Page 34 of Loving Carter

I hand her the coffee cup in my right hand. “I brought your usual.”

“Wow, that’s really nice of you.” She waves me farther inside to some chairs in front of a large desk. “What can I do for you?”

Now here’s the tricky part. How do I use finesse to explain this situation to her?

“You should go out with Carter Warren,” I blurt. So much for finesse. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to surprise you like that.”

She waits until I sit in one of the chairs, then sits across from me. “I do people’s income tax. Nothing surprises me.”

I laugh at that. “I bet.”

“Now why should I go out with Carter?”

Her tone is very polite, but she must be thinking I’m not playing with a full deck. “He’s my friend, and I would like to find him someone nice to date. However, you should know going in that he’s planning on moving back to Dallas once he gets his aunts’ ranch running smoothly.”

“So you think I should date a man who’s planning on leaving town?” Although her question makes it sound like she’s a little insulted, her expression counters that, and it’s clear she’s actually amused.

I’m lost as to what I should say next. “I’m sorry. You may be looking for someone with whom you can build a relationship.” Then I begin to feel bad for putting her in this awkward situation. “Or you may not be looking for anyone at all. I know I’m not.”

Okay, now I’ve done it. I’m currently doing the one thing that drives me nuts when people do it to me. Here I am, trying to fix this poor woman up. Why didn’t I think this through before I did it? I stand. “Sorry. I really don’t mean to do this to you. I wasn’t thinking straight. You need to do what you want to do in life. I’m in no way trying to fix you up.”

Rachel laughed. “Skylar, I’m finding this conversation fascinating. Are you or are you not trying to get me to go out with Carter?”

“It’s complicated,” is all I can think to say.

“How does Carter feel about you coming here? I know you two are good friends.”

Are we still good friends? I’m not sure anymore, but I like to think so. “We are. Can you just forget about this whole visit? It made sense in my head, but it’s the wrong thing to do.”

She stands and walks over to me. “I think it’s nice that you’re interested in helping a friend. Does he even know you’re here?”

“Not at all.”

She tips her head slightly and says, “So you don’t even know if he’d want to go out with me. Won’t that be a problem if I say yes?”

“Yes,” I admit, then laugh and shake my head. “Please just forget about this visit. Think of it as me dropping off some coffee and that’s all.”

“And if I am interested in going out with Carter despite him leaving soon, what do you suggest I do?”

Her question catches me off guard. “You do want to go out with him?”

She shrugs. “Sure, why not. He seems like a nice guy.”

“He is.”

“I’ll just make sure I don’t fall for him,” she says.

“Absolutely. That’s the one thing you need to avoid.” Now that she’s said she’s interested, I feel odd. Unsettled. I guess it’s because I’m worried Carter will be upset.

“I’ll give him a call at his ranch and see if he’d like to go to the movies or out to eat,” Rachel says.

I head for the door, wondering if Carter is going to kill me. “That sounds great.”

“Thanks,” she says. “I appreciate it.”

As I head back to my bakery, I’m not sure she should appreciate what I just did. It was the very thing I get mad at other people for doing. Moreover, Carter specifically said he’d find his own person to date.

Still, who knows when he’ll get around to asking someone out? What if he takes a long time and this odd limbo land we’re in lasts forever? Then I’ll lose my best friend, and I can’t stand that thought.

---