Logan, Taylor and Ever sat in silence, finishing their ice creams. Ever popped the pointy end of the cone into his mouth, dusted his hands and walked back towards the serving area.

  “Ever.” Taylor had just uttered his name; that was enough to stop him in his tracks… but only for a moment.

  “I’ve got to wash my hands.” He stalked off to the back room.

  Taylor slumped back in her chair. “Don’t look at me like that.” She was never able to ignore her uncle’s gaze, not growing up, not even now as an adult. She eventually met his dark, discerning eyes. He shook his head - but only once. Left, then right. Hated wasting time, money and effort. He was always economical.

  Ding! Ding!

  A group of six Asian tourists stepped inside. While it was only the middle of Fall, they were wearing zip-up goose down jackets that were long enough to almost brush the floor. Why they would come in for ice cream despite appearing to be so cold, Logan and Taylor would never know - nor did they care. Within a minute, the three of them were standing side by side, scooping and serving. Taylor side-stepped towards Ever, reaching for a scoop. Like magnets of the same pole, he pulled himself away.

  —--

  “I’m off,” Taylor said, standing by the door.

  “OK Tayzer, good work today.” Logan was wiping the inside of one of the tubs. “You’re not the bad luck charm that you think you are, it’s the busiest it’s been since I came back.”

  “If you say so, Unc.” Taylor said doubtfully. She lingered for a moment peering into the back room, not quite able to see all the way in. Logan mouthed, “no”, adding another economical shake of the head. She gave a resigned nod, lingered a bit longer and quietly left.

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  “You can come out now,” Logan said, holding up the tub to inspect. “Hey Ever, I’m talking to you.”

  “I wasn’t hiding,” Ever said, leaning in the doorway.

  “Sure.” He put the empty tub back, wrung out the cloth and hung it on the side of the bucket. “Are you OK?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that Taylor is a bitch. She shouldn’t have played that prank on you.”

  Ever sucked his lips in, looking down.

  “I don’t know what she is to you, but I can see that you care a lot about her.”

  Ever looked back up. Logan’s expression had softened; somehow it made him appear older.

  “You’ve seen the tattoo on her arm right?”

  Ever nodded slowly. “What about it?”

  Logan sighed deeply. He faced the empty ice cream display, leaning heavily on his arms. “The tattoo is Roman numerals for ‘1999’.” He collected himself for a moment. “It’s the year that her parents died.”

  “What?”

  “Taylor was a just a year old. They were all together, driving. The coroner said that based on the tyre markings, Zack, my brother-in-law, had swerved to avoid something.” Logan stopped and let out a shuddering breath. “He had died instantly upon impact. Lyra, my… my sister. She woke up. She seemed fine. She held Taylor. Then she too…”

  Ever put his hand on Logan’s shoulder. The long coat always made him look imposing. Beneath his fingers, Ever could feel that time had caught up with him.

  “I’ve raised Taylor as my own daughter.” Logan placed his hand on Ever’s, his usually unreadable eyes welling with emotion.

  “Please, don’t stop caring about her.”