13. Tag

13

TAG

T ag laced up Chance’s ice skates, with an unfamiliar lightness in his chest. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually felt excited about something like this.

The pop-up rink had been a town fixture ever since Little Bear Lake stopped freezing over enough to skate on safely, back in his dad’s time. Tag and his brothers had played hockey in high school, but nowadays, the weeks when the rink was open were the only times he got out onto the ice.

“No, no, tighter,” Olivia was telling Charlotte, who sat on the bench beside Chance, tugging at her laces.

He could tell by Olivia’s voice that she was barely restraining her laughter.

“Are you sure?” Charlotte asked. “It feels pretty tight.”

“Believe me,” Olivia said. “You don’t want to sprain an ankle.”

“If you say so,” Charlotte grumbled.

He glanced over at her impatient tone, and saw that her brow was furrowed in an unfamiliar way. It was odd. She had seemed happier these past few days, like she was starting to feel at home with them.

“You don’t like to skate?” he asked her.

“I’ve never tried it before,” she told him. “But I was really, really bad at roller-skating as a kid.”

“Oh, this is nothing like that,” Olivia told her right away.

“Oh, good,” Charlotte sighed.

“It’s much harder,” Olivia said at the same time.

This time Olivia didn’t manage to hold in her giggle. Thankfully, Charlotte smiled up at his daughter, the wrinkle on her forehead smoothing out.

“We won’t let you get hurt,” Olivia told her, still smiling. “You can take it slow. My dad will help you.”

Tag had been so busy soaking in his daughter’s radiant smile that he was almost surprised to find both sets of eyes gazing up at him expectantly.

“Sure,” he said, turning back to Chance to hide his pleasure. “I’ll help you.”

“Thank you.” Charlotte’s voice was so sweet. Even though he was pointedly not looking at her, he could imagine her earnest expression in his mind.

What would it be like to walk through life like her, always expecting the best?

It was fun to consider, but Tag knew all too well that disappointment could be waiting around any corner.

“Okay, buddy,” he told Chance. “Let’s get you out there.”

“Why can’t we skate on the lake?” Chance asked, not for the first time.

“It’s not safe, remember?” Tag said. “Why do you want to skate there, anyway? If you skate in town, you can get hot chocolate with Grandma and Grandpa when you’re done.”

“I want to see if the lake monster left me a present,” Chance whispered, as if the lake monster might actually be real, and lurking nearby, and would decide not to leave him a gift if it heard him say that he wanted one.

“The lake monster?” Charlotte echoed.

“Well, you know how Lake Champlain has a lake monster called Champ?” Olivia asked before Tag could explain.

“I didn’t know that,” Charlotte said.

“They do, and he’s kind of famous,” Olivia said. “But our Little Bear Lake has a monster too. His name is Barry.”

“Barry’s better than Champ,” Chance said right away. “Because he leaves presents.”

“Wow,” Charlotte said, going right along with him. “What kind of presents?”

“Usually little things, like smooth polished stones,” Olivia said.

“And a candy bar one time,” Chance added, importantly. “A big one.”

“Wow,” Charlotte said. “You guys are lucky to have such a generous monster in Little Bear Lake.”

But now Chance was getting wiggly with excitement, and he had on his skates, which wasn’t a safe combination.

“Chance, I’ll bet you’re ready to get out on the ice,” Charlotte said before Tag could open his mouth to scold him. “Do you and your dad want to go on out now? I’ll be there as soon as I’m done with my other skate.”

“I’ll take him,” Olivia said quickly. “Come on, bud.”

Chance beamed up at his sister and took her hand. The two of them shuffled off, leaving Tag alone with Charlotte.

Tag wasn’t normally a nervous guy. It was hard to get caught off guard by anything when not much ever changed. He kind of just walked through life on autopilot these days, always knowing exactly what to expect.

But for some reason, this hazel-eyed city girl left him off balance. He was never sure what she would say or do, and the feeling was unwelcome, but still somehow exhilarating.

Right now, she was fussing with her skate, and it was driving him crazy to watch her without any idea what was going to happen when they got out on the ice.

“Let me get that,” he heard himself growl impatiently as he went down on one knee to take the laces from her hand.

“Oh,” she said, sounding flustered. “Thank you.”

It hit Tag at once that he was close enough to her to notice her sweet-smelling shampoo again. He felt almost dizzy with awareness, though he wasn’t sure why something so innocent would have him clenching his jaw and willing his hands not to shake. He tied up her skates without a word as his heart crashed in his chest.

