Page 9 of Sweet Trouble
He recognized the woman as one of the Horticultural Club volunteers, and said a silent prayer of thanksgiving that it wasn’t a school employee.
“Hey, Mrs. Holmes,” he called out to her. “Sorry we’re being so loud. I was having a little trouble with the hose.”
“I can see that,” Mrs. Holmes said, clearly trying to hide her smile. “Well, maybe just shut it off. Your hands look plenty clean to me.”
“Will do,” he said, waving and trying to give her a winning smile, though he was pretty sure he looked about as charming as a drowned rat.
Mrs. Holmes shook her head and headed back into the greenhouse, where she was hopefullynottelling his sister all about his antics.
“Let’s get dried off,” he said to Posey. “We don’t want you catching cold.”
Thankfully, there were towels by the handwashingstation and he was able to get her hair and coat more or less dry.
“My hat,” she said, grabbing it off the ground. “Hey, it’s not that wet.”
He took it from her and while she was right that it could have been wetter, he still didn’t like the idea of her putting it on her head.
“Here,” he told her. “Put that in your pocket and take my spare.”
She watched with big eyes as he pulled his spare knit-wool hat from his inside jacket pocket. It was still dry, and he smiled at the sight of it—moss green wool with a white snowflake pattern.
“Snowflakes,” Posey said with a smile.
“A friend of mine made it for me,” he told her. “Hopefully, it will be lucky for you and bring us some snow.”
He watched her eagerly pull it on. It was a little big on her, but when he rolled up the bottom once, it didn’t cover her eyes.
“That’s nice and warm,” she announced. “Now I’m ready for snow.”
He chuckled and grabbed the watering can himself, filling it carefully so that they wouldn’t get any wetter than they already were.
“Do you want to go water some lettuce?” he offered, pointing the way to the greenhouse.
“Yes,” she said. “Okay.”
But she glanced over at the hose, looking a little disappointed that they couldn’t keep playing in the water.
She was definitely a kid after his own heart.
Once they were back inside, he warmed uppretty fast. And even though he got some funny looks, no one exactly accused him of having a water fight with a child, which was a relief. Allie was on the other side of the greenhouse, and he hoped she wouldn’t spot him until he dried off a little.
Posey got right into watering the vegetables, her little face so serious as she tried to get the perfect amount without spilling. To be such a funny, energetic kid, she really knew how to focus, something Tripp had struggled with a lot at that age.
Before he knew it, Allie was telling the kids it was time to line up and wash their hands.
This time, there were no mishaps, and the last child was drying her hands just as the sound of the school bell carried across the meadow.
“Perfect timing,” Allie said to the kids. “And great work today, everyone. Say a big thank you to our volunteers, and then follow Mrs. Holmes back inside.”
“Thank you,”the kids all chorused.
The volunteers all smiled, looking really happy. It hit Tripp all over again what a good thing his sister had done here, and not just for the kids.
He headed out after them, letting the children get ahead, and was happy to see Allie dropping back to join him.
“Did you have fun?” she asked, her eyes twinkling.
“Yeah,” he said. “It’s great to see them working with the vegetables and all. They really like it.”
