SS01. Sunday Sundaes by Coco Simon

Author:Coco Simon
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Simon Spotlight
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

PACING

Sunday was hot and hazy. “A perfect day for selling ice cream!” declared my dad when he woke us up practically at dawn. Tanner and I shuffled to the table in our pj’s to eat the oatmeal my dad had prepared. I know oatmeal isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but the way my dad makes it—with hot maple syrup and a puddle of warm cream on top—is delicious, and makes me feel like Laura Ingalls Wilder on the prairie every time I eat it.

“Your mother is going to be very nervous today, kids,” Dad counseled us as he sipped at his coffee. “This is a lifelong dream, so she’s feeling a lot of pressure to succeed. She may or may not want our help; we just have to be ready but not get in the way. Okay?”

I nodded sleepily, and Tanner just sat there licking his oatmeal spoon. “Any more?” he asked. I hadn’t realized he had already finished. He lifted his bowl to lick around the inside of it, like a dog.

“Tanner! Seriously? What’s happened to your table manners?” I reprimanded him.

But my dad headed off the bickering before it could begin. “No fighting today. Just let her know you’re there for her. Okay?”

I nodded at him, chastened.

I was excited and nervous for Mom. I wanted the store to be a huge success, and I hoped tons of people would come. But I was also nervous for her. I hoped it wouldn’t be so many people that she couldn’t handle it or that she’d run out of ice cream or something. And I didn’t want it to be embarrassing, like if no one came. I just wanted it to be good. We had called her the night before, and she’d sounded a little lonely, I thought. I’d asked if she wanted us to come home, and she’d said she had a ton of paperwork to do and that we should have fun with Dad. It was really hard needing to be in two places at the same time and thinking you weren’t in the right one.

My dad took us to the new house at eight o’clock, and we picked up a load of things that Mom needed at the store. She was already there, cleaning and putting the finishing touches on everything. It was weird for me to see my dad in our new house; he was already out of place. He kind of just stood in the hallway, not even plunking himself down onto a chair or anything like he normally would when we came home. I think he felt it too, because he kind of hustled to get out of there, like he was spying on her and didn’t want to get caught. It made me sad.

At the store Tanner and I did little tasks, and my parents did big tasks, and pretty soon it was opening time. A reporter from the local paper was the first arrival, and she asked my mom a ton of questions and took some photos to run with the article.

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