Chapter 17 Ash #2
Cash and a teen boy and girl who must have been Cody and Annika were actually doing really well. Cody seemed to be an expert at making snowballs, Annika had terrific aim, and Cash was a natural distraction.
Maya and Eloise yelling from the direction of the fountain caught Ash’s attention, and he turned just in time to see little Timmy get hit on the shoulder on his way over to join them.
The expression of disappointment on his little face was so awful that even the older boy who hit him clearly felt terrible. The bigger boy stood by the fountain without defending himself, apparently ready to sacrifice his own chances as Maya and Eloise came out to get revenge for their friend.
But the girls didn’t look unhappy at all.
“Watch this, Timmy,” Eloise yelled, her eyes sparkling.
Maya threw a snowball at Eloise and Eloise threw one at Maya at the same time.
As the snowballs landed on their close-range targets, both girls fell to the ground, pretending to have been hit really hard.
For a moment, Timmy just looked at them. Then suddenly he was laughing and falling to the ground too.
“Wow,” Allie said softly.
The big boy who had hit Timmy was so busy watching the three smaller kids that he didn’t even notice Annika approaching.
She hit him right in the middle of the back with a good-sized snowball and ran giggling away to hide behind the town Christmas tree.
He grinned and fell to the ground dramatically too, much to the delight of the smaller children.
“This town,” Ash said softly.
“Daddy, Daddy, Daddy,” Maya yelled as she and her friends ran back to him. “Daddy, we’re out. Can we have ice cream now?”
“Did you all have fun?” he asked, glancing between the kids.
“Yes,” Eloise said.
“But it’s cold,” Timmy added.
“Oh, then maybe no ice cream,” Ash teased. “Maybe you guys need a big bowl of sauerkraut soup.”
“No,” Maya and Eloise yelled, laughing.
Timmy laughed too when he realized his friends were laughing.
“What about a nice hot cup of coffee?” Ash offered.
“No, no,” the kids yelled, laughing harder.
“I might have an old can of peas in my truck we could heat up?” he teased.
“Noooo,” the three kids howled, cracking up completely.
“Well, I don’t know what else to offer you,” Ash said. “I know you’re cold, but it’s going to have to be ice cream.”
“Yay,” they all sang out.
“But first let’s find Eloise and Timmy’s parents,” Ash said.
“My mom is already at the ice cream shop,” Eloise said. “She’s watching out the window.”
“Hi there,” a familiar voice called out.
Ash looked over to see Allie’s mom heading over with a couple with a baby.
“Hey, Mom,” Allie said. “Becky, Ted, and Rosie of course. This is Ash Tailor, and his daughter Maya, and Tim and Maya’s friend, Eloise. Becky and Ted Lanford are Timmy’s parents and Rosie is his little sister.”
“Great to meet you,” Ash said.
“We were hoping to take the kids over to the ice cream shop for you,” Allie’s mom said. “In case you two had any last-minute shopping to do.”
“That would be amazing,” Ash said. “If that’s okay with you, Maya?”
Maya nodded, looking very pleased.
“Excellent,” Ash said, turning back to Mrs. Lawrence and the Lanfords. “Thank you for that.”
As Allie’s mom led the kids away, the Lanfords held back a little.
“We just wanted to let you know how much this friendship means to Timmy,” Becky said to Ash.
“It means a lot to Maya too,” Ash told them. “We’re new in town, and it’s good to see her spending time with a great kid like Timmy.”
“Thank you,” Ted Lanford said, holding out his hand.
When Ash took it, Ted shook hard and Ash could see the sincerity in the other man’s eyes. He watched after the couple as they followed Mrs. Lawrence and the kids to the ice cream shop.
“That was really nice,” Allie said. “How do you feel?”
“Lucky,” Ash admitted. “She’s a good kid and she found the right friends.”
“It’s not luck,” Allie said, shaking her head. “She made all that happen. She’s really special, Ash.”
He nodded, accepting the praise for his daughter was easy. He was biased, of course, but he knew Maya was an open-hearted little girl.
“Thank you for believing in her,” he told Allie. “She’s been so much more self-confident these last few weeks. And I know it’s because you’ve been helping her and giving her the benefit of the doubt.”
“That’s the least she deserves,” Allie said dismissively. “Speaking of which, if you still need to do some Christmas shopping, the toy store is right across the street, and they’ve got wonderful things there.”
“Lead the way,” Ash said.
He had picked up most of Maya’s presents online before they moved out here, but now that he was walking around the little town he felt terrible about it. He definitely wanted to support the local businesses, so maybe today he could set that right.
The rest of the morning passed quickly. Ash and Allie picked out some great toys for Maya from the toy shop, and Ash added lots more to donate at the Giving Tree event.
From there, they headed to the bookstore for more shopping. Ash paid special attention to the paperbacks whose spines Allie caressed on the way past the romance and mystery sections to get to the children’s books. He was happy to have an extra person to spoil this year.
By the time they loaded up their purchases in his truck and made their way back to the park, the kids were already standing by the pop-up skating rink with Mrs. Lawrence, the Lanfords, and Eloise’s parents.
“Oh, perfect timing,” Mrs. Lawrence said. “Timmy and Eloise are just about to head home.”
“We’ve got family coming from out of town,” Ted explained apologetically.
“And we have some baking to do,” Eloise’s mom added. “It was great to get the kids together though.”
“I’m going to make cookies now,” Eloise said happily.
They all said their goodbyes, and then Mrs. Lawrence headed off to do some shopping of her own.
“I like the ice cream shop,” Maya said.
“It was a fun place to spend time growing up,” Allie said, nodding.
“Yeah, that must have been great,” Ash realized out loud.
“It’s wonderful to have an ice cream shop in the family,” Allie agreed. “You get to taste test all the new flavors. And you always have someplace to go if you’re feeling sad.”
Ash glanced down at her, feeling a pang at the thought that the sunny young woman beside him had ever been sad enough to drown her sorrows in ice cream.
“Now what?” Maya asked, looking up at her dad.
“Let’s ask Allie,” Ash said. “She’s the expert here.”
“Well, there’s not much official happening here until sunset,” Allie explained. “So, a little lunch and some time to relax might be a good idea.”
“Are you too full of ice cream for lunch?” Ash asked Maya.
She shook her head.
“The diner on the corner?” he asked Allie.
“Perfect choice,” she said, practically beaming.
Maya grabbed Allie’s hand and then her father’s, and they all headed down the street.
This is the fantasy, Ash thought to himself. But it could be real. I just have to convince Allie.
And from the look on her face as they stepped into the diner together like a perfect little family, it might not be that hard.