“I don’t see why, when everyone is so keen to see Summer Scoop work. And they gave a license to Chas when he wanted to serve gourmet burgers. Seems to me that gourmet ice cream right next door would make perfect sense. He might even be prepared to lease you the stand next to his. He owns both of them.” Ryan caught Emily’s eye. “Let me speak to a few people. Assuming there is no problem with the license and Chas is willing to help, who would run it? You don’t have the budget to employ anyone, do you?”

Emily finished her wine. “Lisa could run it at lunchtimes and weekends when the island is at its busiest. I’ve been going through the numbers, and her quietest time here in the store is lunchtime—I guess because people are either already on the beach or they’re in one of the restaurants or cafés. If we get the go-ahead with the license, we’re going to try it for a month. See what happens.”

“Leave it with me.” Ryan put the papers back on the table, and Lisa passed the wine across to him.

“Drink. You’ve earned it. You’re now officially part of the rescue team. I’m especially grateful since I know we’re in competition.”

“I can stand a little competition.”

“In that case, next time you hold a lobster picnic on the beach, Lisa is going to provide the ice cream.” Emily pushed the laptop toward him. “Take a look at these numbers, and tell me if you can see anything I’ve missed.”

He couldn’t see anything except those smoky green eyes and that soft mouth, but he forced himself to look at the screen. “Seems to me you’ve pretty much covered everything.” Up until now he’d only ever seen her out of her depth, literally and figuratively. It was interesting seeing her comfortable and confident. “Where’s Lizzy tonight?”

“Snuggled in the twins’ bedroom.” Lisa topped up all the glasses. “Hard to know which of them is more excited. Lizzy looks so much like them, they could be triplets.”

“She’s staying the night?”

“No, I’ll scoop her up when we’re ready to go home.” Emily shut down the spreadsheet and closed the laptop. “Which I guess is now.”

“You could leave her here and pick her up in the morning.” Lisa said it casually, but Emily shook her head.

“We’re taking this a step at a time.”

“You mean you’re taking it a step at a time.”

She smiled. “You’re right, that’s what I mean. Letting Lizzy sleep over is a step I haven’t reached yet.”

“Think what you’d be able to do with a whole night off.” Lisa grinned at her. “Adult company. Sleeping in.”