The Haunted - Jessica Verday [74]
Impressive.
My cheeks flamed, and I pulled back. Aubra took the scooper from my hand again and scraped out a perfect ball of vanilla ice cream. Lifting a small cup from a nearby stack, she released the ice cream and handed it over to the boy. “Sorry about that,” she said to the dad.
“She’s new.”
An obligatory eye roll and a sympathetic glance (directed at her, not me) passed between them, and she went to ring him up at the register.
I made my way to the bathroom to go clean up. Once safely inside, I told my mirrored reflection that this was only for a couple of weeks. I just had to keep reminding myself of that.
I blotted off my sticky sleeve with a damp paper towel, then tried to dry it the best I could.
Finally, I rolled both sleeves all the way up. I looked like some wannabe jock heading to the gym to work out, but at least I wouldn’t be dangling my shirt into the ice cream anymore.
Making my way back out, I saw three more people lined up, and Aubra gestured impatiently for me to come over. It took several tries, but finally I got the hang of the scooper and was able to dish up the ice cream without any major mishaps. Aubra worked the register, and for anything more complicated than a triple scoop, took over my duties. We even managed to make it through a Little League baseball team that came in without anyone getting too upset.
After a couple of hours had passed, Uncle Bob came out and told us that he’d man the counter while we took a fifteen-minute break. I followed Aubra out to a little sitting area in an alley behind the store. I kept my distance from her, though, and she did the same.
Taking out my cell phone, I checked the time and saw that I still had three more hours to go. Wonderful. I scrolled through my missed-calls folder and noticed a strange number listed there. Was it Caspian? Had he used a pay phone or something to call me from?
I hit redial and listened with bated breath as it began to ring. A female voice picked up.
“Hello?”
Well, I wasn’t expecting that.
“Hello?” I said. “Who is this? I mean, this number called my phone, and…”
“Is this Abbey? It’s Beth. From school.”
Right. The same Beth whose call I hadn’t returned before. I was completely embarrassed.
“Oh God, Beth. Hey, I’m sorry I didn’t call you back.” She laughed. “No big. I thought you’d appreciate the tip if you’re ever stuck with the Wilson kids again.”
“Oh yeah, I do. Those kids will eat you up and spit you out.” Aubra turned and glared at me, but I just looked the other way.
“Tell me about it. So listen, Lewis and I are going to a movie on Saturday night. Do you and Ben want to come?”
“Oh,” I said. “Ben and I aren’t—”
“I know,” Beth said. “We’re not a thing either. I’m giving Lewis a test run. Try before you buy. He’s cute and all, but does the boy have stamina? I need to know these things.” I laughed. “Okay, I get it.”
“So will you come? I’ve already asked Ben, and he said yes.” I hesitated. Beth was being really nice, but would Ben get the wrong idea? Would Caspian?
Beth must have heard my pause. “Please, please, please? You can’t leave me alone with him, girl. What if it doesn’t work out and I need a quick excuse?”
“Let me check my schedule,” I said hesitantly. “Okay?” She let out a whoop of joy. “I’ll be calling you, girl. Wednesday. Don’t flake on me.”
“All right, all right. I’ll talk to you then.”
She said good-bye, and I closed the phone. A movie did sound like fun. But what about Caspian? I wanted him to be there with me. Not Ben.
Aubra interrupted my thoughts. “We have to go back sometime. Come on.” Reluctantly, I stood up and followed her in. A line of customers had formed in front of the counter, and Uncle Bob was frantically waving to us. I paused for a minute to roll my falling sleeves back into place and then went to grab a scooper. Only two hours and forty-five more minutes to go.
When the customer traffic finally died down, Uncle Bob came out of the back room and said that he’d found some new freezer parts he needed to go pick up. He’d be