Page 13 of Loving Carter

Bill jumps in. “Plus, food trucks will take up too much room and may want us to guarantee a certain number of sales. More importantly, we want people to sample local foods.”

I’m not sure this is going to work. “The only local places to eat are my store and the café. And my store’s a bakery, not a restaurant. Endearing doesn’t have a wide selection of food.”

“I offer a lot of choices,” Ty says. “I can give them samples of the chili. Most people like it.”

“Yes, do that, Ty. And Skylar, just give them small bites of something yummy. That will work for the few hours the business expo is open,” Bill says firmly. “Your bakery and the café can offer them enough samples to keep everyone happy.”

“I’m giving out chili,” Ty says again with a grin. “Then I’ll sell iced tea. I’ll make a boatload from the tea.”

I can foresee a lot of problems with this idea, but I’m not going to fight about it tonight. “I’ll think about what I can offer.”

“Maybe Carter can help you,” the Paterson sister on the right—I’m fairly certain it’s Nina or maybe it’s Tina—says.

“Sure. Skylar and I will work on this together,” Carter assures them, then looks at me and does that raising one eyebrow in silent question thing he does.

I’m not sure what he’s trying to tell me. “Um...okay. I guess you can offer suggestions.”

“Carter, you’ve been such a gift to this town,” the Paterson sister on the left says as she smiles at Carter.

I struggle to contain a laugh, and it doesn’t help when he looks directly at me and winks.A gift?

“We certainly appreciate your help,” Denise says. Turning to me, she asks, “Do you think you might be able to locate bands?”

“Me?” I look around the table. Is everyone else invisible? I’m already handling food, and now they want me to find bands? This committee is starting to get my hackles up, which is saying a lot since I’m not even sure what a hackle is. But whatever it is, mine are up. “I don’t know any local bands. Maybe someone else could handle that,” I say.

“We really need someone to sign up for it,” Bill says, frowning at me. “Cooperation is needed to make this expo a success.”

His tone ticks me off, and I’m all set to say something I know I’ll regret, but before I can, Carter jumps in and stops me.

“I’m sure Skylar and I can locate a few local bands who’d love to play,” he says. “But maybe the rest of the tasks can be divided between everyone else.”

I barely resist the urge to second his idea. “Okay, Carter and I will find a band or two,” I say, my enthusiasm level about the same as a toddler faced with liver.

“Great. It sounds like we’re in good shape. Now, everyone needs to make arrangements so we can hold this at the end of August. I’ll make flyers we can email and post on social media,” Bill says. “We’ll want to tell people specifically what sort of children’s games, food, and music will be part of the expo.”

“The expo is going to be so much fun.” This comes from the Paterson sister on the right.

“Yes, Tina. It will be fun,” Carter says, then glances at me.

Tina? I was certain the speaker was Nina. When my grandmother had gotten upset, she always said, “I’m so mad, I could kiss a frog.” Based on my aggravation level, I want to kiss several frogs right about now.

But the lady in question does nothing to correct Carter. Instead, a smile lights up her face, so he must be right.

Seriously, how is he managing to tell the sisters apart?

He’s leaning back in his seat, totally unconcerned. He can probably tell the sisters apart because he has some sort of ESP when it comes to women. He seems to understand them exceptionally well, but they don’t understand him at all.

Of course, when it comes to understanding Carter, I have an advantage. I knew him before he was a gorgeous hunk, back when he was just another rowdy kid biking all over town. But even though some women in town think he moved back to Endearing with the intent of settling down, that’s not true. He’s only come back to do what he thinks a firstborn child should do—take care of family. I know that sooner or later, he plans to leave again.

“We’ll need to know the names of the bands as soon as possible so we can list them in the ads,” Denise says, pulling my attention away from Carter.

“Skylar and I will get it set as quickly as possible,” Carter says. “Don’t worry.”

“Keep in mind we want to make sure people are wowed.” Bill taps his pen lightly on the table to reinforce his point. “It’s a showcase for the businesses and the town. People need to leave with a positive impression.”

How much “wowing” can a small town like Endearing do?

“We’ll keep the need to wow in mind,” Carter says, although the glimmer in his eyes tells me he’s trying not to laugh.

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