Page 12 of Sugar & Ink
Except apparently it was.
The guy behind the counter set a white paper bag in front of me ten minutes later. “Pie is apple. Only thing left.”
“Fine.”
“Need forks?”
“Yeah.”
He tossed a couple wrapped plastic forks into the bag and rang me up. I paid, grabbed the food, and headed back outside.
The bag was warm in my hand and the walk across Main Street took less than a minute.
I stopped on the sidewalk outside Scoop & Swirl and looked through the front window.
Josie was on a ladder to the side of the door, one hand gripping the top of a tall shelving unit while the other stretched toward a box on the highest shelf. The ladder rocked slightly under her.
My grip tightened around the bag. “Christ.”
I tried the door, but it was locked.
Good, at least she had enough sense to lock the door.
I knocked once.
She didn’t hear me.
I knocked harder.
Her head snapped toward the window and the ladder wobbled.
I lifted the bag like that explained everything.
She stared at me through the glass for a second, then glanced down at herself, then around the shop like she was trying to figure out if she could pretend she wasn’t there.
I arched a brow.
She muttered something I couldn’t hear and climbed down halfway before stretching toward the door.
Still on the ladder.
Still being stupid.
She flipped the lock and pulled the door open a few inches. “We’re closed.”
“No shit.”
Her eyes narrowed. “That’s not usually how people ask for ice cream.”
“Good thing I’m not here for ice cream.”
She looked at the bag in my hand, then back at me. “Are you robbing me with burgers?”
“If I was robbing you, I wouldn’t bring food.”
“Maybe that’s your tactic.”
“My tactic would work better if you got off the ladder before you cracked your head open.”
