Summer of Sundaes

By Amey Zeigler

After dropping out a semester short of college graduation, Bailey Madison inherits the management of her family's struggling ice cream shop in Seward, Alaska. When Kingsley Tours needs her prime location to expand their business into the Last Frontier, Bailey must use her wits and creative ice cream recipes to save her shop.

Usually carefree and self-centered Brahms Kingsley must prove to his father he can buckle down and lead Kingsley Tours as the company grows. But how can he close Bailey's shop when she still holds a place in his heart?

Brahms must choose between pleasing his father and earning the love of a woman he never forgot.

• Language: Unknown
• Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
• Release date: Sep 11, 2020
• ISBN: 9781509233953

Amey Zeigler

Amey Zeigler received her B.A. in Communication from University of Arizona. When she was nine years old, she started writing romantic mysteries and has been obsessed with the genre ever since. While attending university, she put her studies on hold to live in France and Switzerland for a year and a half. She lives with her husband and three children near Austin, Texas.

Book preview

Inc.

Her stomach flipped. Energy trilled through her.

With hands inside his pockets, he held his jacket together against the wind. Listen, I want to apologize. I didn’t know your shop was involved in this deal. I want to be friends again. What can I do to make it right?

But even his attractive appearance couldn’t soften her. She thrust out her chin and crossed her arms. You can find another location to rent.

His face pinched. I can’t. Jack already signed the papers. Once we get the go-ahead from the City Council, the deal’s done.

Ache burned in her chest. Then nothing you’ll do can make it right. She climbed the hill overlooking the entrance to the bay. The closer she got to her store, the more the wind died. The sun peeked from the milky clouds and warmed the town.

Brahms jogged next to her. Bailey, I don’t want to fight you.

She faced him and placed her hands on her hips. You don't know what you're taking from me. My family has run this shop for four generations. Then you come in with your big business. You throw around your money and get what you want.

I have a secret for you. He stepped into her space.

His eyes blazed. Bailey gulped. He was too near. Being close to him weakened her.

A partial grin slipped over his lips. I always get what I want. He stood straighter. Money has nothing to do with it. And I want to be friends.

His breath tickled her forehead. The familiar scent of his spicy cologne wafted between them. Attraction tugged at her.

Praise for Amey Zeigler

THE SWISS MISHAP won

2019 Swoony for Best New Adult Romance.

~*~

LOVED it!

~Sarah Budd

~*~

"I absolutely LOVED SUMMER OF SUNDAES and the characters, they really seemed real and the storyline was really fun to get into!"

~Cheryl G.

~*~

Lovely, sweet story!

~Kristie G.

~*~

I enjoyed the story very much.

~Becky W.

~*~

I just loved Bailey and Brahms and thought they were very sweet, likeable people! I loved secondary characters too Gran, Francis and Jack. I thought the scene when they weren’t talking was absolutely hilarious!! I loved the descriptive writing of the town, people, and scenery. It really makes the reader feel that they are at the seaside.

~Michelle

Summer of Sundaes

by

Amey Zeigler

One Scoop or Two

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

Summer of Sundaes

COPYRIGHT © 2020 by Amey Zeigler

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press, Inc. except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Contact Information: [e-mail]

Cover Art by Tina Lynn Stout.

The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

PO Box 708

Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708

Visit us at www.thewildrosepress.com

Publishing History

First Sweetheart Rose Edition, 2020

Digital ISBN 978-1-5092-3395-3

One Scoop or Two

Published in the United States of America

Dedication

To my daughter, Anna,

who always inspires me

Chapter 1

I have news. The door to Bailey’s Ice Cream Shop pinged when Francis Waterman burst through.

With the breath of Seward’s salty sea air, Bailey Madison slapped the covers of her paperback closed. Uh-oh—caught!

Francis’s shoulders slumped. Oh, not another slow day. The crinkled edges of her eyes squinted. Are you reading a novel?

Bailey’s belly burned. No. With flaming cheeks, she tucked the book behind the cash desk. Usually, after a few hours in the store, she acclimated to the sweet milky aroma of fudge and churned ice cream. But after the breath of Alaskan spruce, the scent of vanilla and chocolate overpowered her.

Francis brushed back her gray hair and placed hands on her hips. Come on. I saw it. Whatcha reading?

