“Do you want to ride it?” Dalton bent to ask Dove.
“It’s too loud,” Dove said, shaking her head firmly. “And it’s up too high. I just wanted to look at it.”
“Okay,” Dalton said. “Should we walk around it? I’ll bet you can really see it from up on that little hill.”
Ella couldn’t help smiling. So many adults would try to make Doveface her fearsor some nonsense. But Dalton accepted her as she was. And Ella knew that Dove was actually a lot more likely to try something new or a little scary if no one was pushing her.
He really gets her,she realized for about the hundredth time in the last few weeks.He’s so good for her.
They walked all around the engine together, admiring it from every angle.
“It’s gorgeous,” Dalton said.
“Well, we’ve got so many volunteers in town,” Ella told him. “And that engine is our town’s pride and joy. In the springtime, it seems like they’re always outside cleaning it and polishing every inch of it.”
“Andy was a volunteer,” Dalton remembered.
“He sure was,” Ella said. “But only as a teenager. He wasn’t allowed to put out fires or anything.”
“What did Uncle Andy do?” Dove asked.
“Well, I know he helped keep the fire engine and safety equipment clean and well cared for,” Ella told her. “And he went out on calls to help with the hoses, and of course they did drills all the time.”
“That sounds pretty cool,” Dalton said.
“Can I do that?” Dove asked.
“I think you have to be fourteen years old,” Ella told her. “But you absolutely can, if you still want to when you’re fourteen. The junior firefighters do a lot. That’s a really good activity to do if you want to help your town.”
“I want to help my town,” Dove decided, nodding to herself.
After the truck, they walked down the block looking at all the artwork and handmade items. There were beautiful hand-thrown mugs outside of Locally Made, and even Wags to Riches, the pet grooming shop, was selling pretty collars and bags of special homemade treats to benefit the local animal shelter.
“This place is incredible,” Dalton said, shaking his head. “You guys really take care of your own.”
“We have to,” Ella said, shrugging. “Life is good here, but things happen, and in a small community it’s better if we can rely on each other.”
“Plenty of places would be a lot better if they lived like this,” Dalton said, nodding.
They passed the day happily,grazing on treats bought for good causes, chatting with friends, stopping for Dove to do crafts and activities, and even swinging into Jolly Beans for some soup and a slice of decadent cranberryloaf, which Dalton said was delicious, but still not as good as the one he’d shared with Andy.
And through it all, Ella couldn’t help noticing how many people’s eyes caught on the handsome soldier beside her. There were certainly tongues wagging when he swung Dove up onto his shoulders so she could wave to the fire engine as it went past. Dove had shrieked with delighted laughter and even Ella couldn’t keep the smile off her face.
If folks were judging her, they certainly weren’t showing it. All she saw was a lot of smiling and nodding. She even got a rare smirk and a wink from Valerie Leighton, a friend from high school who now owned and ran a jewelry store in town.
Maybe it really is time…
It had been more than four years, but she still felt guilty over Lee, and the way she’d been thinking by the time she got back here.
The rest of the day went on with nothing but joy, and she found herself smiling more than she had in forever.
By the time the sun was going down, Dove’s energy was flagging.
“Sweetheart,” Ella said, bending to look right into her eyes. “I know you wanted to stay until the end. But I’ll bet Miss Caroline from the library would put aside some of Santa’s candy for you, if you just want to go home.”
“No,” Dove said right away, her expression fearful, as if she thought her mother might drag her home against her will.
“Then we’ll stay,” Ella said right away. “I know this is important to you.”
