“There are at least two other businesses in this town.”

“You speak the truth.” I hadn’t exhausted all of my and Kate’s ideas quite yet.

“I’m pulling for you.”

My knees went soft at his words. Did he mean them, or was he toying with me? I searched his face for the answer. Either he was a talented actor, or he sincerely wanted me to succeed. Once again, it was up to me to take him at his word, and I needed all the encouragement I could get.

After a less-than-five-minute walk to Lickety Splits, I was greeted by the woman I’d interviewed earlier in the week. “Can I help you?”

I opened my mouth to give my spiel but thought better of it. Finn had been so encouraging earlier, and I wanted to pay it forward. What would be his favorite flavor of ice cream? I pulled up an image of him licking a cone and tried not to veer into erotic territory. All I knew about his culinary preferences was he liked pizza, bacon, and beer. “Do you have anything on the savory side?”

“For instance?”

“Anything bacon, pizza, or beer flavored?”

She shook her head. “Sorry. We’re not quite that exotic here.”

I tapped my finger to my lips in contemplation.

“What about green tea? Or rum raisin?” she suggested.

“Rum raisin!” Not exactly savory, but at least it would complete his liquor collection. “To go, please.” When the woman smiled, it bolstered my confidence to get to the primary point of my visit. “So…uh…do you ever hold events here?”

“We have BOGO deals a few times a year.”

“That’s great, but I was thinking something more communal, like ice-cream socials or sundae-eating contests.”

She pressed her lips together. “No. The space is too small.”

I scanned the venue. “I don’t know about that. I bet you could fit thirty or so people in here.”

“Like I said, it’s not something we’ve done.” She held up the cup of ice cream. “Sprinkles?”

“No thanks.” I didn’t think Finn was a sprinkles type of guy. “Would you consider it, though? Maybe in the warmer weather when you could have some of the crowd spill outside?” I could picture it now. Tables crammed with people cooling off from the hot summer sun with creamy ice cream.

“We’ve reserved the store for kids’ birthday parties, if you’re interested.”

“I don’t have kids.”

“Oh.” She motioned for me to follow her to the cash register.

“But if you’ve held birthday parties here, why not for town gatherings? What’s the difference?”

She squinted at me, her arms tight to her sides. “Do you have an event you want to hold here?”