After putting in a full day’s work, I went inside and cleaned up. Now that I had decided to go, the hard part would be picking my outfit. I didn’t want anything too eye-catching. Drawing attention to myself was the last thing I wanted to do. At the same time, I wanted to look cute for Carter.
Nothing was going to happen between us, but I still wanted him to want me. Maybe it was pure ego but so what? Carterwould be long gone from Ferris before I knew it, but maybe I could make him think twice about going back to Los Angeles.
Ultimately, I decided on some leggings and a long sweater dress with a belt. Conservative, keeping everything covered, but still highlighting the curves I’d gotten from working my whole life. I put on some light makeup, put my hair up with a twist, and headed from my peaceful farm to the rough and tumble annual Ferris Easter Bake-off.
I had skipped it the last few years, but in the past, the competition had been fierce. Friendships had been shattered, marriages torn apart. The bragging rights from winning were a big deal and some people held grudges.
That was one of the reasons I wouldn’t agree to be a judge. The runners-up had no problem telling the judges exactly what they thought of the results. I already had enough haters in town. I was liable to get punched if I chose the wrong pie for a blue ribbon.
In that sense, Carter was a perfect judge. No one could accuse him of playing favorites, and he wouldn’t have to live with these people or see them at the feed store. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t get smacked, but he seemed tough enough to take it. Carter had more steel in his spine than I thought at first.
The sun was setting when I pulled into the high school parking lot. At least the rain had stayed away today. It was a nice evening to be out and about. People drifted toward the gym from the parking lot and I followed them.
I caught a couple of looks from people, but nothing mean or judgmental. It was more like they were surprised to see me. I supposed it was well known I kept to myself. Maybe I was getting a reputation as a hermit.
And fine. I stayed on the farm a lot, but I was stuck in an impossible situation. Either I went out in public and people treated me like I had sold out the town, or I stayed on the farmand people branded me a weirdo. I swore, there was no winning with some people and I was starting to think it was pointless to try.
Carter was pacing out front of the entrance. His gaze landed on me and he froze. “There you are,” he said with relief.
His reaction made me feel a hundred feet tall. Damn straight, he couldn’t wait to see me again. One day apart, and he was foaming at the mouth for me like a rabid dog.Keep it in your pants, Carter. Or don’t. Let’s see how the night goes.
“Don’t be mad,” he said. “But I did something.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, my good feelings withering. “Okay, I’m not mad, but it’s hanging on by a thread. What did you do?”
Any time I tried to look past him to the entrance, he would move with me, blocking my view. “Just know I mean well,” he said.
I pushed past him and saw a big professional-looking sign just inside the door, suspended on an easel. In bold letters, it proclaimed this year’s Easter Bake-off was proudly sponsored by Granny’s Acre Farm.
I grabbed his arm and yanked until he lowered his face close to mine. “What the hell is this, Carter? We never discussed this.”
“You never answer your phone,” he said. “But also, I had to move fast. I only thought of it yesterday. I had to grease a lot of palms to get all the posters expedited.”
“What do you mean, all the posters?” I glared at him. “How many posters did you put up?”
“So, we printed up fifty?—”
“Fifty?!”
“But we only put up about thirty.” Carter shrugged. “Thirty-five. Okay, we put them all up. But the whole point is to get the word out.”
“One problem, genius. I haven’t sponsored anything. Now you’ve got me lying to people.” I inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly. It kept me from screaming. “Remind me why I shouldn’t be mad as hell right now.”
“Because, technically, a donation was made to the event in the name of your farm. It was just paid by me.”
“Okay, so it’s only a partial lie,” I said. “You’re forgetting I don’t like drawing attention to myself at things like this. Well, I usually avoid them entirely, but when I do come out, I find it’s best to fly under the radar.”
“My response to that, Shelby, is you’ll never fix your reputation in this town by hiding.” He kept his voice low so no one else could hear us. “You need to get back out there, show them you’re not like your parents. That you care about this town.”
“Like you’re doing,” I said. “Coming out here to show the world you’re not like your father.”
Carter smiled at me, but it wasn’t the cocky smirk he often wore. It was warm and real, like he felt seen by me. “That’s exactly right. Despite what that viral post said about me, I’m not the bad bunny bastard people say I am. And you’re not the weird recluse people say you are.”
“Is that what they’re saying about me?” I looked around, like someone might be trash-talking me at that very moment. “I knew I was getting weird looks when I walked up.”
“You’re here now and that’s what’s important.” He gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze. “I’ve got your back tonight. Except when I’m judging. I take my responsibilities very seriously. You ready to go in?”
I looked at the open door and my sponsorship sign just inside. “This is overwhelming, Carter. To say the least.”
