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They said their goodbyes to Ross and Terry, then ambled toward Carter’s Suburban.
***
Carter sat across from Darcy in a booth and peered down at the menu in Mike’s Diner. The delicious scents of burgers and fries washed over him, and country music played on a nearby jukebox.
He snuck a peek at Darcy while she perused the menu. How easy it was to talk and laugh with her.
“What are you going to have?” she asked.
Carter scanned the menu once again. “The burgers smell amazing.”
“I agree.” Darcy grinned and closed her menu. “I want a bacon cheeseburger and fries.”
Carter closed his menu. “I’ll have the same.”
Just then their server arrived with their drinks, and they shared their orders with her before she gathered up their menus and drifted off to another table.
Carter twirled a straw in his glass of Coke. “So I think it’s your turn to tell me a few more things about you. Did you grow up in Charlotte?”
“I grew up in Marvin. It’s near Waxhaw.”
“I’ve heard of it.” He tried to keep his face blank, but he was familiar with the area. The neighborhoods were known for ginormous houses tucked inside gated communities.
“My parents’ house is near where their orthodontist practice was.” She shifted in her seat. “Well, it’s still there, but they sold it and retired about ten years ago.”
“You’ve told me you like John Hughes movies, cooking shows, buying antiques in Flowering Grove, and hanging out in your dad’s garage. What else is there to know about Darcy Larsen?”
She tapped her manicured finger on her chin. “Hmm. Well, I used to scrapbook when I was younger.”
“Scrapbook?”
“Yeah.” A sheepish expression flickered over her pretty face, making her look even more adorable. “Me and my friends would get together and have scrapbooking parties. We’d share supplies and design pages. I have scrapbooks that I’ve made for my dad with photos from car shows, and there’s one all dedicated to our family trips to the beach.”
She took a sip from her glass. “I’ve made others for our special family trips to Europe and the Caribbean. My mom says she loves them, and she pulls them out every once in a while to take a trip down memory lane. I loved taking the pictures, sorting them, and putting them together with little sticker designs.” She shrugged. “I don’t have time for it now.” She twirled her finger in a lock of her hair, seeming engrossed in thought. Then her green eyes met his again. “Silly, right?”
“No, not at all.” He imagined her sitting at a table working in her scrapbooks, and he smiled. “That’s a great way to preserve those precious memories.”
She nodded and took another drink.
“From what I saw at Derek’s party, he and Haven seem to get along really well.”
“They do. They met at a party in college and started dating right away, and they’ve been together ever since. I think it’s been maybe eight years now.” She studied the tabletop, looking lost in a memory. “It seems like only yesterday we were at that party. We were such clichés, actually. Haven saw Derek, and I saw...” Her voice trailed off, and a strange expression traveled across her face—maybe sadness or even regret. Then she visibly shook it off. “Now that Derek has a house, I think he’s going to propose to Haven.”
Carter’s eyes snapped to hers. “Really?”
“Yeah. I’ve always thought they’d wind up together, but Derek was one of those guys who has a plan, you know?” She counted off on her fingers. “He wanted to be settled in a good, stable job, making a certain amount of money before buying a house. Then the ring, the wedding, the family, and the rest.”
“Huh. Good for him then.”
“What about you?”
The server appeared and set their food in front of them before leaving again, saving Carter from having to answer her. Hearing her talk about Derek and how well he was doing just hammered home how far behind he was.
“These look really good.” Darcy smothered her fries in a lake of ketchup before handing the bottle to him. “So are you a plan kind of guy like Derek?”
Carter squeezed ketchup onto his plate. He had no choice but to answer now. “Not really. I like to keep my options open. Sometimes things happen when you least expect them, and they change the entire course of your life.”
Something resembling understanding rippled across her face. “That is so true. I used to have a plan, but not anymore. I can’t even figure out what to do about finding my birth mom.”
