Page 23 of Sweet Surrender

She couldn’t imagine how awful that was going to be now, when he clearly hated her, if it even happened at all. It seemed likely to Becca that he would just cancel the visit. Cal would tell her in the morning that she couldn’t come anymore, and that would be that.

The idea of Zane Lawrence being angry at her was bad enough, but the thought that she had failed his sweet little boys made her heart feel like it was breaking.

9

ZANE

Zane jumped out of his brother’s truck as soon as it pulled to a stop in front of Stone’s Creamery, and hoisted a three-gallon tub of ice cream out of the bed to carry into the shop.

“Slow down there, brother,” Tripp called out to him, laughing. “At least give me a chance to unlock the shop first.”

Zane scowled, feeling like a complete idiot. It was just so hard to get out of his own head tonight. He was still so mad. As he backed up to give Tripp room to get to the door, he took a second to look around at the little village.

All of the shops were decked out in Christmas lights that reflected merrily in the snow that still frosted the rooftops and window frames. The pavilion in the park was hung with boughs of holly and strung with even more lights.

The whole town seemed to be filled with a sense of holiday optimism and wonder that was at complete odds with Zane’s dark mood.

Why am I letting this get to me?She said it herself—they won’t do anything unless I ask for it.

But the idea that this tiny woman had only come marching into town a few days ago, and already thought she could break all the rules and shake things up was just too much.

“She’s under my skin,”he muttered.

“What’s that?” Tripp asked as he pushed open the door to the ice cream shop.

Tripp’s eyes were twinkling, like he was getting a kick out of Zane being so out of sorts. It only made Zane angrier.

“Nothing,” he growled.

“Listen, I love that you’re here helping out,” Tripp said, stopping in his tracks. “But if you need a minute, you can sit out in the truck, and I’ll finish up.”

“Thanks, but I’m good,” Zane said, shaking his head as he stepped into the warm shop. “It’s not your fault.”

“Of course it’s not,” Tripp said, flipping the light switches and revealing the interior of the shop. “I’m always a joy to be around. But seriously, what’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” Zane said, looking at the art and photos on the walls. “Nothing.”

Last year, his little sister Allie’s friend, Charlotte, had come here and transformed the place. Then she and his brother Tag had fallen madly in love. Now he couldn’t look at the new and improved shop without thinking about his new and improved brother.

Could something like that happen to me?

But that thought was out of the question.

“Are you sure nothing’s going on?” Tripp asked, arching a brow.

“Fine,” Zane said, hefting the massive tub of ice cream into one of the freezers. “It’s this new teacher.”

“The total smoke show you told me about?” Tripp asked, grinning.

“What she looks like doesn’t matter,” Zane said, marching back out into the cold for another barrel. “It’s what she did.”

His cheeks heated, but he was sure it was just from hefting the heavy containers, not from thinking about that annoyingly beautiful woman.

“What did she do?” Tripp asked, following.

They each grabbed another tub and headed back into the warmth of the shop.

The ice cream was heavy, but it was nothing compared to the other work on the farm. Zane wished he had some real physical labor to do right now—something that would exhaust him enough to make this anger lift.

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