Austin had always been the cool guy. The gorgeous, funny guy. The one that girls flocked to at parties. The kind Harper would never have a shot with. But thanks to the randomness of freshman-year dorm room assignments, Harper and Austin had lived right across the hall from one another.
The two had become instant best friends the day he poked his head in her doorway to introduce himself. When he’d seen that Harper had a cheesy teen movie on, Austin plopped down next to her on her bed and started watching. They’d spent the next hour making commentary like they were on Mystery Science Theater 3000.
It was no wonder Harper had been a goner for Austin from that first meeting. But he’d been a goner for her much taller, thinner, and prettier roommate, Katrina, the instant she walked through the door.
And that was pretty much the story of Harper’s life for the next four years. She was the kooky best friend, relegated to the role of funny sidekick. And, of course, confidant to Austin’s love troubles as he worked through the Greek girls—all the way from Alpha to Omega.
But after years of pining after Austin, and seeing him choose the wrong girl time after time, Harper had decided enough was enough. They had just walked off the stage at graduation with diplomas and mortar boards in their hands as they waited for their friends to find them in the teeming mass of bodies. There had been nothing to lose by telling Austin how she felt. It would be like the end of one of those ridiculous rom-coms they loved to make fun of. At least, that’s what she thought.
Harper could still remember the bile rising in her throat when his response to her big declaration was to turn on his heel and walk away. She could still remember the ache of her chest from crying every night for weeks when he’d cut off contact completely. She’d even stopped baking during those first horrible, lonely weeks. She would have been okay if all she’d done was completely blow any shot of a relationship out of the water, but it was so much worse than she could have ever expected. Harper had lost her best friend that day.
Their time in The Emerald Inn’s kitchen didn’t change that. Austin had shown his true colors on graduation day, and Harper had moved on—really. Now she needed to keep her distance so she wouldn’t get hurt again.
They were both quiet as she followed Austin through the rest of the inn, looking at the secret spots he’d told her about. There were fewer than he’d originally made it sound like, but it still took forever to check them all. Didn’t his stupid, beautiful face know that every minute they spent together was torture for her?
Plus, avoiding all the crew members walking around was impossible. Twice someone stopped Austin to ask what he was doing, and each time, Harper’s stomach closed up tight as a fist. Like this whole thing wasn’t stressful enough.
They’d just finished searching the barn, when Austin let out a huge sigh. “Well, it looks like she really isn’t here at the inn.”
Harper sat down on one of the decorative bales of hay artfully arranged by the barn door. “I told you. Now, can I go down to the bakery?”
“Of course.”
Harper hopped up.
“But I’m coming with you.”
She rolled her eyes. “This again?” She put her hands on her hips. “Wellspring is my home, and Flour Girl is my business. I’m pretty sure I can handle it by myself.”
Austin flashed her a wide grin. “I have no doubt that you can. You were always tough.”
His words tugged at her heart—not to mention that smile—but she pushed the warm feelings down. She didn’t have the ability to process this right now. Not when she was working so hard to keep her walls up. “So what’s with the eagerness to come along? I’d have thought you have more important things to do.”
Austin lifted up the walkie-talkie. “I just thought it might be helpful if I came since I have this. We can search for Audrey while getting to hear what’s going on with the production staff, and most importantly, Bruce.”
Harper hated that he made such an excellent point. She hated that she needed him, and she hated that she’d lost the argument. But she had bigger issues to deal with than her conflicting feelings about Austin. She needed to find Audrey before anyone found out she was missing.
“Fine. But I’m driving, and I get to pick the music.”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
They circled back around the inn toward the parking lot and, for once, luck was on their side. It was empty of any crew members or staff. The two hurried to Harper’s station wagon.
“Wait,” Austin said, his eyes wide with panic.
Harper’s heart nearly stopped. She looked out the window of the car, searching for signs that they’d been spotted.
“Do you think driving is the best idea?” he asked, his mouth turned down. “Before you were ready to walk to the highway then rideshare.”
Harper glared at him. “That was before someone wasted an hour looking at the inn where I already knew she wasn’t.” And before her legs had almost turned to pastry cream from crouching behind the car then walking all over the property.
“Let me just call it in so people don’t get suspicious.” He grabbed the walkie-talkie at his side before Harper could protest. It crackled to life, and he cycled through a few frequencies before finding the right one. “This is Austin. Harper needs to check on something at the bakery. She’ll be back in time for her interview at one.”
“She alone?” came the crackling response.
Austin glanced at Harper, and she shook her head. They couldn’t know he was with her or then they’d really be suspicious.
“Affirmative.”
“Thanks for the update. Get back in here to the mother’s room, we need to redo a few shots.”
“Sorry can you repeat? I’m out near the trees and—” He clicked off the walkie and dropped it in the backseat. “Whoops, looks like I just lost the connection.”
Harper turned her wide eyes to him. “Did you seriously just do that?”
He nodded, but looked a little pale. “Let’s just get this over quickly, okay?”
