The Bee's Knees

Chapter 24

The day after the math test, Anna went out for ice cream with Taylor and her grandpa. He still had to take it easy, but, as he told her grandma, "The only way ice cream can make you feel bad is if you give yourself brain freeze."

With the weather nice and warm despite it being the middle of February, Anna expected to see at least a few people in line. Instead, the only person inside was the young woman behind the counter with a pigeon roosting in her hair. Her head shot up as they came inside, sending the bird cooing in alarm as it looked for a more peaceful place to nap. "Welcome to The Inside Scoop! How can I help you?"

Anna's stomach growled as the scent of freshly baked waffle cones filled her nose. There were so many delicious flavors and toppings that she didn't know where to start! "I think I need a minute."

The employee chuckled. "No worries. I work here, and even I have a hard time choosing half the time." Her smile sagged a smidge. "I'm just glad y'all came in. We haven't had any customers since Tuesday, and I'm pretty sure he only bought something 'cause he felt bad for only coming in to use the bathroom."

"But everybody loves ice cream!" Taylor said.

"Everybody loves cookies too, but that hasn't helped Sweet Surprise much," Anna said. "Besides, it's February. It's not exactly the most popular time of year for ice cream."

"I wish that's all there was to it." The woman sighed. "Ever since that new bakery opened up nearby, folks've been satisfying their sweet tooth over there instead."

"That wouldn't happen to be Cake Kingdom, would it?" Anna's grandpa asked.

"That's the one. The guy who owns it is a real turd, too." She rolled her eyes. "Acts like he's the coolest thing since refrigerators even when he's giving people a hard time about their companions."

"My bakery's been hit pretty hard ever since his came to town, too," Anna's grandpa said. Bertrand stood on his hind paws beside him, peering over the counter at the jars full of sprinkles and candy. "If you're ever interested in branching out into ice cream sandwiches, give me a call. You've got a really nice variety of flavors here."

"Thanks, I'll be sure to tell my boss. Speaking of flavors," the woman pointed to a huge tub full of bright green ice cream with brown streaks winding through it and bright red crystals peeking out, "there's our flavor of the month: Backyard Bonanza. It's got mint chocolate chip ice cream, peanut butter, and pop rocks."

"Pop rocks?!?" Anna had heard of all sorts of crazy flavors, but who in their right mind would put pop rocks in ice cream?

"Don't knock it 'til you try it! We've also got regular old vanilla and chocolate if you want something more tame." The woman gave them a playful smirk. "Tell you what, if you try it and don't like it, you can have two scoops of whatever else on me. I've been dying to see someone actually eat that, and spending five bucks ain't gonna kill me."

"I dunno..." Anna eyed the pop rocks as if they were about to explode and cover the whole store in half-melted ice cream.

"Sounds super fun!" Taylor said. "Let's try it."

How was Anna supposed to say no when Taylor was looking at her with those beautiful brown eyes of hers? "Two scoops of Backyard Bonanza in cups, please." She'd at least make darn sure none of that weirdness dripped on her fingers.

"Awesome! And for you, sir?"

"Too many good choices." Anna's grandpa squinted at the labels running along the bottom of the display case before pointing to a tub filled with light brown ice cream. "One scoop of butterscotch in a cone for me, and a cup of pecans for Bertrand, please."