What’s happening to me?

“Okay,” he said, standing. “Let’s get you up.”

He held out his hands to her, wondering if he was going to blush like a teenager when she took them. But she grabbed on with such a vice-like grip that he forgot all about how small and warm her hands were in his.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said, though her voice was tense and her signature smile was gone. “I’m fine. Let’s do this.”

He almost laughed at that. What she meant was Let’s get this over with.

“You’re okay,” he told her. “I’ve got you.”

Suddenly, her grip softened and her eyes were on his. Her cheeks seemed pinker than before, but maybe it was just the cold. He’d been trying so hard not to look at her that he wouldn’t have noticed before.

“What?” he asked.

“You keep saying that,” she said.

“I keep saying what?”

“That you’ve got me,” she said softly, looking down like she didn’t want to look into his eyes.

“I do have you,” he told her automatically, his chest filling with something that was a lot like pride.

She only smiled and shook her head.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she said. “Just thanks for having my back.”

He felt another burst of pride and did his best not to think anything about it as he led her to the ice.

Stepping onto the rink felt like coming home to Tag. But before he had a chance to move, the hand in his was tugging him backward.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, turning back.

“Nothing,” she said, plastering on a big smile. “You’ve got me, and besides, I’m going to be good at this.”

He could tell she didn’t mean it. She talked a big game, but she was scared.

“We’ll stay close to the wall,” he told her. “If you start to fall, I’ll catch you, but you can think of the wall as a backup.”

She still looked nervous, but she nodded and put on a brave smile that looked more sincere this time.

It was colder as they got close to the ice, but there were a bunch of people from around town gliding around, laughing and chatting. Strings of lights hung over the rink itself, giving the whole setting a happy glow. And just on the other side of the rink, the town Christmas tree stood tall. Soon, it would be beautifully lit and decorated—making an even better view for skaters.

When they reached the wall, he paused a moment to take it all in, including the surprising young woman who still clung to his hand.

“What are you thinking?” Charlotte asked softly.

“It’s so pretty,” he said.

She nodded, and didn’t say anything more. Somehow, that made him want to open his mouth again.

“Times like this,” he heard himself say, “I feel like maybe it’s not so bad that I never left home.”

She smiled and nodded, her eyes on the rink.

“The world might have some impressive things,” Tag went on. “But how can you compare the Eiffel Tower to the sight of Joe and Edith Fournier still skating together.”

And it was true. Mrs. Fournier’s coat might be worn, and Joe’s cap was faded, but the two of them looked radiant holding hands, as they slowly and carefully traversed the rink.

“Oh,” Charlotte said, looking at them. “That’s the man from the gas station.”

“Right,” Tag said. Of course, that was where he’d first seen Charlotte, so she had met Joe before.

“And she’s the lady you gave free ice cream to,” Charlotte went on. “That was nice of you.”

Tag scowled. Of course she figured out that he’d been lying about the register, since she’d used it herself afterward. It was hard to get away with anything in a town this small, even a good deed like that.

“Mrs. Fournier was my first-grade teacher,” he said shrugging. “I know she’s on a fixed income now, and Joe doesn’t earn much at the station.”

Suddenly Charlotte was squeezing his hand again, but when he looked down this time, her eyes were sparkling and her expression was soft.

“You’re a good man, Tag Lawrence,” she told him firmly.

“Doesn’t mean I’m going to forget that we came here to skate,” he teased her, trying to ignore the way his heart was pounding.

“Okay, fine,” she huffed.

He could tell she wasn’t really mad though, because her eyes were still shining.

The song playing on the speakers ended, and Perry Como and the Fontane Sisters began crooning about how it was beginning to look a lot like Christmas as they finally made it fully onto the ice.

A couple of kids Olivia’s age were out there, though she didn’t seem to take any notice of them. And surprisingly, Luke Hayes was skating beside the new veterinarian, their hands entwined, her blonde hair floating in the cold breeze. That was bound to get the rumor mill going at full speed. But it was good to see Luke looking so relaxed for once.

Maybe people will be so busy gossiping about those two they won’t notice the way I’m looking at Charlotte…

There were plenty more people skating with them. Some of them he’d known all his life, and others were flatlanders in fancy jackets. Everyone seemed to be having fun, skating and laughing along to the holiday music.

The Fourniers passed by, and Edith elbowed Joe as they spotted Tag and Charlotte. Joe glanced over at Tag and winked at him.

Tag looked down at where his hand was wrapped around Charlotte’s. He knew he should rip it away if he didn’t want the whole town talking.

