His cheeks turned slightly pink, but he didn’t say anything. She hadn’t needed to be close to her sisters in college because she’d had Austin. He must know what huge a hole it had left in her when he left. But given his radio silence since graduation, he just didn’t care.
“Anyway, thanks for helping me out back there.” Harper looked down at her feet, unable to keep eye contact with Austin. “I’ll try to cover as much ground as I possibly can in an hour or two, and will try to find you when I get back.”
Harper turned on her heel to make her way down the mountain, anxious to get away from Austin, and the painful memories that resurfaced whenever he was near her.
“Aren’t you going to get your car?” Austin asked.
Harper kept walking and didn’t look back. “Audrey’s car is already missing. I don’t want someone to notice another one gone.”
“So you’re walking all the way to town?”
Harper sighed and stopped, hands on her hips and eyes looking skyward. “Just to the highway, then I’ll get a rideshare.”
There was the crunch of leaves and gravel behind her then a strong hand grabbed her arm and held her back. “You’re not going alone.”
Harper shook off Austin’s hand and whirled to face him. “Of course I am.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“You most certainly are not.”
Austin stepped closer. “You need my help.”
She shook her head. “I can do this on my own.”
A corner of his mouth lifted in the stupid grin that used to drive her crazy. “Just like you passed Italian on your own?”
“Last time I checked, conjugating verbs isn’t the same as finding a missing bride before the producer finds out.”
“And it’s not smart for you to be out alone.”
Harper crossed her arms over her chest. “You mean in my hometown?”
“I mean, with Wedding Games. Besides, I think we should keep looking here first before you go trooping through town.”
“Trooping?” Harper lifted her brow.
“You know what I mean.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, and I told you, I already searched everywhere at the hotel.”
“But you didn’t.”
Harper balled her hands into fists. He was the same know-it-all he’d always been. It was one thing to show off in college in front of sorority girls or help Harper with her Italian. But now he wanted to crash back into her life four years later, in Wellspring of all places, and act like he knew this place better than Harper? That wasn’t happening.
She straightened her shoulders. “But I did.”
“Hear me out.” Austin held up his hands. “I had to canvas the entire property on my first day to look for places that people might try to sneak off to. At first, I thought Bruce was crazy. But I couldn’t tell you how many hidden nooks and crannies I found.”
Harper felt her certainty dissolve. He may actually have something to offer her in this situation. Not that she wanted to admit it.
“Fine. But if we don’t find her in any of your secret hideouts, I’m going downtown. And you’re not going to stop me. Do you understand?”
Austin nodded.
“Then lead the way.”
Six
5 Days Until Dream Wedding
Austin resisted the urge to grab Harper’s hand as they headed back to The Emerald Inn. In college, they had shared an easy friendship that made wrapping their arms around each other as natural as breathing. But they weren’t in college anymore, and he wasn’t sure how she would react after all these years. Austin wanted to think the friendship they’d had was still there under her hard exterior, but that was a fantasy even bigger than gender equality in Hollywood.
He could see the anger simmering just below the surface every time he opened his mouth. And he’d noticed the way her hands curled into fists when they argued. It would have been cute if she wasn’t legitimately angry with him.
Not that any of this was his fault—at least, not the current predicament they found themselves in. The Hudson sisters were giving all the drama Bruce could ever ask for, but it was Austin who would have to clean it up. The least she could do was listen to him and let him help.
No, that wasn’t fair to Harper. He’d been the one who burned that bridge—not her. And now he had to deal with the consequences.
Thankfully, Austin already had his clipboard with him so that if the two of them were caught together, it would look like they were doing something show-related. Unless Jennifer caught them.
Austin couldn’t let that happen.
On the first day of filming, Bruce had laid out some serious consequences for fraternizing with the contestants of Wedding Games, and all production staff were encouraged to speak as little as possible with them. Most people didn’t need to be told twice. The threat of being fired, and possibly blacklisted, was enough motivation for most people to treat the contestants like they had the plague.
Austin held his show notes in front of him as Harper followed him through the halls of The Emerald Inn. And to her credit, she didn’t argue or make any sarcastic comments. They passed a few hotel staff and a lone cameraman rushing to get to wherever Bruce had commanded him to go. Austin glanced down at the schedule. Eli’s interview was up first.
Once the hallway was clear, Harper jogged up so she was beside Austin, instead of trailing him. He ignored the sudden drop in his stomach at her proximity. A hint of cinnamon and vanilla wafted off of her.
What did she do, bathe in everything delicious?
“What did Bruce say when you told him Audrey was sick?” she asked.
Austin shrugged. “He already had a new plan in place.”
“Which is?”
Right. Of course she’d want to know. And even though Austin knew he shouldn’t be sharing information with Harper—Bruce liked his cast to be kept in the dark as much as possible—she’d find out eventually. And Austin was already breaking so many other rules just by being on set with her.
“He’s doing individual interviews with everyone. And also decided this was the perfect day to cash in on the deal he made with Fox and Sienna.”
“What deal?”
