Ruth Herne - An Unexpected Groom

“It wasn’t quite this fancy when I was your age.” He sat on one of the metal-and-wood park benches and looked around.

“No?” Amy took a seat next to him. “But the buildings are old, so they were here.”

“They were, but a lot of the stores are different now. Artsy and trendy, filled with things to buy.”

“Isn’t that the point?”

He laughed because it was. “When I was a kid there were two accountants, a dry cleaners, a little drugstore, a print shop and two dentists added into the mix, so it wasn’t the surround-all shopping experience you see. This is like a fancy old-fashioned strip mall now, catering to the tourist’s pocketbook.”

“That would be a lot different,” Amy agreed. “I like this better.”

“So does the tourism council, I expect. When I was in college they actually officially named this area ‘The Square,’ and people come from all over to shop here. Except for midwinter, these shops probably do a killer business. Are you hungry yet?”

She shook her head. “Too much lunch. Although I wouldn’t say no to an ice-cream supper.”

“Ice cream it is.” He clasped her hand as they crossed the shaded park, a perfect respite for midday breaks and late-day repose. They got into line at Stan’s Frozen Custard, and he was just thinking how nice it was to not have to talk when someone poked him in the back. Drew had to remind himself that you didn’t necessarily have to draw your weapon when turning around in Grace Haven. He turned, and it took a few seconds to recognize the youngest Gallagher girl. “Rory?”

“Drew.” She grabbed him in a big hug, just like Emily had done. “It’s so good to have you home again. And this must be Amy.” Rory high-fived Amy with a quick smile. “I’m Kimberly’s youngest sister. She said she had a ball with you today.”

“I had fun, too. Kimberly’s great.”

Rory waved that off. “Well, we won’t share that or it’ll go to her head, and the last thing my big sister needs is anyone else telling her how awesome she is. There’ll be no living with her then, and it’s no piece of cake now.”

Amy laughed, but Drew wondered how much of Rory’s spiel was humor and how much truth. Dave used to cringe when his sisters would go at it over almost anything. Drew was an only child, he’d never had to worry about getting along or sharing or doing chores together. Kind of like Amy now. He knew that wasn’t a bad thing...but he wasn’t sure it was a good thing, either.

Rory studied Amy, tapping a finger to her jaw. “You’re in town for a while, right?”

Amy sent a guilty-as-charged look up to her father, then nodded. “Yes.”

“I was wondering...” Rory played the moment as if she’d just come up with a great plan and hadn’t talked this all out with her older sister. Drew knew better. “I teach at a UPK in the mornings until Labor Day.”

“A UP what?”

“Universal prekindergarten, to help kids get ready for school.”

“Oh, with little kids. I love little kids!” Amy shot a look up at Drew, one of those “I’d love to have brothers and sisters” expressions he’d learned to ignore years before.

“Really?” Rory’s brows shot up, and Drew had to hand it to her. She was playing the part to the max and doing it well. “How would you feel about helping me there in the mornings, and then helping Emily, Allison and Kimberly out in the offices in the afternoons?”

“Are you serious?”

“On occasion.” Rory smiled at her. “I missed the whole event planner/wedding planner gene thing, I’m not even all that big on weddings. That’s a lot of money and time invested on one crazy day.”

“The family maverick,” Drew noted as they moved closer to the ice-cream ordering window. “Rory, what would you like? It’s on me.”

Rory didn’t hesitate, and that was another difference between her and Kimberly. Kimberly would have weighed the idea of him buying ice cream, the motives behind it on both sides.

Rory just liked ice cream.

“A hot fudge sundae with mint chocolate chip custard. Please.”

“Dad, can I have the same only with the red raspberry ice cream?”

“Is that a thing?”

Amy grinned. “It is now. Hey, look. There’s Kimberly. Kimberly, hi! We’re over here!”

Kimberly turned from locking the office door and spotted them. Her instant smile made Drew feel better about almost everything. She walked their way, slanted a look down to Amy, then up to Drew. “She doesn’t make undercover easy, does she?”

Amy winced, chagrined, while Drew nodded. “She sure doesn’t. Which made Camp Wellington attractive.”

“Sorry.” Amy put up her hands, palms out. “I totally promise to tone things down. I can do it. I just forget when I get excited.”

“Excitement and youth should always go hand-in-hand,” Kimberly told her. “Having an ice-cream supper, I take it?”

“Yes. Have one with us,” Amy implored. “Rory’s going to. And Dad’s buying.”

He was so certain she’d refuse that he was ready to smooth it over. When Kimberly turned, looked him straight in the eye and arched one amazingly perfect brow, he was pretty sure his heart went into abnormal sinus rhythm...and it felt great. “You know how to clinch a deal, Amy Sue Slade. I’m in. I would love a—”

“Banana split with chopped walnuts and three cherries.”

She held his gaze. Or he held hers. He really wasn’t sure which way it happened, but then she touched one hand to her throat as if unsure what to do and smiled. “You remembered.”

He did. He used to tease her about the huge triple-scoop sundae when all the other girls ordered “baby” sized cones.

Not Kimberly. Not ever.

She touched her throat again, almost...nervous? Because he remembered?

That thought made him smile inside, because he remembered a lot of things about Kimberly Gallagher, things he’d pushed aside because she’d been so angry after Dave’s death.

To everything there is a season...

One of his favorite Bible verses, simple and true. A time for healing, maybe? Maybe long past time. And most definitely a time to set old wrongs to rights and have ice cream on a sun-soaked August night.

* * *

“Can a person be too full to walk?” Amy wondered as they retrieved Rocky from the cool car a little while later. “Because that might be the case on my part.”

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