“I can probably do this on my own,” Charlotte said brightly, pulling her hand away before he had the chance. “It doesn’t really seem that hard now that I’m out here.”

She wants to be linked to me even less than I want to be linked to her, he realized.

The thought was oddly disappointing. But he didn’t have time to dwell on why that might be, because Charlotte was already on the move.

He watched as she slid past him, moving too quickly for a beginner.

“Careful,” he started to warn her.

But it was too late. Charlotte’s legs were already too far apart, and she was reaching forward for the wall to stop herself from sliding into an inadvertent split on the ice.

Exactly as he expected, leaning forward was making her fall forward. And it was doing nothing to stop her legs from sliding apart. The only thing she was going to accomplish was to fall even faster—and right in front of the Martin triplets, who were barreling toward her at a decent speed.

Tag wasn’t left with much choice.

“Okay,” he said, managing to grab her around the rib cage just before she slammed to the ice. “Let’s get you back to the wall.”

The triplets sailed past, close enough for the air moving in their wake to lift Charlotte’s hair from her shoulders. All three of them were giggling, like they thought it was pretty funny for two adults to be falling all over themselves at the rink.

“Thank you,” Charlotte grumbled in a way that made her sound anything but thankful.

Somehow, the ridiculousness of the whole situation hit him, and he found himself chuckling. Charlotte scowled at him, and her serious look made him break into real laughter as he pictured her stubbornly rushing off into the crowded rink and almost causing the biggest skating pile-up in Sugarville Grove pop-up rink history.

“I’m sorry,” he gasped, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes.

Tara Winters, the flatlander who owned the new café, skated past, her brows lifting slightly. He figured she was probably as surprised as anyone to see Tag Lawrence laughing until he almost cried. It might have sent him into another spiral of helpless laughter if Charlotte hadn’t suddenly smiled at him.

“Was it really that funny that I almost fell down?” she asked him, the smile still on her face like she wasn’t mad anymore.

“No,” he told her. “It was just that you got so mad about it. I didn’t even know you could get mad.”

“I get mad,” she said thoughtfully. “I just don’t let it own me. Except this time, I guess.”

Her eyes twinkled, and he felt his heart melt like chocolate.

“I think you just brought out my grouchy side,” she finished, shrugging.

“What did I do?” he asked.

But suddenly she was looking down at her hands. Something about that tickled his brain, but he couldn’t imagine what.

“I guess I should try to learn your way,” she said, looking up at him again. “I’ll listen to you this time. I promise.”

“We just have to take it slowly and think it through,” he told her. “You’ll get it in no time.”

“I’m a doer, not a thinker,” she muttered.

“That’s becoming clearer to me,” he said. “Take a deep breath.”

The look on her face reminded him of Chance when he had to wait for something he was excited about. It was all Tag could do not to smile again.

“First of all,” he began. “If you start feeling like you’re going to fall again, don’t reach for me or even for the wall like you did before. Reach for your own knees.”

“My knees?” she asked.

“When you do that,” he said, bending to demonstrate, “you’re bringing in your center of gravity, and you’re naturally balancing yourself, okay?”

“Okay,” she said, nodding.

“When we get back out there, you’re just going to move like you’re walking,” he told her. “We’ll do that until you feel confident.”

“Then what?” she asked, ever the optimist.

“Then you’re going to bend your knees and push back with one foot,” he told her. “After that, you’ll bring that foot up with the other one, so they’re together again. Then you’ll do the same with the other foot, bend your knees, push off, bring your feet together again.”

He demonstrated and she nodded, looking like she was about to start taking notes.

“Ready?” he asked her, holding out his hand.

Her eyes went to his outstretched hand and then flashed back to his face.

Tag had never exactly been good at understanding women. But he instantly knew to his bones what had been bothering her before. Somehow, she had sensed that he didn’t want to hold her hand. That was why she had snatched hers away, and that was why she had been so desperate to get away from him that she had almost caused a bad crash.

A million thoughts went through his head. Like the fact that he was ten years older than she was, and that tongues would wag if they spent any more time together holding hands. And then there was his deep-seated instinct to shy away because he always put his kids first, not to mention the heat it was bound to cause with his sister…

But as he saw the question in Charlotte’s luminous, hazel eyes, he knew he wasn’t going to resist her. He’d never even had a chance.

“Come on,” he said. “Let ‘em talk.”

She smiled then, so brilliantly that he thought she could light up the rink better than a million twinkle lights. And she slipped her hand back into his, where it belonged.

