Page 63 of Yours and Mine (Friends with Benefits)

“It’s helpful for me too, Carter. I loved her like a sister, and I know that she loved you like a soul mate. It may not get easier to live with her loss, but at least we’re able to live, right?”

He took in a deep breath and then let all the air out of his lungs. “Yeah, she definitely was my… everything.”

I finished my cupcake and lemonade. “A bunch of daisies would look really nice around the base of that tree.” I pointed to the weeping willow in the back.

“I think Daisy would have liked that too.”

“Can I plant them for you next time I’m here?”

“You’d do that?”

“Sure. Why not? I think I may plant some in front of Marge’s house as well. It’ll keep Daisy’s memory alive.”

“I was afraid after you saw this dump, you’d never want to come over again.”

“That’s nonsense. It’ll give me something to do before summer and keep my mind occupied before Nick comes home.”

A gust of wind brought the smell of manure, and Carter wrinkled his nose. “Sorry about the smell, but Betsy has bad gas.”

The cow who’d been born on my and Nick’s birthdays still roamed the fields by Mr. Grafton’s – now Carter’s – house. Mrs. Gladstone lived past the second row of trees.

“She comes over to the side yard sometimes. I think old man Grafton used to feed her.”

We heard another moo.

“You think she’d like a cupcake?” he asked.

“I don’t know. You can try.”

Carter got up and went over by the fence. He reached his hand out to the cow’s muzzle and she gently removed the cupcake from his palm.

“I think she likes your cupcakes, Jo. I may have found a new friend.”

If Carter was thinking of becoming friends with cows, then the situation was worse than I thought. But I guess anything to keep his mind occupied was better than nothing at this point.

Carter came back and stretched his legs out. His shirt lifted a fraction, enough for me to get another glimpse of his toned abs. While it felt wrong to be drawn to his strong physique, like I was cheating on Nick, my curiosity won out.

“So, what’s going on with the bakery? Must be hard on you with your house gone.”

“We’re staying with Marge. I think Dad wants to make it permanent but doesn’t know how. If you ask me, they should just stay in the house, convert it to a normal home, and build a huge bakery beside it, instead of re-building our house.”

“That’s a great idea. You should tell your dad.”

“You think?”

“Sure. And are you going to work at the new bakery?”

“I’d like to, but I have other plans. If my father can still manage it all for a while, I was thinking of starting up an online business where people could place their orders on the Internet, and we’d ship the cakes and cupcakes right to their front door.”

He sat up straight, his eyes going wide. “Jo, you should do it.”

“You think?”

“That’s the best idea I’ve heard in years. Wait, this means I could order your cupcakes without coming over.”

“Carter, if you ever do that, I will personally deliver them and smash them on your front step. You live ten minutes away, and I miss seeing you. I miss everybody. Promise me that you’ll come over whenever you need cupcakes.”

His gaze flew straight to my chest again, and I frowned at him. “Real cupcakes, Carter. Not my boobs.”

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