I stared at it.
“Where did you get that?”
“The ice cream man gave it to me.”
I shrugged.
It didn’t seem like a big deal.
There were always several neighborhood children gathered around the truck. Maybe he had extra stock. Maybe he was simply being generous. Maybe he had decided to give one child a free treat.
I didn’t think much about it.
Until it happened again.
And then again.
By the fourth time, I couldn’t ignore it anymore.
Ellie walked through the front door with another strawberry shortcake bar in her hand.
I looked at her.
“Why does this man keep giving you free ice cream?”
She shrugged as though the answer were obvious.
“He says strawberry was your favorite too.”
I stopped what I was doing.
“My favorite?”
Ellie nodded.
“He said you always got this one.”
For a moment, I didn’t know what to say.
