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“I learned what gelato is today,” JJ said proudly. “It’s ice cream from Italy and it doesn’t taste like spaghetti.”
The woman laughed. “We wouldneverthink about making gelato that tastes like spaghetti,” she replied. “We do make all of our gelato each day, though, so it comes out fresh for all of our customers. And it’s half the fat of regular ice cream.”
“I don’t know what that means, since I’m not fat. But does that mean I can have more?” JJ asked, batting her eyelashes at her dad.
“I don’t know about that, kid,” Jamal stated. “But I’m sure you’ll get full of whatever you order.”
“You can mix up to four flavors in a dish,” the woman continued. “All of our gelato is made with fresh, imported ingredients and hormone-free cow’s milk.”
“I don’t really know what that means, either,” JJ replied, eliciting a laugh from the woman. “But Ido knowthat this gelato looks really good and I wanna try some!”
“Well, in that case, let’s get to ordering. What would you like?”
JJ walked up and perused the choices in the glass-enclosed counter.
“I can let you have any samples you want,” the lady told the trio.
“Oh, I already know what I want,” Cassie said with a smile. Jamal expected her to start licking her lips. She was like a kid in a candy store.
“I’ll take the blackberry and limone in the biggest cup you have,” she told the woman. “One on each side. Not mixed, please.”
The woman nodded. “Absolutely. What about you, missy?” she asked JJ.
“Can I try the chocolate, cookies and cream, blackberry and chocolate mint?”
“Sure thing, jelly bean,” she replied, reaching in and scooping each sample on gelato’s signature tiny spoons. “Here you go.”
JJ laughed. “I’ve never heard that before. I’m going to use it on all my friends.” JJ put one spoon in her mouth at a time, her eyes widening in shock each time she took a new bite.
“This stuff is amazing!” she exclaimed. “I don’t ever want to eat regular ice cream ever again!”
The woman laughed. “Well, that makes me happy,” she replied. “I’ll have to tell my husband. I help, but he’s the one who makes the all of it.”
“Well, you need to tell him he does an amazing job!”
“I certainly will. And you sir, what would you like to have?”
Jamal looked at the flavors before grabbing one of JJ’s free sample spoons she was still holding and dipping it into Cassie’s cup and taking a bite of both flavors.
“Hey!” Cassie said, moving her cup out of his grasp. “I told you I don’t share my gelato.”
Jamal sent her a wink. “I believe I’ll have the same thing. It’s super delicious. Bambi has good taste.”
“Bambi?” the woman asked, a question in her voice.
Jamal nodded his head Cassie’s way. “The woman being stingy with her gelato. It’s my pet name for her. At first, she hated it. But I think it’s growing on her, even if she won’t admit it. And she sure won’t stick her tongue out at me like she would if we were alone. She has to keep up appearances.”
The woman laughed and looked at Cassie. “Looks like you have this one wrapped around your finger,” she said with a smile.
“We want to keep her around for a while,” JJ said, taking a huge bite of her gelato.
The woman rang up their purchases and gave Jamal his change. “You guys have a good evening.”
“You, too,” the three said simultaneously, walking out the door carrying their ice creams with them.
Jamal unlocked his car with his key fob. “Hey, sister. Callie and Kyle said you could spend the night with them. What do you say to that?”
“In their new house? Uh, of course I do!”
