Carter’s mom immediately turns to him and says, “I just got to know your sister Rachel while walking over here. She told me you two have been talking a lot. I’m obsessed with her. Actually obsessed.”
I look at Carter and grin. He just won the bet, because he knew they’d hit it off instantly.
Bex seems to be entertaining both of Carter’s brothers, who are glued to their phones, doing who knows what. Evan’s already deep in conversation with Carter’s dad. Everyone looks happy, as if they all fit together perfectly, like puzzle pieces finally clicking into place.
Henry, who’s actually doing his job for once, gives Carter a call and says there’s a bunch of food waiting for him downstairs. All the guys head down to help, and when we arrive at the front entrance, we see bag after bag of ingredients and meats stacked, as if we’re hosting a wedding.
I glance at Carter. “What the fuck? We’re not feeding a hundred people.”
Carter shrugs. “Have you not learned anything? We eat a lot.”
His brothers nod in unison. “He’s right.”
We haul everything upstairs and hand it over to Debi, who immediately takes control. The whole group starts prepping,chopping, stirring, seasoning, like we’re all contestants on a chaotic family cooking show.
Carter nudges me. “Come here, I got you a little gift.”
I arch a brow. “I thought we agreed. No gifts.”
“We did,” he says. “But I thought this one would be nice, simple, and sweet. You can return it if you want, I promise I won’t be mad.”
I follow him into his room, where he hands me a thin, colorful, printed-out photo. I pull it up to my face and slowly, and when I finally see it clearly, I pause. It’s a picture of a glowing sign. Beautiful, modern, and bold. It says: Fated Grounds.
I stare at it, with amazement. “Babe, what is this?”
Carter’s eyes are full of love. “I know you’ve been mulling over names for the cafe, and I wanted to surprise you. I thought it was perfect. I mean…‘fated,’ like fate brought us together, and ‘grounds’ for the coffee. I don’t know, I just thought it sounded like us.”
I stare at the sign, speechless for a second. It is perfect. Way better than anything I’ve come up with. I run my fingers over the photo and look at him.
I say, “This is better than anything I could’ve expected. I fucking love you.”
“Let’s hang it together,” he says, smiling.
I laugh. “We’re gonna need to hire someone for that.” I pause, then raise a brow. “For a second, I thought you were going to surprise me by trying to force me to move in with you permanently.”
Carter gives me a knowing look. “I know, I know. I’m gonna stop pushing. I get it, you want to move out for a bit. Give us space so we don’t ruin what we have.”
I tilt my head. “God, now you make me sound ridiculous.”
Carter smiles and takes my hand. “Well, you are being ridiculous. I get it, though.”
He pulls me gently toward the door. “Come on, let’s get back out there.”
We make our way into the kitchen without anyone even noticing we’ve been gone.
Instantly, I hear Debi say, “Scott, look at this place, I could do so much work here. So much organizing needs to be done.”
Scott just shakes his head silently, and I can’t help but smile. It looks like Rachel’s helping the most with the cooking, and it's evident that she and Debi are basically best friends already.
Debi raises a finger. “Everyone, listen up! Food will be ready in three hours. It’s a lot to cook. So, make yourselves at home and just chill.”
Carter jumps in. “I have an idea, everyone. Let me put Harry Potter on.” Surprisingly, everyone claps.
“Put on the third!” someone yells, probably Dustin.
Everyone else agrees in unison. “Yes, the third is the best one!”
Debi rolls her eyes fondly. “Fine, you go do that. Rachel and I have the kitchen covered.”
