Chapter 12
JILLIAN
As she boarded the ride with Posey, Jillian watched Mari and Tripp talking excitedly in the waiting area.
“Are they shaking hands?” Posey asked in surprise.
“It looks that way,” Jillian replied, chuckling at the delighted look on Mari’s face as she shook Tripp’s hand.
She had to give Tripp some credit—he knew exactly how to help Mari feel at peace.
A lot of people, including her own parents, would have tried to convince the little girl to face her fear or just do it.
But getting used to things that made her uncomfortable was something Mari always handled best on her own terms. It took a thoughtful, accepting adult to see that and meet her where she was.
Tripp was obviously one of those people.
Honestly, that surprised Jillian. He was so fearless himself. And he’d clearly been excited about getting on the Ferris wheel too. But he’d changed his tune in a heartbeat when Mari said she didn’t want to go.
“He’s nice,” Posey said suddenly.
Jillian glanced over at her daughter, whose eyes were still on Tripp and her sister.
“I think he really gets Mari,” Posey added, glancing up at her mom.
“He sure does,” Jillian said as the music began and the Ferris wheel jerked to life.
“Whoa,” Posey squeaked excitedly.
“Here we go,” Jillian said, grabbing Posey’s little hand.
They began the slow ascent that swept them up over the parking lot and past the trees.
“You can see the top of that tree,” Posey said, pointing to the little dogwood near the parking lot.
“You don’t see that every day,” Jillian said, earning her a little giggle.
“And you can see the roof of that house,” Posey said, wiggling so much that Jillian was glad for the safety belts.
“Do you think we’ll see any birds while we’re up here?” Jillian asked her.
That got her a big chuckle, followed by a list of everything else Posey could see.
It was fun to get a view over this bit of the neighborhood around the school, and when she craned her neck a little, she could see the festivities on the school playground behind them.
When they passed Tripp and Mari the first time, they all waved and waved.
On their second pass, Tripp had his phone aimed at them for a photo.
The third time around, Mari was the one taking pictures with his phone, a big smile on her face.
“She has to be careful,” Posey said, after giving her sister a big smile. “She might drop it.”
“Yes,” Jillian said. “Tripp is trusting her. But I’m sure she’s being careful.”
She had told the girls many times that phones were expensive and easy to break, so she didn’t let them handle hers very often.
While that was true enough, the reality was that she just didn’t want them staring at screens all their lives. It was inevitable that when they were older they would have phones of their own. But for now, she liked their eyes wide open and taking in the real world.
It was funny how things had turned out. She had thought keeping them off screens as long as possible would give them a childhood that was more like her own. And now that they were here in Sugarville Grove, their childhood was going to be a lot more like hers.
And since she wasn’t working crazy hours as an ER nurse just to keep a roof over their heads anymore, she was actually going to be around to enjoy moments like this one with them.
“You’re happy,” Posey said.
“Yes,” Jillian replied, turning to her daughter. “I am happy. I like being here. How about you?”
“Yes,” Posey said. “I’m not afraid.”
“You sure aren’t,” Jillian laughed. “But I was thinking about more than just the Ferris wheel. I meant being here in Sugarville Grove as our home. I think it’s nice to live in the country with Gram and Grampy. Do you?”
“Yes,” Posey said with a smile. “I can play outside, and I can help Gram make cookies and Grampy make dinner.”
“It’s a pretty good life,” Jillian agreed.
The next pass was their last, and then the music stopped, and the wheel turned very slowly, letting passengers off two-by-two.
Tripp and Mari were waiting for them at the exit, with Mari very excited to show off the photos she’d taken.
“These are so good,” Jillian said, genuinely surprised at how nicely they had turned out. She was always the one taking the photos, so she didn’t have many recent photos of herself with either of the girls.
“I’ll text them to you,” Tripp said. “But first, let me get one of you with Mari.”
Mari smiled and wrapped an arm around Jillian’s waist, and they held each other tight and smiled as Tripp took a picture.
“Now get in there, Posey,” he said.
Posey shot over and snuggled in while Tripp took a few more.
“Now you,” Posey told him.
“We’ll do a big selfie,” Tripp said, coming over and lifting his hand way over his head.
He wrapped a big arm around them all and Jillian smiled and tried not to notice the spice of his aftershave as he took one last photo.
“Now we won’t forget how much fun we had today,” he said, smiling down at his phone as his fingers tapped.
A moment later, Jillian’s phone buzzed in her pocket.
