Page 34 of Sweet Surrender

“Let me guess,” Tripp said. “You’re the oldest?”

“Nope,” she told him.

He shook his head and took an enormous bite of his bread and butter.

“Youngest?” Zane asked quietly.

“I’m right in the middle,” she told them.

“Worst of both worlds,” Tripp said wisely.

She laughed and took a bite of her stew. It tasted even better than it smelled, a savory mix of root vegetables and tender meat.

“What would you know about being in the middle?” Zane teased his brother.

“Yeah,” West jumped in.

“Oh great,” Tripp joked, rolling his eyes. “I’ve gotboththe middle siblings here.”

“Zane doesn’t count,” West said dismissively. “He’s practically the same age as you, and you’re the next to youngest. I’m the real middle child.”

“Allie is the youngest?” Becca asked, trying to keep up.

“Yes,” Maggie said fondly. “Our Alice Lee came along as a happy surprise.”

“Surprise my foot,” Daniel teased her with a loving smile. “Don’t think I didn’t hear you praying for a baby girl after all these boys.”

“I love my boys too,” Maggie said, her gaze resting on each of them individually. “There’s not one thing I would change about any of you.”

“I can think of a few things,” Tripp said right away. “Like out of six, how do you only have three working the farm?”

He was clearly only teasing, and Becca could sense Zane smiling beside her.

“Don’t worry, Uncle Tripp,” Nick said. “I’m going to work on the farm when I grow up.”

“Me too,” Elizabeth decided, scooping a spoonful with a nice chunk of potato out of her stew, and blowing on it hard enough that most of it ended up back in the bowl.

“What would you like to do on the farm, Elizabeth?” Maggie asked her.

Elizabeth considered the question, tilting her head and sending the ponytails swinging sideways.

“I’ll be a horse,” she announced after a moment.

Becca waited for one of the boys to loudly correct her about how she couldn’t be a horse when she grew up. But she was pleasantly surprised when they only smiled at their little cousin.

“I’ll be an ice cream taster,” Nick said, nodding to her encouragingly. “And you can help.”

“You’re already an ice cream taster,” Zane teased him fondly.

“Yeah,” Nick said. “But I want to getpaid.”

That earned some chuckles from around the table.

“What will you do with your pay?” Daniel asked him.

Becca expected him to say he would buy toys. Most of her students had nothing but Christmas presents on their minds at this time of year.

“I’ll save it up,” Nick told his grandfather, his expression completely serious now.

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