Chapter 287: Carla

Buttercup's emptiness consumed her.

~Grandfather in The Princess Bride

August, 2020

Ahhhh...the Huckleberry Festival. Carla grinned with happiness as they wandered through the booths, the sweet smell of huckleberries drifting on the warm summer breeze. This was the perfect date – free, fun, and lots of great samples. There were huckleberry jams and huckleberry pastries, of course, but here at the festival, she could also taste-test huckleberry coffee and huckleberry wine and huckleberry pancakes and her favorite, huckleberry ice cream. Especially right now, in the heat of the summer.

"I keep expecting to see a huckleberry beer for sale," Christian murmured in her ear, and she laughed.

"If we find that, I promise to buy you a six-pack," she said with a saucy wink.

"Yeeaaahhhh...let me try it first," Christian said skeptically. "The huckleberry wine was good, but I'm not so sure about huckleberry beer."