Page 49 of Sweet Surprises

“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 wasquizzed.”

“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 notthatold.”

“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.

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