For the first time, Harper realized how much Austin was putting at risk to help her. His entire career was about to topple over like an over-baked soufflé, but he didn’t seem to care about anything other than her sister. It was almost enough to make things up to her.
Almost.
She held her breath as she maneuvered her way out of the parking lot. Once The Emerald Inn disappeared behind the many trees that covered the side of the mountain, she finally breathed freely.
She snuck a glance in Austin’s direction. “Looks like having an inside man came in handy.”
He laughed. “Oh, yeah. Because that was some serious Ocean’s Eleven stuff back there.”
“It kind of feels like it. And Bruce can be that guy who owned the casino. What was his name?”
“I don’t remember. But I can definitely see the comparison.” He waggled his eyebrows at her. “Does that mean you’re Julia Roberts’ character?”
Harper bit back the snort that threatened to surface. “I guess that would make you George Clooney, the liar and thief that broke her heart.” She’d meant it as a joke, but she couldn’t hide the hurt in her voice.
Austin’s smile vanished.
This wasn’t a movie, and they weren’t on the set of Ocean’s Eleven. They were filming Wedding Games, sure to be one of the worst reality shows in history, Audrey was still missing, and even though they’d gotten Bruce’s approval, there was no guarantee they’d be back before someone noticed the bride was nowhere on the premises. Hopefully Sienna and Fox would be able to keep everyone distracted with a fight of Julia Roberts and George Clooney proportions.
A tense silence hung between them as they drove into town. Form the corner of her eye, Harper could see Austin shift in his seat and open his mouth, as if he wasn’t sure if he wanted to—what? Apologize for breaking her heart?
“Do you want to put on some music?” Austin asked hesitantly.
Harper bit her bottom lip. Yes. No. She didn’t know. Being in such a confined space with Austin made it hard to know what she wanted.
She wanted things to go back to normal. She wanted to reach out and touch him. She wanted to slam on the breaks and kick him out of her car. She wanted her body to stop cataloging every little movement he made from the passenger seat as she pressed the gas pedal closer to the floorboard in an effort to get them to Flour Girl and out of this car as fast as possible.
“You drive a station wagon now,” Austin said, not giving Harper the silence that she thought she wanted.
“And?”
“I never expected to see you in something like this. Not with the way you always talked about getting a bright-red convertible in school. I remember you had all those magazine cutouts on your ‘dream board.’”
So Austin remembered her teeny tiny obsession with sports cars. Meanwhile he’d always talked about getting a reliable sedan—a Honda or Toyota. Something that would keep its value years after being paid off. And absolutely no red paint jobs since red cars had a higher accident rate.
“Well, people change, Austin. You of all people should know that.”
The words were harsh. Her tone was harsh. But the alternative was to smile at his teasing and make the mistake of letting Austin into her life again. And she could not do that.
She refused to let this guy break her heart again.
And the worst part was Austin should have known better. He’d seen the way Milo’s disappearance had shattered Harper. She was still bruised from her brother leaving when Austin had done the exact same thing.
Austin sighed. “Harper…I…”
She shook her head. “I can’t do this right now. I can’t make small talk about our cars because I need to focus on the task at hand. I need to keep my mind sharp while we try to find Audrey.”
Harper saw him nod in her peripheral vision, and she eased her foot from the gas pedal. This was good. If they could agree to boundaries, then maybe she could survive the next few days of filming Wedding Games.
First, she just had to survive the next few hours with Austin while they looked for her sister.
Harper drove through Wellspring, watching the sidewalks as they drove past the general store and the coffee shop. She ignored the line of cars trailing her and how the one directly behind her rode her bumper. They could honk all they wanted—she had a job to do.
A job that would be a million times easier without Austin’s constant fidgeting driving her batty.
Harper could practically feel it under her skin the way his eyes went from the rearview mirror to the side view mirror. And if he tapped on that clipboard any faster, his fingers were going to go blurry from the speed. And that cologne. It filled the car with its intoxicating smell, and Harper couldn’t escape it.
“That’s it,” she said, suddenly jerking the wheel and pulling into a small, public parking lot. “We’re walking.”
Austin’s answering sigh threatened to push Harper over the edge, but she quickly got out of the car and took a deep, calming breath.
There, she thought. Much better.
She just needed to escape the proximity to Austin. In the open air, she could breathe. She inhaled the scent of earth and exhaust. Not as appealing as freshly baked biscuits, but better than Austin’s cologne reminding her of every single stupid word she’d said to him on graduation day.
She frowned. Why in the world was he still wearing the same cologne she’d given him? She shook her head. Boys were idiots about things like that. He probably didn’t even realize it was the same one.
“Is everything okay?” Austin asked as he walked over to the driver’s side of the car.
She rolled her eyes. Is everything okay? Had their years apart reduced his conversational skills to that one catchphrase?
“Uh-huh.” Harper took another deep breath. “Just thought it might be easier to look for Audrey if we were walking down the sidewalk.”
