Hot Fudge Fraud Read online

  Keith looked meaningfully at her through striking blue gray eyes. In an intimate tone, he said, “I really do want to get together. I’m not just saying that to be polite, Melanie. How would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow night?”

  She paused before answering as she thought of the long day that awaited her at the ice cream parlor. Her dating life had never been very exciting, but it had dwindled to zero since opening her business. It was June and smack dab in the middle of the busy season for ice cream lovers in sweltering South Carolina. Closing up shop early wouldn’t be an option.

  “I’d love to, Keith, but I don’t get out of work till 8:30 tomorrow.”

  “Okay, then how about the next day?” He suggested amiably.

  “Same hours. You see, I have my own business, so it’s kind of hard for me to find time to do things…” she trailed off, not wanting to reject him. From the disappointed look on his face, it appeared he already felt the sting of rejection.

  “Well then let’s just make it a late dinner. I don’t mind having a late dinner if you don’t,” Keith offered hopefully.

  Melanie smiled softly. “Well okay, then. You can meet me at my ice cream parlor at 9. It’s in the heart of downtown Charleston on King Street.”

  “Ice cream parlor?” Keith asked with a glimmer of disapproval. “You own an ice cream parlor on King Street?”

  “Yes, it’s called Hot Fudge Fancy. I opened it just last year,” she said, not understanding the sour expression on his face.

  “Oh, I’ve never heard of Hot Fudge Fancy. Well good for you, Melanie,” he said vaguely, glancing at his watch again.

  Perplexed, Melanie said hesitantly, “Okay, then I’ll see you tomorrow night?”

  “Yes, I’ll see you then. I look forward to it!” He exclaimed before rushing down the street and turning the corner onto a residential block.

  Melanie stood staring after him, bewildered by the lukewarm exchange and his ice cold reaction to her store.

  Chapter 2

  The wall clock ticked closer to 9 PM as Melanie hurried to close up shop. A few stragglers had stayed past her closing time of 8:30, ordering a triple banana split and not leaving until every last chunk had been devoured. She sterilized the ice cream scoopers and wiped down the counters while wondering how it would feel to be on a date with Keith. It is a date, isn’t it? She wondered. Maybe not. Maybe it’s just two old school friends catching up…but he could have asked me out to coffee or lunch if it was just a friendship thing. Anything but dinner…

  Pushing aside her obsessive questions, she fastened the lid on each tub of ice cream. She paused lovingly at her two favorite flavors. Mama’s Vanilla Custard was named in honor of her mother. And Sunny Day, a lemon sorbet, was named for her loyal canine companion. She wanted to name a flavor after her father but hadn’t concocted anything that suited the burly old fellow yet. What’s Keith’s flavor? Reflecting on his tall, sculpted body inside that designer suit, she instantly came up with the name Dose of Decadence. Before she could dream up a brew to attach to the name, Keith was knocking at the door.

  Smoothing her hair quickly and squaring her shoulders, she sauntered over to the door with a smile. Keith was smiling on the other side of the glass, and he carried a bottle of wine in one hand. This is definitely a date, she thought as her lips trembled.

  Opening the door, Melanie greeted him with a cordial twang, “Good evenin’, Mr. McBrennan.”

  “Evenin’ Miss Bradley,” he drawled. From behind his back, he produced a single pink rose.

  “Thank you,” she breathed, accepting the rose. There was something special about receiving just one rose rather than a whole bouquet. A single rose communicated that it was just for her, not for anyone else in the world.

  Dressed to the nines in a business suit, he looked dashingly handsome with his wavy brown hair slightly wind blown and his face freshly shaven. Melanie felt very plain inside her cotton frock and wished she had donned a cocktail dress instead.

  “Where are you taking me, Mr. McBrennan? I mean, you’re so dressed up.”

  “That decision is for you to make,” he said as she raised her eyebrows in surprise. “I have a few places in mind, but I want you to make the selection. Any place in Charleston, you name it, and we’ll go there.”

  Uncomfortable with this notion, Melanie faltered. “Oh, well, I have no idea where we should go. I didn’t expect this.”