“He gets a joint interview in exchange for all of yesterday’s craziness.”
Harper stopped, and when Austin turned to see what was going on, her face had gone completely pale.
With two quick steps, he closed the distance between them. But Harper stood rooted in place, her gaze on the floor. When she refused to meet his eyes, Austin reached out and touched her arm. “What’s wrong?”
She shook her head, but kept her eyes downcast. “They’re both in Audrey’s room covering for her. Fox is pretending to throw up in the bathroom if anyone comes by.”
“Oh crap.”
“Oh crap is right.” She looked up, her eyes wide. “Do you know who’s supposed to interview them? Or when?”
Austin looked down at his notes: Jennifer. And not for a few hours.
“We’re good for now. But the sooner we can find Audrey, the better.”
Harper nodded. “Okay,” she said, but her teeth tugged at her lower lip.
This time, Austin didn’t stop his hand from grabbing Harper’s. He reached out and intertwined his fingers with hers. With a squeeze, he said, “It’s going to be okay.”
“You don’t know that.” She looked down at his hand but didn’t pull away.
Austin’s heart skipped a beat. “You’re right. But that doesn’t mean we have to give up. We can start with some of the employee areas. There’s the kitchen, the maid stations, and a few closets that aren’t being used. From there, we can check some of the outside areas, including the barn.”
She gave him the tiniest smile that sent his heart thumping so hard, she was sure to hear it. But as much as he wanted to savor every moment of their intimate contact, he couldn't risk getting caught by a member of the crew who might happen to be roaming the same halls as they were.
> He released her hand, immediately missing its warmth, and led them to the kitchen. While the production staff was given free rein over most of the property, it was one of the few places everyone—including the cast—weren’t allowed to go.
The first day of filming, the head chef had insisted she meet with the crew of Wedding Games to explain that the room was off limits, even though Bruce had written that into the contract with the owners. Marcey rattled on about food safety and the health department and not wanting her secrets shown on national television. She had made it very clear that, even though the owners of The Emerald Inn had agreed to the filming, she was still the boss of her domain.
But even the head chef had to take a break sometimes, and Austin hoped that time was now. She was only serving the cast and crew of the show, so that had to mean less work than usual. He paused by the door and took a deep breath. It would only take a minute to peek inside and see if Audrey was hiding there. But Austin did not want to upset the person in charge of feeding them all.
“Are we going inside?” Harper asked.
He cleared his throat. “Yep, just waiting for you.”
Harper rolled her eyes and pushed her way past Austin so that she walked through the door first. And then immediately stopped.
“Is she there?” Austin asked, craning his neck to look around Harper.
She shook her head, her back still to him.
“Then what’s going on?”
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered as she took a couple of steps inside the room.
Austin walked in behind her, and saw a normal kitchen. “Uh, what are you talking about?”
She twirled to face him, and the smile on her face took his breath away. “This.” She held up her hands and waved them around. ”Marcey’s never let me in here before, not even when I made an emergency cake for a big wedding last year.”
Austin shook his head. “Still not following you. It’s just a kitchen.” He glanced at his watch. They’d been in here more than a minute, and he didn’t want to linger when there was a bride to find and a cranky chef who could pop in at any moment.
“Just a kitchen?” She held a hand to her heart in shock. “Look at all this space. There are three ovens, a gas stovetop—” She gasped. “Is that a Hobart Legacy?”
“Uh…”
She walked over to a large mixer. “Would you look at it’s triple interlock system and VFD?”
Austin had no clue what she was talking about. And again, it looked like a regular mixer to Austin—only bigger and with presumably more buttons than something you grabbed at Walmart. But the way Harper’s face lit up as she ran her fingers along it made Austin realize it was something special.
Harper was something special, and he’d been an idiot.
She looked up at Austin. “In a perfect world, this is the mixer that I’d use at Flour Girl.”
And in a perfect world, Austin would be the one to buy it for her.
But this wasn’t a perfect world, and as much as Austin wanted to let Harper stay in the kitchen forever, the allotted few minutes of kitchen checking were up.
He bent his head over his clipboard and made a check mark on the list of places to check he’d made while they were walking back to the inn. “Well, it looks like she’s not here. Let’s go check out some of the other places on my list.”
Harper shook her head. “Just another minute.”
Austin’s uneasy gaze went to the door and back. They were extremely lucky they hadn’t been caught yet, and he didn’t want to test their luck. “Harper.”
“Hey, do you remember that time we studied all night and forgot to eat dinner?” She opened and closed some drawers, each one causing an envious expression to pass over her face.
While there were many times they’d stayed up late and had forgotten to go to the school’s cafeteria before they closed for the night, there was only one night she meant. That night was permanently burned in his memory.
Austin nodded, even though Harper was still rummaging through Marcey’s drawers. “Yeah. We were both freshmen, and neither one of us had missed dinner in the cafeteria before. And even though dinner had ended two hours earlier, we went down anyway.”
Harper paused her investigation and looked at Austin. “You were hoping they left chips out.”
