22. Tag

22

TAG

T ag sat in the dark theatre, barely able to breathe.

Charlotte sat beside him, her eyes fixed on the stage in front of them, her mind obviously wrapped up in Olivia.

They’d gotten here separately, since she had been working in the shop all day. But his devious family had fixed it so that the only seat left of the row they had purchased was the one on the end. And when Tag got up to take a call from one of the farmhands, they all moved over, so that he was forced into the seat next to the empty one for Charlotte.

He hadn’t even given them a hard time about it. He’d just sat down and accepted his fate.

The chances that he could rekindle anything at all with Charlotte weren’t good. And that was probably for the best. She was a sweet young girl, and she deserved better than a grumpy old cowboy like Tag.

But as he stole another glance at her face now, and watched her close her eyes like she was praying for his daughter, his heart ached and he knew he wouldn’t be able to help throwing himself at her feet if she gave him half a chance.

Her heart should be hurting, but she’s thinking of Olivia instead. Even if I don’t deserve her, Olivia and Chance do…

Before he had time to think on it any more, the lights were coming up on the stage and Olivia was there, the costume and makeup doing nothing to hide her obvious excitement. It was a look he knew well from sitting in these same seats to watch her mother work her magic up there. The rest of the audience had no idea. But Tag was pretty sure they were about to see an amazing performance.

Olivia hunched over her desk as Scrooge, scrawling away in a big ledger, as the Martin triplets’ older brother, Cal, walked onstage.

“A merry Christmas, uncle,” he said.

“Bah,” Olivia coughed out viciously. “ Humbug .”

Her pencil began scratching the ledger again instantly, as Cal’s eyebrows lifted.

There was a moment of silence, and then a burst of surprised laughter rolled through the audience, as they realized that Olivia Lawrence was going to make a great Ebeneezer Scrooge.

And before too long, Tag was so caught up in the performance that he almost forgot it was his daughter up there.

Two hours later, Tag and Charlotte stood in the hallway outside the stage door, with practically the whole rest of the town waiting there to congratulate family members.

There was that buzz of excitement that came after a particularly good performance. Tag remembered that from Iris’s performing days, too.

“She was incredible,” Charlotte murmured.

Olivia had been incredible. Tag had watched in awe as his quiet daughter raged and wept onstage, leaving the whole community breathless as they watched Scrooge’s transformation from bitter old man to loving friend and neighbor.

And he knew why it had been possible.

“Thank you,” he said, turning to her. “Thank you for helping her, even though I was a monster to you.”

“You were scared,” Charlotte said simply.

“It felt too easy,” he heard himself admit. “And I already sank one young woman’s dreams. I couldn’t drag you down with me too.”

“What are you talking about?” Charlotte asked, looking genuinely puzzled.

“Did you see her?” Tag said quietly. “Her mother was talented like that too. And she threw it all away because she loved me.”

Charlotte’s brow furrowed, and she looked even more confused. But Tag didn’t have time to find out why, because Jess Dansen was approaching them, a big smile on his face.

“You must be incredibly proud of your daughter,” he told Tag, clapping him on the shoulder. “Thanks so much for encouraging her to participate.”

Tag had to chuckle at that. Olivia had agreed to work on the play only when she was afraid he would start her back on regular sessions with the child psychologist in Burlington. It hardly felt fair to call it encouragement when Olivia probably felt like it was practically blackmail.

“She clearly takes after her mother,” Jess went on fondly. “You know I always offered Iris the lead in the community theater productions, and she always turned me down.”

“What?” Tag asked, brought out of his own thoughts by the other man’s strange suggestion.

“Oh, yes,” Jess said. “She was the most talented actor we had, but she always asked for bit parts or character roles so she wouldn’t have to miss so much time with her family.”

Tag imagined Iris taking on those bigger roles, making a name for herself, even conquering Broadway.

“She could have done anything she wanted,” Tag said.

And Jess’s two-word reply said more about his wife than Tag could have imagined.

“She did.”