Page 43 of Sweet Surprises

“It’s much harder,” Olivia said at the same time.

This time Olivia didn’t manage to hold in her giggle. Thankfully, Charlotte smiled up at his daughter, the wrinkle on her forehead smoothing out.

“We won’t let you get hurt,” Olivia told her, still smiling. “You can take it slow. My dad will help you.”

Tag had been so busy soaking in his daughter’s radiant smile that he was almost surprised to find both sets of eyes gazing up at him expectantly.

“Sure,” he said, turning back to Chance to hide his pleasure. “I’ll help you.”

“Thank you.” Charlotte’s voice was so sweet. Even though he was pointedly not looking at her, he could imagine her earnest expression in his mind.

What would it be like to walk through life like her, always expecting the best?

It was fun to consider, but Tag knew all too well that disappointment could be waiting around any corner.

“Okay, buddy,” he told Chance. “Let’s get you out there.”

“Why can’t we skate on the lake?” Chance asked, not for the first time.

“It’s not safe, remember?” Tag said. “Why do you want to skate there, anyway? If you skate in town, you can get hot chocolate with Grandma and Grandpa when you’re done.”

“I want to see if the lake monster left me a present,” Chance whispered, as if the lake monster might actually be real, and lurking nearby, and would decide not to leave him a gift if it heard him say that he wanted one.

“The lake monster?” Charlotte echoed.

“Well, you know how Lake Champlain has a lake monster called Champ?” Olivia asked before Tag could explain.

“I didn’t know that,” Charlotte said.

“They do, and he’s kind of famous,” Olivia said. “But our Little Bear Lake has a monster too. His name is Barry.”

“Barry’s better than Champ,” Chance said right away. “Because he leaves presents.”

“Wow,” Charlotte said, going right along with him. “What kind of presents?”

“Usually little things, like smooth polished stones,” Olivia said.

“And a candy bar one time,” Chance added, importantly. “A big one.”

“Wow,” Charlotte said. “You guys are lucky to have such a generous monster in Little Bear Lake.”

But now Chance was getting wiggly with excitement, and he had on his skates, which wasn’t a safe combination.

“Chance, I’ll bet you’re ready to get out on the ice,” Charlotte said before Tag could open his mouth to scold him. “Do you and your dad want to go on out now? I’ll be there as soon as I’m done with my other skate.”

“I’ll take him,” Olivia said quickly. “Come on, bud.”

Chance beamed up at his sister and took her hand. The two of them shuffled off, leaving Tag alone with Charlotte.

Tag wasn’t normally a nervous guy. It was hard to get caught off guard by anything when not much ever changed. He kind of just walked through life on autopilot these days, always knowing exactly what to expect.

But for some reason, this hazel-eyed city girl left him off balance. He was never sure what she would say or do, and the feeling was unwelcome, but still somehow exhilarating.

Right now, she was fussing with her skate, and it was driving him crazy to watch her without any idea what was going to happen when they got out on the ice.

“Let me get that,” he heard himself growl impatiently as he went down on one knee to take the laces from her hand.

“Oh,” she said, sounding flustered. “Thank you.”

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