14. Charlotte

14

CHARLOTTE

C harlotte spent the week after the ice skating adventure in a happy blur of work and plans.

She still hated the idea of being a burden on the family, so she tried to roll up her sleeves every day and dive into whatever needed doing. She had a feeling they all sensed her need not to be treated like a guest. And it was a relief to be allowed to participate in the family’s activities.

She had also started getting up early each morning with the kids, so Tag could start his chores earlier. Once they were dressed and ready, they all headed over to the stone farmhouse for breakfast and then off to the bus.

After the kids were on their way, she helped out around the farm, spending her time with whoever needed a hand—whether it was in the kitchen, the creamery, the stable, or the hen house.

In the afternoons, she took her car to town and spent a few hours working at the shop before picking the kids up at school and bringing them home so they didn’t have to wait for Allie. They hung out during snack time, and then she would sit at the table with them while they did homework, working with Chance when he needed it, so that by the time Tag was finished with the second milking and Allie was home, the homework was already completed.

Things were going well at the shop. Tag had been right about Ellis Johnson. The electrician was more than happy to help out with the electrical work right away, and for a fair price, too, from what Tag said. The young man with the flashing blue eyes and longish blond hair worked hard at the shop all day, managing to climb and crawl around the tightest spaces in spite of his big frame.

And all of Charlotte’s plans for the shop were coming together nicely, in large part due to the fact that Ellis had taken down the entire first floor ceiling to work. He’d been able to rewire all the lighting easily after that, and there were only about a dozen holes in the walls of the shop, each one roughly the size of a man’s fist.

“You know these have to be patched and painted, right?” he asked her one afternoon.

She had been sketching on the walls using her laptop hooked up to an old classroom projector Allie had loaned her. But that was the first day she had gotten out her paint brushes.

“I have a plan for that,” she assured him, grinning when he shook his head at her mysterious words.

Ellis was spending his days up on the second floor by the time she finished up on Friday, so there was no one to celebrate with her when she stepped back to take a look at the results of her labor.

“Good job,” she told herself as she looked around at the newly decorated space and a little shiver of joy went down her spine.

She was still kind of nervous about showing it to Tag, but even if he hated it, the whole thing had only taken her a week to do. It wouldn’t be that hard to undo.

And besides, ever since that night under the twinkling lights of the rink, she had felt a bond tightening between the two of them. She didn’t really think he’d be unhappy with her work here. In fact, she was pretty sure that he would like it even more because she had been the one to do it.

When she closed her eyes, she saw him gaze across the table at her at dinnertime last night, and she could still feel the way his hand brushed hers when he handed over her car keys this morning, muttering something about it having a new oil pan gasket.

When she thanked him and offered to pay, he just grumbled that Rob at the shop owed him a favor and strode out the back door as if to tell her the conversation was over, leaving her watching after him, stunned.

“We’re all grateful to you for everything you’re doing here,” Maggie had said quietly after he was gone, looking up from the runt kitten of one of the barn cats she was feeding. “He just doesn’t know how to tell you in words.”

But he had thanked her in words last weekend. And Charlotte was grateful, knowing it cost Tag more than most to speak what was in his heart.

There was no time to think about it now. The old clock on the wall said that it was time to pick up the kids.

She headed for the car, humming to herself at the happy thought that she didn’t need to check the oil before getting in this time. The engine roared to life and the radio came on, the cheerful notes of “Jingle Bells” making the frigid space seem instantly warmer.

She pulled up at the school a few minutes later, in plenty of time to find a good parking spot and make her way to the lawn before the bell rang. Olivia was already in her usual spot by the big tree, so Charlotte joined her.

“No play practice today, huh?” she asked.

“The teacher had a conflict,” Olivia said, looking like she had just won the lottery.

“Why did you choose the play?” Charlotte asked.

“I had to pick something,” Olivia said, shrugging. “And with sports, you could get unlucky and have to play, no matter how bad you are. But understudies never go on in the play. There’s only one performance.”

“So, you wanted to do something where you wouldn’t have to do anything?” Charlotte asked, trying not to smile.

“I still had to do it,” Olivia said, kicking her boot in the snow with an annoyed look on her face. “They made me learn the lines. I was quizzed .”

