#Chapter9

Ice Cream Solves Everything-01

"Ice cream?" Kayden asks as we walk out of the police station

"Who eats ice cream at twelve in the morning?" I ask him as I laugh

I spent eight hours going through that stack of papers and I don't want to see another paper anytime soon.

"Who doesn't eat ice cream at twelve in the morning?" He asks as he holds the passenger door open for me

"Touché" I say as I climb into the car

-

"No way!" I shout as he pulls into the parking spot of my favorite ice cream shop

"You get ice cream from Hola Bonheur's too?" I say excitedly as I turn in my seat to face him with a wide smile

"Of course. He makes the best ice cream in town" Kayden states like it's a fact

Which it is.

When he turns the engine off I quickly hop out of the car and run into the empty ice cream shop.

"Aspen, I haven't seen you in awhile" Mr. Carello says in a scolding voice which causes me to smile as I walk up to the counter

Mr. Carello also owns a pizzeria downtown.

Spoiler alert, he makes the best cheese pizza in history.

"How have you been, Mr. Carello?" I ask as I hear the bell over the door ding which indicates that someone just walked in

"As well as a sixty-five year old man who runs two businesses can be" he says with a bright smile which causes me to grin at him

"It's about time that you visited Hola Bonheur's" Mr. Carello says as he looks at Kayden, who's now standing beside me.

"You two know each other?" I ask with a confused facial expression as I look between the both of them

"Yeah, Kayden is my nephew" Mr. Carello says which causes me to glare at Kayden who just shrugs with a smile

"I thought you knew" he says which causes me to hit his shoulder in a scolding manner

"If I knew I would've made you take me sooner" I say in a 'duh' tone which causes Mr. Carello to laugh at us

"You two are adorable together" he says which causes my breath to hitch as Kayden awkwardly clears his throat

"Actually, Aspen has a crush on someone else" Kayden says which causes me to look at him and glare

"I do not have a crush on anyone" I say but both of them give me knowing looks

Wow, they really are related.

"Do I know them?" Mr. Carello asks his nephew which causes Kayden to shrug his shoulders

"We did not come here to talk about my love life," I say as my cheeks start to turn pink from embarrassment which causes them to laugh before Mr. Carello asks for our orders

"I'll have a strawberry milkshake" I say since I want to try something different from my usual order

"I'll have a vanilla scoop in a waffle cone" Kayden orders which causes me to scoff

"Who knew that your taste in ice cream would be so basic" I say which causes him to laugh

"I could say the same for you" he says before he walks to a booth which causes me to gape at his retreating figure

No, he didn't?

-

"Thanks for taking me out for ice cream. I really appreciate it" I say as he pulls into my driveway and cuts the engine

"Anything for you" he says with a smile which causes me to blush as I look down at my intertwined hands.

He turns in his seat and looks at me with an unreadable expression.

"There's something bothering you" he says as he grabs my hand which causes me to look up at him and sigh

"How can you tell?" I ask which causes him to smile

"You look nervous" he says in a 'duh' tone

"Oh" I say as I look down at my hands again.

Kayden grabs my other hand and rubs them soothingly before he speaks.

"Aspen, you shouldn't beat yourself up because of this" he says with a serious tone which causes me to look at him with a sad expression

"I feel like it's my fault" I say as tears start to prick my eyes

"It's not your fault," he says as he pulls me in for a hug

"Then why did she leave when I mentioned the name 'thunder'?" I ask as I reach up and wipe away my fallen tears

"Maybe 'thunder' is her friend" he suggests which causes me to pull away from him as my brain goes into overdrive

Is this 'thunder' girl dangerous?

If she is, how dangerous is she?

How long have Charlotte and 'thunder' known each other?

"Stop overthinking" he says which causes me to snap my head towards him

"Why should I? She could be in trouble right now" I say as I take my phone from my pocket, so I can call her, only to have Kayden snatch it

"When people tend to overthink, most if not all of their predictions are wrong" he says

He's right.

I'm just overthinking.

-

I wake up in the middle of the night from my phone ringing.

I groan before I squint my eyes open and peek at the caller I.D.

Unknown.

Why is an unknown number calling me this early in the morning?

I decline the call before I roll onto my side and close my eyes. As I'm falling into a deep sleep my phone rings again which causes me to groan and rub my temples before I reach out for my phone.

"Hello" I rasp out since I'm still half asleep

"I need you to meet me at westside skate center in five minutes" a girl says on the other line

"Who is this?" I ask as I start to quickly wake up

"Meet me there if you want to see Charlotte" she says before she hangs up which causes me to look at my phone in confusion

I look at my clock only to see that it is two in the morning.