My treat. My truck automatically turns in when I see a DQ sign. I love their dip cones.”
“Yes!” Kayla tossed her paperwork over on the back seat and was already undoing her seat belt when Noah braked and found a parking spot.
Not wanting to leave the paperwork was childish for sure, but Teresa had a hard time walking away from it. In all her wildest dreams, some of which included winning the lottery, she never thought she’d be able to even think about being her own boss. She gave the paper one last look and hurried along so Noah wouldn’t have to hold the door open any longer.
Noah went straight to the counter but lingered back just a little to let her and Kayla order first. Luis had never done such gentlemanly things. He always told the lady what he wanted, and then she had to figure out what she could afford with the money she’d saved for them to have a burger or tacos.
“I want a strawberry sundae,” Kayla said.
“Whipped cream and a cherry on top?” the lady behind the counter asked.
“All of it, and can you make that strawberry ice cream instead of vanilla?” Kayla asked.
“I sure can.” The lady looked past Kayla at Teresa. “And for you?”
“Hot fudge sundae,” she answered, almost tasting it as she said the words. When she celebrated something big, like a fifty-cent raise on her paycheck, she always treated herself to a hot fudge sundae on the way to work the next day, and she never told Luis about it.
“And you want a dip cone, don’t you?” She waved at Noah.
Noah flashed a smile at her. “You know me too well, Miz Martha.”
Even though the lady was at least twenty years older than they were, Teresa fought with a little streak of jealousy. Noah had not done one thing to suggest that he wanted to be anything other than friends, so she had no right to the feeling, but there it was in all its bullfrog-green glory.
“I’ll bring your order to the table. Want a free cup of coffee to go with it?” Martha asked. “We make fresh every hour, but there’s still half a pot and I hate to throw it out.”
“We’d love that and thank you.” Noah gave her another one of his sexy grins.
Kayla found an empty booth and slid into one side. “Hand me your purse, and I’ll put it over here with mine.”
Teresa handed over her purse and sat down on the other side of the table. The booth wasn’t very big, so when Noah sat down beside her, their hips, shoulders, and knees were touching. She hoped that he couldn’t hear the thumping beat of her heart, feel the heat that she did, or see the sparks dancing around the room.
“This is what I did to celebrate when I had a good-tip day,” Kayla said. “I’d treat myself to a double strawberry sundae and eat it very slowly. Sometimes I’d get a cup of coffee afterward, but not always.”
Teresa found it hard to believe that she and Kayla both celebrated victories, however small, the same way. She’d always thought that they were as different as night and day.
“Did you tell Denver?” Teresa asked.
“Hell no! I did not! He would’ve said something hateful about it.” Kayla spit out the words in a rush. “What’d you do when you felt special?”
“Exactly what we’re doing today. The Dairy Queen wasn’t far from the nursing home. I’d go there on my way to work and eat a hot fudge sundae. And I didn’t tell Luis, either,” she answered, amazed that her voice sounded almost normal. “How about you, Noah? What’d you do to celebrate something big?”
“Until six years ago, I’d open a bottle of expensive whiskey,” he answered.
Martha brought their ice cream and coffee, winked at Noah, and said, “Y’all enjoy, now.”
“I’m sure we will.” Noah grabbed a fistful of napkins from the dispenser and laid them all on the table. “I’m not being wasteful. I just know that when this thing starts drippin’, I’ll need most of those.”
“Well, if I drop a single drop on the table or on my shirt, you can bet your sweet little butt I will lick it off. I don’t waste DQ ice cream.” Kayla dug down deep in the sundae and brought a spoonful to her mouth.
Like always, Teresa ate the cherry off the top first, chewing slowly and enjoying every bit of the flavor. With that taste still in her mouth, she