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“I was just telling Sam it’s nice to have a reason to leave the house.” Cooper grins.
“Who’s this little one?” Carter reaches out a finger to run it over Charlotte’s soft smattering of hair.
“This is Charlotte Rae.” Quinn’s proud smile couldn’t be wider.
“She’s beautiful.”
“She’s all Cooper, the little stinker. I did all the work, and this is how she shows her appreciation.” Quinn teases.
“Hey, I distinctly remember doing some of the work.” Cooper winks. It makes Quinn flush, and I can’t say I blame her.
Carter grins. “I have a feeling she’s going to wrap you around her little finger, Cooper. Maybe you can use that against him, Quinn.”
“Oh, that’s brilliant.” The gleam in her eyes says Cooper is in for trouble.
“You guys hungry? I made ravioli and cheesy garlic bread,” Carter asks. We all agree that we’re ready to eat, so we follow him into the kitchen to grab our plates. Cooper hands Charlotte off to Quinn while he makes two plates of food. We sit down at the table together and talk about random things until it becomes obvious that Cooper is struggling to eat and hold a wiggly Charlotte at the same time.
“Do you mind if I take her?” Carter asks, holding his hands out. He finished eating a few minutes ago.
“Not at all.” Cooper hands Charlotte to Carter, and he settles the baby on his shoulder like he’s done it a thousand times.
Carter’s hand rests on Charlotte’s back, his thumb swiping back and forth to soothe her. I watch in real time as Charlotte’s little eyes grow heavy and begin to close. Within minutes, she’s sound asleep in Carter’s arms.
“He’s a baby whisperer,” Quinn breathes.
Cooper laughs. “The next time she refuses to fall asleep at three in the morning, we’re calling him.”
“I’d be happy to hang out with this one anytime,” Carter murmurs. A fresh wave of longing hits me square in the chest. Seeing him with a baby in his arms is doing something to me.
“Tell me about the break-in,” Cooper says, interrupting the fantasy I’d begun to build, starring Carter and a little one with dark hair and blue eyes.
Carter looks over at me with his eyebrow raised, silently asking me to tell the story. I nod my head and start from when we got home from our camping trip.
Cooper asks several questions about the destruction pattern. Then about what the officers collected as evidence.
“We stayed out of the way for the most part. I didn’t see them carrying much of anything to their cars when they were done, but they did dust for prints. Officer Brady told us they weren’t able to get any clean ones, though. He said the perps must’ve been wearing gloves or something.”
Cooper nods. “That’s not a surprise. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot to be done at this point. I’d suggest putting up cameras around your house, Carter. That’s how we managed to catch the killer who targeted Quinn.”
“I’ve already contacted a security company that Adam and Matthew’s PI suggested. They’re scheduled to come out tomorrow after the cleaners are finished,” Carter responds.
“That’s good. I’m sorry I can’t help much more than that.”
“Honestly, we didn’t believe you could do much more than what’s already been done.” I look at Carter. “We just got a weird vibe from one of the officers, so we wanted to make sure they weren’t short-changing us based on prejudices.”
“Aww. I hate that. Small towns suck sometimes,” Quinn grumbles. Her frown is adorable, and I grin at her.
“Nothing we’re not used to, and it could’ve been worse,” Carter tells her.
“And Officer Brady was great.”
“I made crème brûlée for dessert. Anyone want some?” Carter asks, changing the subject before we go down a rabbit hole of the many pitfalls of living in a small town.
“Me, but first, I need that baby. I want some cuddles.” I hold my hands out for Carter to pass her over. He gently tips her away from his shoulder, careful not to wake her up, and holds her out for me to cradle her in my arms. She’s fucking precious. Her little button nose and pouty lips are pursed in sleep. I could just eat her.
I glance up to find Carter staring at me with the same look I had on my face. It’s as if the future we’ve both dreamed about is sitting right in front of us. All we have to do is hold on to it.
A sniff has us both turning toward Quinn. She waves her hand in the air while grabbing her napkin from the table to wipe her eyes. “Ignore me. Hormones are a bitch, and I’m just so glad to see you both this happy.”
