One of her first visitors was Ethan Oliver, the freckle-faced redhead who nearly crashed into her her first drive into Hamlet.
He didn’t come alone, either.
The girl was about a head shorter than Ethan, with long, white-blonde hair that cascaded down her slender back. Gloria thought she was about Ethan’s age, and though she was tiny compared to him, something in the way she stood on Gloria’s porch with her arms crossed made her seem bigger.
She had a look of distrust mixed with curiosity in her bright green eyes. Pretty girl, even if it came across that she’d rather be anywhere else but where she was.
“Ethan, what a surprise.” Gloria smiled warmly at them. “It’s nice to see you again. I hope I didn’t get you into too much trouble with your mom.”
He waved her off. “Nah. She was right, as usual. I shouldn’t have run out in front of your car.”
The girl gave Ethan a know-it-all look. “You shouldn’t have been trying to scare me, either, idiot. It wouldn’t have worked anyway. I told you. Besides, your goofy mask isn’t half as scary as your regular face and I can look at that without screaming.”
“Ha ha. Funny.” Turning to Gloria, he waved at the blonde. “This is my cousin. She wanted to meet you.”
If the matching green eyes hadn’t been a big enough clue, the almost sibling-like bickering made her identity obvious.
“Ah. So you’re the infamous Natalie,” teased Gloria. “I’ve heard so much about you. All of it good, I promise.”
The teen’s thin lips curved upward, making her even prettier. She unfolded her arms. “You, too,” she said, then paused for a few seconds. “You know, Aunt Sadie shared some of the peppermint swirl you dropped off for her. It was amazing.”
Gloria had wanted to thank the lawyer for all her help with Great Aunt Patti’s paperwork. Some homemade peppermint swirl was the least she could do. “I’m glad you liked it.”
“That’s why we’re here. We wanted to see if you had some more.”
“Ethan!”
“What? How are we going to get more ice cream if we don’t ask for it?”
Natalie shook her head, rolling her eyes. “Like I said. He’s an idiot.”
“More like he’s a teenager with a hungry belly and a big sweet tooth,” Gloria said, chuckling. “It’s fine. I don’t actually have any peppermint swirl in my freezer right now, but I made a sweet potato, marshmallow, and pecan creation for Thanksgiving that’s just as delicious.”
Ethan’s tongue just about lolled out of his mouth. “You turned sweet potato casserole into an ice cream sundae?”
That had been her inspiration. It came out better than her second option: turkey and cranberries. “I did.”
“And we can have some?” asked Natalie. Still a little wary, but definitely interested. Gloria wasn’t too offended. A lot of the Hamlet locals reacted that same way. “Really?”
“Why not? Come on. It’s in the kitchen.”
She didn’t have to tell them twice. Gloria had barely pointed in the right direction before the two teens took off toward it. Smiling to herself, she followed behind them, eager to have someone else try her newest flavor.
And while Ethan and his cousin were some of the first visitors to her cabin, they weren’t the last—especially once word got out that she was giving away free ice cream.
So what if it was maybe a high of thirty out there? Gloria’s creations were worth it and, before long, most of Hamlet knew it.
The town was, okay, it was kind of weird. Gloria wasn’t going to deny that. It wasn’t like the city. Shoot, it wasn’t like any place she’d ever even heard of before. But the locals liked ice cream and, from the moment s
he first dished out scoops to Ethan and Natalie, Gloria was pleased.
In her experience, no one who liked ice cream could be bad.
Sadie Oliver was right about one thing in particular.
Once Gloria got used to the winding path that led up to her cabin home, it wasn’t as bad as it was that first trip up the mountain. Especially since, with her only neighbor working long hours, she almost always had the road to herself. She was able to take her time navigating the curves until she’d taken so many trips in and out of Hamlet, she could do so blindfolded.
The trips didn’t stop even after she finished moving everything out of her apartment and into the cabin. At first, she still needed to hit the Walmart and the Target and the mega shopping mall in the next city over from Hamlet. There were too many things that she just couldn’t get in town. Then, once she thought she was settled, she wanted to get a feel for the community before winter slammed the mountain and she was cooped up for a bit.