Page 29 of 40 and (So Over) Fixing It
You’re welcome,she mouthed back.
“No,” he said to Thad. “To name their pubs ‘drunken’ something. Drunken Otter, Drunken… Goat. Drunken…” He came up blank, and a glance at Erin said she wasn’t going to help. “Anyway, you get the idea.”
Thank goodness Thad seemed to buy it.
The sidewalk was full of people carrying supplies back and forth, already working on the booths for the weekend festival. Bypassing an overall-clad man carrying buckets of dirt—weird—they made their way into the town bakery. Carter held the door for Thad and Erin to enter the store.
Erin leaned in as she passed. “Good one, Dad,” she mumbled.
He hmphed in reply.
Other than the fact that Linc’s girlfriend owned Gimme Sugar, Carter knew very little about the store, but one step in was all it took to know he liked it. The scent of brown butter and sugar filled his nose as he walked inside. A quick glance showed him a mix of everything from simple cookies to designer cakes lining the walls and shelves. Gimme Sugar was doing a brisk business despite the late hour, likely due to the heavy traffic in town and whatever was going on at the coffee shop next door, from which loud music and raucous laughter was emanating.
Erin led them up to the counter.
“Claire.” The affection in her voice tugged at Carter, reminding him of the relationship between himself and his “adopted” brothers. He and JD and Linc were as close as family, and in the past few years Gavin had also become an integral part of his life. It seemed to him that Erin and Lily and Claire shared a similar bond.
“Who do we have here?” A lovely dark-haired woman, her warm brown skin dusted with flour along one cheek, gave them a big smile. “Am I finally getting to meet the infamous Thad?”
Thad’s giggle was inherently childlike, a sound that never failed to tug at Carter’s heartstrings. “That's me!”
Claire leaned over the counter to offer Thad her hand. “Well, I'm so glad to have you here.” She raised pretty brown eyes to Carter. “And you.”
Carter shook the woman’s hand. “Hello, Claire.”
Thad was staring around the store. “Do you have any sugar-free marshmallows?”
Thad hadn’t forgotten. Sometimes Carter wondered what he’d done to be made caretaker to the kind soul Thad possessed.
“I don’t think I have any on hand,” Claire was saying. “I do have regular ones in the back. They’re shaped like pumpkins. Would you like one?”
“Dad can’t have those.” Thad’s disappointment was obvious.
Claire glanced up at him. Carter shrugged. “I’m diabetic.” He squeezed Thad’s shoulder. “But you can have one, bud.”
“We were hoping to roast marshmallows,” Thad explained.
Claire’s bright smile made a reappearance. “Well, I can certainly make you some. And maybe some other goodies to go along with them. What night are y’all having a fire?”
“JD said something about Saturday after the festival.”
“Awesome.” Claire gestured toward a display case holding various delicacies. “Let’s talk about what you like, Thad.”
While the two navigated the wonders of the display case, Carter wandered around the room, conveniently ending up where Erin stood in front of the individually wrapped peanut butter pumpkins coated in chocolate.
She kept her head down. “Diabetic, huh? This place must be a nightmare.”
Carter chuckled. “When I was a kid, yeah. But I was diagnosed at twelve, so I’m kind of used to it. It’s not that I can’t have any sugar, just that I have to be really careful. Most of the time it’s just not worth it.” He threw a glance over his shoulder. “Thad is pretty enthusiastic about sharing treats with me, so we’ve had to have long discussions about food and carbs and balance. Luckily he gets it, and it’s definitely helped him at school when one of his friends was diagnosed as Type 1 as well.”
“And here I thought you were just a hyper-vigilante parent who refuses to allow their kids to have sugar.”
Was that so? “Glad to know you were wrong?”
“Maybe.” Her grin was sly and half hidden as she turned back toward the goodies in front of her. It shouldn’t make him feel warm inside, having Erin say something nice about him—however halfhearted—but he had to admit it did. He was having to admit a lot of things around Erin; he just had no idea what to do about it all.
After letting Thad pick out a couple of chocolate truffles to have before bedtime, and assuring Claire they’d save her a seat, they made their way over to the Drunken Otter. Similar to the bakery, Carter liked the atmosphere of the pub immediately. The place was a sort of cross between a restaurant and bar, with a dance floor and room for a band. Lily was waiting, and she and JD had gathered several tables together in the middle of the room for what she assured Carter would be a big group. Sure enough, the chairs slowly filled up with Lily and JD’s friends, including a blonde who introduced herself as a romance author, and the couple who would watch Thad later tonight while Carter stayed to help out—Evan, Lily’s assistant, and his fiancée, Alana. Carter got great vibes from them immediately, and when Alana plopped into the seat next to Thad and began a conversation as if they’d known each other forever, Carter could see why Lily had recommended them.
Feeling a rumble in his midsection, he picked up a menu from the stand in the middle of the table. “So what’s good?”
