided between Thomas and Annalisa. Celia’s curious and loving smile looked like it had been sculpted from Thomas’s face, but the little girl had Annalisa’s occasional suspicious glare. Like Annalisa, she also had a full head of dark-brown hair. Sometimes, when she looked at her daughter, she felt her heart hurt. Not today, though. Today, looking upon her daughter made her happy. Maybe that could be considered a victory.
“Look who’s come home,” Harry said from behind the counter. When he noticed Celia, his voice rose an octave. “And look at this little one.” He rounded the counter and opened up his arms.
“Meet Celia,” she said.
Unlike Eli at the farmers’ market with his gooey cinnamon buns that he never touched, Harry was a result of a man living amid candy and ice cream for most of his life. He was unhealthy, but as sweet as the jelly worms, and he’d been a great boss. He spoke to Celia for a little while and eventually handed her back to Annalisa.
“She’s really beautiful. I wondered when you’d bring her by.”
Annalisa had been avoiding this place. In fact, she’d been avoiding Main Street as best she could because she was tired of running into people who always said something like, “Once you get out there into the rest of the world, you realize the Mills isn’t so bad. Right?”
Right.
“What brings you back to town?” Harry asked. “I thought I’d never see you again.” He added a hello to Nino.
Being the small town that Payton Mills was, Annalisa was sure he knew most of the story, so she figured he was making small talk. “Oh, you know Nonna wouldn’t let that happen. Actually, I’ve moved back for a while.” She didn’t know why she added that last part.For a while.Where else was she going? She wouldn’t be leaving here for the rest of her life.
“Aren’t we lucky then?”
Annalisa glanced at the girl now stocking gummy peaches, then whispered, “I hoped you might have some work for me. Even something part-time?”
He looked at the girl, too, and slowly nodded. “I could give you some part-time work. We’re busy now, but I’m not sure after season.”
Annalisa had a feeling that would be his answer. “I’d take anything you have to offer, Harry.” Anything to keep her from working at the mill or marrying a man she didn’t love.
“I’d be happy to bring you back.” He set eyes on Celia. “Has she had her first taste of ice cream yet?”
Annalisa shook her head. “Never. She’s too young.”
“Oh, nonsense,” he said lovingly. “Let her have a little taste. Trust me.”
“C’mon,” Nino told her. “Live a little.”
“Fine.” Why pretend to be responsible now?
Harry bounced his eyes across the colorful flavors. “We have to pick the perfect flavor for her first ice cream. How about vanilla? A tried-and-true classic.”
“No way,” Annalisa said, thinking she didn’t want her daughter to know anything vanilla in her life.
“I know,” Harry said, rounding the counter and reaching for the scoop. “Butter pecan is what dreams are made of.”
“No!” Annalisa snapped, so loudly that the girl stocking the candy, Nino,andCelia, who rested against her chest, all turned their heads. “Sorry. It’s a big decision.”
“Okay,” he said. “Not butter pecan. Not vanilla. How about we let you pick?”
Annalisa set Celia down in the stroller and looked through the glass at the flavors, wondering how many scoops she’d scooped here over the years. She’d had a few favorites. At one time, it had been strawberry and then lemon sorbet. During the last few months before she’d left, she had a love affair with mint chocolate. “How about mint chocolate?”
“Bold choice,” Harry said.
“For a baby?” Nino asked. “Babies don’t like mint. Give her that bubblegum-looking stuff.”
