Her eyes sparkled. “That’s true. We’ve been buzzing about it for over a year now.” She pulled out her old, dented pan to steam milk. I’d bought her all the gadgets over the years, but in this I didn’t want her to change a thing.
Well, except that I made sure she got the really good chocolate these days.
I tried to be patient as she gathered her supplies. It had to be a really good story if she was keeping me in suspense.
“I’m sure you’re aware the Reynolds farm fell on hard times.”
I sighed. “Yes. It seems there were quite a few farms in trouble last I knew.”
“Far fewer now.”
“Oh?”
She broke apart chunks of rich chocolate into the pan and stirred slowly. “Tate Reynolds won the lottery.”
I choked on the corner of the omelet I was still nibbling on. “Excuse me?”
“It was an absurd amount of money even after taxes. Instead of hoarding the money to himself as most would do, he decided he wanted to help the town.”
“Memorial in the park?” I said with a smirk. “A bronzed version of him in that quarterback snapback pose?”
“Amber Noel.”
I cleared my throat at the censure in her tone. “Sorry.”
He had looked amazing on the field, that was for sure. I hadn’t been a cheerleader. Nope, I’d been in the marching band watching him from the sidelines. I’d missed quite a few cues thanks to him. I pushed that thought away.
“He actually has given a ton of low interest loans to the farms in the area.”
My eyebrows shot up. Not just a handout. A rush of goosebumps flooded my arms. Haven was full of proud people. The fact that he knew that made another knot in my chest loosen. I didn’t see too many people being kind and smart these days.
Mom poured the steaming hot chocolate into my favorite mug with a squirt of canned whipped cream and a sprinkle of shaved chocolate, then slid it in front of me. I curled my fingers around the warm mug with a sigh.
“But beyond that, he repurposed his family farm into something amazing.You’ll just have to see it to believe it.”
“Your storytelling skills need work, Mom.”
She laughed. “Don’t go on your phone and look it up either.”
I scraped my finger through the whipped cream. “That good? The last time I looked at the town Instagram, it had out of focus photos of the tulips in the park from Mother’s Day.”
“Margaret does her best, but she hasn’t gotten the hang of the cell phone her daughter purchased for her.”
I hid a smile behind the rim of the mug and got my first hit of perfect hot chocolate. I resisted the urge to moan, but just barely.
“Actually, a whole camera crew came to do a special story on him fromGood Morning America.”
“How the heck am I not supposed to look that up?”
“I’m telling you not to ruin it. You need to see it in person.”
I slurped up some hot chocolate. “No fun.”
“You’ll get a chance to see it at the end of the Halloween parade.”
“When is that?”
“Sunday.”