Hesitating, Bailey drew out the paperback, opening it to where she stopped. "My cousin’s recent release, Revenge on the Riviera. It made the bestseller lists in January."

Honey, it’s June. Francis placed her purse on the counter. Six months ago is not a recent release.

I know. I’ve been busy until now. Unfortunately, her seven-eighths of a degree in business from the University of San Francisco did not automatically make Bailey’s Ice Cream Shop a smashing success. The place was a ghost town at seven p.m. She placed a finger on the words of the page. I’d love for a guy to say this to me, ‘I couldn’t confess the depths of my love for it would overpower you like a wave, tow you under the water, and drown you.’

Sighing, Francis shook her rain-cloud gray hair. Guys don’t talk like that.

Bailey peeled her feet off the floor with sticky resistance. But wouldn’t it be great if they did? She snagged the waffle mix off a shelf behind the counter. Despite the slow day, she needed to make cones. The humidity of nearby Resurrection Bay melted cones quicker than customers bought and ate them. She frowned at the last two soggy waffle cones she tossed in the trash.

Arching an eyebrow, Francis patted the book. You need a life.

I have a life. I run an ice cream shop. She pointed around the shop decorated with antiques her grandparents collected and café tables with mismatched metal chairs. The scent of sugar enveloped her. Ten tubs of ice cream sat in one glass-cased side. Fudge filled the next.

Francis frowned. You have an ice cream shop in Alaska, a state where people per capita eat the least amount of ice cream.

Straightening her stuffed ice cream hat, Bailey shot Francis a poisoned glare. But as her best friend was also her landlord, she couldn’t hold grudges.

And—Francis drew breath—you need a man so you’ll realize men aren’t all sentimental and goofy like in those romance books. Francis snatched the book off the counter. She held up the book and shook her head. This is why you live in a state where men outnumber women ten to one, and you can’t get a man.

I’m not good with guys. Bailey’s face caught fire, burning to the tips of her ears. The last guy she had a date with stood her up. Brahms Kingsley. Even thinking his name tickled her stomach. But their encounter happened three years ago. No doubt he’d moved on.

You need a local man. Francis shook a finger.

Bailey nodded to the parade of men in flannel shirts and waders smelling of fish bait, mosquito repellant, and—if he was successful—fish guts, passing the large, painted glass, picture window. Guys around here go to the bait shop, not the sweet shop. These men are testosterone-heavy, gun-slinging, grunting hunters and fishermen with big reels, big boats, and even bigger egos.

Francis pursed her lips and cocked a hip. Careful, my husband is one of those men of whom you speak.

In addition to owning her small shop, Francis and Jack Waterman ran a fishing guide business taking anyone willing to pay big bucks deep sea fishing across Resurrection Bay, the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park. Bailey mixed batter and poured a measured amount onto the sizzling iron. I just want a guy with culture, class, and refinement.

With a scowl, Francis placed her hands on her hips. Honey, you’re living in the wrong town and certainly the wrong state.

Seward was not the smallest town along the Alaskan western coasts. But it was the prettiest. Towering mountains along the harbor dipped the toes of its foothills right into the glacier blue water of the bay. Bailey’s heart sank as she slapped down the waffle iron lid. I can’t leave Seward. Grandma needs me. And I have to run the shop. Gran’s health issues not only tied her to Seward and Alaska, but occupied all of Bailey’s time outside the ice cream shop. So, what’s your news?

Oh, yes. Francis bit her lip. I hate to be the one to tell you. She squinted her black eyes. Jack’s not renewing your lease.

With a stuttering heart, Bailey dropped the scoop into the bowl with a clunk. Batter swallowed it like quicksand. What? Bailey’s throat tightened. Her great-grandfather, Bailey Winthrop, started this business years ago and installed the picture window after the 1964 earthquake.

Francis stared out the picture window. Jack says he didn’t mind giving you a break on the rent, but now he needs a new boat for his fishing guide business. He says the old one has issues. Our boat is just fine, but you know how Jack is.

You’re raising our rent? Tears stung Bailey’s eyes. Nausea swirled in her stomach.

He’s not renewing it. At all. Francis placed a hand on the countertop.

Bailey gasped. Not renewing? After all her grandparents had done for her, she couldn’t be the weak link and lose the shop. Gran depended on the