“It’s Charles Dickens,” Charlotte said. “Maybe knowing all those quotes will help you out on a college application one day.”

“Maybe,” Olivia said, looking at Charlotte with such a dubious expression that Charlotte could only laugh.

Olivia didn’t hold it against her though. She laughed too, and Charlotte felt happy down to her toes, seeing the thirteen-year-old relax and goof off a little.

“So, how’s your big secret project at the ice cream shop?” Olivia asked.

“I finished it today,” Charlotte told her, happy to have someone to share the news with. “Want to see a video of it?”

“You haven’t even shown my dad yet,” Olivia said.

Charlotte shrugged.

“Yeah, okay,” Olivia said in a pleased way.

Charlotte got out her phone and pressed play on the five second video she’d taken earlier.

The camera panned from the counter wall to the back, then to the side, slowly displaying Charlotte’s idea of what the place should look like.

“Oh, wow,” Olivia said softly. “I love it. It turned out so well.”

“Only thanks to your Aunt Allie,” Charlotte said. “Without the projector, the walls would have been a mess.”

“It’s not just the projector,” Olivia told her, her eyes on Charlotte’s now, instead of the screen. “You’re a really special person, Charlotte Kendrick.”

“Oh,” Charlotte said. “Thanks.”

“No, I mean it,” Olivia told her. “I haven’t seen my dad like this in a while. He really likes you.”

“Oh,” Charlotte said, completely lost for words at the change in topic.

Was it so obvious that she was a little infatuated with the man?

A lot infatuated…

“I’m good with it,” Olivia told her, smirking. “But only because it’s you. And I still don’t get what you see in him. He’s old and boring, and half the time he smells like cow manure.”

“Only when he doesn’t take his boots off,” Charlotte said, her nose wrinkling instinctively. “And he’s not that old.”

“I knew it,” Olivia said quietly, nodding to herself. “I knew you liked him.”

“This was a trap, wasn’t it?” Charlotte realized out loud. “You’re too smart for your own good, kiddo.”

Olivia grinned at her, looking awfully pleased with herself, just as the bell rang.

Charlotte wondered if Olivia had really meant what she said, or if that had just been part of the trap. But there was no time to ask. The school doors were already opening, and kids streamed out onto the lawn, wrapped in colorful coats and scarves.

Normally, Chance was among the first, but today he was almost the last child out. And he was dragging his feet.

“Hey, buddy,” Olivia said, crouching down to his level. “What’s wrong?”

He collapsed in his sister’s arms without speaking, and Olivia’s eyes went worriedly to Charlotte’s. She knew that she needed to do something, but she honestly had no idea what.

“I have to tell you something, Chance,” Charlotte said, crouching and whispering loudly, hoping it would distract Chance from whatever had him feeling so low.

“What is it?” Chance asked, his face tearstained when he pulled it back from Olivia’s coat.

“When I’m really upset,” Charlotte said, “I like to talk about it like I’m telling a story.”

“What are you talking about?” Olivia asked.

“Like this,” Charlotte said. “ Charlotte had a bad day today. She made a mistake at the ice cream shop and strawberry ice cream went all over the place. One strawberry was stuck on the ceiling, and she didn’t find it until later, and she had to use a mop to get it down.”

“You did do that,” Chance reminded her.

“I know,” she said, shaking her head and looking down sadly.

He giggled, as she had hoped he would.

“See?” she said, meeting his eyes again. “Sometimes, when you say it out loud, it even seems a little funny.”

“Not this time,” he said.

“Why not?” she asked.

“I was bad in library,” he said.

His voice broke on the last word, and his expression was so downcast that it hurt her heart.

“Well, it sounds like you’re very sorry for whatever happened,” she ventured, uncertain how to proceed.

“I’m not sorry,” he said, stamping his little boot in the snow.

She wasn’t sure what kind of response she’d been expecting, but she was definitely caught off guard by that.

“What do you mean you’re not sorry?” Olivia demanded.

“They were making fun of Taylor for his scratch,” Chance said angrily. “I told them to leave him alone. And I said it in my loudest loud voice.”

“Taylor has a cleft palate scar,” Olivia said quietly, running the tip of her index finger between her nose and her upper lip.

The injustice of it lit up like a fire in Charlotte’s chest.

