Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

"Now we lift and score."

Rory puffed out a breath, a strand of hair falling over her face. "And if it falls apart?"

"Then we try again," Jess reassured her. "But this cake is very cold so it will be fine. Don't think too hard about it."

Rory rolled her shoulders and leaned over the cake, then slowly lifted the metal mold off of the round vanilla ice cream cake in front of them. It came off clean, the cake still standing perfectly straight. She whooped, then tossed the mold into the sink.

Jess handed her the scraper. "Good, now score the edges."

Rory obeyed with a smile and scored the sides, then slid the cake into the box and placed it in the fridge to chill overnight, ready to be decorated in the morning.

She washed the dishes in the sink, handing them off to Rory to dry as Melanie and Blake finished serving the last customers out front. "See? You're going to be fine."

"It's going to be weird not having you here anymore," Rory confessed. "What are we going to do without you?"

"Wow, you make it sound like I'm dying," she quipped. "I'll only be down the road."

"Yeah, but still. It feels like a lot is changing all at once."

Jess looked up from the soapy dishes in front of her and eyed Rory. "Change is good, yes?"

Rory smiled to herself, her eyes glossed over as if she was recalling a memory. "Yes. Change is good."

Blake soared by them with full trash bags in hand. "It's over!"

Melanie followed, turning to the shelves behind them and sliding containers of candies and jimmies from the shelves to refill out front. "I can't believe it's already Labor Day. This summer season went by way too fast."

"It always does," Rory added. "But this time we're off to be studious college students. Or in Jess's case, a sexy baker with a hot new boyfriend."

She glared at her.

Melanie giggled. "Maybe that's what your bakery should be named, Jess! The Sexy Baker."

"It has a nice ring to it," she mused.

Rory and Melanie cackled. Jess smiled, finishing up the dishes and wiping her hands dry.

"Speaking of, how's the new roommate?" Rory teased.

Jess blushed, then pointed to the vacuum. "We need to clean. I don't want to be here all night."

"I take it things are going well," she jested back.

"Kevin told Calvin that every morning when he wakes up he's afraid it's all going to be a dream," Melanie explained, sealing the peanut butter cup container in her hand. "Then he sees her sleeping next to him and says he—and I quote—‘falls in love all over again.'"

Her heart fluttered in her chest.

"My god he's so obsessed with you," Rory beamed.

"Yes, well, I have that effect on people."

Another cackle from the two of them.

Blake charged through the back door. "Guess who I found outside!"

Melanie smiled as Calvin walked in next, coming right up to her and whispering, "Hi, headband," as he cupped her face and kissed her greedily on the mouth, in front of everyone.

"Calvin, I presume," Rory deadpanned.

"No. I found all of them."

Rory perked up. "All of them?"

Blake smirked.

" AHHH! "

Rory ran out of the shop. They all followed, making their way around the brick building to the parking lot in front. Jess froze.

A canopy tent was set up in the center of the lot, covered in twinkling lights with lawn chairs scattered underneath. Multiple coolers were around a table tucked into the corner with pizza boxes piled high next to a small Bluetooth speaker. Honey's leash was tied up to the chair she sat on, her tail wagging enthusiastically as she took in everything around her, her tongue out and panting, her expression full of glee. And standing in a huddle, joking and laughing, were the familiar faces Jess had come to cherish deeply over the years.

Rory sprinted up to Tyler and shrieked as she jumped on him.

He caught her with a laugh and spun her around. "Hi, Ry."

"Ty, what are you doing here?! You have a game in three days!"

"I couldn't miss this," he explained, kissing his girlfriend on the cheek. "And I had to see my girl."

Rory's eyes twinkled, then she leaned down and licked his face. He balked out a laugh, mumbling a playful "You menace" before kissing her on the lips.

" Jessica Valerie ."

Everyone froze and glanced up at the man who stood on a cooler in the middle of the Scoops parking lot, his honey-blonde hair tucked behind one of his signature bandanas.

He held his arms out wide. "Today marks the end of an era."

Everyone cheered.

Jess crossed her arms. "Get down from there."

"No way. Not until I have thoroughly congratulated my girl for finishing her last shift at Scoops ever —"

More cheering.

" And for taking over Grampy's bakery in a few months—"

"I still wrap my head around that," Calvin chimed in.

"But she also did one very important thing this summer."

"Took off her clothes for you?" Jay joked.

The Scoopers howled as Jess flipped Jay off. He winked in response.

Kevin puffed up his chest. "Okay, two very important things."

He held out his hands to her. She grumbled as she stepped closer and placed her hands in his. He pulled her up on top of the cooler, then wrapped her in his arms. His smile was so infectious, she couldn't resist one of her own.

"You chose to be brave this summer, and did all the things you wanted to do. All before Labor Day."

"Even if I hadn't, you couldn't fire me now that I'm your boss. "

He grinned and pressed his nose to hers. "Can I call you that later, boss ?" he whispered for her ears only.

She rolled her eyes. "Always taking it too far."

Kevin hummed and curled a hand around her neck, then pulled her close, his lips caressing hers. "You're so beautiful, Jessica. I can't help it." Then he kissed her, and most definitely took it too far, slipping his tongue into her mouth and curling his free hand around her backside.

"Is this how it feels around me and Calvin?" she heard Melanie ask.

" Yes ," everyone said in unison.

Jess and Kevin laughed as they turned to face the group. Calvin gave his girlfriend a bashful smile, curling his pinky finger with hers as he bent down and whispered something in her ear. She flushed.

"All right, y'all are making me sick," Jay teased, pulling his phone out of his back pocket. He tapped on the screen a couple times, then music blasted through the speaker.

They danced to the tunes as they placed greasy slices of pizza on paper plates and popped open cans of soda. There were tears and hugs and lots of laughter, because even if Jess knew these people would always have a place in her heart, it was the end of an era, and the start of something new. Something even more beautiful than the countless frosted ice cream cakes of her past, or the ice cream sundaes piled high with hot fudge and jimmies and bright red cherries.

Yes, they would always have Scoops. They would always have one another through thick and thin, because they'd been through so much. Together.

But this new life in front of her, full of endless possibility and hope? It felt like gold. The kind of gold from the rising sun of a new day. The sugary gold of a kanelbullar fresh out of the oven. The soft golden fur of a sleeping pup. Or the shining golden boy with dazzling hazel eyes that felt like home.