Page 6 of Sweet Surprises

“But you like green beans, Uncle Tripp,” Chance said, furrowing his brow.

“Never,” Tripp insisted, shaking his head. “I’ve always hated them— slimy little green things. And you put every single one of them on the floor, right where they belong. Chance, you’re my hero.”

It was an obvious lie, they had all sat at this very table and watched Tripp knock back green beans like he was a bottomless pit for years. But he proclaimed it with such flair and drama, and he fluttered his eyelashes so much when he saidyou’re my hero,that Chance started giggling through his tears and even Olivia smiled.

“Oh, Tripp,” Mom said fondly as she came out of the kitchen at last with a fresh apron and the broom and dustpan in her hands.

“I’ve got it, Grandma,” Olivia said quietly as she slipped out of her chair. “It’s your turn to eat.”

“Thank you, my love,” Mom said, smiling at Olivia, whose cheeks turned pink before she bent to start sweeping up the mess. “Now then, where did you two say you were from?”

The Fitzpatricks looked startled, as if they had been so lost in the family drama that they had forgotten they might be part of it.

But no one could resist Maggie Lawrence’s friendly conversation. As the visitors shared their story with his mother, Chance took another bite of his dinner, and Tag let himself catalogue the events of the day on the farm, making himself an internal checklist for the next morning.

By the timethe meal was over, Chance was back to joyfully bouncing off the walls again, Olivia and her Uncle Zane were washing the dishes, and the Fitzpatricks had warmed up enough that the husband was roaring at another one of Dad’s stories while the wife cautiously reached out to pat the calf that was sleeping on the kitchen floor.

Tag stood by himself at the window, gazing at the gray sky over the mountains in the distance.

“How was your day?” Mom asked softly, coming up to wrap an arm around his waist. She always seemed to know when he was feeling alone.

“Good, mostly,” he told her.

“I’m glad,” she said. “Mine too. Allie will be at work tomorrow, and I’ll be taking care of Miss Clover the calf. I hope you don’t mind that we gave your number to Charlotte.”

He blinked at her for a minute.

“Your sister’s best friend,” Mom said. “She’ll be at the ice cream shop all day, and if she runs into any trouble, we thought it would be good if she had someone to call.”

“She’ll be there alone on her first day?” Tag asked.

“Well, people aren’t exactly knocking the doors down over there,” Mom said with a half-smile. “And your sister is heading over to give her a crash course after dinner.”

“She’s another one of your strays, isn’t she?” Tag asked, realizing that of course they didn’t expect the girl to actually succeed in running the shop.

We’re never going to unload that thing. And with the early snow, it’s going to be even tighter this year.

“Technically, I guess she’s Allie’s stray,” Mom said. “But that doesn’t mean she won’t be a help to our family. Allie said she was a business major. Maybe she can turn the shop around.”

Tag thought about pointing out the fact that the girl had dropped out of business school, but after learning about her father, it seemed a little rude to mention it.

His gaze went naturally to his own dad, who was waving his arms around in the air, pretending to be Mrs. Laberd from down the road on the night she found a fox giving birth to four kits in her hen house. It was one of his best stories, and he was telling the long version tonight. Mr. Fitzpatrick was already laughing so hard that he was wiping tears from the corners of his eyes.

Tag couldn’t imagine a world without his father in it.

“Charlotte’s had a tough time,” Mom went on gently. “Like your sister said. So if she calls, try to be nice.”

“Fine,” he said, hating how gruff he sounded.

“That’s my boy,” Mom replied with a warm smile, patting his cheek.

“Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad,” Chance yelled, barreling past family members and narrowly missing them.“I found this ball. Did it used to be yours?”

His expression was so full of joyous wonder that Tag’s heart hurt. He bent to look at his son’s newfound treasure, determined to spend the rest of the night focused on the things he was grateful for.

3

CHARLOTTE

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