“Thank you,” she told him. “Now, what’s next, everyone?”
The rest of the morning passed quickly. There were plenty of games and good things to eat, and they bumped into so many people she knew, and even more that Tripp knew.
It was a pleasure for Jillian to show off her girls. And she found she didn’t mind people’s eyes traveling between her and Tripp, or the knowing smiles they gave her, clearly assuming the two of them were together.
Maybe Allie wasn’t the only one who knew Tripp had always had a thing for her.
Which also meant that maybe other people also thought Jillian had considered herself too good for Tripp, instead of the other way around. She tried not to overthink it, and just enjoyed the day for what it was.
“Can I tell them?” Mari asked Tripp once or twice as they explored the festival.
“Not yet,” Tripp said the first few times, waggling his eyebrows at her and making her laugh.
“What?” Posey asked. “What?”
“It’s a surprise,” Mari said, her eyes sparkling.
When they had exhausted all the fun things at the festival, Tripp finally turned to Mari.
“Want to do the honors?” he asked her.
Mari hopped up and down and then cleared her throat.
“We have a surprise for you,” she said proudly. “Only, if everyone still has lots of energy.”
Posey sure did, and Jillian was feeling surprisingly peppy herself.
It was amazing how much nicer it was to attend an event like this one with another grownup along.
They were able to wait in different lines with the girls when they wanted different things, and she had even taken them to the bathroom while Tripp got them hot cocoa.
She hadn’t been torn even once about what to do next, because together they could do everything the girls wanted, even when that meant she did an art project with Mari while Posey and Tripp did a three-legged race.
“I hope you’ll like this,” Tripp said, as they headed down Maple Street.
“We’re walking to the surprise?” Posey asked suspiciously.
“Yes,” Tripp told her. “It’s right in town, you can almost see it from here.”
“This isn’t a big city,” Posey said wisely. “You see everything.”
“It is a small town,” Jillian agreed.
“I like to think that means we have all we need here,” Tripp said. “And not much that we don’t need.”
“I like things I don’t need,” Posey said thoughtfully. “Like toys.”
“Oh, you definitely need toys,” Tripp told her, earning him a giggle from both girls. “And we do have a very nice toy store. The man who helped you get on the Ferris wheel owns it.”
“Really?” Jillian asked.
“Oh yes,” Tripp said. “You should check it out. He’s got everything you can imagine. I wish it had been there when we were kids.”
“Can we go today?” Posey asked eagerly, practically hanging on Jillian’s arm. “Can we go right now?”
“No,” Mari said firmly before Jillian could answer. “Because the surprise is next.”
“Oh, yeah,” Posey said, straightening up. “The surprise.”
Jillian didn’t know for sure what Tripp had in mind, but she was guessing that it had something to do with his family’s ice cream shop. Maybe he was going to surprise them with a nice treat.
But instead of heading in that direction, they crossed to the other side of Maple Street at the corner with Bear Avenue.
“Okay, guys,” Tripp said, stopping as soon as they reached the edge of the park. “Are you ready for Mari to tell you what your surprise is?”
“Yes,” Posey said. “Yes, yes, yes.”
“It’s ice skating,” Mari squealed. “We’re going to go ice-skating.”
Posey laughed and jumped up and down.
“You girls have never been ice skating before,” Jillian reminded them.
“But they’ve got you to teach them,” Tripp said. “And me.”
Jillian nodded. She had never been good at ice skating, but Tripp was a hockey player, and now a coach.
The girls would be in good hands. And this was another perfect example of how much easier having two adults in the mix made things.
She never would have tried to take them both on the ice on her own.
“Only if you want to,” Tripp added. “If you’re not ready yet, it’s okay. The ice will be here all winter.”
She glanced over at the pop-up skating rink. It was a perfectly safe place to learn to skate. There was a time when the kids in Sugarville Grove all skated on Little Bear Lake when it froze over. But that hadn’t been allowed in years.
“It sounds really nice to me,” she said. “If you girls think so?”
“Yes,” both girls yelled at once.
“You have to be very careful though,” she told them. “And do exactly as you’re told.”
The girls agreed and they were true to their word all through renting skates and listening to Tripp explain exactly what they were going to do when they got out onto the ice.
They made it all the way to the entrance to the rink without a hitch.
“I’m scared,” Mari said suddenly, just before they stepped onto the ice.
Tripp had been leading the way, and Mari was right behind him.