  “I know. I like to give surprises. You gave me a surprise yesterday when you crossed my path on the street after all these years. Now I’m just returning the favor.” He spoke with an aura of confidence but also dripped easy charm.

  Dare she ask him to take her to a restaurant she had always wanted to go to but could never afford? Registering the look of appreciation on his face as he gazed into her sky blue eyes, she dared. “I’ve always wanted to go to Magnolia. How does that sound?” Located steps away from the pastel houses on Rainbow Row and the shimmering Cooper River, Magnolia was a chic southern restaurant.

  Twisting the bottle of wine around in his hand, he replied gravely, “Magnolia? That’s in such a touristy part of town…” he trailed off, noting the look of confusion on her face. “Uh, but if Magnolia is where you’d like to go, then let’s go there!”

  “Well, you don’t seem too thrilled with my idea. And, um, you had the same reaction when I told you I own an ice cream parlor. I feel like I’ve been saying the wrong things, but I don’t understand why,” Melanie explained frankly, afraid of alienating him but needing to lay things out on the table before the night went any further.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude, and you haven’t said anything wrong.” Sheepishly, he stooped his broad shoulders. “Hey, I didn’t expect to see you here, boy,” Keith chuckled, petting the dog that emerged at his feet.

  “Sunny is a big draw for my ice cream parlor. He stays here all day with me. Customers love him,” Melanie beamed.

  “That’s really sweet,” Keith said sincerely. “Now let’s go have dinner. My car is parked out front. Come on, darlin’,” he offered her his hand as she accepted and walked into the steamy night with him. “Hot out here, isn’t it?” He commented, wiping perspiration from his brow.

  “That’s South Carolina for you,” she quipped. “Summer starts in May and ends in October!”

  “But I’ll take our muggy summers over long winters any day. I still remember when I was at Wharton. Those Pennsylvania winters are brutal!” He laughed, opening the passenger door for her.

  Melanie tried not to gape at his car or ask any questions about it. The car wasn’t flashy, but it was very luxurious. With a full leather interior and convertible hood, the cobalt blue Mercedes made her uncomfortably aware of Keith’s wealth. Growing up, he had lived just as modestly as she had in North Charleston, so she knew that he had earned the money to buy such a lavish car.

  “So after you got your degree from Wharton, did you move back to South Carolina right away?” She queried, fastening her seatbelt.

  “Sure did. That’s when I got my real estate license. I went from selling homes to buying homes pretty quickly,” he revealed, switching on the air conditioner. “I was on my way to sign some closing documents on a house in Isle of Palms when I ran into you yesterday.”

  “Wow! You bought a house in Isle of Palms? Are you going to live there or is it just an investment property?” She asked curiously.

  “I’m going to live there full time. So we’ll be neighbors,” he gave her an intimate wink. “I have some other properties scattered across Charleston, but I want to get away from the city. The beach lifestyle has always appealed to me.”

  “I know what you mean. That’s why I decided to rent there,” she said quietly, feeling inferior as she thought about her living situation. I’m not a college co-ed like Lynne and Chloe are. I’m 26, and I should own a home too.

  The five minute ride across town to Magnolia was dappled with reminiscing and flirtation. Pulling into a parking garage, Keit
h spontaneously caressed Melanie’s cheek and said, “We haven’t even had dinner yet. But I want you to know that I’m really glad I ran into you. I always had a crush on you, you know.”

  Melanie favored him with Bambi eyes. “You did?” She asked in astonishment.

  “Yup. But you were two years younger than me and…” he cut himself off.

  “And what?” Melanie prodded.

  “And you always seemed so sad. I didn’t know how you would react if I asked you out.”

  Suppressing a reservoir’s worth of tears, Melanie said gently, “Well, you know why I was so sad, right?”

  “Yes, I know your mom died when you were just a little girl,” Keith said softly, placing a strong hand over hers. The touch instantly set her at ease.

  “I had a crush on you too,” she admitted, dodging any painful discussion about her mother.

  “Did you now?” Keith asked with a cocky grin.

