Page 57 of Sweet Surprises

“That’s what I was thinking,” Charlotte said. “I put a message about it on the board out front. Plus, I really want to see how the snowball fight turns out.”

“The kids are still in it,” Tag said, shaking his head. “And a gang of teenagers who clearly have a pact with each other. And Dale Stravinsky, the softball coach over at the high school.”

“I feel like Stravinsky has an unfair advantage,” Tripp said.

“Seems fair to me,” Tag said. “He worked that arm for years.”

“Chance has an unfair advantage too,” Tripp said. “He’s so tiny that he’s hard to hit, and he’s better at hiding.”

“I think it was mostly that no one wanted to hit a little kid,” Tag said. “But at this point, everyone left just wants to win.”

“He won’t get hurt, will he?” Charlotte asked, watching one of the teens sneak up on the tree where the coach was hiding.

“He won’t get really hurt,” Tag said, “or I wouldn’t let him play. But the chance you might get banged up a little is just part of being in a snowball fight.”

“He lives on a farm, remember?” Tripp said. “There’s plenty of trouble to get into there too. But it’s fine. Life out here is probably just a little more rough and tumble than what you’re used to.”

The crowd yelled and she looked up in time to see the softball teacher turn and pitch a perfect bullseye to the teen’s chest.

“Oh, that means we’re down to every-man-for-himself now,” Tripp said.

Travis began to excitedly announce the same thing on the mic as the remaining players circled.

It took Charlotte a minute to spot Chance, curled up between the fountain and the benches that surrounded it, a small pile of snowballs under the bench in front of him. His expression was remarkably determined, especially for a five-year-old.

Out in the main part of the park, the last two teens had finally turned against each other. They jumped out from behind trees, pelting each other with snowballs so quickly it was impossible to know which one had been tagged out first.

While they tried to argue with each other about who was out, Dale Stravinsky got them both from his position by the wall of the skating rink.

“Oh my gosh,” Charlotte breathed, realizing it was now down to Stravinsky, Olivia, and Chance.

She glanced over to the fountain, but Chance had vanished.

When she looked back at the center of the park, she spotted him sneaking closer to the unsuspecting softball coach. He was coming from the north side of the park, the opposite direction Dale would be looking for him in.

Charlotte scanned the rest of the park, but Olivia was nowhere in sight.

Dale was scouring the south side of the park just as Chance reached the big town Christmas tree. He was still too far away to make the shot with his little arm, but he was getting closer.

Even though Charlotte had expected the whole thing to be fun and silly, she found herself breathless as she watched.

As soon as Chance broke cover, Dale caught sight of his tiny assailant. He turned and ran toward the big tree, winding up his arm to throw. Instead of throwing his own snowball, Chance just froze in place, making himself an easy target.

But just as Dale let loose a perfect shot, there was a flash of movement.

“Olivia,” Tag murmured.

Sure enough, Olivia had been hiding beneath the big tree, but now she was darting out and throwing herself right in the coach’s path. As she sailed through the air in front of her brother, Dale’s snowball smashed her in the midsection.

The whole crowd watched in amazement as she hit the ground and slid a few feet before coming to a stop.

Dale dropped the other snowball he’d been holding and moved closer to make sure she was okay.

And in that brief moment of distraction, Chance threw his own snowball with all his might.

It looked like the throw was going to come up short. But then maybe the breeze picked up slightly, or maybe Dale Stravinsky chose exactly the wrong moment to move a little closer to Olivia. Charlotte had a feeling it would be something the spectators would debate for a long time. But whatever the reason, Chance’s snowball hit the man square in the shoulder. Dale looked around for a second, and then his jaw dropped when he realized that he had been beaten.

“Did I win?” Chance asked.

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