Only Her Best Friend - Cami Checketts Page 0,25

sweet.

“Strawberry, one scoop, please.”

“Of course.” She gave him an extra-large scoop, and he exchanged her a dollar for the heaping cone. It was actually $2.49 for a scoop, but she’d never tell him that. He always gave her a dollar.

He finally got brave enough to meet her eye and say, “Thank you, Meredith.”

“You’re welcome, Zane. I hope you have a great day.”

He grinned happily and said, “I will ‘cause I saw you.” Then he blushed as red as a tomato and backed away. He turned and hurried out the door.

“Bye,” Meredith called before the door shut. She smiled as she watched him out the window. He walked to one of the benches lining Main Street and sat down, happily licking his cone with a huge grin on his face. She loved that their town had Zane. Most of the community was protective of and adored him.

Suddenly a memory from high school hit her. They’d had a home football game, and Cruz and Stetson had been the heroes. After the game, there was a party at Cruz’s house. He’d invited Zane.

Zane had walked awkwardly into the backyard, darting glances around with his shoulders bent forward as if to hide, maybe not sure if he dared be there. Meredith had started toward him when a weasel of a kid, Peter Greene, had pushed him from behind, knocked him down, and called him a “retard.” Meredith had cried out and upped her pace, but she stopped in her tracks when Cruz jumped in front of Peter and explained in a low, threatening voice, “You mess with Zane, you’re gonna have problems with me.” Peter had put up his hands and scurried away. Meredith watched as Cruz helped Zane up, put his arm around him like they were best buddies, and stayed close to his side throughout the night. She’d seen Cruz stand up for Zane before, and each time she fell more in love with him.

More customers finally trickled in, and Danielle came in to help her. She turned to the next customer in line and was surprised to see it was Josh. “Hey,” she said, raising a hand.

“Hey yourself. How are you?” He grinned as if they shared a secret.

Meredith pushed at some curls straying to her cheek with the back of her wrist, not wanting to have to change her gloves. “Good, thanks. I thought Cruz’s crew had a break for a couple of weeks.” Why was he still here, and what was he doing? He’d been kind to her the night of the party, but she hated all the things he’d shared about Cruz. Unfortunately, the stories were all backed up by a Google search. Josh being here reminded her of why she needed to stay strong around Cruz. She didn’t like it.

“I decided to stay at the resort and hike and bike for a couple of days. It’s beautiful here.”

There were six people behind him in line and Danielle was already helping a customer, so Meredith smiled and said, “It is. What can I get you?”

“Oh. Brownie sundae with tin roof, hot fudge, and caramel, please.”

“Of course.” She turned to retrieve a brownie from the air-tight container and piled on the ice cream, then hot fudge, caramel, nuts, whipped cream, and a cherry. She handed it over and rung him up. He inserted his credit card and studied her.

“Thanks,” she said when the purchase cleared.

“Thank you. Hey, could I take you to dinner tonight?”

She shook her head quickly, keeping her smile on. Cruz would be at her house again tonight. She hoped. Maybe she’d messed everything up this morning by telling him there were lots of reasons they couldn’t date, but maybe there was hope for them. Who knew? But she was going to be available no matter how slim her hope was. “Sorry. Working late.”

His eyes darkened, and he nodded to her. “Okay. Maybe tomorrow.”

“Maybe.” She hoped he’d leave before she had to tell him no again.

He tilted his chin up to her and walked out. She turned to the next customer in line. Josh had been nothing but nice to her. She had no idea why she was uncomfortable with the thought of going out with him. He’d done nothing wrong besides what every man did wrong. They weren’t Cruz.

Half an hour later, she was making a cookie sundae when the door opened, and she glanced up. Cat walked in with a huge smile on her pretty face. Cruz walked in behind her looking incredible in a