The Summer Melt by Emily March

Author:Emily March [March, Emily]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781942002604
Publisher: Emily March Books

Eight

Cal didn’t panic. Not really. “Did you have someone move it?”

“Move it?” Dana said, her voice a squeak. “The Rocky Mountain Road?”

“Yes.”

“No! No one was supposed to touch it. It’s not there?”

“It’s not where I put it last night.”

“Caramel fudge butter pecan!” Dana rushed into the freezer. Standing beside Cal, she pointed an accusing finger at the Do Not Disturb note attached to a rack. “Calum, why is that note exactly where I left it?”

Cal cursed using the actual words. “I forgot all about that. My client called from jail just as I started to slap the note on the carton. I totally got distracted.”

“Okay. It’s probably no big deal.” Dana turned and left the freezer. Cal followed on her heels. “We had two-thirds of a carton of Rocky Mountain Road in the case when I left last night. I can’t believe we went through that much today, but stranger things have happened.”

She hurried to the front of the store. Her smile tight, Dana walked directly to the display case. Cal’s stomach sank at her frown. He eyed the spot in the freezer case where Rocky Mountain Road always sat. The carton was about three-quarters empty. “It’s my third most popular flavor. The amount left is what I would expect from a normal sales day.”

Her head jerked up to meet Cal’s, her big brown eyes stricken. “This isn’t the container.”

Cal still didn’t panic, but he winced. “Any ideas what could have happened to it?”

Dana, however, panicked. She dashed back to the freezer, where she flung open the door and rushed inside, searching frantically among the containers. “It has to be here. You must be mistaken about where you put it. Where did you put it, Calum?”

“In that empty slot on the shelf.” Even as he said, he mentally retraced his steps. He’d been distracted by the phone call, but he distinctly remembered shutting the freezer. He was ninety-nine percent certain that he’d put it where he’d indicated.

“That can’t be! It has to be here.” She rifled through the stacks of ice cream cartons, then stopped herself and started over methodically.

Cal sure didn’t see it. “I’m going to double-check the display case.”

It wasn’t there. None of the employees had seen it. Dana joined Cal in the front of the shop, her complexion drained as white as Avanillalanch.

“We must have been robbed. Quick, call Sheriff Turner! What are we going to do? Will my insurance cover the ring? Oh, dear. What will that do to my premiums?”

“Dana. Dana. Dana.” Cal took hold of her by the shoulders. “Calm down. It’ll be okay. We will find it. Somebody knows what happened to it. The ice cream fairies didn’t raid your freezer overnight.”

“Well, somebody did!”

“Speaking of somebody, where’s my brother?”

Dana stilled, then glanced around the shop. “Rusk. Yes, he should be on shift.” Addressing her assistant manager, she asked, “Stephanie? Where’s Rusk?”

“He left on his lunch break a few minutes before you arrived, Dana.”

Cal asked, “Where did he go?”

“Was he carrying anything when he left?” Dana added.

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