  “Yes. And I was so sad when you went to college in Pennsylvania. You left me behind!” She exclaimed, instantly regretting the statement. Since her mother’s death, she had felt abandoned too easily.

  Not picking up on her emotional undertones, Keith replied, “I know. You were just a sophomore. Just a baby,” he grinned, pulling her hand up to his mouth and kissing the top of it. “Shall we go inside now, baby?” He asked with a chuckle.

  “Yes, big man on campus, let’s go,” she replied, suddenly forgetting about her boring attire. In Keith’s presence, she felt vivacious and glamorous. And she loved how his eyes hadn’t taken the grand tour of her curvy body but had stayed respectfully glued to her face.

  Gentleman to the core, Keith gestured for her to walk in front of him as he opened the door to Magnolia. Melanie stepped inside and surveyed her surroundings. Entering the exclusive restaurant was like delving into a nucleus after spending years stuck on the perimeter of a cell. Magnolia was understated in its décor and all the more sophisticated for the minimalist approach. A smiling hostess greeted the couple immediately and seated them in a secluded corner of the restaurant.

  Keith and Melanie sat across from each other as a candle in the center of the table flickered. Raw attraction crackled through the air as they tore their eyes away from each other to read the menus. A sommelier came over to the table and poured their glasses half full of wine.

  Keith raised his glass to Melanie in an impromptu toast. “Cheers to meeting you again after all these years. Cheers and success to Hot Fudge Fancy. And cheers to a great night for us.”

  Beaming, Melanie tapped her glass against his and whispered, “Cheers, Keith.”

  “Now let’s have a look at this menu. Last time I was here was for a business lunch. I had the shrimp ‘n’ grits,” Keith recalled, browsing through the menu.

  “Well, seeing as that’s the unofficial dish of Charleston, it must have been amazing.”

  “It was. Definitely recommend it. But order whatever you want, Melanie. We can start with a whole bunch of appetizers,” Keith said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation of a tasty meal.

  Melanie laughed. “A whole bunch of appetizers? That’s great. Because I’m very deprived owning an ice cream parlor. I never overindulge,” she said sarcastically.

  “Well you can afford to overindulge with that gorgeous body of yours,” he said huskily before catching himself. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be so blunt.”

  Far from insulted, Melanie grinned and merely said, “Thank you.”

  The waiter made the rounds to collect their orders a few minutes later. Keith took a sip of his wine and ventured, “I hope this question won’t offend you. I mean, maybe it’s a little early in the evening to get so personal. But I just have to know. Why are you still single?”

  Melanie finished chewing a crusty piece of sourdough bread before replying. “I don’t know how to answer that, Keith. To be honest, I’m not sure if marriage is something I even want.”

  Keith looked flabbergasted. “Really Melanie? Why would you say that?”

  Melanie never liked to explain herself or her unorthodox lifestyle to anyone. But Keith was someone she hoped to know better. And the only way to know him was to allow him to know her too. So she opened up a book that had been sealed along with her mother’s casket.

  “Keith, I lost my mom when I was 10 years old. You already know that. But what you don’t know is how I saw my father grieve for the rest of my childhood. It was two years before he finally donated her clothes and another two years until he went out on a date. He’s never really recovered from the loss, even to this day. So I don’t like to get too attached to anything…or anyone. I can’t help it.”

  “Tell me about your mother,” he coaxed, wearing a compassionate look on his face. “I mean it, Melanie. Tell me the good things. The sweet memories. That’s the best way to honor your mother’s memory.” He stroked the palm of her hand with soothing fingers.

  She melted into the affectionate touch, stunned by his request to talk about her mother. No one ever asked to hear about the woman who had been gone so long, it was almost as though she never existed. Digging into her memories, Melanie realized that sharing stories of her mother could be cathartic. But not right now.

  “Keith, this is not exactly first date conversation. Shouldn’t we talk about our hobbies and stuff like that?”

  “Meaningless stuff like that? No, Melanie. I can feel how much you want to talk about her. The emotions are written all over your face and in those beautiful blue eyes. Just start off slow. What was your mom’s name?” Keith continued to stroke the palm of her hand, giving it a little squeeze to encourage her.

