And, while she poured two coffees, she realized this trip would be more of a handful if she also got ice cream cones. She was still standing here, wondering if she should grab a tray, when Dennis came out, carrying one normal-size cone with probably vanilla ice cream and one monster cone with a whole lot more ice cream flavors in it.
“Wow.” She stared at the cones. “That’s pretty magnificent.”
“Well, I chose the ice cream, so he has tiger-tiger, chocolate, and buttered rum.”
“Wow,” she muttered again. “What is tiger-tiger?”
“Orange and licorice.”
She shuddered. “In the same bite?”
He grinned evilly. “Absolutely. You want ice cream, so I get to choose the flavors. That’s the deal.”
“And mine? What is mine?”
“Yours is French vanilla.”
She sighed with relief. “I can get behind that one.”
He laughed, and then he looked at the coffee in her hands. “Now what will you do?”
“I was thinking that maybe we could put the cones in a glass, and I could carry a tray down.”
He shook his head. “How about I just come with you, and that should do the job.” And, with that decided, they walked outside and down to the pool area. As she got there, Ryatt was already in the water.
He splashed up out of the water and saw her. “Hey,” he said, and then he noted Dennis with the ice cream, and Ryatt’s face lit up. “Wow, am I ever glad I mentioned that.”
“Absolutely,” Dennis agreed. “Anytime you want something, don’t worry. I’ve got you covered.” He handed over the large cone and added, “If you make a mess in the pool though, I’m not responsible.”
Ryatt nodded. “I’ll just sit here on the steps, if that’s okay.”
Dennis shrugged. “I honestly don’t know what the pool rules are, but I’ll get in trouble if you make a mess, and I’m really not into that, so take it easy.”
“Okay, will do.”
And, with that, Dennis disappeared.
Ryatt looked over at her. “Not sure what arm you had to twist,” he noted, “but wow. I sent the right person after the job.”
“I think he only gave it to me because it was for you,” she said, grinning. “And I used your name shamelessly.”
He burst out laughing. “Hey, whatever works.”
“That’s what I thought,” she agreed, as she licked her cone.
“I have no idea what these varieties are though,” Ryatt said.
“Well, that’s one of the caveats Dennis mentioned. If you want a cone, you have to let him pick the flavors.”
“He’s fine. He’s done just fine. This black one though—I mean, I absolutely adore licorice but wow. I’ve never had it in an ice cream before.”
She looked at it and frowned. “It looks disgusting.”
He grinned. “It’s not. It’s absolutely delicious.” In companionable silence the two of them sat here, enjoying their treat.
When she finally finished hers, she got up and grabbed a napkin to wipe down her face and then said, “That was delicious. What a great idea.”
“Yep,” Ryatt said, “stick with me, kid, and you’ll go far.”