“Thank you,” she said softly.

He didn’t dare look down into her eyes now. He wasn’t sure he could do it without grabbing her face and kissing her into next week.

Why does she make me feel like this? Like something inside me is waking up? Like everything is going to be okay?

“Hey,” he said. “Thank you for being here with us. It’s so good for… Olivia. For all of us.”

For me he had meant, but didn’t quite dare to say.

“You’re doing me a favor,” she said. “I had a really rough year.”

“I’m sorry about your dad,” he said. “And Allie mentioned something about a boyfriend?”

“Ugh,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I don’t know why, but I really let him get under my skin.”

“What happened?” Tag asked.

She was quiet for a moment, and he thought maybe she wasn’t going to answer, but then she bent her knees and pushed off on one leg, balancing herself really well, though she was clutching his hand harder.

Her next movement was more fluid, and suddenly they were really skating, even if it was incredibly slowly.

“I quit school and went home so I could take advantage of my time left with Dad,” she said when they had settled into a rhythm. “I got a job nearby, as an admin. It was kind of a stressful office, but there was a salesman who was nice to me. We just started dating for some reason. We really didn’t have much in common.”

Tag nodded. It sounded pretty typical. Plenty of people fell into something convenient when it came to love.

“Anyway, I thought we were getting serious,” Charlotte went on. “But I guess he didn’t feel the same. He dumped me after almost a year and told me that he wanted to settle down and that of course it wouldn’t be with someone like me.”

“Someone like you?” Tag asked as anger rose in his chest. “What did he mean by that?”

“I didn’t know then,” Charlotte said, shrugging. “I still don’t. Maybe he wanted someone rich like his family was? Or someone with more education? I was too ashamed to ask, and I didn’t stick around long enough to find out. I actually left the job because I thought I couldn’t handle being there and watching him marry someone else.”

“I’m sorry,” Tag said, squeezing her hand.

“It’s nothing,” she said. “Really. With a little space, I can see that I was just… wanting to check a box, I guess.”

“What do you mean?” he asked. “What box?”

“Well, I didn’t finish school,” she said. “And even though I have no regrets and I’m glad I could be with my dad, it wasn’t a great feeling not to finish something I cared about. I guess I thought with Dad dying, if I got married and had children, maybe I would still be making something good happen—letting some joy come out of this awful year.”

He nodded, his heart aching for her.

“It’s not a great reason to get married,” she said. “I know that. I think in the back of my mind it was really all about Dad—me wanting to start my own family quickly, like it would keep him around somehow, or at least he would get a chance to know I was going to be okay. I’m actually lucky that Bryce dumped me. We weren’t a good match. And what if we had gotten married just because it was the next logical step? I might have regretted it for the rest of my life.”

“Probably for the best,” Tag offered, unsure what to really say about the situation.

“So he hurt my pride,” she said, shrugging. “But my heart is okay.”

“I’m glad,” he told her, meaning it.

“And this place has done wonders for me,” she said, looking around the little town with shining eyes. “I’m so happy that I decided to come. And I know my dad would be really glad to see me here too—to see me happy.”

“I wonder about Iris sometimes,” Tag heard himself say. “What would she think if she could see us all now? I worry so much about Olivia.”

“I think she would be so proud of them, don’t you?” Charlotte asked, looking up at him and then casting her gaze out to the other end of the rink.

He followed her eyes to see Olivia holding Chance’s hands, the two of them moving in tandem, with the big tree behind them, like something out of a snow globe.

What do you think, Iris? Are we okay?

His stomach twisted a little as he thought about the reason he felt okay. What would Iris think of him falling in spite of himself for a girl Allie’s age? Was this him finally healing, or was it a betrayal?

“Oh wow,” Charlotte breathed.

Big lazy snowflakes had begun swirling down from the sky, graceful as dancers. The first one landed on his cheek like a cool kiss against his heated skin. Then another touched down on his nose.

Charlotte started laughing, trying to catch them on her tongue as Chance and Olivia skated toward them with wonder in their eyes.

Tag watched them all, his throat aching like he wanted to cry. He was a sensible man. He didn’t believe in signs, or in messages from the beyond. The only magic he chose to believe in had been taught to him in a Sunday school classroom.

But there was something about seeing their happy faces in the gently falling snow—the joy of Chance flinging his arms around Charlotte’s waist, and Olivia casually wrapping an arm around her shoulder, her head tilted back, laughing like no one was watching, like he hadn’t seen her do in years.

It made him feel like he was home again.