Page 130 of Pumpkin Spice Promises

Beau

Exactly.

I started walking toward Meme’s Camry.

Beau

How’s the bakery?

I stopped.

Carson

How do you know I’m at the bakery?

Three dots.

Beau

Clover.

Carson

Your family needs hobbies.

Beau

We have hobbies.

Carson

Gossip isn’t a hobby.

Beau

In Willow Creek it’s practically an industry.

That earned another smile. Texting him was different from standing beside him. There was no awareness of his height. His hands. The way his navy eyes sometimes stayed on me a second too long. No fear that he might notice my gait if I moved wrong. No accidental touches.

Just words.

Beau

Did you eat?

Normally, I would have bristled. Instead, I pictured him sending the question while working in the sun, probably covered in dirt and equally guilty of forgetting lunch.

Carson

Did you?

Beau

This feels accusatory.

Carson

Answer the question.