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His eyes widen a little, but he takes my hand and shakes it. “Nice to meet you too, Adam.” He looks between us, and I can see curiosity sparking in his eyes. “What can I get you two?”
“The usual for me. And for Adam…what type of ice cream do you like? Or would you prefer a milkshake?” she asks me as she leans forward to look into the cabinet with the ice cream.
“Well, what do you recommend?” I ask as I step up beside her and begin to read the flavors.
“Isa here is a fan of my hot fudge sundae, which is pretty darn good if I do say so myself. A lot of people like my peanut butter swirl in a waffle cone. And today’s special is pistachio,” Leo says.
I look at the menu on the wall behind him. “What’s a torpedo deluxe?”
Isa giggles. “There’s no way you can eat all of that. Only Phil Watts has managed to finish it.”
“Phil?” I ask.
“He owns the insurance company on Preston Lane. And he got ten free cones because he finished it,” Isa says.
Why do I feel like I know no one in this town? Once in a while, Bastian talks about people in town, but I never pay attention to their names.
As if reading my mind, Isa asks, “You really don’t know people here, huh?”
I shrug. “I’ll try it,” I say to Leo.
Leo smiles. “Godspeed, kiddo. It’s not for the faint of heart.” He hands Isa a normal-sized sundae and then pulls out the largest bowl I’ve ever seen ice cream served in in my life and begins scooping various flavors into it.
“I tried to warn you,” Isa says as she licks a spoonful of ice cream. Her eyes dance with humor as they meet mine.
Isa sits down at a small bistro table by the front window as I stand and watch Leo toss at least ten scoops of ice cream, a banana, hot fudge, caramel sauce, whipped cream, and a half dozen maraschino cherries into the enormous bowl. He brings it around the counter and sets it on the table. “If you can finish it in under forty-five minutes, you get ten cones free,” he says as he holds out a spoon for me. “Good luck, kid.”
I try a mint chocolate chip one first. “This is good,” I muse.
“Leo makes all the flavors here. He’s old school,” Isa says in between bites. When she finishes, she sits back in her chair and watches me. “You really have never hung out in Storyview Falls, have you?”
“I did once upon a time. When I was little, we moved from the city here to live with my grandfather. But he insisted I attend the same boarding school he did and that starts in the fifth grade. So, I was only here for part of fourth grade. I vaguely remember getting ice cream here once or twice, but I never really got to hang out here,” I explain.
“Well, you missed out,” Isa says. She points out the window. “There’s Kagan’s Pharmacy, Elsa Palensky has a cute little gift shop she opened a few years ago; there’s Heather Gordon’s thrift store; Leslie Norman owns a pottery and art gallery at the end of the street, and you know Elisha. We could see what the movie theater is playing?” she suggests.
“Oh, I forgot there was one,” I say as I keep shoveling ice cream into my mouth. The chime above the door rings as a customer enters.
“Hey, Leo,” some young man says and glances over at us, his eyes widen. “Damn, you trying a torpedo?”
I nod and eat another bite. He leans out the window, “Hey, Aiden, check it out, some old guy is trying to eat a torpedo!”
I nearly choke on my ice cream. Isa starts silently laughing. “I’m not old,” I mumble.
“You’re ancient,” she whispers with a smirk. I glare at her while trying to get halfway through the torpedo.
“Oh, shit, you think he can do it?” the kid, who I assume is Aiden, says.
“Language,” Leo scolds.
“Leo, who was the last guy who ate one?” the other kid asks.
“Phil Watts,” both Aiden and Isa answer.
“Right. That was like two years ago,” the kid says.
“Zach, you gonna order ice cream or are you and Aiden just here to cheer on Mr. Wellington,” Leo asks.
“Wait…as intheMr. Wellington?” Zach asks.