“And alas, it was empty.” He leaned against a counter. Once she got started with a story, she had to finish.
“But then I tried one of the doors, and it was unlocked. I couldn’t believe it.”
“And you were so excited.” Austin still remembered the way her face lit up when she walked in and proceeded to make dinner for the two of them. The same shining eyes and excited smile were on her face now.
Until it shifted into a sad smile. “That was a fun night.”
“It was.”
It was the first time Austin had ever done anything like that in his life, and probably would have been the last, if it hadn’t cemented their friendship. They’d shifted from classmates and dorm neighbors into something unbreakable.
Or almost unbreakable.
“Well, we should probably get going,” Harper said.
“You mean before someone catches you sneaking in her kitchen?”
Their heads snapped in the direction of the stern, female voice.
Marcey stood in the doorway with her arms crossed. “Would either of you like to tell me what you’re doing in my kitchen?” Her eyes narrowed at Austin. “Especially you. I know you were at that meeting.”
Austin thought he might faint. “I, uh…”
Harper took a few steps toward Marcey and put out her hand. “Hi, I’m Harper Hudson.”
Marcey kept her arms folded. “I know who you are. You made a cake for us last year. It was good.”
Harper beamed. At least Marcey seemed to like someone involved in Wedding Games.
“You’re that sassy one’s older sister.”
Or maybe not.
Harper chuckled nervously. “Yeah, Sienna is a little much.”
Marcey lifted a brow.
Harper glanced at Austin for help, but he could barely breathe in and out.
“Anyway, as you know, I own Flour Girl Bakery downtown, and I just wanted to see your kitchen and…” Harper’s words died off as Marcey continued to give her an icy stare.
Austin finally found his voice. “And I happened to be walking by and heard her. So, I came in to let her know she shouldn’t be in here.”
Marcey tilted her head ever so slightly.
“And now it’s time for us to go,” he said and grabbed Harper’s hand and pulled her out of the kitchen.
They hurried down the hall, Austin’s heart beating wildly as they put distance between them and the kitchen. But once they turned the corner, Austin and Harper both leaned against the wall, panting. Their eyes met and they both started laughing.
“Did you see the way she looked at you?” Austin said between fits of laughter.
Harper reached out and shoved his shoulder. “No thanks to you throwing me under the bus,” she said, giggling.
“That’s what you get for looking through every. Single. Drawer.”
“You should have warned me she had such an amazing kitchen.”
“Yeah, well, at the end, I was afraid she was going to put us in that Colbert Heritage you loved so much.”
Harper’s face suddenly went serious. “It’s a Hobart Legacy. And we would never fit.”
Austin looked at her with lowered brows. Was she really that serious about a mixer? Soon, the corners of her mouth twitched, and Harper was laughing hard again.
The moment was perfect, and Austin would have loved to stay in that hall with Harper for the rest of the day. But the staticky sound of Bruce’s voice came from his walkie-talkie.
He barked out orders for Jennifer and some of the other crew before Austin heard his name.
“Austin.”
He lifted the walkie-talkie to his mouth. “Sir?”
“I just
wanted to check in with you and see how our changes are going.”
Austin looked down at his clipboard. “Good. The boutique is able to accommodate Audrey and her sisters tomorrow, assuming she’s feeling better. ”
“And how is the bride?”
Harper’s eyes went wide, and Austin tried to give her a reassuring smile before he cleared his throat. “I haven’t been up to see her yet. Jennifer said she heard her puking her guts out.”
There was a long pause, and Austin thought his heart might burst from his chest.
“Make sure to check on her at some point, and keep me posted.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And Austin?”
“Sir?”
“You’re doing a great job keeping things from falling apart. I’m glad I can trust you.”
A warm sense of pride filled Austin’s chest, but was quickly snuffed out by the crush of guilt from lying to his boss. He glanced at Harper, who was frowning at him, and cleared his throat. “Thank you, sir.”
He waited to see if Bruce would add anything else, but the walkie went quiet.
Harper sighed, leaned back against the wall, and closed her eyes.
Austin would have given anything to make her laugh again. But he was frozen, panic coursing through his veins. He couldn’t let Harper do this on her own. Bruce would eat her alive. Yet the more time Austin spent with her, the more likely it was that he’d hurt her again. The secrets were piling up, and who knew when they’d come crashing down around him.
“Well,” she said and turned to look at him, her gray eyes full of all the regret Austin held in his heart. “I guess we’d better keep looking.”
Seven
5 Days Until Dream Wedding
Okay, so getting caught in the kitchen with Austin had been kind of fun.
And before Bruce interrupted over the walkie-talkie, it almost felt like old times—getting caught doing something stupid together, laughing at their narrow escapes, holding hands...in a totally platonic way, of course.
The moment had been so perfect, Harper almost forgot the way he’d ripped her heart out. And now that the perfect moment was over, the pain was all she could think about. It was as fresh as it had been four years ago.
The Bridesmaid & The Ex (Wedding Games Book 2) Page 4