Page 47 of Sweet Surprises

“Thank you,” she said softly.

He didn’t dare look down into her eyes now. He wasn’t sure he could do it without grabbing her face and kissing her into next week.

Why does she make me feel like this? Like something inside me is waking up? Like everything is going to be okay?

“Hey,” he said. “Thank you for being here with us. It’s so good for… Olivia. For all of us.”

For mehe had meant, but didn’t quite dare to say.

“You’re doing me a favor,” she said. “I had a really rough year.”

“I’m sorry about your dad,” he said. “And Allie mentioned something about a boyfriend?”

“Ugh,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I don’t know why, but I really let him get under my skin.”

“What happened?” Tag asked.

She was quiet for a moment, and he thought maybe she wasn’t going to answer, but then she bent her knees and pushed off on one leg, balancing herself really well, though she was clutching his hand harder.

Her next movement was more fluid, and suddenly they were really skating, even if it was incredibly slowly.

“I quit school and went home so I could take advantage of my time left with Dad,” she said when they had settled into a rhythm. “I got a job nearby, as an admin. It was kind of a stressful office, but there was a salesman who was nice to me. We just started dating for some reason. We really didn’t have much in common.”

Tag nodded. It sounded pretty typical. Plenty of people fell into something convenient when it came to love.

“Anyway, I thought we were getting serious,” Charlotte went on. “But I guess he didn’t feel the same. He dumped me after almost a year and told me that he wanted to settle down and that of course it wouldn’t be with someone like me.”

“Someone like you?” Tag asked as anger rose in his chest. “What did he mean by that?”

“I didn’t know then,” Charlotte said, shrugging. “I still don’t. Maybe he wanted someone rich like his family was? Or someone with more education? I was too ashamed to ask, and I didn’t stick around long enough to find out. I actually left the job because I thought I couldn’t handle being there and watching him marry someone else.”

“I’m sorry,” Tag said, squeezing her hand.

“It’s nothing,” she said. “Really. With a little space, I can see that I was just… wanting to check a box, I guess.”

“What do you mean?” he asked. “What box?”

“Well, I didn’t finish school,” she said. “And even though I have no regrets and I’m glad I could be with my dad, it wasn’t a great feeling not to finish something I cared about. I guess I thought with Dad dying, if I got married and had children, maybe I would still be making something good happen—letting some joy come out of this awful year.”

He nodded, his heart aching for her.

“It’s not a great reason to get married,” she said. “I know that. I think in the back of my mind it was really all about Dad—me wanting to start my own family quickly, like it would keep him around somehow, or at least he would get a chance to know I was going to be okay. I’m actually lucky that Bryce dumped me. We weren’t a good match. And what if we had gotten married just because it was the next logical step? I might have regretted it for the rest of my life.”

“Probably for the best,” Tag offered, unsure what to really say about the situation.

“So he hurt my pride,” she said, shrugging. “But my heart is okay.”

“I’m glad,” he told her, meaning it.

“And this place has done wonders for me,” she said, looking around the little town with shining eyes. “I’m so happy that Idecided to come. And I know my dad would be really glad to see me here too—to see me happy.”

“I wonder about Iris sometimes,” Tag heard himself say. “What would she think if she could see us all now? I worry so much about Olivia.”

“I think she would be so proud of them, don’t you?” Charlotte asked, looking up at him and then casting her gaze out to the other end of the rink.

He followed her eyes to see Olivia holding Chance’s hands, the two of them moving in tandem, with the big tree behind them, like something out of a snow globe.

What do you think, Iris? Are we okay?

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