Page 76 of Sweet Surprises

“Of course,” Charlotte said, feeling silly.

She figured they just wanted her to stay and help with breakfast and let her mom take a break, but were too polite to say so. It was hard to get her mother to relax. That was for sure. So she was grateful the Lawrences could see she needed it. She’d had a long drive here, but at least she was flying back again afterward.

Maggie handed Charlotte a spatula and she got to work scrambling eggs.

Two hours later,they were all piled into the living room, full of breakfast and watching all the kids play with their new toys. Chance was sitting on the new red sled Charlotte had got him at the toy store, looking at a wooden puzzle from his grandfather. The sled wasn’t quite as fancy as the pirate ship one, but Chance had been thrilled when he opened it, and immediately gave everyone a rundown of the best hills to test it on.

Olivia sat on the couch beside Charlotte, her nose deep in the copy ofPride and PrejudiceCharlotte had found for her atClever Fox Books in town. She was probably a little young for it, but Charlotte had a feeling she would like the book anyway.

Zane’s twins were playing with the other cousins, all of them darting in and out of the room as they tried out their plastic light sabers and action figures.

The Lawrence kids had exchanged gifts with each other too, and Charlotte’s mom had brought Maggie a nice apron she had made herself, with great big pockets that Maggie said were perfect for a farmer-woman.

Allie was chatting away with Charlotte’s mom now. They had met lots of times during Charlotte’s college days, but there was plenty of catching up to do.

Tag caught Charlotte’s eye from across the coffee table.

“I have something for you,” she told him with a smile, pulling her car keys from her pocket and tossing them to him.

“Is it in the trunk?” he asked, hopping up, like he was ready to go out and retrieve his own gift.

“Nope. It’s the car,” she said. “It was my dad’s, and I know he would want you to have it. It deserves to be someone’s dream car.”

She’d had a hard time coming up with a gift for Tag, but as soon as she had this idea, she’d talked it over with her mom, and they had both agreed that it was perfect.

Now that she had made it a reality, she swore she felt her father’s joyful presence, and she pressed her lips together, willing herself not to cry.

“But… what about you?” Tag asked, looking completely stunned.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she teased. “And besides, Mom drove out here in Dad’s old SUV, and she’s leaving it here when she flies back. It’s just fine for me. Plus, it has all-wheel drive.”

Tag had mentioned more than once that he didn’t like the idea of her driving the Mustang around in the snow, so she knew he would feel better about her being in a safer car.

“Really?” he asked, finally looking like he might believe the gift was real.

“Really,” she said, smiling up at the sweet man she adored.

His eyes lit up and he fingered the keys in his hand, looking like he was so pleased that he didn’t know what to say.

“This is such a generous gift, Charlotte,” Daniel said quietly from his seat near the big Christmas tree. “And we all know Tag will love it. He had a poster of that exact car in his room when he was a boy.”

“Now, we have a gift for you, Charlotte—” Maggie began.

“Me first,” Tag said suddenly.

It was unlike him to cut his mother off. But Charlotte couldn’t help noticing Maggie’s happy smile, or the way she patted her husband’s knee.

When she turned back to Tag, he was kneeling in front of her, his sapphire eyes dark with emotion.

“Charlotte,” he said roughly.

But then he didn’t say anything else because he was pressing his fisted hand to his mouth, as if to hold back tears.

“Charlotte, we love you,” Olivia said, moving quickly to his side, and wrapping her arm around his waist. “You always listen to us, and you understand us, even when we’re not at our best.”

“And you tell us to be brave,” Chance said excitedly, hopping up from his sled to join his family. “Because you want to not be afraid of anything too.”

“We’ve lost a lot,” Olivia said softly. “But you helped Dad open up his heart.”

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