Page 105 of Red Marked

“I used to go there all the time,” she says after a while. “To the ice cream place.” A pause. “With my ex, actually. It’s where we went on our first date.”

I keep my eyes on the road. “He took you out for ice cream?”

“It wasn’t technically a date, but it was the start of everything. We met through work.”

“Did he work at the clinic?” I frown. Maybe it was his day off.

“No, he didn’t work there.” She shakes her head. “He was with one of the big pharmaceutical companies that supplied us from the Mainland. He worked in accounts at the branch they have here. There was an issue with one of the accounts; I can’t really remember the details. Anyway, my boss asked me to sort it out, so I called them. Jett ended up being rude to me on the phone.” A small smile. “That’s the short version.”

“Oh, really? He was rude, and you started dating him?”

“Yep. I told him exactly where to get off and hung up on him. Half an hour later, he was standing in my office so that he could apologize in person.”

“I take it that being a mean asshole wasn’t his regular MO?”

“Not at all. He was having a bad day. He apologized, and then he asked me out for ice cream. He said he owed me that much and wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“So you went?”

“It was almost my lunch break. I asked if I could leave a little early, and my boss agreed.”

“And it went well?”

“He asked me to dinner before we’d finished the ice cream, and we went out that same night. We just clicked.” She looks out of the window, and the smile stays, but it goes somewhere far away. “He used to tell everyone we went out for ice cream, and the rest was history. It was kind of our place. We went all the time.”

“Did he like the Rocky Road too?”

We go over the bridge.

“No, he was more of a sorbet kind of guy. Either the strawberry or the lime. Every now and then, he’d order the passion fruit. Jett is very…set in his ways.”

We turn into the street lined with stores.

“If this is too painful, we can go somewhere else,” I say. “And Star…” I nod at the awning. “They might recognize you.”

She gasps.

“Oh, crap. I never even thought of that.” Her hand goes to the door as if she can shrink behind it. “It’s owner-managed. Or it was. They knew me really well. They knew both of us. The owner used to call me by name and give me an extra scoop.” She shakes her head. “How did I not think of that?”

“You’ve been thinking about salted caramel.”

“I have.” She smiles.

I drive past the ice cream place without slowing and pull in three cars up the street.

“Wait here.” I unclip my belt. “Two scoops. Rocky Road and salted caramel?” I lift my brows.

“You got it.” She’s already sliding lower in her seat. “Anything with chocolate or coffee if they don’t have either of those.”

“Nothing with fruit.”

She laughs. “Please, no.”

I laugh as well.

I check my hands before I go in. There’s a tiny smear of blood still on my right thumb, but nothing crazy. My pants are dark, so no blood shows. My shirt is unscathed. I stepped back straight after I broke that asshole’s nose. I know the drill.

I walk inside and wait my turn to be served. The place is busy. An elderly male takes my order. He’s super smiley and really nice. I’m sure he must be the owner Star talked about. When I come back out, I’ve got two paper cups and two of those little plastic spoons stuck in the ice cream. I get into the car and hand Star’s over.