Flashback to the beginning of summer:
"Hi there, welcome to Sweet Side Creamery!"
I peered out from the ice cream shack window and spotted two small blonde girls: one around five or six, and the other closer to twelve or thirteen.
"What can I get for you?" I asked, shielding my eyes from the bright sun.
"I'll have a... um, what were you getting, Bridget?" the younger girl murmured.
She spun towards the older-looking one and, in the process, kicked up sand with her tiny feet.
Bridget glared up at me, clearly irritated by her little sister's indecisiveness and the sand now sticking to her lower legs.
Bridget sighed wearily, trying to stay calm. "We'll have two small Home Sweet-Sweet Sides."
I faintly nodded my head in acknowledgment before wiping the newly formed beads of sweat from my forehead.
I strolled over to the ice cream station, intentionally bumping into Vincent in the process.
"Oops, sorry, not sorry!" I snickered as Vincent glared up at me with those heart-melting blue eyes.
Vincent playfully raised an eyebrow and curled his lips into a quirky smile. "You should be!" He whined, tightly furrowing his thick brows as he wrinkled his cute nose.
I watched as he wrote a note for the next shift on the board.
I just love the way he curls his letters, it's messy yet somehow neat.
"You're such a drama queen, Vincent," I replied, rolling my eyes at his outburst.
I stood on tiptoes to reach the two small cups on the top shelf.
"Shorty," Vincent snorted, eyeing me with those perfect eyes.
"Oh hush! Go help a customer or something!" I said, looking away with a huff as I scooped the ice cream and returned to the window.
A warm breeze carried the grassy scent of the lake directly to my nose.
"That'll be four dollars, please." I reached down and handed the two girls their ice cream, exchanging it for their money. "Thank you, and have a sweet, sweet day!"
As I turned around from the window, Vincent lazily slumped against the wall opposite me, looking over with curious, prying eyes.
"So what's your story, kid?" He crossed his muscular arms over his chest, looking at me intently.
"I don't have a story, 'kid'." I imitated him and slouched against the warm wooden wall with crossed arms.
The sun lightly kissed my back through the cracks in the wall, sending a warm comfort through my body.
"Come on; everyone has a story!" He shot back, shifting his weight to his left foot.
"Well... I live with a crazy brother who's most definitely bipolar and isn't taking meds and a mom who's stricken with grief because her husband killed himself in February. That's all...." Flustered, I looked up from the ground, expecting to see a terrified look plastered on Vincent's face, but there wasn't.
He looked intrigued, genuinely intrigued. "Uh-how-how about you? What about your story?" I tilted my head and watched him closely.
How did my outburst not scare him?
YOU ARE READING
The Perfect Witness
Mystery / ThrillerWelcome to Shadow Hill, Where your dreams turn to nightmares, And your nightmares become reality. At sixteen, Ivy thought her life was perfect-until everything fell apart. Her world was shattered when her dad's dark secrets came to light. His deat...
