CHAPTER THIRTY
IT’S A QUARTER TO ELEVEN and a line is forming. Cate has not arrived yet, but the other girls who are on shift—Jen and Mansi—sit by the stand door, waiting.
“Oh! Hi!” Amelia says. She passes the drum to Grady and takes out her key. “I didn’t realize you were waiting. I can let you both in.”
They barely manage a smile for her.
Cate being upset with her is bad enough. But all the stand girls disappointed in her? It makes Amelia’s heart hurt.
A voice behind her says snarkily, “Already at it, huh?” Amelia turns and sees Cate walk in and hang her purse on one of the hooks. “I’m not late,” she announces defensively. “It’s not eleven yet.”
“No one said you were,” Amelia says.
Grady can clearly sense the tension. After clearing his throat, he calls out, “Hey, girls! I want everyone in the office for a second. Amelia’s got some great news to share!” He nudges Amelia, as if to remind her of the happiness she felt moments ago.
Cate and the other girls flop onto the love seat. Amelia races off to the main room of the stand and returns with plastic spoons.
“I . . . found Molly Meade’s recipes last night. That was the reason I missed the party,” Amelia tells Mansi and Jen. “And this morning I made my very first batch of Home Sweet Home. I think it came out pretty okay.”
“Okay?” Grady pops up. “Don’t be modest! You girls won’t be able to tell the difference.”
“If she’s using Molly Meade’s exact recipes, why would we?” says Cate.
“Because there are a lot of variables,” Grady says. “Making ice cream isn’t an easy thing to do. Trust me, I know.”
Amelia makes eye contact with Cate, tries to draw Cate’s focus away from Grady. “I’m excited for you to try it.” She hands Cate a spoonful. And Jen and Mansi too. They all taste at the same time.
Jen and Mansi don’t react. They both look at Cate. As if they need her permission.
“Are we done here?” Cate asks.
Amelia knows Cate’s trying to be hurtful, because Cate’s hurt. She tries to shake it off. “I should be able to get a couple more batches done today. And after this sits in the freezer for fifteen minutes, it’ll be ready to scoop. We can take the Sold Out sign down.”
“So now you’ll be at the farmhouse, making ice cream for the rest of the summer,” Cate says icily.
“For now, yes,” Grady interjects. “But once we’re caught up, Amelia will be back down here with everyone.”
“It shouldn’t take me long,” Amelia says.
Cate checks her phone for the time. “It’s after eleven. I need to open.”
Amelia nods. “Right. Sorry.”
Jen and Mansi scurry out past Grady. He closes the office door. “Hey, Cate, hang back for a minute, okay? I’d like to talk to you about something.”
Cate makes a big show of sitting back down.
Amelia tries pulling Grady aside. She doesn’t want him inserting himself into their friendship drama. She knows he’s trying to help, but it’ll only make things worse.
He gives her a quick thumbs-up, which frankly only makes her more anxious.
Stepping around the desk, he says, “First off, I’d like to personally apologize to you for last night.”
Cate glances over her manicure, seeming bored. “You don’t owe me an apology, never mind a personal one.”
“Well . . . it’s my fault that Amelia missed out on her plans with you and the other girls. She didn’t want to go with me to the beach. She wanted to be with you. The last thing Amelia would want to do is let you down.”
“Grady, if you want to talk with me about the business, cool. Otherwise, I’m not interested in discussing my personal life, my relationships, with you.”
Amelia feels a tightness in her chest, seeing Cate model the way Amelia could have dealt with Grady from the get-go.
“But this has to do with business,” Grady insists. “Cate, you brought up a good point earlier. For the time being, Amelia will have to concentrate on production. I don’t want things falling through the cracks here because she’s focused on making ice cream. I said as much to her on our ride back to Sand Lake, and she suggested that I promote you to Head Girl.”
Cate’s mouth opens, then closes. “Wait. Are you serious?” She turns toward Amelia. “Really?”
Amelia, as surprised as Cate is, smiles back, because she’s happy to see Cate happy. Happy like someone switched a light on inside her.
Grady goes on. “Amelia’s constantly telling me what a great job you’re doing down here, how protective you are with the younger girls, and how much you’ve been picking up the slack. I know the circumstances have been challenging, but I’m hoping we can move forward from here and have a great rest of the summer.”
Amelia keeps a smile on her face, remembering the ways Cate cuts corners sometimes. But Grady’s probably right. It has been a challenging summer. Cate hasn’t had the incentive to step up her role. Maybe that will change now.
“And I’ll get the Head Girl pay raise too. Right?” Cate asks.
Grady nods. “I’m shifting all of the Head Girl responsibilities onto you. Making the schedule, supply orders, stock—”
“I know, I know,” she says to Grady, almost like she’s annoyed, like he’s ruining this, and then she turns her attention fully to Amelia. Cate’s eyes are sparkling. She’s happier than Amelia would ever have expected her to be, because Cate always played like being Head Girl was no big deal. “Amelia, are you sure?”
“Absolutely. I always said you’d make a great Head Girl.” These words are 100 percent true, and yet it does hurt Amelia to say them. Maybe because she knows that, this time, Cate’s not going to argue with her. And she doesn’t. She wraps Amelia in a spine-cracking hug.
“Okay, I’m going to let you girls hash this all out.” He nods. “Glad this worked out so well.”
Cate watches him go. “Ugh, I thought he’d never leave.” Amelia laughs nervously as Cate pulls her onto the love seat. “Gah! This is so crazy!” Cate drums her feet on the floor.
Amelia nods. “Totally crazy.” She squeezes Cate’s hands and then lets them go.
“C’mon! Let’s do something to celebrate! At least a Starbucks run!” And then, with a laugh, “That’s an order.”
“I should really get started on another batch.”
“Wah. You’re no fun.”
Amelia scoots forward, her behind perched on the edge of the couch cushion. “The thing is . . . I want to do it. I like making the ice cream. I’m good at it.” It feels freeing, to admit at least this much to Cate.
“Well, then I’m glad you found what you were looking for.” And Cate holds out her arms for another hug.
Though Cate is still probably a little annoyed with her, and would definitely not hug her if she knew Amelia had just kissed Grady, Amelia wraps her arms around Cate anyway and squeezes her as tightly as she can. It’s a miracle, really, that they were able to get to this place after how contentious things were between them just a few minutes ago. It is, Amelia thinks, a testament to their friendship.
Amelia stands up. “Cate? I’m sorry again about yesterday. I really didn’t want to miss it.”
“Don’t worry. There will be other chances. Plenty of other chances.” Amelia is halfway out the door when Cate clears her throat. “Hey, before you go . . . ,” Cate says, and Amelia turns back. “I want to ask you something, but I don’t want it to be weird.”
Amelia swallows, thinking of Grady. Could Cate sense something? “Of course.”
“Can I have the Head Girl pin? I mean, you’re in this new position now, and it’s like, the girls are down here at the stand with me. I think it will be good for morale if they know something’s really changed.”
Amelia feels a pang. Her ice cream victory has been all but eclipsed by Cate’s promotion. But maybe Amelia deserves that for being too much of a coward to tell Cate about kissing Grady. It’s pretty clear by the way this summer has gone that she wasn’t Head Girl material after all.
“You don’t have to do it now,” Cate says quickly, sensing that this might be a delicate subject. But Amelia removes the pin from her collar and hands it over. Cate takes it to the mirror, puts it on, and beams, brushing her hair off her shoulder on that side, to get a better look.