small, hole in the wall place, but their ice cream selection is extensive. Almost every flavor of ice cream you can think of, they have it.
Gemma settles on a Lucky Charms flavor, Gray chooses the buttery popcorn, Lincoln goes with his usual chocolate swirl, and I pick a strawberry pretzel cheesecake combination. We take our cones and decide to sit at one of the picnic tables.
“How does yours taste, Gemma?” Gray asks.
“Really good. You wanna try?”
They lean over the table toward each other, and Gray takes a big bite. “That is good.” He holds his out to Gemma. “Wanna try some of mine?”
“Duh.” She giggles. “You know I do.”
I laugh. They always try each other’s ice creams.
“You wanna try mine, Momma?”
“It does look pretty yummy.”
Leaning over, I take a bite. The cold sweetness hits my tongue and it immediately reminds me of the sugary marshmallow cereal. “Mmm…. Yummy.”
She takes a big bite of mine before she offers Lincoln some of hers. When Lincoln holds out his cone for Gemma to try, she wrinkles her nose.
“Yours is always the same. I’ve tried it a whole bunch of times.”
Chuckling, he pulls one of her braids. “That’s because I like picking what I know I like. What happens if I choose one that tastes nasty?”
She shrugs and licks around her cone before it has a chance to drip on her hand. “Me, Momma, or Gray will eat it, and you can get another one.”
“I’m not sure any of us could eat two whole ice cream cones.”
“I could,” Gray chimes in, almost halfway done with his cone already.
“That’s because you have a bottomless pit for a stomach,” I comment with a laugh.
“Dad always says I have to eat a lot if I want to be big and tough like him when I grow up.”
I try to ignore the pang in my stomach his words cause. I won’t get to see if he does become big and tough like his father.
Sensing where my thoughts have gone, Lincoln reaches over and grabs my free hand, lacing our fingers together. Just the warmth of his palm against mine has the melancholy fading away.
I smile at Gray, the expression genuine. “Well, you don’t have too much longer to go before you’re taller than me, so I have no doubt you’ll follow in your father’s footsteps.”
Forty-five minutes later, my feet are squishing in the sand as Lincoln and I walk hand in hand on the beach. The kids are up ahead of us looking for seashells. We haven’t been able to go as much the last few years with my, Lincoln’s, and the kids’ schedules. I miss it. As kids, one of our families took us all the time. Once we could ourselves, we came even more. And there were many times the local teenagers did bonfires on the beach.
I sigh and relish the gritty sand between my toes. “This feels so good. I miss walking on the beach.”
“We’ll have to do it more often,” Lincoln remarks, his fingers tightening around mine. “Have you spoken with Terri about the clinic?”
“I did. She’s fine with taking things over for a while. I told her there’s a possibility I may be selling it sooner rather than later. She’s interested in purchasing. Since there’s a possibility I may be selling to her, I’m letting her find a part-time vet to take on some of the workload.”
That was a hard phone call to make. I love working with animals, and I love my clinic. But I’m still undecided if I want to go back to work. We don’t need my income from the clinic. Lincoln’s business brings in plenty. My time is limited, and if given the choice, I want to spend every second I have with my family. With my symptoms already getting worse, I’m not sure I should go back to work. Lincoln has left the decision up to me, but I know he would prefer I stay home.
“I know that was a hard decision to make.”
“It was, but I think it’s for the best. Besides, I’ve really liked being home with you and the kids the last few weeks.”
Gemma squeals and we both laugh as Gray chases her around holding a piece of seaweed. She runs over to us and darts behind me and Lincoln.
“Don’t let him get me with that nasty stuff!” she yells, peeking around my waist to keep an eye on her brother.
With a wicked grin, Gray feigns to the left before running to the right. He