Page 42 of Sweet Surprises

“You’ve met my family now,” Allie said softly. “Do you think there’s anything in the world I wouldn’t do for them?”

Charlotte nodded slowly, feeling more seen than she expected. She’d left so quickly that it had been hard to know what Allie really thought of her choice at the time.

“But it doesn’t really matter,” Charlotte said. “I can’t afford another year. I’m already paying back student loans for the three-and-a-half years I did. Plus the semester I left in the middle of, too.”

“That really sucks,” Allie said with feeling.

“It’s okay,” Charlotte said. “It’s just that it was hard to find long-term work without the degree. I’m really grateful to you and your family for the opportunity to run the shop, by the way.”

“We know,” Allie said, rolling her eyes. “And we’re grateful to you. When the lady who used to run the cash register left, Tag almost had my parents convinced to close the place down.Grandma Lawrence would have been so sad to think her ice cream shop was gone.”

“I’m glad it worked out for all of us,” Charlotte said.

“But seriously, what about school?” Allie asked her.

“What about it?” Charlotte asked.

“The professors loved you,” Allie said thoughtfully. “And you were doing great before you left. Do you think maybe they’d let you finish up online?”

Charlotte looked at her friend in amazement.

“What?” Allie asked.

“I never even thought about that,” Charlotte admitted, shaking her head.

“Well, think about it,” Allie told her. “You might have been overwhelmed when you left, but you’re feeling good now. You’ve got nothing to lose by asking, right?”

Allie was right about the degree. But as far as the rest of her life, it was starting to feel like things were actually coming together for her. She was getting back that sense of purpose she’d been missing. Charlotte realized that for the first time in a long time, she really did have something to lose now. And it felt wonderful.

If this was what only a few days in Sugarville Grove did for her, she couldn’t wait to see what came next.

13

TAG

Tag laced up Chance’s ice skates, with an unfamiliar lightness in his chest. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually felt excited about something like this.

The pop-up rink had been a town fixture ever since Little Bear Lake stopped freezing over enough to skate on safely, back in his dad’s time. Tag and his brothers had played hockey in high school, but nowadays, the weeks when the rink was open were the only times he got out onto the ice.

“No, no, tighter,” Olivia was telling Charlotte, who sat on the bench beside Chance, tugging at her laces.

He could tell by Olivia’s voice that she was barely restraining her laughter.

“Are you sure?” Charlotte asked. “It feels pretty tight.”

“Believe me,” Olivia said. “You don’t want to sprain an ankle.”

“If you say so,” Charlotte grumbled.

He glanced over at her impatient tone, and saw that her brow was furrowed in an unfamiliar way. It was odd. She had seemed happier these past few days, like she was starting to feel at home with them.

“You don’t like to skate?” he asked her.

“I’ve never tried it before,” she told him. “But I was really, really bad at roller-skating as a kid.”

“Oh, this is nothing like that,” Olivia told her right away.

“Oh, good,” Charlotte sighed.

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