The Road to Rose Bend, Naima Simone [jenna bush book club .TXT] 📗

for that engaging, playful grin and the tray of delicious-looking ice-cream-topped brownie samples she held, Sydney might’ve hated her.

“Nice to meet you,” Sydney said, plucking up one of the minuscule desserts. She popped the treat in her mouth. Then moaned good and long at the chocolate, pecan and vanilla goodness that melted on her tongue. “I have never met you before in my life, but right now I want to pledge my undying love. And I would offer you my virginity but, hello.” Sydney waved a hand down her baby bump that her lilac sundress didn’t conceal. “That ship has not only sailed but been torpedoed into the deep.”

“How do you like that?” Leo grumbled. “I’m only your childhood best friend. But she gives you chocolate and is offered your love. No loyalty at all.”

The other woman’s husky burst of laughter bounced off the bright walls of the shop. The handful of customers sitting at the cute pastel circular tables must’ve been accustomed to Cecille’s bouts of hilarity, because they only glanced up with smiles, then returned their attention to their conversations and ice cream.

“I see the rumors about you didn’t lie,” Cecille said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, too.”

Some of Sydney’s delight dimmed, her old but familiar protective shields reinforcing themselves. “I’m almost afraid to ask what you’ve heard.”

“Oh, let’s see.” Cecille squinted, tilting her head to the side. “That you pulled the best pranks, could sell kryptonite to Superman and convince him it was for his own good, could charm a polar bear out of its fur coat, and that you were a beautiful girl who returned to town a gorgeous woman with a body to die for, even with a baby bump. And, woman, they were not wrong.” She wiggled her fingers directly over Sydney’s breasts, which, admittedly, were looking pretty fabulous in the halter-style top of her dress. “I’m fighting a severe case of envy right now. My two kids sucked the elasticity and perkiness right outta mine,” she grumbled.

A giggle tickled Sydney’s throat at Cecille’s wholly delightful inappropriateness. A freaking giggle. But even as she battled back more laughter, surprise cascaded through her. Pulled the best pranks? Charming? Beautiful? That’s what people had been saying about her? Disbelief crept under the trickle of shocked pleasure.

You don’t expect Cecille to tell you the mean things they’ve shared with her, do you?

No. No, she didn’t. And the knowledge endeared this effervescent, kind woman to her even more.

“Part of me feels like I’m being sexually harassed, and the other part is like, tell me more about how pretty the girls are. I’m so conflicted,” Sydney said, frowning in mock confusion.

“Eh, figure it out over ice cream.” Leo hooked an arm through Sydney’s, guiding her to the long glassed-in freezer that stretched across one side of the store.

On the adjoining wall, a tall refrigerated dessert case displayed beautiful sheet and multilayered cakes of all flavors and colors as well as different fruit pies. A free-standing counter containing several toppings, from sprinkles to syrup to candy, occupied one corner.

When she’d left Rose Bend, Mabel Lawson had owned this place, and it’d been nice but a little old-fashioned, offering nothing more exotic than vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and rocky road ice cream. Maybe butter pecan once in a while. Cecille had obviously renovated the space and transformed it into something straight out of a Willy Wonka fantasy.

Including so many flavors, Sydney’s stomach released an embarrassing rumble as she stared down at the variety of tubs.

“Forget what I said about my undying love,” she said. “I’m going to build a shrine and dance naked around it at midnight, sacrificing waffle cones in your honor.”

“What is happening here?” a new, younger voice asked.

Sydney looked up, spotting the newcomer stepping out of the double doors that led to the rear of the store. The pretty Black girl—well, not a girl, but huddling on the cusp of womanhood—glanced back and forth between Sydney and her employer, smiling.

That smile.

Even if Leo hadn’t tossed out a “Hey, baby sister!” Sydney would’ve guessed her identity.

An image superimposed over the girl’s features. Rounder cheeks, almond-shaped light brown eyes, a wide mouth, ebony skin and a tall frame of long lines and pointy angles. The cheeks had thinned, and the eyes and mouth were no longer too big for her face, and curves had softened the angles, but that smile with its tiny gap between the front two teeth remained the same.

“Florence?” Sydney whispered.

Leo’s younger sister grinned. “Hey, Sydney. Long time, no see.”

“Oh my God.” Sydney reached across the glass counter and Florence grasped her hands in hers. “You have to be, what? Eighteen or twenty now?”

“Eighteen.” She squeezed then released her. “Moe mentioned you were back. It’s so good to see you.”

Sydney laughed, still wading in disbelief. “You’re so...big.”

“True that.” Florence laughed. “Almost a decade will do that to a person.”

“Flo works here, and the brat that she is won’t bring home any of the goods. Some sister,” Leo teased.

“I’m just thinking of your waistline so you can catch that husband Moe has been on you about.” Snickering past her sister’s exaggerated groan, Flo turned back to Sydney. “What can I get for you?”

“God.” Sydney leered down at the multicolored vats of ice cream. “I don’t know what to choose.”

“Take your time, Sydney,” Cecille said to them, walking away to ring up a customer. “And it’s on the house.”

“I can’t—”

“Of course, you can’t. But as the owner, I can. It’s the welcome-home special. I just created it.” She flashed a smile and turned to her customer.

“Good Lord, is she different from Mrs. Lawson,” Sydney muttered, switching her focus back to the cold treats laid out before her in a smorgasbord.

Florence laughed. “Mrs. Lawson would’ve charged you for those samples. Cecille and her husband moved here from Ohio about five years ago. Nate is a math teacher over at the high school, and she bought this place from Mrs. Lawson, who retired to Georgia to live with her daughter and