16. Zane
16
ZANE
A few days later, Zane parked his truck on Maple Street, in front of the family’s ice cream shop, and jumped out to grab a barrel and bring it in.
Nick and Cal had told him on the way to school that their Aunt Charlotte wanted him to bring over a barrel of the new moose tracks flavor today, so she could start giving out samples and come up with a name for it.
Charlotte, Tag’s new wife, had turned the little shop around by embracing the family’s identity as small, hometown dairy farmers. He wasn’t a bit surprised to hear that she already had big plans for their latest new flavor.
Nick had been insistent that Zane drop the barrel off right at nine in the morning , though when Zane asked why, Nick didn’t seem to have an answer.
He figured it must have something to do with when a local yoga class or reading group let out. Charlotte wouldn’t want him there loading in product during a busy time at the shop. Or maybe she wanted him there before a particular group came in that might want to try the flavor. In any case, the timing didn’t really matter to him, since he had to run a few errands in town anyway.
He hoisted the barrel over his shoulder and was about to head into the shop when he heard a chorus of little voices chattering.
“ Dad, Dad,” Nick and Cal yelled as he turned to see them running ahead of their class.
“Hey, boys,” he said, smiling as they wrapped their arms around his waist. It was nice that they didn’t mind hugging their dad in front of their friends.
“Miss Hawthorne,” Nick said, pulling back. “Our dad is here.”
Zane looked up to see her approaching and his stomach twisted.
They’d had so much fun ice skating together last time he saw her. He’d even let himself pretend for a moment that they were a couple, a family really. And it had felt…right. Which was scary. He hadn’t really considered dating anyone since the boys’ mother left.
But Saturday with Becca was easy and fun. He’d been more mesmerized by her than the night before when he’d almost kissed her.
And he thought she was having fun too. They had skated together, and she had helped the boys patch things up with the poor little girl they almost knocked over. And then…
He tried not to dwell on it, but it had been right after she said hello to her friend from work that she seemed to lock down. Suddenly, her smile was tight, and it seemed like she made the first excuse she could to escape the rink and his company.
The boys had been so disappointed. After she left they told him he should have invited her back to the farm to make Christmas cookies with the family.
But he was pretty sure she would have said no. And if she was embarrassed to be seen with him in front of her friend, it was much better not to let himself keep dreaming.
He held his breath as she approached now, hoping she wouldn’t think he was stalking her. First the skating rink, and now this…
“Hi, Mr. Lawrence,” she said with her usual bright, friendly smile.
“You can call him Zane,” Cal whispered to her.
“We’re both working right now, son,” Zane reminded him, though it hurt him not to hear her say his name too. “Miss Hawthorne and I want to be professional.”
“That’s right,” Becca said with a relieved-looking smile that untwisted his gut a little.
“Today is your walking tour,” he remembered. No wonder they were all out. He’d had to sign a permission slip and this morning he and the boys had made sure they were wearing thick wool socks under their boots and that they each had two mittens.
“Yes,” she said, looking radiant. “We’re so excited to see all the places in town the children will be writing about for their project.”
“Is that the ice cream for free samples?” Nick asked suddenly, pointing at the barrel Zane had over his shoulder.
“It sure is,” Zane told him, suddenly figuring out why he had been asked to bring in the ice cream at this particular time.
He glanced in the window of the shop. A woman sat at the counter, sipping a milkshake, but otherwise it was empty.
“Do you want to bring the class in to see the shop?” he asked Becca quietly. “They’re also obviously more than welcome to a free sample.”
A few of the kids began to jump up and down at the idea.
“We wouldn’t want to impose,” Becca said quickly.
The door to the shop opened and the milkshake lady stepped out and headed down Maple. Zane figured she must be new, or maybe just visiting, because he didn’t recognize her, and he knew just about everyone in the small town.
“Well, there’s no one there right now,” he said. “And the whole purpose of bringing this in was to have samples to offer.”
“Thank you,” she told him, suddenly looking almost as excited as the kids. “They’ll be talking about this forever.”
“I’ll just let Charlotte know what’s going on,” he told her.
Cal held the door open for him and he headed in.
“Hey, Cal,” Charlotte said happily. “Hi, Zane. How’s it going?”
“I uh, invited their class to come in for free samples,” he admitted right away. “I hope that’s okay.”
“It’s your shop,” Charlotte laughed. “And it’s more than okay. That’s awesome. They’ll be talking about it forever.”
“That’s what Miss Hawthorne said,” Cal told her with a big smile.
Zane headed over with the barrel as Cal darted back out to join his class. When he reached the counter, he could see Becca still talking to the children outside.
“Oh, she’s good,” Charlotte told him. “She’s making sure they behave.”
“I’m sure they will,” Zane said, immediately doubting himself. But Becca did seem to have things under control.
“Okay, children,” she said as Cal opened the door for her. “Let’s all do just what we planned and stay in a nice line, two-by-two.”
Sure enough, the children filed in after her in pairs, practically filling in the whole shop by the time they were all inside.
“Mr. Lawrence is Cal and Nick’s father,” Becca told the children. “And this is their Aunt Charlotte.”
The children all said hello or hi politely.
“Now, there’s one thing I’d like to ask before we get started,” Becca said to Zane. “Do you have any flavors that don’t have allergens?”
Food allergies, he thought to himself in a panic. How didn’t I think of that?
Obviously the barrel of moose tracks he’d just brought in had every allergen there was—dairy, chocolate, peanuts…
“We have Sor-Baby Houseman,” Charlotte said quickly. “That’s a dairy-free vanilla sorbet.”
