Page 2 of Loving Carter

“Morning, Miriam.” Carter smiles at the woman. “Fine day outside, isn’t it? You look nice.”

The man is full of it, but Miriam smiles like he told her she won the lottery. I expect her to let out a tween-girl giggle at any moment.

“Good morning, Carter.” Miriam moves closer to him, kind of like a spider shifting toward an unsuspecting ant. “Thank you for the kind words. I know not everyone is interested in their appearance, but I always try to look my best.” She takes her credit card back, then shoots me a scornful look. I start to protest, but before I can, she’s already turned her attention back to Carter. “Are you here to help poor Skylar? I don’t know why she opened this shop. It’s a lot for her to handle, and she isn’t known for handling things well. It’s good you’re around to help.”

“Hey!” I put my hands on my hips and assume my best superhero pose. “I’m perfectly capable of running my own store. Carter has nothing to do with it. Plus, Miriam, if I struggle so much, why do you stop by every day?”

Miriam doesn’t answer, and since her back is to me, she doesn’t spot my frown. But Carter sees it and starts to laugh. Now I’m frowning at him, and like a good friend, he swallows the laugh—but not without difficulty. He makes a few choking noises, which immediately catch Miriam’s attention.

“Are you okay?” Miriam takes a few steps closer to him, her hands reaching toward him. “Want me to slap you on the back?” She smiles, which makes her look somewhat maniacal. “Or maybe I should give you mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.”

A horrified expression crosses Carter’s face, and now it’s my turn to bite back a laugh.

“Yes, perhaps that’s a good idea, Miriam,” I say, enjoying this little tableau. “Maybe you should give him mouth-to-mouth. We can’t have poor Carter dying on us.”

Miriam takes a rather aggressive step forward, but Carter backs up and shakes his head.

“No, ma’am. Thank you, but I don’t need anything,” he manages to say. “I’m fine.”

The smile on Miriam’s face fades. “Are you sure?”

True to form, Carter goes into charmer mode and flashes a crooked grin. “Yes, ma’am. Thank you, though, for thinking of me.”

“Of course. You’re such a sweetheart. Everyone says you’ll never fall in love, but I think they’re wrong. I think one of these days, you’ll fall hard for someone. You can’t live in a town named Endearing and not fall in love sooner or later,” she says, heading for the exit.

Carter beats her to the door, pulls it open, and holds it for her. “No offense, ma’am, but I just don’t see that happening. I’ve got my hands full.”

As Miriam walks out the door, she makes a tsking sound at Carter. “You must make time for your love life, Carter. You don’t want to be alone forever.”

The second she’s gone, he shuts the door and looks at me. “That was scary. Do you think she was talking about herself?”

“She likes you. You may have made a mistake passing on the mouth-to-mouth,” I tease.

“Ha ha. Miriam is a bit old for me.”

“Age is only a number,” I remind him in a sweet singsong tone.

“A reallyimportantnumber.” He walks over and sits on one of the yellow padded stools in front of the counter. Looking around the empty shop, he says, “No crowd today?”

“I did have a crowd this morning,” I say, feeling more than a little defensive.

I hand him a menu and try not to pout. Despite doing well the last two months, I know some people in town figure it’s just a matter of time before I fail. Hence Miriam’s comment. See, I’ve failed before in spectacular fashion. Like the time I was all set to win the crucial basketball game in high school but missed the shot and hit the assistant principal on top of his head. And that time in driver’s ed where I missed the turn and took out two trees and a mailbox shaped like a barn.

Some townsfolk think I’m doomed to fail with the bakery, which isn’t true. Still, I hear what they say. My family consists of four daughters, and people have labeled us The Perfect One, The Smart One, The Pretty One, and The Failure.

Guess which one I am?

But I plan to prove everyone wrong. I’m not a failure, and I won’t fail with this bakery. I will succeed. Just because things didn’t work out in the past doesn’t mean they won’t work out now. My bakery is doing well, despite being in a small town, especially now that I’ve discovered a new idea.

See, I sell pet cakes—cakes that I create that look like a customer’s pet. It’s more than just a picture printed on edible paper and attached to the top of a cake. Sure, I can do that if they don’t want to spend much.

But if their budget is bigger, I shape the cake to look like their pet. I never knew this market existed until I made one for fun. Trust me, it exists, and it’s huge. People pay big bucks to have a cake that looks like their dog or cat for the pet’s birthday or even their own birthday. I started out doing a few for local people, but it’s really caught on. People tell other people, and now I get orders from all over the place.

“I’m going to succeed,” I firmly tell Carter, even though he didn’t say anything.

He glances up from the menu, looks around, then focuses on me. “Did I say something and not notice?”

I shake my head. “I just want people to know I’m going to make this store work. I’m not going to fail.”

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