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Mama Lou shifts her attention to Vanessa. If she’s surprised, she doesn’t show it. Instead, she slowly takes her in from head to toe, her serious eyes not missing a thing.
“Mama Lou, meet Vanessa. Ness, Mama Lou.”
Vanessa smooths her hand over her skirt before stepping closer, a smile on her face, and offers Mama Lou a hand. “It’s so nice to meet you, ma’am.”
“Likewise.” Mama Lou gives me a knowing look before turning her attention back to Vanessa. “It’s so nice to see that Quinn hangs out with normal people, not just those hooligans of his basketball friends.”
“Hey now, they’re not that bad.”
Mama Lou props her hand against her hip. “The last time you brought them here, they ate half of my shop! Which isn’t even the issue. They were so loud they ran away most of my customers.”
“We were just coming from the game, and they were hungry. And you can’t know Vanessa won’t do the same.” Vanessa lifts her eyebrows, and I grin at her, silently asking her to just roll with it. “Can you believe she’s been living here for years and didn’t know about your ice cream shop? I had to rectify that immediately.”
Mama Lou looks between the two of us and lets out a sigh. “Of course you did.” Then she slips her arm around Vanessa and urges her to the counter. “Come, Vanessa. Tell me, how does a pretty lady like you know Quinn?”
Vanessa’s wide eyes dart to me as if to reassure herself I didn’t just leave her. When she sees me following after them, she relaxes a little bit and turns back to Mama Lou.
“He volunteers at the community center where I work.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize that. He’s been telling me all about the kids, though, and how he loves to work with them.”
“He’s really good with the kids. We’re so lucky he offered to teach the summer class this year.”
“That you are.” Mama Lou slips back behind the counter where a teenage girl is serving an older couple. Mama Lou’s eyes meet mine, and I can clearly see that she thinks that my decision had less to do with the kids and more to do with the woman standing next to me. She might even be right. Partially. I love the work I do at the center since I know just how much the kids there profit from people working and believing in them, but I was also aware helping the basketball camp would mean I’d get to spend the summer with Vanessa.
“So what can I getcha?”
“Umm…” Vanessa takes in the vast expansion of ice cream flavors behind the glass. And there are many, many selections. I swear Mama Lou comes up with at least three new flavors every year, and every single one is better than the last. “A scoop of strawberry ice cream, please.”
My head snaps in her direction to find her nibbling at her lower lip; her hands clasped together.
“You can’t be serious.”
Vanessa looks at me, a confused expression on her face. “What?”
“Strawberries when you have all this goodness here?” I point at the glass, still unable to grasp it.
“What’s wrong with strawberries?”
Is she for real? “It’s just so… boring.” And I know for a fact that woman doesn’t have one boring bone in her body. “Try something else.”
She turns to me and crosses her arms over her chest. “So you mean I’m boring?”
“Your selection is boring,” I correct, wrapping my fingers around her wrists and disentangling her arms from her chest. “Besides, who gets just one scoop of ice cream?”
“Normal everyday people?”
She really is serious.
“I don’t think we can be friends, Ness.”
“Oh please, leave the poor girl alone,” Mama Lou chimes in.
I roll my eyes at her. “Of course you’d be on her side.”
“Don’t be sassy with me, young man, because you won’t get anything.” She gives me a stern look. “Now, do you want your favorite?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