She looked up at Zane worriedly. Naturally, that sorbet was the one item that wasn’t made in-house, for obvious reasons. But it was important to have an option for folks with food allergies. It was pretty expensive, so much so that they sold each cup at a loss. But it was worth it to see the smiles on children’s faces when they learned there was a treat they could enjoy, even if they had an allergy.
“That’s exactly what we were planning to give out as free samples from nine until nine fifteen this morning,” Zane said right away. “We want to know if it’s tasty enough to be sold in our shop, since it isn’t made at our farm.”
Becca looked relieved enough to fall over.
“Would you guys like some free samples?” Zane asked, suddenly feeling super cheerful and not nervous at all.
The children all cheered, Cal and Nick most of all, and Zane and Charlotte got right to work, scooping out small servings of sorbet.
“Why is it called Sor-Baby Houseman?” one child wanted to know.
“Oh, it’s named for one of the cows on the farm,” Charlotte said. “And the cow is named for a movie called Dirty Dancing . Maybe you’ll watch it when you’re older.”
“I know that one,” a little girl near the back said wisely. “It’s an oldie movie.”
Zane tried not to laugh as he scooped another cup and handed it off. His mother would not be pleased to hear one of her favorite movies referred to as an oldie . She was the one who had named the beloved bottle-fed calf after the main character. And Baby was just the right cow to name the sorbet for, since she never was able to give milk. However, Baby contributed to the herd with her sweet nature, providing a calming influence on some of the more nervous animals.
After a few minutes, the children were all seated or standing quietly, enjoying their sweet treat.
“Thank you so much for this,” Becca said, approaching the counter. “It was really thoughtful of you to give them samples of a different ice cream.”
“Well, you don’t want to rely on kids this age to tell you whether or not they’re allergic to something,” Zane said. “Besides, this way no one has to feel bad for getting something different than everyone else.”
“You’re a good man, Zane Lawrence,” Becca said quietly.
Charlotte cleared her throat and went over to the sinks to wash up the scoops.
“It was great to see you over the weekend,” he told her honestly, wondering if she would tell him why she clammed up so suddenly.
“You too,” she said. “And today. What a coincidence.”
“It worked out really well,” he said, smiling at the sight of the kids filling the shop. “It reminds me of a birthday party my grandmother threw here for one of my brothers.”
“I’m all finished, Miss Hawthorne,” a little boy said, coming up with his empty paper cup. “Can I have more?”
“I’m sorry, Michael,” she told him. “We have to continue our walking tour. Can you say thank you to Nick and Cal’s dad and aunt?”
“Thank you,” Michael said, smiling up at them.
“You’re very welcome,” Charlotte told him with a smile of her own.
“Sure thing,” Zane added.
He leaned on the counter to watch as Becca gathered the children up, gently encouraging them to clean up after themselves and then report back to the line in twos, like before.
Less than five minutes later, they were all calling out their thanks and goodbyes, leaving the shop no worse off than it was when they came in.
“She’s so amazing,” he said to himself, trying to get his head around the fact that she had handled all those kids seemingly effortlessly. Honestly, she seemed to be having as much fun as they were.
“That was fun,” Charlotte said, heading out to wipe down the already-clean tables. “So, I guess it’s true what they’re whispering about you and the schoolteacher, then. Well done. She’s wonderful.”
“Oh,” he said, surprised. “Well, whatever’s being whispered, it’s just a rumor. There’s nothing going on.”
“Really?” she asked, stopping in the middle of wiping a café table. “You guys are giving off a lot of vibes.”
“You sound like Olivia,” he teased. Olivia was Zane’s niece, and also Charlotte’s new stepdaughter, and the two of them absolutely adored each other. Olivia was fourteen now, and she used words like vibes all the time.
“She would probably die if she heard me say that,” Charlotte said, laughing. “Also, I’m probably using it wrong. But you know what I mean, right? I just get this feeling that there’s electricity between you two.”
“Well, we have almost nothing in common,” he said, straightening up and brushing off his hands on his jeans. “And she’s too young for me.”
“No comment,” Charlotte said with a wry smile, returning to her work.
“Come on, it’s different with you and Tag,” he said.
“I think all happy love stories are a little bit the same,” Charlotte said dreamily. “Don’t you?”
“What do you mean?” he asked, stopping in his tracks.
“It’s not really about her age, or what you have in common already,” Charlotte explained. “It’s about the way she makes you feel, right? Different than you’ve ever felt before?”
Her words hit him hard in the chest. But he didn’t exactly want to work through the feelings in front of his new sister-in-law.
“I’ll see you, Charlotte,” he told her, heading to the door. “Thanks again for helping with the kids today. I know all you asked me to bring was a barrel of the new ice cream—not a sorbet party.”
“I didn’t ask you to bring a barrel of ice cream,” she said.
“But the boys said you did,” he said, turning to her. “They said you wanted me to bring it right at nine.”
“Oh, right ,” she said, turning back to scrub at the already clean table. “I did want a barrel of ice cream at nine, so I could give samples after the library’s toddler reading group lets out. Sorry, I’m so forgetful these days.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he told her, wondering what she meant by that, and why she wasn’t making eye contact with him.
It wasn’t until he was back out in the cold air, getting into his truck, that her earlier words haunted him again.
It’s about the way she makes you feel—different than you’ve ever felt before…
He couldn’t really argue with that part. But even if it was true, he was pretty sure Becca didn’t feel the same way about him, so there was no use dwelling on it.