“Instead of slowing down traffic from here to Asheville?”
Harper glared at him. “You didn’t have to come, you know. I do fine on my own.”
Austin leaned against the car and scrubbed his hands through his hair. “So do you want to split up and each take a direction?”
Her heart soared at the thought of getting away but then it crashed right back down. He wanted to get away from her too.
“Do you know where you’re going?” She gestured at the street they’d just turned off. “You’ve never been here before.”
Not even once during college had he come for a visit during a break. He’d always been skiing or soaking up the sun with his sorority girl du jour. Then he’d come back after break complaining to Harper about how boring it had been.
“You did always tell me how beautiful it is here.” He walked to the sidewalk and looked up and down the street. “But in the interest of not getting lost and losing even more time, I think we should stick together.”
Harper narrowed her eyes. “You never get lost.”
He threw his hands in the air. “And we’re wasting time arguing. Can we just go, please?”
Without a word, Harper huffed off toward the sidewalk. The two walked in silence down the street toward the Flour Girl Bakery. Harper slowed down at every store to peer inside. And, at every store, the people working behind the counters all waved at her. She struggled to keep her face relaxed and carefree as she gave an answering wave. And with each store, it became easier.
This was her home. These were her people. And just knowing that she was surrounded by familiar faces made it easier for her to spend this much time with Austin. When he left at the end of filming—which he inevitably would—it was comforting to know that Harper wouldn’t be alone.
Not like last time.
Harper continued to smile and wave and covertly look for Audrey as they walked down the sidewalk toward Flour Girl. But with each store they passed, Harper’s heart sunk a little bit more. She didn't see Audrey anywhere, and they were less than a block from her bakery.
The smell of baked bread hit her nostrils before they turned the corner. But even that reassuring scent wasn’t enough to lift her spirits.
Audrey really was gone.
Eight
5 Days Until Dream Wedding
Austin felt like a kid on Christmas. He’d heard everyone on set talk about Flour Girl Bakery, and he’d tasted the treats Harper had provided for the production crew, but he’d been setting up lighting in the dining room the night some of the crew had gone down to Harper’s bakery for filming.
And without the excuse of visiting for work, it hadn’t felt right for Austin to go to Flour Girl. It felt too much like spying. And maybe it was. He’d spent the last four years wondering how Harper was doing. She’d completely thrown him off with her surprise announcement at graduation, even if it had been exactly what he wanted. But he had a plan for how things would go: they’d go to California together, he’d get a job, and then he could make his move. He wanted to be everything for her, and there she was, telling him she wanted him then, no money, no plan, no proof he could be who she needed him to be.
Who wouldn’t freak out at that?
So he’d left. Just walked away in search of a quiet place to think. By the time he’d worked out a new plan, she’d already left to head back to Wellspring. He knew how temperamental she could be and figured he’d get the typical “sorry for being a drama queen” text soon enough and have his chance to explain. But then the days passed with no messages from her, he knew his window for forgiveness had closed—possibly forever.
Sure, he could have reached out on social media. She hadn’t blocked him, just unfriended and kept her profile private. He’d been staring at the same profile picture for months, wondering who’d taken it and where she was. Of course, they still had friends in common that he could have asked, but Austin didn’t have the right to do that. And even if he had, what would he have said?
Maybe “is everything okay?
”
His face burned as he realized how many times he’d asked her that in one day.
Austin wasn’t usually this careless with his words or his actions. But being around Harper did something to him. It mixed up his brain, it made him lose track of the many things that he’d considered vital only a week ago.
He dragged his mind back to the present—and the very real emergency they were dealing with—and followed Harper into the bakery. Once inside, he closed his eyes and breathed in the smell of bread. The aroma made him weirdly nostalgic even though it wasn’t the first time he’d been around baked goods since college.
When he opened his eyes and looked around the small bakery, his breath caught in his chest. Even though he’d seen some of the footage of Flour Girl Bakery, seeing it in person was an entirely different experience.
Austin could see Harper's hand in everything. From the eclectic decor of bright, mismatched tables and chairs scattered around the space, to the handwritten chalkboard menu and the artwork on the walls. Everything screamed unpredictable and unique Harper. And yet, there was order to everything. A sense of order that had been missing the last time he’d seen Harper.
Each piece of seemingly haphazard furniture had a place, making it easy to navigate and move around the small space. And when Austin’s gaze went to the counter, the pastries were all aligned in beautiful rows—even though they all had weird flavors and names.
Seeing Harper’s bakery gave Austin the smallest glimpse into what she’d been up to all these years, and he was so proud of her. She’d somehow managed to get organized and serious without losing herself in the process.
What an amazing feat.
“Hey, Tiffany. How’s the birthday party order coming along?” Harper asked, bringing Austin back into the present.
The teenager in an “all you knead is love” shirt behind the counter smiled. “I finished it this morning. It’s all packed up and ready to go.”
The Bridesmaid & The Ex (Wedding Games Book 2) Page 5