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the most obvious change from when they were younger. Craig’s parents had never sold ice cream. Especially not the homemade flavors that Craig specialized in. Penny was practically drooling just standing inside the doorway.
     
    The familiar cutesy candy décor that she’d always loved made her smile now. Bright bubblegum colors clashed and complimented each other at the same time. It was like a candy bomb had exploded inside the store.
     
    “ Come on, I want to show you everything.”
     
    She followed Craig down the centre aisle and through a door at the back of the store. It led into a kitchen that she definitely wasn’t expecting. It was tight, but stainless steel appliances and gleaming counter tops filled every available space. She wasn’t sure what half of the equipment was but she recognized the two ovens, and the stove tops. Along with the ice cream machine.
     
    “ What are you doing in here?”
     
    “ Well, I’ve been experimenting with candy. I’ve got homemade chocolate that we’ve been mixing up and selling out front. I wasn’t sure what else I wanted to do so I figured when I took over a few years back I should outfit it the way I wanted it to be. It’s not going to waste, trust me. I have Rachel come in every morning to bake. She supplies Lucy and George next door at Ma’s Kitchen with homemade goodies. I’ve already told Mack to talk to her about treats for the brewery when he’s ready for it.”
     
    Penny shook her head. She couldn’t believe he had all of this going on here. She hadn’t realized how much of a big deal this was.
     
    “ Oh, you have to see the best part.” Craig kept going back until he reached an office behind the kitchen. It was filled with boxes, in varying states of readiness. Some were full of candy, others were sitting empty. A small desk with a desktop completed the décor. “This is where I’ve been doing all the internet orders. I need to come up with a better plan, but so far it’s just been me doing it. I might have to hire someone to help out.”
     
    She couldn’t take her gaze off his happy face. This was what he was meant to do. He wasn’t going to leave this. Which meant she was even more confused, because she couldn’t see him moving to Houston to be with her, not with the store doing so well. Did she want to see what kind of future she could have with Craig? It was one of the reasons she was here, wasn’t it? For the first time, she realized being with Craig would mean leaving Houston and coming home to Bandit Creek.
     
    Suddenly, that didn’t seem so easy. She had worked for years to get to where she was in her career. What would she do here? What could she do?
     
    Sure, she didn’t exactly love her job, not the way Craig did, but that didn’t mean she was ready to just throw it away.
     
    And she was getting ahead of herself again. They were taking this week as a test of sorts. To see what happened between them. And to see what had happened so many years ago.
     
    “ I love it,” she said. “You’ve really done a good job, here.”
     
    Craig beamed. “Thanks. It works for me, you know?”
     
    “ Yeah, I do. Listen, you said you had some things to work on this morning so why don’t I go out front and you can get to it.”
     
    “ You sure?”
     
    “ Yeah. I might grab some liquorice and go sit out in the park.”
     
    “ Okay, just grab whatever you want. On the house.”
     
    Penny laughed. “Sure you want to just give me that kind of free reign?”
     
    “ I trust you.”
     
    She laughed, before heading back through the kitchen and into the store itself. She grabbed a liquorice wand on the way out and set out to wander down the street. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. She’d had these grand plans to come here and figure out what happened all those years ago and now that she was here she had absolutely no idea where to start. Maybe she should go to the Sherriff’s office, but she’d already talked to Adam