Page 18 of Loving Carter

“Definitely.”

“I hope we’ll be able to get everything done for the expo,” I say. Although I realize Carter’s busy, he’ll be a lot busier once the new visitors to the dude ranch arrive.

Kellan looks at me, and I can tell he thinks I’m daft. “Carter always does what he says he’s going to do,” he says firmly.

And I know it’s true. I know the type of person Carter is. He’s going to get everything done. He won’t flake and take off nor will he dump this mess on me.

Nope, if we’re going to drown, we’ll drown together. That’s kind of comforting in a strange way.

“It’s nice of you to help,” I tell Kellan. “I’m sure Carter appreciates it.”

Once again, Kellan laughs. “Hardly. He told me to drop it. That he had it under control. I told him too bad. I’m volunteering whether he likes it or not. He won’t give me any to-dos, so I thought I’d help with the list I’m sure you and he have made. Carter loves making lists.”

Carter might turn down help, but I’m not going to. “Great. I’ll snag one of the lists.”

“Oneof the lists?” He looks less enthusiastic now.

“Yes, there are two,” I tell him, hoping he doesn’t sprint for the door.

I run into my office and grab the notes Carter and I created. When I get back to the front of the store, Janie is talking with Kellan. I skitter to a stop by the doorway from the kitchen to the dining area, not wanting to interrupt the couple. They are so cute. Kellan just graduated college last month, and Janie is in her sophomore year.

So I hang out in the kitchen and wait patiently for their conversation to end. If Janie falls for a Warren fella, it should be Kellan. He’s the right age for her. Unfortunately, their conversation ends much too soon when they both seem to run out of things to say.

“Here are the lists.” I walk to the counter and set the papers down. When Janie starts to walk away, an idea pops into my mind. “Janie, would you like to help Kellan work on the expo? It’s slow right now, and I’ll still pay you.”

As expected, Janie readily agrees, a bright smile lighting up her face. My somewhat evil plan might work out after all. Why not help these two spend some time together? Oh yeah, and why not get these two to do some of my work?

File the idea under nefarious plans with highfalutin rationales.

“How many businesses are participating?” Kellan asks.

Good question, and I admit, “Um, we haven’t gotten around to asking the owners if they want to be part of the expo.”

Kellan looks at the paper in his hand, then glances at Janie. “Want to go with me to the businesses in town? We can find out which ones want to participate. We’ll ask them about their booths, what they want to give out as a sample, and what kind of kids’ game they want to sponsor.” He shifts his focus to me. “Any other questions we should ask?”

Stunned, I stare at him. “Are you sure you want to do that much? I feel terrible dumping this all on you two.”

Kellan stands. “Not a problem. Like I said, I might as well make myself useful.”

Janie walks over to stand next to him. “I’ll help too, and once we have all the info about the businesses, we can start coming up with a layout.”

I’m not following. “Layout?”

“For the booths. Who’s going to design and build those?” Kellan asks.

Duh! How could we forget the booths? It’s a wonderful question, and I have no idea why the need didn’t occur to anyone on the committee.

“No one is in charge of the booths,” I admit. “We didn’t discuss that. I’ll check with the mayor and verify where we’re going to hold this expo. Once I know that, and you two find out how many businesses are going to participate, we’ll figure out the booth situation.”

“Okay. So we’ll go talk to the businesses,” Janie says, smiling up at Kellan.

When Janie and Kellan head out, I breathe a sigh of relief. At least something will happen today to move this expo forward. Carter isn’t the only one feeling stress. I feel overwhelmed. Thankfully, though, with the help of Janie and Kellan, maybe some of the stress can be relieved.

I walk into the back office and set down the other list. This one is about bands. Yikes. I have no idea where to start when it comes to bands, so I text Carter.

We should talk about the bands.

After a few minutes, he texts back,I’ll stop by sometime so we can talk.

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