Once and Always (Women of Character) Read Online Free PDF Page B

changed. As he moved
ahead, Tyler recognized Oakey's brightly lit Ice Cream Palace. A glance at his
watch showed it was ten o'clock. On impulse, he cranked the wheel to the right
and pulled into the parking lot.
    Tyler stared at the brightly lit
pink and brown ice cream cone sign out front. He turned off the truck and
climbed out, stretching his legs as he stared at the place he remembered from
when he'd been a kid. He pulled the wooden screen door open and moved inside,
the door slamming loudly behind him. The pastel colored booths still lined the
small parlor, and the ice cream counter ran the entire length of the place,
stools waiting for the next kid to sit down and spin.
    Tyler looked at the man behind the
counter and unless he was wrong, it had to be Jake Oakey. He looked like he was
well into his eighty's, and though he was stooped with age he had the same
welcoming smile. He'd been bald as long as Tyler remembered. He still had an
impressive arm for his age, and Tyler remembered sitting on the stool listening
to Jake Oakey tell stories from his wrestling days. Tyler didn't move from the
doorway, questioning instead the impulse that had brought him inside.
    "What can I get for
you?"
    "I know it's late,"
Tyler said, "but I saw the lights." He reached for the door behind
him. "I'll let you get on with closing down."
    "You might as well have
something to make it worth your while for stopping," the old man said
cheerfully.
    "Do you still make those root
beer floats with chocolate peanut butter ice cream?"
    "It's been a long while since
anyone asked. Come closer. I'm almost blind, you know, and I can't see your
face."
    Suddenly reluctant to reveal his
identity, Tyler took a step back. "Never mind. It's late, and I'm sure you
want to close up." He pushed the screen door open.
    The old man snapped his fingers.
"Tyler!"
    Tyler stopped cold and looked over
his shoulder at the man.
    "Tyler Stanton!" he
exclaimed, grinning.
    Holding himself stiffly, Tyler
said, "That was a lucky guess."
    The old man laughed. "Of
course I recognized your voice, it just took me a minute. You'd drink root beer
floats until I thought you'd be sick on them."
    Tyler's heart pounded. "I did
a couple times." The first time he'd run into this place he'd been nine
and trying to outrun four kids who wanted to beat his face in because he
wouldn't give up his lunch at school. Despite the drumming in his chest, he
walked over to the counter. "But I always came back for more. I haven't
been in the area in six years."
    Jake nodded. "I was sorry to
hear what happened." He squinted and leaned closer. "Looks like you
turned out okay, though," he added with a chuckle. "I don't put much
stock in gossip."
    Tyler lifted a brow in surprise.
"You're probably the only one."
    "Sometimes tempers flare and
things get heated up, and then with Martin dying like that, it was a real mess.
‘Course, there's always folks that will hang onto whatever they choose to
believe, no matter what the facts are."
    Was he warning him he'd meet with
hostility? Tyler knew memory was long in such a small community. "If
you're still up for making that root beer float," Tyler said, "I'll
take you up on it."
    "'Course." The old man
wiped the counter with his rag. "While I'm throwing that together, you can
tell me what you've been up to, Tyler."
    He watched Jake make his float
like in the old days. Suddenly, the tightness in him eased, surprisingly
replaced by a feeling of coming home.
    "I've been living in
California."
    "My granddaughter lives out
there. She had a great job until everything went bust in the tech world."
    "I guess I was lucky. I got
into tech after that bad downward spin."
    "And now you're back here.
How's your dad?"
    Tyler stared at the smiling woman
in the 1960's advertisement behind Jake. "My dad died two weeks ago."
The tightness returned, burning his throat this time. He thought about the
grave he'd stopped by this morning, the small wreath he'd placed on the new
stone in