Chapter Thirteen

Antoine

I liked shaved ice the few times I had it but until Roy mentioned it, I had never heard of a snowball. I thought about this while working on a surprise for West's grand opening. Food trucks often had those sandwich board signs—I thought they were called that anyway—set on the sidewalk or somewhere near the order window. I had snooped around enough when the truck was delivered to be pretty sure there wasn't one, and since I had been trying to come up with a gift for his first day, this seemed like a good idea.

At least I hoped so. Strolling around the park, where many trucks were parked, I looked over their signs in hopes of finding inspiration. Frankly, most of them were just boring with hours and maybe a few of their items listed. I went home and went to work sketching out what I had in mind. West would be opening shortly, so I didn't have time to take weeks to mull over what I might be doing. No, this was going to be a one-day project, few hours really. With that in mind, I tossed the sketch, slapped a coat of primer on the board I was going to use, and spent the time it dried wrapping some of my finished works for shipping.

Then I looked up pictures of shaved ice, of snowballs, snow cones, and anything else similar and ended up so totally confused by the differences and similarities, I decided not to paint one of them. Instead, I went another way. His truck had that whole Polynesian/tropical feel, and so should the sign.

Hauling the board outside, I found one of the workers in the backyard and asked them if they had a jigsaw.

A few hours later, I tucked the barely dry sign in the back of the car and headed for West's home where the truck was currently parked in the driveway. I still found it interesting that he chose to do something like shaved ice when he had been denied sweetness both in food and in life for so long. The truck was a vivid reminder to all the neighbors that soon there would be a whole new treat to be enjoyed in Oliver Creek.

When I parked in front, West came down the steps of his trailer, wrapped in an apron splattered with all the colors of the rainbow.

"Hey, omega." He came in to give me a sticky kiss. "I've been practicing my recipes and trying out some new combos."

"And taste testing if your kisses offer any indication." I licked my lips. "Guava dragon fruit?"

"You're good." He reached for my hand to pull me toward the truck. "Come and give me your opinions."

"I will, but first I've got something in the car." I turned to open the back. "I hope you like it."

"A gift for me?" He wiped his sticky hands on his apron. "Let me see."

I pulled out the sign I'd painted for him, and he went still. Instead of painting one kind of snow cone/ball or other icy treat, I'd painted them all but in a muted way that hopefully wouldn't have people asking for something he didn't make. "It's for your grand opening."

"How did you get a sign in the shape of a palm tree?"

I chuckled. "I have a crew working in the back, remember? They have tools, and once, I took a woodworking class where we used a jigsaw. So I borrowed one. Do you like it?"

"Like it? I love it!" He took it from me and carried it up to stand it next to the truck. "It even stays up."

"That was the idea." I followed him inside, and he made me a snowball in some combination of flavors I never guessed but absolutely loved. "So good."

"Thank you."

"You're the best." West touched a countertop and winced. "Really sticky. I need to get this thing cleaned up so I don't draw every ant in Oliver Creek."

"How about we clean up?" I wanted him to know if he had something to do, we had something to do. And not because I had to but because I wanted to. "And I thought maybe we could do dinner tomorrow if you're free?"

His smile faded, and I could almost read his mind. An alpha was always raised to pick up the tab, to be responsible, and it had to be hard for him to feel like he didn't have any extra money for things like restaurant meals right now. Before he could say anything, I continued, "Because I have some chicken we can put on the grill at my house?"