Page 25 of Cuddling Carly

Over the next few minutes, they discussed all that had happened in Valley Spring.

“I’ll drive to that town and tell everyone how awesome you are!” Katie said.

Carly laughed. “Thanks. But I’m not sure it would do much good. You should have seen the way everyone looked at me once word got around. It was like I’m radioactive or something.”

“Why do people think Littles are weirdos?” Katie asked.

“Because they don’t understand us,” Stella said. “And people fear the unknown. Well, some people do. Not everyone judges us.”

“Yeah. DDlg romance books and stuff are helping us become more mainstream, I suppose,” Katie noted. “But there’s still a long way to go. And I’m sorry this is happening to you, Carly. You deserve better.”

“Thank you,” she said.

The conversation stopped as three people appeared on the horizon, and it didn’t take Carly long to realize it was Stryker, Harrison, and Eli coming toward them.

Eli was considerably shorter than the other two. But she had already ascertained that his personality was twice as big as almost anyone’s.

“Hey, guys,” Stryker said. “Carly, your car is all fixed and ready to go. Thanks for letting me work on it.”

“Are you kidding? Thank you! May I please pay you?”

Stryker waved off the question. “Seriously, it was awesome getting to tinker with it. I’ve been busy making stuff for movies—and the haunted house—that I’ve forgotten how fun it is just to get under a hood, get some grease on me, and turn a wrench.”

He seemed genuine.

“Well, thank you again. Can I at least pay for the parts?”

“You did. That cupcake, remember?”

Carly smiled.

“Speaking of cupcakes…” Harrison said.

Eli nodded. “Carly, are you taking orders?”

She stopped swinging completely and said, “Like baking orders?”

All three of the men bobbed their heads.

“What did you have in mind?”

“The big community Halloween party is coming up,” Eli explained. “The town council had voted to order some cupcakes from Fort Davis. But the baker’s oven broke and now they can’t fulfill the order.”

“New oven won’t arrive until after Halloween,” Harrison added. “I’m glad they’ll have things up and running for their Thanksgiving business, but that doesn’t help us out right now.”

“Fort Davis is the closest other town to us,” Katie chimed in. “There isn’t much there, but they do have a bakery.”

“I’m kind of surprised Mountainville doesn’t,” Carly said. “Y’all have so much right here within town limits.”

“We need one,” Stella stated.

“We do. But right now, would you be able to take the order? No pressure,” Eli said. “We’ll have plenty of candy and other food on hand. But some Halloween cupcakes sure would be nice.”

Carly thought it over. As welcoming as everyone had been, she would feel awful taking their money. When she told them that, Eli shook his head.

“The council has already authorized the expenditure for it. And I appreciate your willingness to do this, but it’s a big order. It’ll be a lot of work! I know you’re here on vacation, so if you aren’t interested, no big deal. We might even be able to find a bakery who can do it in Marfa or Alpine.”

Carly thought it over. The money sure would be nice. And she’d be helping her new friends and the whole town. There was one problem, though.