Two Scoops of Summer Love

4. Caramel Swirl

Frank came in on Wednesday and it was like I saw a whole new side of Bryan. I was genuinely freaked out because Bryan became energetic and sociable which was a vast difference from the dull man I normally work with. Bryan was cleaning and taking charge which felt foreign to me after having to do most of the work for the past couple days.

We received a new stock of ice cream and it was a team effort to get the giant tubs into the back freezer. We were expecting the season to fully open on Friday night, and we would need all hands on deck and full tubs of ice cream goodness to deal with the rush. I had to wonder though if we really had to prepare this hard because Sweet Thing has its opening day. I didn't want to voice this to Frank because he was a really nice man and I could see the worry on his face every time he looked out the front window. 

It was a boring shift. The day was rainy, so I did nothing except clean already cleaned windows and stare longingly at the different ice cream flavours I wanted in my belly. At some point, Frank gave in and scooped me a small cone of Caramel Swirl because he said I looked like a kicked puppy. My break happened to be during a pause in the rain, so I ran up the street to visit Camille. 

I stepped inside the little surf shop and began walking towards the counter where Camille was sitting flipping through one of the magazines we had already read. She perked up a little when she saw me coming and put the magazine aside.

"You got a little something on your face hun," Camille smirked at me as I quickly brushed my hand across my face. 

"Frank was very nice even though he called me a kicked puppy," I muttered a little petulantly. "How has your day been?"

"Well I had a random hippy come in here begging if he could use a plastic bag for his dog," Camille rolled her eyes. "I told him not unless he paid for it and then he told me to forget it and rooted around in the trash can outside for five minutes."

"Ew." There was never a shortage of weird stories from Camille's time at work. It was one of the things that made me nervous about working in a tourist town all summer, you never knew who you were going to encounter. 

"Have you seen the new employees yet?" Camille asked.

"New employees? For Sweet Thing?" I asked for clarification even though I was pretty sure that was what she meant. 

"No, for Dirty Hal's." Camille smacked me in the arm teasingly. "Yes for Sweet Thing. I heard from Mama and Papa that the owners are giving their employees two training days before opening. How they train to scoop ice cream is beyond me because you can't fix stupid." 

"Chill, little miss 'I've worked retail since I was fourteen,'" I teased. "Not everyone was born with the knowledge of how to work a cash register." 

"It's not my fault some people aren't gifted like me," Camille giggled.

"Whatever, nut-bar." I threw some change on the counter and snagged a chocolate bar on my way out. Just as it happened, the minute I stepped outside the sky unleashed its next downpour. I stood there under the awning wondering just how soaked I would get in the short run it would take me to get back to work. My break was over in three minutes; otherwise, I would have just gone back inside. Just as I was about to take my apron off and use it as a makeshift umbrella, Mr. Heartthrob from the beach appeared around the corner with an umbrella.

"Hey, I remember you!" He had a big smile on his face and my heart beat a little faster. "The girl who Brad nailed with the volleyball. How's your back doing?"

"It's, uh, fine." I felt stupid for stammering.

"Hey, are you heading somewhere?" Heartthrob asked. Did this boy ever stop smiling? "I'd be willing to share my umbrella."

"That would actually be great," I said. "Thanks." It was a little awkward as we started walking. He had long legs, and I was forced to take a step and a half as we walked. I was trying not to look up at him and stare when he turned to look at me.

"So, uh, where are we going?" He asked and I felt my face blush profusely as I laughed awkwardly. We were nearing the Creamery so I just gestured in its direction.

"This is my stop. Thank you..." I hesitated before saying his name. I didn't think calling him Heartthrob, like I had been doing in my head, would be a good idea. 

"Cameron."

"Thanks, Cameron." I smiled and went to go inside. My hand was on the handle when I felt his hand on my elbow.

"Uh, this is kind of awkward, but, um..." He trailed off, and I noticed his cheeks were tinged pink.

"Ana. It was nice seeing you again Cameron." He nodded at me and left as I entered the ice cream shop. I took a mall breath to calm my nerves.

"Who was that?" Bryan immediately asked me. I was taken aback by his immediate questioning. 

"A nice person who walked me back from my break." The sudden concern was surprising, but when Bryan went back to his phone I assumed it was more curiosity that prompted him. "I'm guessing Frank left?"

Bryan nodded absentmindedly, and I grabbed a rag and started wiping the counter down to kill time before my shift ended.

~~~

I was sitting inside that night painting my toes when I got a text from Camille that said 'incoming.' It was very vague and didn't give me any sort of information, but when the screen door was pulled open a couple seconds later I knew what it meant. 

"Did you hear?" Camille was soaked and out of breath, probably from running across the street in the middle of a rainstorm with no umbrella. Never would I ever accuse her of always thinking through her decisions.

"Camille, are you talking about Sweet Thing again?" I was starting to get tired of hearing about the new ice cream shop. Other than threatening my job, I didn't understand the commotion.

"No... that's old now." Camille sat down next to me and grabbed a bottle of nail polish. "New people moved in down the street!" Now that was new news.

"Really? When?" There wasn't much that happened on our little street that nosy neighbours (including me) didn't notice.

"Today while we were at work," Camille stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the universe. "I didn't even notice it was for sale, but Mama said she saw your mom helping them this afternoon." 

"It doesn't surprise me." It was a simple answer, but an honest one.  "Did your mom tell you anything about them? Obviously Mum has told me nothing."

"Not really. She said it looked like they had a young daughter though." Camille shrugged.

"Young enough to pick up some extra babysitting money?" I asked only half-kidding. Camille just laughed and shrugged again. Part of me hoped for a girl closer to our age that we could spend some time with, but the other part of me missed Noah and Elaine and wanted to spend some time with a kid.  

"You can't work all summer, you have to have some fun," Camille said stubbornly.

"And that's why I make plans with you!" I let my smile show through my voice. "Are we still on for windsurfing on Sunday if there's enough wind?"

"Yeah, I have no other plans." Camille was mostly just focused on painting her toes, but she looked up at me with a serious look on her face. "Are you sure you want to try and learn again?"

"Yes and I'm not going to fail this time," I answered firmly. "You get hit by the sail and get a concussion one time..." 

Camille burst into laughter with me. I popped some popcorn and put a movie in when I finished my toes so that Camille and I could have an impromptu girls night. We were commenting on how cute we thought the main character was when a knock sounded on the door. Camille and I looked at each other, neither of us wants to answer the door or bother Mum who was on the phone with my sister. We quickly played a game of rock, paper, scissors to see who had to get up and waddle to the door with our wet toes. I lost.

I walked awkwardly over to the door careful of my polish when somebody knocked a second time. I looked at Camille hoping she was picking up my confusion about the rapid second knock. I opened the door and was shocked.

"Cameron?"