“Chance Lawrence, you listen to me right now,” she told him, placing her hands on his shoulders. “I don’t care what the teacher said. You did the right thing by standing up to those kids.”

“I did?” he asked, a tiny light of hope in his eyes.

“I wish I’d had a brave friend like you when I was little,” she told him honestly.

“But I wasn’t allowed to check out a book,” he said, his face falling again. “Because I was too loud.”

“You can borrow one of my books,” Olivia told him. “I’ve got tons.”

“ Goosebumps ,” he said, his eyes getting big with excitement.

“You’re still too little for Goosebumps books,” Olivia told him. “But I’ve got Miss Nelson is Missing .”

“I’m gonna borrow that one,” Chance said, jumping up and down.

“I don’t know that one,” Charlotte said, frowning.

“When we get home, you can read it to me,” Chance crowed, his sorrows forgotten.

They all headed out toward her car with an energy that seemed all the happier because of the sadness that had come before it. She got Chance settled in his booster, and pushed the seat back again so Olivia could get in.

“I could do all that, you know?” Olivia said.

“Of course you could,” Charlotte said. “But you shouldn’t have to. You’re a kid too.”

Olivia nodded and got in without another word. Charlotte started the car and Chance made a loud vroom sound right along with it, like he always did. Olivia rolled her eyes, but she laughed, like usual.

“So, where are we headed?” Charlotte asked, starting up the silly game she and Chance loved to play every day after school.

“A castle,” Chance yelled back. “A firetruck race, a robot battle.”

“What about a clown convention?” she offered.

“No,” he yelled back, delighted. “Let’s go to the North Pole.”

“Those all sound fun,” Charlotte said, pretending to have a hard time deciding. “Maybe I’ll call your grandma to help us decide. But she might be kind of busy, because she was putting pumpkin bread in the oven this morning…”

“ Pumpkin bread,” Chance squealed. The way to the active little boy’s heart was definitely his stomach.

“I guess we could just go home and have a snack,” Charlotte said thoughtfully.

“Yes,” Chance yelled. “Let’s go home.”

“Okay, home it is,” she said.

Olivia was shaking her head in the seat beside her, but she was smiling. The girl was very attached to her little brother. Charlotte was pretty sure she didn’t mind all the silliness, since it made him happy. As the song on the radio ended, the announcer came on.

“ That was Elvis Presley, with another classic,” he said. “But you can be sure this Christmas won’t be blue, thanks to our generous sponsor, Treasure Chest Toys of Sugarville Grove, who wants us to remind you that this Saturday they’ll be throwing our Town Snowball Fight. And the winner will take home the pirate ship sled displayed in their front window ? —”

“I want to win,” Chance yelled from the backseat. “I want the pirate ship.”

The toy store had announced the big snowball fight last week when it started snowing again. They even said that if the snow melted, they would bring in a machine, but they were determined that Sugarville Grove would have a community snowball fight.

Tag called it flashy flatlander nonsense, but Chance’s imagination was captured by the idea of all those snowballs, and the chance to win the coolest sled he had ever seen. They had been stopping by so he could admire it longingly in the shop window whenever they were in town.

Charlotte was pretty sure some energetic teenager would win. But she saw no reason not to let the little guy look forward to the fun. Besides, the town Christmas tree would be lit afterward, and presents for the Giving Tree project would be collected. There would be plenty of fun things to help him forget his disappointment.

She was looking forward to the weekend herself. The ice cream shop would finally be open again, and she was really hoping that all the people in town for the activities would stop in and try the new flavors.

When they reached the covered bridge, Charlotte tapped the horn and waited a few extra seconds before crossing.

On the other side, the bare branches of the big red oaks seemed to welcome them. Charlotte couldn’t help wondering what they would look like covered in lush greenery.

“Dad’s outside,” Olivia noticed as they pulled up close to the stone farmhouse.

Charlotte spotted him right away. The big man was pacing on the porch, looking downright impatient. He was hard to miss.

She wondered if there had been a call from the school about Chance’s behavior. But she didn’t want to say it out loud, because it would only make the boy feel worse. And the smile that lit up his face as they parked set her mind at ease a little.

“Okay, guys,” she said brightly. “Let’s hop out.”