Page 21 of Cuddling Carly

The only thing that would make it better was if Wade was there.

Chapter Thirteen

Carly awoke the following morning to find herself surprised to actually be in Mountainville.

Part of yesterday seemed like a dream. And even though she knew it had actually occurred, it was a blur. So much had happened! The day had begun with a lot of potential. Then heartbreak. But finally hope as she arrived in this fabled town for Littles.

She still missed Wade, though. That part was going to sting for a while.

Thinking about him, she lay in bed in her small apartment rental and stared at her phone. It would be so easy to take it off the charger, grab it from the nightstand, and call him. Or at least text.

Or check her texts.

What if he’d been trying to get ahold of her?

Do you really want to start your day with ridicule? Or bad news? He doesn’t want you, Carly. Not now. He knows your secret. The whole town does. Nobody wants a Little around Valley Spring.

She knew she couldn’t run forever. Eventually she’d have to square a few things away and return to her hometown. Right now wasn’t the time, though. Mountainville was where she’d come to heal, and she intended to start that journey immediately.

She already had started it last night, actually.

Stella and Katie had taken her around town, introducing her to some more folks. Everyone seemed so nice! And the place really took Halloween seriously. There were decorations everywhere.

Soon, she thought, I won’t even remember what happened in Valley Spring.

But I’ll always remember Wade.

Getting out of bed, she picked up Mr. Pumpkin Head, too, from where he’d slept beside her and gave him a big hug.

“Today is going to be a good day. We’ll make sure of it.”

But first, something that might ruin that optimism a bit—she needed to take stock of her funds.

Carly’s bank account wasn’t as low as it had been in the past, thanks to the people who had paid for cupcakes at the fair with various cash apps that she then transferred to her checking. And before that she’d done a couple of orders for people around town. She also had a pretty good wad of cash as some folks had just used it to buy cupcakes.

And, with Stryker being kind enough to fix her car for free, she was okay. But only for a few days. Maybe a week or two, if she really stretched it.

Soon, she would have to make some money.

Maybe there were jobs around Mountainville she could find and just stay there for a while. It wasn’t like there was anyone back in Valley Spring waiting for her to come home.

They were probably happier she was gone, actually. Not that she was even close to anyone, really.

Looking at Mr. Pumpkin Head, she said, “I know what you’re thinking—I shouldn’t focus on the negative. You’re right. Something will turn up. It always does!”

The stuffie just kept smiling at her.

Carly readied for the day and thirty minutes later, she opened the apartment door to find Katie and Stella coming up the stairs outside.

“Good morning,” she told the women. “What are y’all up to?”

“Good morning,” Katie said. “We were coming for you. It occurred to me this morning that we never got your number last night.”

“Yeah. We didn’t know if you’d want to sleep in or not, so we weren’t sure if we should knock on your door,” Stella explained. “Just in case you were still in bed.”

Katie looked slightly mischievous as she added, “Yeah, but in the end, we decided to do it, anyway.”

Carly laughed. “It’s okay. I’m ready to get going. And y’all can drop by anytime. I’ll give you my number, too.”