  “Maureen.” The name rolled bittersweetly off her tongue and sounded like a foreign language.

  “That’s a nice Irish name,” Keith said, smiling.

  “Well, she was from Ireland actually. She moved here when she was a teenager but never lost her accent. My dad loved her Irish brogue, and she loved his southern drawl. They were so perfect for each other.”

  Like sound bytes from a movie scene, the lilting music of her mother’s voice rippled through her mind. She could hear the bedtime stories, the lullabies, and the romantic exchanges between her parents.

  “Go on, Melanie. I’m listening,” Keith urged, sensing that he had unhinged a secret door in Melanie’s heart that had been pad locked shut for almost two decades.

  “My mom didn’t have it easy growing up in Ireland. She was abandoned when she was just a baby and never met her birth parents. And she never went back after she moved here with her adoptive parents. My father always wanted to take her on vacation to Ireland, but he could never afford it. He was just scraping by in construction. What’s really sad is that the year she got sick, he was finally starting to make a little more money. They had started talking about going to Ireland for a second honeymoon, but it never happened because she was too ill to travel.”

  Melanie looked down at her bread plate, willing herself not to cry. Usually, she was adept at burying her emotions, but that was when she kept them bottled up. This was the first time in her adult life she could remember being so candid about her family. It was also the first time in ages she had been on a date with a man she was actually interested in. The factors blended together made for strange bedfellows.

  “Look, I don’t want to turn this dinner into a therapy session,” she said firmly, relieved when the waiter served a platter of fried green tomatoes and coconut shrimp with steaming bowls of crab bisque on the side.

  “I’m no therapist,” Keith countered, nodding politely to thank the waiter. Keeping his hand over hers, he continued, “I’m a friend. Someone you’ve known almost all your life…”

  “Someone I’ve known of for most of my life,” Melanie corrected brusquely. “Tonight is the first time we’re actually getting to know each other since we were kids!”

  “Alright,” Keith relented with a sigh. “I guess it’s time for me to share a tidbit of my life with you. It’s only fair, right?”

  �
�Right,” she agreed, munching on a spicy tomato.

  “Well, my parents retired last year. It’s been a huge adjustment for them. They don’t know how to handle being around each other all the time. They’ve been fighting so much and even talked about getting divorced. I couldn’t let that happen, so I tried to patch up their marriage by buying them a little house down in Hilton Head Island. I thought it would be perfect because my dad loves to golf and my mom is a beach bum. But they’re still not happy. If anything, their relationship has gotten worse. My mom says she feels isolated being away from Charleston. And my dad complains that he never has any time to himself. The whole thing has made me feel pretty damn useless. It was stupid of me to think that I could save their marriage by buying them a house, right?” Keith shook his head bitterly as his eyes fogged over with unshed tears.

  Touched by how much he had shared, Melanie soothed, “It wasn’t stupid at all. It was a beautiful gesture. And divorce would be such a shame at their age. I mean, they’re in their golden years. They should just grow old together. But I guess it’s not that simple,” she shrugged, taking a gulp of ice water to tame the spices burning her tongue.

  “I guess my story won’t help change your mind about marriage,” Keith said wryly.

  “Probably not,” she admitted, surprised by how preoccupied Keith seemed to be with marriage.

  “I’m just an ol’ fashioned country boy at heart, Melanie. Can’t help it,” he said, reading her mind. “I’ve always dreamed of the nice, big house with lots of kids running through it. Thing is, I’ve got the big house. But it’s so damn empty,” he mused, shaking his head.

  Melanie remained silent for a few beats, uneasy with the emotionally charged conversation. She hadn’t signed up for a soul baring session when she agreed to go out to dinner with Keith.

  Perceiving her train of thought, Keith said, “You know, I don’t usually get this deep in conversations with people. Especially on dates. Most of the women I’ve dated have been pretty vapid. But I know you’re not like that, Melanie. I can tell that you’re a real soul. You’ve got so much spirit locked up inside of there,” he paused to point to her heart. “You just gotta set it free.”