LITMIR.BIZ

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just like that big one.”

      “I can help you do that,” Autumn said.

      Maura moved her hand to Matt’s arm and gently squeezed. Then Hannah heard her whisper, “It’s a miracle.”

      Hannah reached for the bag of candy she’d tucked beside the dollhouses. “You know, I also need someone to help me eat the treats Mr. Feazell brought in from the Sweet Stop today.”

      The doorbell sounded, and Mr. Feazell laughed. “Well, you guys eat the sweets, and I’ll go check on the other customers.” He released the curtain and returned to the store.

      “You have candy?” Autumn asked, peering over Hannah’s shoulder as she reached for the bag.

      “I sure do.” Hannah held the sack open so Autumn could see inside. “And I have enough for everyone.”

      Hannah’s father patted his hand to his stomach and smiled. “No sweets for me today,” he said, “and I’m going to head on out.” He looked back at Matt and Maura. “Pleasure to meet both of you.”

      “And you,” Matt said.

      Then Bo looked at Hannah and Autumn, and Hannah noticed how his attention focused on the little girl, fingering through the sweets in the bag.

      “I’m going over to Mitch and Jana’s house later,” he said to Hannah. “She said she’s cooking lasagna and wants us all to come. I think she got some new pictures of the baby yesterday at her ultrasound appointment. You coming?”

      “She asked me as well,” Hannah said. “And she told me about the ultrasound pictures. I wouldn’t miss it.”

      He nodded, glanced again at Autumn. “Nice to meet all of you,” he repeated, then left.

      Autumn looked up from the bag, where she’d found a fluffy piece of divinity wrapped in pink cellophane and tied with an orange ribbon. “Do you get candy every day?” she asked, tugging on the bow and opening the candy. She took a small bite and grinned. “Because I think I’d like to come back, every day.”

      Hannah laughed. “I don’t get candy every day, but I get a bag of treats fairly often. Life’s a little better when there’s sugar in it, or that’s what my mama always said.” She heard Matt’s chuckle.

      “I think I’d have to agree with that,” Maura said.

      “Well, I’d like to come every day anyway,” Autumn said, her words a little muffled with more of the sweet white candy in her mouth.

      Hannah grinned. “Good, because that’s what I’d like, too.”

      “I believe that’s a great idea,” Maura said. “Absolutely wonderful idea.”

      “You want one?” Autumn asked, holding the bag toward Hannah.

      “I never turn down candy from the Sweet Stop.” Hannah pulled out a piece of divinity, this one wrapped in blue cellophane and tied with a yellow ribbon.

      “You want one, GiGi?” Autumn asked, and Maura nodded enthusiastically, her happiness at hearing her name from her granddaughter evident in her smile.

      “Do you, Daddy?”

      “Yes, precious,” he said, and withdrew a green-and-white-striped candy apple stick.

      While they enjoyed the candy, a few people stopped at the window and waved. Hannah and Autumn waved back, while Matt and Maura smiled from the small visitor’s bench. Then Hannah passed out some hand cleaning wipes to get the stickiness off before she and Autumn continued working on the newest dollhouse addition to the town square display.

      “Okay, here’s our plan,” she said to Autumn, while she ran the cool wipe over her fingers. “I’m going to work on the outside of the store, paint the name on the building, place the patio arrangements, put flower boxes beneath the windows and all of that. Your job is to go through these things that Mr. Feazell brought us and pick what you want to put inside the store. It doesn’t have to be exactly like the candies in the store, but we want it to be as close as possible, okay?”

      Autumn nodded, intently listening to every word. “Okay.”

      Hannah held up a tiny glass case. “This display case looks like the one in the store. You’ll want to put some of the tiny candies inside, and we’ve got plenty to choose from. Mr. Feazell even found small pictures that look like the paintings that hang in the Sweet Stop. I’ll let you pick which ones to hang on the walls.”

      Again Autumn nodded and began looking through the tiny items.

      “There may be one problem with your plan,” Matt said.

      Hannah looked up and found herself face-to-face with the man who, at some point in the past few seconds, had moved from the bench to the floor. Sitting merely a couple of feet away, he looked completely comfortable on the floor, not doctorlike at all, like a dad wanting to be involved in the activity his daughter enjoyed. And like a guy that a girl would enjoy having around, to sit beside her and simply be a part of her life. He was close enough that Hannah could smell the crisp scent of his aftershave, or his soap, or whatever it was that tickled her nose and seemed so undeniably masculine.

      It’d been quite a while since she’d been this close to a man, or at least a man that she found this attractive, and she wasn’t prepared for the excited nervousness that went along with the proximity. His eyes, Hannah now noticed, were focused on her, and she had to concentrate to remember what he’d said. Then she blinked, replayed the last couple of minutes, and had it.

      “A problem?” she managed.

      “Autumn hasn’t been inside the Sweet Stop. We’ve been to the square a couple of times since we moved here, but we never went in the shop. I honestly didn’t even think about it,” he admitted, then smiled and added, “I try to watch sweets, being a doctor and all, but I do like them.” He held up the candy stick. “And I should have realized that Autumn would, too.” He shrugged. “Don’t know why that didn’t occur to me.”

      Hannah’s heart clenched in her chest. Bless his heart, he had no idea that Autumn wanted to go to the Sweet Stop because until yesterday, she hadn’t said enough words for him to know.

      “Well, that is a problem,” Hannah said, glancing at Autumn.

      The little girl’s head tilted to the side and her smile faded. “So I can’t do it? I can’t put the things inside the store?” She paused, her mouth tightening. “I can’t help you?”

      “No, baby, that’s not it,” her daddy said, and he reached in his back pocket, withdrew his wallet and fished out a few dollars. “You can definitely do it, but it’d be easier if you were able to see the store from the inside. So why don’t we go over and let you take a look before you try to decorate the little one here? We can even take some pictures with my phone, so you can look at them when you’re picking the things out for your store.”

      Pride illuminated Autumn’s face when he said “your” store, and the sight of it thrilled Hannah. She was such a pretty little girl, and absolutely breathtaking when she smiled.

      “And while we’re there,” Matt continued, “we’ll get some sweets to take home. I haven’t had nearly enough candy in the house, and every little girl needs candy every now and then. Because—” he grinned “—I have it from a very reliable source that life’s a little better with sugar in it.”

      A frisson of pure happiness shimmied down Hannah’s spine with his words and his smile.

      “Okay!” Autumn said, standing. “Let’s go get candy!”

      “Can I take her?” Maura asked, her tone almost pleading. “I want to pick out some sweets for home, too.”

      Matt had been preparing to stand, but stopped and eased back down near Hannah. “Sure,” he said, handing over the bills and his cell phone to Maura. “Just make sure you get me some, too,” he said with a laugh.

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