Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Walking into the ballroom holding Carter’s hand, Tilly was not prepared for Lottie to attack.
“Where were you last night? Why didn’t you come back to the room?” Lottie flew at her as soon as she stepped behind her sales table.
Tilly refused to allow the good mood she and Carter had gotten into to be blown to smithereens just because Lottie was in a mood.
Instead of going on the defensive, she decided to do a little attacking of her own.
“And a very fine morning to you, sister. Did you have a nice evening with your mystery man?”
Lottie stopped and blinked before clearing her throat. “Um, yes, I did.”
“And did you find your bag that I dropped off in the room?” Tilly asked, knowing she had since she was wearing a different outfit than she’d had on the day before.
“Yes,” Lottie whispered, her face turning red with embarrassment.
Tilly glanced across the aisle where a tall, well-built man with black hair and gray starting to show at the temples was staring back at her sister.
She’d seen him buy a number of things from Lottie over the past few days and was growing curious as to who he was.
She thought he was also the man she’d had dinner with Thursday night.
After meeting her curious gaze for a moment, he crossed to Lottie’s side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“Hello,” Tilly said, addressing him. “I take it you’re my sister’s mystery man.”
“Travis Williams,” he said, extending his right hand. “And I’m not sure about how mysterious I am, but yes, I’m the man your sister is now involved with.”
Tilly had to clear her throat to keep from giggling as she shook his hand. “We’ll have to get together sometime after Carri gets here. It’s only fair you receive the same interrogation Lottie put our men through.”
That had Travis blinking as he looked at the woman in his arms whose face was now bright red. “Lottie? What’s she talking about?”
“I’ll tell you later,” her sister said before something at the doorway caught her eyes. “What the fudge?”
Tilly turned and watched as Rooker carried Carri into her booth. She wore a big bulky wrapping on her ankle and looked both tired and in pain.
“Carri? What happened?” Lottie demanded before turning her attention to Rooker. “What did you do to my sister?”
Rooker set Carri down on her chair and made sure her leg was propped up on a box under the table. Once he was certain she was comfortable, he straightened to his full height and looked down on Lottie with a serious expression.
“I didn’t do anything to your sister. She had an accident at the park yesterday and hurt her ankle. Since I have my own booth to run, and she should stay off her foot as much as possible, I’m asking the two of you to please help her as much as you can today.”
“Of course,” she said with a nod when he glanced in her direction.
Once Lottie agreed, Rooker gave Carri a kiss and murmured something that had her nodding and smiling up at him. Without another look at them, Rooker walked away, disappearing into the ballroom.
“I’d better get back to my booth as well. Be good, sugar, and I’ll see you later,” Travis said before giving Lottie a kiss that had Tilly turning away to give them privacy.
She turned back when she heard the sound of a bottom being smacked. Travis was walking away, but Lottie was frowning after him as she rubbed her ass.
Before she could gather her sisters to discuss what was going on with them, the morning announcement welcoming the attendees came over the loudspeaker and people began to enter the room.
Looking around, she did not see Carter anywhere.
Instead, two young women in security team uniforms stood near the entry doors.
Was he not going to be in the vendor room today? How was she supposed to tease him if he wasn’t around?
She had to force a smile to her lips when a pair of cute Little girls bounced up to her booth, intent on convincing their Daddies they needed one of everything.
Carter was shocked when he was recruited to take over as the head of the security team when Donnell did not show up for work.
So instead of watching his little dancer sell her tutus and shirts and other wares in the vendors ballroom, he spent the day in the security office, deploying the team where they needed to be and putting out fires.
When he tried to leave to join Tilly for lunch, of course he was needed to deal with a car accident in the parking lot. His lunch was some of the leftovers from that day’s luncheon that someone was kind enough to drop off in the security office.
By the end of day, all he wanted was to claim Tilly from her table, pick up some takeout, and go home and cuddle on the couch while they watched a movie. He walked into the ballroom to find Tilly and Lottie standing behind their sister’s empty table.
“Carri okay?” he asked as he stepped into Tilly’s booth and around the table.
“She hurt her ankle and has decided not to finish out the convention,” Tilly explained. “But we don’t want her to miss out on tomorrow’s sales, so we’re trying to figure out what to do.”
Carter thought a minute before he offered, “Maybe you could combine the three booths to be more of a boutique with the animals spread around?”
He watched as Tilly looked at Lottie. They seemed to hold a silent conversation before they both nodded.
He stepped back and watched the two sisters go to work.
In just a few minutes had an entirely new layout for their space with the last of Tilly’s shirts on Carri’s table, the animals interspersed with the clothing.
She also added a few to her hanging racks in playful displays.
Lottie set several on and in her candy display cases.
When they finished, Tilly threw herself in his arms. “Thank you, Papa. We needed someone else’s opinion and yours was perfect.”
“Glad to be of service.” Carter gave her a hug and dropped a kiss on her head. “Are you ready to go home now, little dancer?”
She bounced and giggled in his embrace. “So ready, Papa.”
As she finished gathering her things, Lottie approached looking determined. “Here’s the keys, Tilly. I won’t need them.”
She held out her hand that held not only the keys to their vehicle, but also a hotel room keycard.
“So you’re not going to use the room tonight?” Tilly asked, looking at her sister’s hand, but not taking the keys.
“No, I’m going home with Travis.”
His stomach clenched with Tilly looked up at him. “Want to spend the night at the hotel? We’ve already paid for it.”
Carter returned her tentative look with a smile. “I think that’s a great idea. We can get takeout and eat in bed while watching a movie. And they have a great Sunday buffet.”
With his response, Tilly took the keys. “See you tomorrow, Lottie.”
Lottie waved as she joined Travis and hurried from the room.
Tilly then looked up at him, appearing a little lost. “I guess we can leave now.”
“Get yourself a shirt to wear tomorrow,” he said. She checked a couple and then picked up a soft purple t-shirt with a dancing giraffe on the front. Once she’d tucked it into her carryall, he took her hand and led her out of the nearly empty ballroom.
Once they were crossing the parking lot, he asked, “You okay, sweetheart?”
She sighed before responding. “I suppose. It’s strange to not have them around all the time.
We’ve always been the Smith Triplets, always together, even if it was just spending an evening in the kitchen with Lottie making candy and Carri crocheting her critters while I sewed at the kitchen table. I guess those days are over.”
“Do we need to find a big farm we can all live on together?” Carter asked as they approached his truck.
“Will the SUV be okay here or should I drive it to the hotel and then back again in the morning?” Tilly did not answer his question, but focused on the practicality of having two vehicles at their disposal.
“How about we just leave it here for the night?”
“Okay,” Tilly agreed, sounding exhausted.
After helping her into the passenger’s seat of his truck, he pulled her safety belt across her body and snapped it into place. Then he leaned in and gave her a kiss. “Think about what kind of dinner you want.”
He closed the door and rounded the front of the truck. When he climbed into the driver’s seat, Tilly was bouncing in her seat.
“Can we have Chinese, please?”
Carter nodded with a smile. “Chinese sounds like a winner. Let’s call in the order so it will be ready when we get there. What do you want?”
“A giant house fried rice, two eggrolls, and four fortune cookies, please, Papa.”