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“Good,” I sighed because I wasn’t ready to share my problems with the world. “You look great.”
“This old thing,” she said in that typical southern belle way, complete with a playful eyeroll. “Thank you, Lacey. You look good too.” If that add on had come from anyone else I might have deemed it insincere but Carlotta was as genuine as they come. “Even though you have legs made for skirts and dresses.”
“Not today, Carlotta. Where is this star athlete I’m supposed to interview?”
“Lewis will be here any minute. He stopped at the diner for coffee so maybe more like a few minutes.”
I had to stifle an annoyed gasp because in Carson Creek time a few minutes could mean half an hour. “I should have been late,” I grumbled to myself. Lewis Carroll was a former Olympian who’d grown up in Nashville but had chosen to get married at The Old Country House because he was a huge fan of The Gregory Brothers.
“Nonsense. I’m glad you’re early because now I can get the skinny on you and that handsome man working under you.” Carlotta giggled at her own double entendre and wrapped an arm around mine.
“The skinny? What is this an old movie from the forties?” I should have known that sharing a meal with Levi wouldn’t go unnoticed in this town. “There is no skinny, Carlotta. I got mad at Daddy and stormed out of the office and he followed to soothe my ruffled feathers.”
“Well that was mighty kind of him, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, sure it was. He’s a nice guy.” And playing referee between me and Daddy was probably his least favorite part of the job. “It was more like a working lunch than anything else.”
“Honey, that’s just no good. You can’t have dibs on a man that good looking and take it for granted.”
I pulled back with a frown. “Who said anything about dibs?”
Carlotta’s brown eyes rolled so hard I thought this might be the time they actually got stuck. “He’s yours, for now. Take advantage of it before the other women in town realize he’s on the market. Men like that don’t wind up single in Carson Creek every day.”
“No,” I snorted. “Usually they move to a place like this with a wife half their age.” I wasn’t bitter. Nope, not even a little bit. Maybe a tad angry but that was all.
“Your ex is an idiot, plain and simple. Don’t let him be the standard by which you judge all men. He is where he belongs, in the past. But this Levi character, well he isn’t just handsome, is he?” I opened my mouth to answer but Carlotta kept talking. “No, he’s also accomplished and has lived a very exciting life. You’ll never run out of things to talk about.”
“Carlotta, stop it. Please. Levi and I are friends. Just friends.”
“Okay,” she conceded and held her hands up between us. “I’ll just say this one thing and then I’ll leave it alone. Friends often make the best lovers.” She motioned as if she was zipping her lips and throwing away the key.
“Sometimes friends are just friends.” I rolled my eyes just as the front door opened and Lewis Carroll appeared, his bride-to-be Chelsea, at his side. “I have work to do, unlike some sexed up middle-aged teenager I know.” Carlotta’s feminine laugh sounded behind me and I couldn’t help but smile.
Lewis still possessed boyish good looks and the charm that had made him a household name a decade ago. He was easy to talk to, funny and had plenty to say about life in small town Nashville. “My bride-to-be grew up in New York City and she always dreamed of living in a small southern town, too many romance novels,” he joked. “So it was a no-brainer to move just outside of Nashville.”
“Plus it’s a quick drive to your Endurance Academy?”
He smiled, almost blushed as he nodded. “My mama always said that compromise with the key to a long and happy marriage and that’s just what I’m looking to have.”
Oh yeah, he had charm in spades. “I’d say you’re off to a good start.” When Lewis asked about my own my relationship status, I used journalist’s prerogative to distract him. “I hear you’re a big fan of my brothers.”
His blue eyes sparkled with joy. “I am. I’ve seen them in concert at least once a year since I was a boy, more than that when I can.”
“I have a gift for you and your future wife.” I handed Lewis the bag I’d put together to thank him for sitting down with me when every paper in Nashville wanted the story on the local boy who became an Olympian.
Lewis laughed when he spotted the TGB calendar that had broken records by selling out within an hour. “I suppose this is for Chelsea?” He laughed even louder and shook his head. “She will definitely get a kick out of this.”
