Page 42 of Sweet Trouble
Tripp wasn’t really sure how to explain any of that to Jillian though, or how she’d react if he tried. So, he settled for just hoping that she didn’t catch any of the women in town giving him the stink-eye.
When they reached the parking lot, the Ferris wheel wasn’t ready for riders yet, so they continued around back to check out the other activities.
“Wow,” Mari murmured.
Tripp turned to see what she was looking at and saw a bunch of younger kids using spray bottles of colored water to decorate the snowmen the bigger kids had made.
“Do you want to do that?” he asked her.
She nodded her head, and they both looked to Jillian.
“That’s a great idea,” she said. “Posey do you want to do it too?”
“Yes, and there are other kids over there,” Posey pointed out. “Littlekids.”
“There sure are,” Jillian said. “That looks like a fun way to meet some new friends. Will you keep an eye on your sister, Mari? I’ll be right here if you need me.”
Mari perked up at the idea of watching over her sister, and Tripp realized how cleverly Jillian had handled the situation.
The girls took off, and Jillian turned to Tripp.
“What’s on your mind?” she asked.
“I just… you’re like a magician,” he said, shaking his head.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked him.
“Posey was excited to see the other kids,” he said. “But Mari was shy. So you gave her a mission.”
Jillian’s expression shifted slightly and he almost got the sense that she was impressed he’d picked up on that little detail.
“She’s a lot like I was at her age,” shesaid. “I always felt more confident when I had something constructive to do.”
“That’s an amazing insight,” Tripp said.
“It took me a while to piece it together,” Jillian said, chuckling. “But once I did, it made social situations a whole lot easier for me. Plus, everyone is glad to see you when they know you like to pitch in.”
“Is that why you volunteered so much?” he asked her.
“Yes,” she said. “I liked helping out, and it made it easier to get involved.”
“I never would have guessed that you were shy,” Tripp admitted. “I always thought you were quiet just because you were no-nonsense.”
“It was probably a little of both,” Jillian admitted with a sheepish smile. “But I like to think my tolerance for nonsense has gone up a lot since having kids.”
Her eyes moved to where Posey and Mari were spraying pink and blue clothing on a snowman and practically falling over with laughter.
“They put out a pretty solid stream of good nonsense,” Tripp agreed, smiling.
The girls finished up and returned their spray bottles to the table where a couple of volunteers were refilling them.
“We want to get on the Ferris wheel,” Posey panted as she ran back to them, her eyes shining.
“Yes,” Mari added quietly as she caught up to her sister.
“Awesome,” Tripp said, feeling pretty excited to get on the Ferris wheel himself.
It was only about two stories tall, but there still mightbe a neat view over a bit of Maple Street. He wondered if they would be able to see to the park from here.
