Page 30 of Loving Carter

Then I turn off my phone. I’m going to go shower and find a nice book to read on my tablet. I’m through thinking about this, at least for today.

***

THE NEXT TIME I SEECarter is in person at the Wednesday night committee meeting. He hasn’t come into the bakery for the past few days, which is unlike him. I’m not sure what’s up with him, but I don’t believe for a moment that Carter is trying to get me involved with someone else so I’m off-limits. We simply don’t have that type of relationship.

No, I think his motivation is that he feels I need someone in my life so I can be happy. I get that sentiment from lots of people in town. They’re always tossing single men at me like I’m a duck and they’re throwing me breadcrumbs. I’ve come to expect it from most everyone. Sure, I want to settle down and raise a family, but I can find my own dates. I don’t need—or want—other people to find dates for me.

Carter knows this.

I’m sitting across the table from him, but we both avoid looking at each other. I worried all day that I might start yelling at him in front of the committee because I’m mad and hurt. Not a good combination.

But instead, now that I see him, I feel sad. If he wanted me to go out with his friend, he could have simply said that. He didn’t need to concoct this elaborate plot.

“So all the businesses have agreed to booths,” Carter tells the group. “We need to pick where we’ll set up and then determine what kind of booths we need and who’ll create them.”

“We can use the tables in city hall. The Parks Department can also help,” Bill says.

“The library has some large tables as well,” Denise offers.

We start determining how many tables are available and then venture beyond that. What sort of decorations will we recommend to the businesses? What can the city provide and what will they need to supply themselves?

“Before we get too far, I think everyone should wear costumes that match the type of store they have,” one of the Paterson sisters says.

I’m writing notes as fast as possible, but this comment stops me in my tracks. “I don’t understand.”

“You could wear a floppy hat, an oversized apron, and jumbo oven mitts,” the sister says, clapping her hands at her own idea. “The oven mitts could look like they’re the mouths of dogs. You can even pretend to make them bark.”

I can’t have heard this right. “What?”

Rather than answer me, she shifts her focus to Denise. “You can wear a costume with lots of books on it, maybe a T-shirt with book covers.”

The other sister jumps in now. “And Hugh, for the auto repair store, you can—”

“Stop.” Hugh holds up both hands. “I’m not dressing up for this.”

Sensing my chance, I add, “And neither am I.”

“I’m not either,” Denise says. “It’s silly and distracts from the message we’re sharing with visitors.”

Both sisters frown at the same time, and the one who initially suggested the idea looks at Carter. “It would have helped if you would have agreed with us.”

I’m not sure what that’s about, but whatever it is, I’m glad he didn’t agree. I glance at him, and he finally meets my gaze. Even though things between us are really discombobulated these days, when he smiles slightly, I feel like a ray of sunshine has broken through the cloudy skies.

“Okay, now that we’ve decided on that idea, let’s focus on the booths,” Bill says.

I go back to taking notes, feeling much better now that Carter has smiled at me. The plan is really coming together, and as the meeting wears on, we agree on several other major decisions. It’s almost an hour later before Bill asks, “What about bands?”

He’s looking at Carter, but I answer instead. I tell him what Gabe and I agreed on. Several times while explaining the bands, I mention how nice Gabe is and how much he knows about local bands. As I’m talking, I keep glancing at Carter.

And I realize Gabe is wrong. Carter isn’t jealous. He isn’t upset about my reaction. If anything, he seems pleased.

That means my suspicion is right. The feeling of sadness returns when I realize that Carter is doing what all the other busybodies in town do. He’s trying to fix me up with an eligible man. A man would be about as helpful as antlers on a cat at this point in my life. Later, once the business is settled, then I’ll consider seriously dating.

The meeting keeps going with more decisions being made, but as time passes, I’m listening less and less. I’m upset about my friend, my so-called best friend. He really did this to me.

As soon as the meeting breaks up, I head for the parking lot. I don’t feel like getting into this with Carter. I really am afraid I’ll yell at him.

I’ve just unlocked my car when I hear him say, “I’m glad you like Gabe.”

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