When it came time to place her order, she asked for a kiddie size of three different flavors in dishes to go, and one small chocolate almond in a waffle cone because there was no way she wasn’t getting one of those. It was a bit too busy in the shop for her to concentrate, so she took all her purchases out to her car to taste.
“Holy shit,” she said as she chewed a bite of the waffle cone. It was sweet and decadent, with a hint of vanilla in the batter. The chocolate almond ice cream was dense and creamy, with the perfect blend of sweet chocolate and salty almonds. After a couple bites, she propped the cone in her drink holder and turned to the kiddie dishes. “Holy shit,” she said again as she savored a spoonful of what was called Baby Bear. It was honey ice cream with pieces of doughnuts in it. Honey ice cream was tough. It could be cloying and overly sweet. But not this. This was super subtle, just a hint of honey. And the doughnut pieces were just the right size and texture. God. Fabulous. From there, she shifted to the bowl of Berry Blast. Pretty straightforward name, but there was nothing straightforward about the flavors. Vanilla ice cream—which, on its own, was creamy deliciousness with a complexity that vanilla rarely had—dotted with blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. Not berry flavored, but actual berries. Some fresh. Some freeze-dried, which gave it some periodic crunch. Sabrina shook her head, trying to remember the last time she’d been not bored by ice cream. The third bowl was called Zingaling, and it was simply dark chocolate ice cream with cayenne. A third holy shit was muttered, and Sabrina let the flavors play on her tongue. The chocolate alone was complex, deep, dark, and almost mysterious. Then a zing of cayenne would come along and wake up her taste buds before fading into the background. Eating it was an experience.
After a bite or two of each flavor, she snapped the lids back on and returned to the waffle cone. And damn if she didn’t sit there in her car and eat every last bite of it.
“Fucking delicious,” she said quietly to the emptiness of her car as she wiped her mouth. Whoever made the ice cream here at Get the Scoop not only knew what they were doing but had a love for the stuff. It was clear in the depth of flavor in each one she’d tasted. Already planning to come back and try more, she started her car up and headed home. She wanted to make notes while it was all fresh in her mind. A new Sweet Heaven ice cream shop would most likely impact Earl’s and not in a good way. But Get the Scoop was unique. It was hard to predict—Sweet Heaven was nationally known, a hot commodity—but maybe Get the Scoop would be spared.
She kind of hoped it was.
* * *
“You’re so much happier here.” Adley said it while meeting Scottie’s eyes in the mirror in front of her chair at Trio, the salon Scottie had recently opened with her good friends and fellow hairstylists, Sebastian and Demi. “It’s so clear in everything, from the way you look cutting my hair to the way you move.”
“Really? I mean, it’s totally true, but I didn’t realize it was obvious.” Scottie had a comb in one hand and her scissors in the other and was trimming away Adley’s split ends.
“Maybe it’s because I know you so well, but…yeah. It’s nice to see.” The place was adorable, much smaller than Scottie’s previous salon where she’d rented a chair from a woman she couldn’t stand, along with about eight other stylists. This salon only had three chairs. The color scheme was black and white with some occasional pops of red or silver. Very sleek and modern, but somehow, it had a warm feeling to it. Modern could be cold, but Trio was inviting. “How’s Marisa? And my favorite little boy, Jaden?”
At the mere mention of her girlfriend and girlfriend’s kid, Scottie’s entire demeanor went all soft and mushy. “They’re great,” she said, her smile wide.
“Oh my God, look at you,” Adley said with a laugh. “You’re all gooey.” Then she pulled the teasing tone away and said softly, “I’m so glad you’re happy, Scoot. You deserve it.”
“Yeah? Well, so do you.” Scottie stopped cutting and met Adley’s gaze in the mirror again, then put her hands on Adley’s shoulders and leaned closer. “You do.”
“I know. One day…”
“Well, it’s probably not gonna be the chick from the bar who’s literally just passing through town, you know.”
“I know that.”
A squeeze of her shoulders. “Do you?”
Adley snorted a laugh. “Of course. I’m not stupid. This is just some fun. I’m having some fun. That’s all.”
Scottie held her gaze for an uncomfortably long time before giving one nod and going back to Adley’s hair. “Okay. Good. I’m just checking. I know you and I know your heart, and I don’t want you getting hurt by this woman because you have expectations she can’t meet.”
“I know. I’ve got my eyes wide open. This is just a bit of fun, which I also think I deserve. I work hard.”
More nodding. “You do. I know it. I’m just looking out for my favorite best friend.”
“Hey!” came Bash’s voice from his station. “I heard that.”
“Me, too,” called Demi from her station. Both their clients sitting in their chairs laughed.
“Uh-oh,” Adley said, grinning at Scottie. “You’re in trouble now.”
Chapter Five
“Artisan ice cream, huh? That’s not something I expected to find in a city as small as Northwood, New York.” Tilda James gave a little chuckle into the phone, and Sabrina could picture her, short silver hair perfect, tailored business suit, sitting behind her mahogany desk in her large office back in Atlanta.
“It’s a really cute little place,” Sabrina said. She was sitting in her rented house at the small dining room table, paperwork spread out all over it. “I tasted a few flavors. Really good. Lotta depth.”
“Really.” It was a statement, not a question. “Send the flavors to me, and I’ll toss them over to innovations.”
“I also visited a couple other places.” Sabrina wanted to move the subject away from Get the Scoop, though she wasn’t sure why. Something about the place…she just liked it. And most small ice cream businesses didn’t survive the arrival of a Sweet Heaven. Her mother seemed to thrive on that fact, gain energy from it. Sabrina didn’t, and she certainly wouldn’t be sending the flavors to Sweet Heaven headquarters so they could copy them. But she didn’t tell her mother that.
She filled her in on the four other places she’d visited yesterday. Poor Earl’s didn’t stand a chance. She’d known it as soon as she’d seen it. The phone call lasted another fifteen minutes, and then she finally got to hang up. God, talking to her mother could be stressful. You’d think she’d be used to it by now, but the tension hit her shoulders about three minutes in and didn’t leave until well after the call had ended. Always. It had always been like that.