Page 45 of Sweet Surprises

She smiled and nodded, her eyes on the rink.

“The world might have some impressive things,” Tag went on. “But how can you compare the Eiffel Tower to the sight of Joe and Edith Fournier still skating together.”

And it was true. Mrs. Fournier’s coat might be worn, and Joe’s cap was faded, but the two of them looked radiant holding hands, as they slowly and carefully traversed the rink.

“Oh,” Charlotte said, looking at them. “That’s the man from the gas station.”

“Right,” Tag said. Of course, that was where he’d first seen Charlotte, so she had met Joe before.

“And she’s the lady you gave free ice cream to,” Charlotte went on. “That was nice of you.”

Tag scowled. Of course she figured out that he’d been lying about the register, since she’d used it herself afterward. It was hard to get away with anything in a town this small, even a good deed like that.

“Mrs. Fournier was my first-grade teacher,” he said shrugging. “I know she’s on a fixed income now, and Joe doesn’t earn much at the station.”

Suddenly Charlotte was squeezing his hand again, but when he looked down this time, her eyes were sparkling and her expression was soft.

“You’re a good man, Tag Lawrence,” she told him firmly.

“Doesn’t mean I’m going to forget that we came here to skate,” he teased her, trying to ignore the way his heart was pounding.

“Okay, fine,” she huffed.

He could tell she wasn’t really mad though, because her eyes were still shining.

The song playing on the speakers ended, and Perry Como and the Fontane Sisters began crooning about how it was beginning to look a lot like Christmas as they finally made it fully onto the ice.

A couple of kids Olivia’s age were out there, though she didn’t seem to take any notice of them. And surprisingly, Luke Hayes was skating beside the new veterinarian, their hands entwined, her blonde hair floating in the cold breeze. That was bound to get the rumor mill going at full speed. But it was good to see Luke looking so relaxed for once.

Maybe people will be so busy gossiping about those two they won’t notice the way I’m looking at Charlotte…

There were plenty more people skating with them. Some of them he’d known all his life, and others were flatlanders in fancy jackets. Everyone seemed to be having fun, skating and laughing along to the holiday music.

The Fourniers passed by, and Edith elbowed Joe as they spotted Tag and Charlotte. Joe glanced over at Tag and winked at him.

Tag looked down at where his hand was wrapped around Charlotte’s. He knew he should rip it away if he didn’t want the whole town talking.

“I can probably do this on my own,” Charlotte said brightly, pulling her hand away before he had the chance. “It doesn’t really seem that hard now that I’m out here.”

She wants to be linked to me even less than I want to be linked to her,he realized.

The thought was oddly disappointing. But he didn’t have time to dwell on why that might be, because Charlotte was already on the move.

He watched as she slid past him, moving too quickly for a beginner.

“Careful,” he started to warn her.

But it was too late. Charlotte’s legs were already too far apart, and she was reaching forward for the wall to stop herself from sliding into an inadvertent split on the ice.

Exactly as he expected, leaning forward was making herfallforward. And it was doing nothing to stop her legs from sliding apart. The only thing she was going to accomplish was to fall even faster—and right in front of the Martin triplets, who were barreling toward her at a decent speed.

Tag wasn’t left with much choice.

“Okay,” he said, managing to grab her around the rib cage just before she slammed to the ice. “Let’s get you back to the wall.”

The triplets sailed past, close enough for the air moving in their wake to lift Charlotte’s hair from her shoulders. All three of them were giggling, like they thought it was pretty funny for two adults to be falling all over themselves at the rink.

“Thank you,” Charlotte grumbled in a way that made her sound anything but thankful.

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