11. Charlotte

11

CHARLOTTE

C harlotte stood at the counter in the stone farmhouse, watching the kids eating their after-school snack as Daniel regaled them with tales of what the various cows had been up to today.

Olivia looked like she wasn’t paying attention, but Charlotte caught her smiling during the funny parts, so she knew the girl was listening. Chance, on the other hand, was laughing his head off, and moving around so much that he was practically falling off his stool.

“Try to be careful,” she heard herself tell him. “It would be so sad if you fell down.”

“Why would it be sad?” he asked her.

“Well, you might get hurt,” she said, blinking in surprise. “And also, you don’t want to spill apples and peanut butter on the floor. The cows would probably jump in the windows to get it.”

That earned her a big laugh from the little boy. And she was pleased to see he had stopped wiggling, at least for now.

“Charlotte helped me fix these for you,” Daniel said. “And she made herself useful at the creamery today, according to Uncle Zane.”

“I like helping with the ice cream,” she said lightly, even though she was proud inside that Zane had felt she was helpful.

It was hard being here and feeling like maybe she was a drain on resources—a pet, not a worker. She wanted to contribute, but whenever she tried to help, someone had to take the time to explain to her how to do things. So at the end of the day, she was never sure if she had actually saved anyone any time or effort.

“Well, now is when we take a little time to relax,” Daniel told her. “What do you like to do with your spare time?”

“Oh, I wanted to take some photos,” she said. “Is it okay for me to just walk around the farm a little?”

“Of course,” he said.

“I’ll come,” Chance announced.

“Me too,” Olivia said.

Charlotte saw Daniel’s surprise and then his effort to hide it.

“That’s great,” she said. “Let’s bundle up, and then we can go for our farm walk.”

By the time the three of them made their way out to the fields, Tripp was almost ready to bring the cows up from the lower pasture.

“You’ve got about fifteen minutes with them down here,” Tripp told her.

“That’s great,” she told him. “We can get some good shots, I think.”

“And I can model for you anytime you want,” he added, winking at her.

She teased him back by rolling her eyes dramatically and turning away, which made Olivia laugh out loud.

“So, which cows are your favorites?” Charlotte asked the kids.

As they pointed out the cows by name, she photographed each one. The animals were so gentle and friendly that she was able to get some really beautiful portraits, especially with the kids’ help.

“Okay, time to go get some feed,” Tripp announced.

“Can we make it up to the barn before them, if we run?” Charlotte asked Olivia.

“Definitely,” Olivia told her.

“Chance, do you want to run?” Charlotte asked the boy, already knowing the answer.

“ Yes, ” he said.

“We just have to move slowly until we’re far enough away that we don’t spook them,” Olivia warned.

The three of them strode off, and when they were a bit further from the cows they broke into a run. They were all the way up before Tripp even began to call to the animals, and Charlotte stopped for a second to catch her breath. She couldn’t remember the last time she had just run full out like that—like a carefree kid, hurtling across a field with total abandon.

Once she was ready, she got into position.

“Oh, this will make a great shot,” Charlotte said, kneeling by the fence line just outside of the barn. Tag was already busy filling the feeders, which meant that the cows would be happy as they made their way back up the hill.

“Why are you down there on the ground, Charlotte?” Chance asked.

“I want to get the cows’ faces,” she said. “And I want to show how big they are, too. That will be easier from below.”

“Oh,” Chance said.

“You can get the sky too,” Olivia put in. “It will really feel like Vermont.”

“That’s a great point,” Charlotte said, impressed.

Olivia shrugged, but she looked pleased.

The ground began to tremble a little as the herd made their way uphill.

“What’s going on over here?” Tag’s deep voice was loud, but not unfriendly.

“Charlotte’s taking pictures of the cows,” Chance said excitedly. “She wants them to look super-duper big, so she’s down low, low, low.”

Tag didn’t respond, but they were close enough now that Charlotte didn’t stop to see how he felt about things. She just started shooting. It was a little chaotic with all the movement, but she was hopeful that she got a few good photos.

When she was finished, she saw that Zane had come from the creamery to watch the cows eat.

“Hey, thanks for your help today,” he said, striding over to join her.

She couldn’t deny a burst of satisfaction. Zane was super quiet, but here was proof that he was starting to feel more comfortable with her.

“I’ve got to do something to earn my keep,” she said, laughing. “Speaking of which, I have some ideas about the shop. I was thinking about some of the new ice cream flavors you were dreaming up. Maybe we could help them stand out with some fun names and a little backstory.”

“Okay,” he said, his eyes lighting up.

Charlotte could tell he was interested. She just had to get him started.

“But I realized I didn’t ask you something important,” she said. “What makes your ice cream stand out from the competition? What’s so special about it?”

“Oh, wow,” Zane said, shrugging. “I mean… nothing, really. It’s not new or high tech or anything. It’s just an old family recipe. We’ve been making it the same way for over a hundred years.”

“That’s it,” she said, her mind racing with ideas. “That’s what’s special. You’ve got a family recipe that’s been passed on for more than a hundred years. People will literally eat it up.”

Zane laughed and she looked to Tag to see if he was getting caught up in the excitement.

But the big cowboy was scowling at the ground, like maybe he had changed his mind about the shop again.

Or maybe everyone just didn’t get as excited about ice cream as she did. Either way, she was on a roll, and she wasn’t about to let it slow her down.