Double Dipped (One Scoop or Two) by Terry Korth Fischer

Accepting second best is good for her career, but first-grade teacher, Retta Curt, delays signing up for the disappointment. Given two weeks to reconsider her contract, she retreats to Gram’s cottage on Moon Lake, the last place she felt contentment. But the cottage is derelict; Cousin Julie, distant; childhood beaux, Dean, bitter; and Sweet Picks, the family ice cream stand, in danger of folding. Magruder, a surly newcomer, is buying and then neglecting properties until nothing remains of the idyllic lakeside community she remembers. When vandals target Sweet Picks, Retta’s dreams to recapture her happy childhood collapse, and the return to Moon Lake becomes a decision worse than accepting her teaching contract. Star-crossed, can she save the family business and rediscover happiness, or is Retta destined for a second-best future?

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Excerpt

Dean Zwack, tall, dressed in an orange and white Hawaiian shirt, entered. One look at her standing there, and his dark eyes widened, and his jaw dropped. “Retta? Lauretta Taft?”

“I go by Retta Curt, now.” She studied him; handsome with an easy smile, dark hair needing a trim, and ears that poked through the curls.

A slow grin spread across his face. His eyes twinkled. “Retta Taft Curt,” he whispered.

Casting her gaze to the linoleum floor, she inhaled deeply. “Hello, Dean. It's been a while.”

“I'll say.” He moved with an athlete's grace around the counter to face her. “What has it been? Ten years? Fifteen?”

“Maybe a dozen years, not more.”

“You look great.”

“You look older.”

Why did she say that? Or course he looked older. They'd been in high school the last summer she'd spent at Moon Lake. College, marriage, divorce, fledgling career—all had happened in the meantime. She felt her cheeks heating. Hoping he didn't notice the blush or her embarrassment, she quickly added, “So, you're staffing the family front desk tonight?”

“Tonight, and every night.” He still wore the grin. “Story of my life.”

There was a prolonged silence while he looked her over from dirty-blond head to sandaled feet. She endured the inspection, wondering what he'd done while she was making a mess of her life.

About the Author

Terry Korth Fischer writes short stories, memoirs, and mysteries. Her debut mystery, Gone Astray, introduced Detective Rory Naysmith, a seasoned city cop relocated to small-town Winterset, Nebraska. The Rory Naysmith Mysteries continued with Gone Before, January 2022. Transplanted from the Midwest, Terry lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and two guard cats. When not writing, she loves reading, gardening, and basking in sunshine. Yet, her heart often wanders to the country's heartland, where she spent a memorable—ordinary but charmed—childhood. Learn more about Terry at her author website.

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