“Thanks a lot!” said my mom with a laugh. She was trying to construct a mermaid sundae (one of Tamiko’s signature concoctions) and kind of failing.

When things slowed down midafternoon, Sierra and I looked through the series of selfies that Tamiko had sent us the night before. It showed her trying all different flavors of soft cream ice cream, and the photos displayed a rainbow of unusual ice cream colors. Matcha! said the first pic, and it showed Tamiko eating green ice cream. The next photo showed her in a different outfit eating black ice cream. (Kuro-goma: Black Sesame! it said.) Then a purple dollop of soft serve (Beni-Imo: Purple Sweet Potato, yum yum!), an orange one (Mikan: Mandarin Orange!), gray (Volcanic Ash Vanilla: Say whaaaaat?), tan (Soy Sauce and Miso… faves so far), and more.

I wish I could bring these back for you! said the last photo.

“I miss our girl.” I sighed.

“Me too,” agreed Sierra.

Next, I took a few minutes to create a book and ice cream pairing. To restart the tradition, I knew I wanted to go with a classic—my favorite book, Anne of Green Gables. One of Anne’s favorite things is strawberries, so it was only natural that I’d pair the book with our famous Balsamic Strawberry ice cream. I put a little blurb on the board that said, “If you haven’t read Anne of Green Gables, it’s time to pick it up and warm your heart. Then cool down with some Balsamic Strawberry ice cream, featuring Anne’s most favorite fruit.” Then I added a little quotation from the book that said, “Dear old world… you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you.”

“That looks so nice,” said Sierra as she paused to read it. “It’s so Molly’s!”

Her compliment warmed my heart, but not as much as when Mrs. O’Brien came in for ice cream later. She owned the bookstore at the mall and coordinated the Book Fest celebration at my old school.

“Allie! Hello! How was camp?” she asked with a smile when she reached the counter.

“Hi, Mrs. O’Brien. It was awesome. Never enough time for reading, but still great.”

“Wonderful! And how did you like the books you picked out?”

“I loved them,” I said.

She was nodding. “Good. I have some new recommendations for you when you come in next. Now, what have we here?” she asked, putting on the reading glasses that had been perched on her head. She studied my book pairing and smiled.

“As a huge Anne fan, I simply must try the ice cream that goes with the book. Could I please have a Balsamic Strawberry scoop in a cone?”

“Coming right up!” I said.

I busied myself with the ice cream and presented it to Mrs. O’Brien with a big flourish.