“What are you looking at?” Sienna whispered, her arm around Harper’s shoulder. They were walking up to the inn, letting the cameras capture however much they wanted of this sisterly reunion. Hopefully enough they wouldn’t realize there was still one sister missing.
“Nothing,” Harper whispered back, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away. She let her gaze linger on Austin for another minute. Just when she was about to focus on Sienna’s fake disaster, someone came running up to him.
Harper’s heart almost stopped when she realized it was Jennifer, the production assistant Austin had said he’d worked with before. The pretty one. She was just a friend. He’d said that, right?
But she was hugging him an awful lot like Harper wanted to.
Harper took a deep breath and focused on the inn. Reagan was coming out the front door and looked just as distraught as Sienna.
“Hey, I’m fine,” said Harper, when Reagan put her arms around her.
“I know. It’s just been a long day.”
Harper pulled back to look at Reagan’s tear streaked face. Was this all for the cameras? Or was Reagan upset for real? The unofficial Hudson sister wasn’t nearly the actress as Sienna, and Harper worried that there was even more drama going on that she wasn’t aware of. She was afraid to ask Reagan what was going on for fear of giving something away.
“Tell me about it,” Harper said a little too loudly, earning a scowl from Sienna. “I’ve had the longest night trying to fix my ovens.”
Reagan looped her arm through Harper’s. “You simply must tell me all about it.”
“Yes, I’d love to hear the story too,” said Sienna, taking Harper’s other arm.
Harper was led into the inn by the two women, and she was grateful for the distraction from the brunette hanging off Austin. She couldn’t help one last look back, however, and her stomach dropped at the sight of the two of them practically cheek to cheek as they looked at a clipboard.
It doesn’t matter.
Harper had a big sister to find. As much as she hated that she had wasted an entire day and hadn’t found her, maybe with Sienna and Reagan’s help, they’d figure something out.
She’d had fun in the cabin, now her Austin distraction was officially over.
Bruce was mad. Austin could see it in the way the producer stalked around, barking out orders.
Well, he always stalked around and barked out orders, but this morning there was an edge to his movements that radiated a barely contained rage.
Austin hung back and waited until the producer stormed into the inn before he slipped into the tent. No one noticed besides Jennifer, who hugged him like he’d just come back from war. It was kind of nice to feel appreciated by someone on the crew, but her bushy brown curls blocked his view of Harper.
He pulled away quickly. “Hey, everything is fine. Just a flat tire.”
“That took all night to fix?” Jennifer’s eyes narrowed. She lowered her voice and leaned close to him and lay a finger on his clipboard, as if checking something with him. “I did what I could to cover for you, but Bruce is pissed. He wants to see you.”
Austin’s stomach disappeared and reappeared somewhere near his ankles. “When?”
“He said ‘as soon as that good for nothing kid gets back, send him my way.’” Jennifer gave him a small, supportive smile. “Good luck with the beast.”
Austin groaned. He’d much rather be spending his morning with the beauty he’d left behind in the parking lot.
It wasn’t hard to find the producer. Austin just followed the sound of irritated yelling and ended up in the kitchen. He smiled when he thought of his time in there with Harper, but all happy feelings were quashed when he walked in to see Marcey and Bruce standing face to face, their faces red.
“You’re in breach of contract!” he bellowed.
Anyone else would have cowered at that, but the young chef just put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “Show me where in my contract I’m supposed to let people smash up my kitchen.” Her voice was quiet, but her eyes blazed.
“We need breakfast.”
“I need plates to serve you breakfast. But the people on your show thought it would be loads of fun to throw them at each other.”
“Surely, Sienna didn’t destroy them all.”
Sienna? Austin was dying to know what kind of disasters Harper’s sister had caused the day before but held his tongue.
The small woman straightened her shoulders. “She shouldn’t have destroyed any of them. Now I’m out of plates, you’re out of breakfast, and we’re both out of luck.”
Bruce’s face turned impossibly redder. Marcey looked like she was ready to murder him and bake him into a pie. It would be suicide to get between the two of them, but that’s exactly what Austin had to do.
He cleared his throat. “Uh, sir? You wanted to see me?”
Bruce whirled to face him, and he shrank back. “When did you get here?”
“A while ago.” Staying vague would be safest in this situation.
“Well come on, I haven’t got all day.” Bruce stormed out, not even bothering to look at Marcey.
Austin gave a small shrug and hurried “sorry” to the chef, knowing it wouldn’t be enough to fix whatever Sienna had done in an effort to cover for Audrey.
One crisis at a time, he reminded himself and he followed Bruce into the hall.
Bruce’s big, hulking form leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and his gaze fixed on the ceiling.
“Care to explain your whereabouts the past eighteen hours?”
Bruce’s voice was soft, and Austin almost wished he was shouting. He knew what to do with a mad Bruce, but this calm, quiet Bruce was way more dangerous. Austin had to tread carefully, like disarming a bomb.
His entire life felt like that for the past four years. Always on the edge of something exploding on him. Nothing seemed stable. That’s why he always knew what to do, why he always had a plan. He’d started this job with page upon page of preparation for whatever the weather or the cast could throw his way.
But he’d never expected Harper. Spending the past day with her had completely thrown him off his carefully laid out path to a career he’d wanted for as long as he could remember. Choosing his own path instead of the one his parents had wanted for him had only been possible because he knew exactly what he needed to do every step of the way. Yet his time with Harper had felt more stable and more like the right choice than anything he’d done in years.
Austin knew that he needed to put in the work to get where he wanted to go. He’d already worked his way up the ladder rung by rung. Once he got just a little bit higher, he’d have enough contacts and experience to try things his way. Bailing on a production like he’d done the past day was like letting go of the ladder completely and starting from the bottom. But he wanted this, so badly. Dealing with Bruce’s temper was just part of what needed to be done.
Though, right now, Austin would much rather be dealing with the debacles caused by Harper’s reassuringly chaotic approach to life. And that was a serious problem. How could he finish work on the show when all he wanted to do was run to her room and watch TV with her all day?
“I’m sorry,” Austin said, unsure of what else to say. It didn’t seem like enough, but it was a start.
“Sorry won’t get you far in this business, kid,” said Bruce, and he turned his steely gaze to Austin’s face. He didn’t look disappointed or even angry. He looked completely unconcerned, which was so much worse.
“It won’t happen again.”
“You won’t have the chance to let it happen again.”
Austin’s heart almost stopped. Was this really the end? Getting fired by Bruce wasn’t just falling off the ladder, it was being pushed an ocean away from it. No one would want to hire Austin, even if they knew how awful Bruce was to work with.
The thought filled him with molten dread. What would he tell his parents? They’d only just started to recover from the blow that he wen
t to film school instead of medical school. What would he tell Harper? He almost laughed. Maybe he could ask her for a job in her bakery.
Inspiration suddenly struck.
“I was working on an idea,” Austin said. There was a breathless moment when Bruce considered him. When he nodded once, Austin let out all the air in his lungs in a whoosh. “The bakery. We could do a final competition between the bridesmaids and groomsmen.”
Bruce was shaking his head. “We already had the s’mores contest.”
“This would be a cake decorating contest. You know people are obsessed with baking competitions right now. I was making sure the ovens were okay at the bakery for us to do it.”
“You’re telling me that you started working on this? That you talked to Harper about it before consulting me?”
“I didn’t want to waste your time unless I knew it would work.” It was a great excuse. Bruce was always complaining about everyone wasting his time.
He considered Austin. “And Harper agreed to let us film there?”
“Yes.” The lie flew out of Austin’s mouth without hesitation. That was the first rule he’d learned as a production assistant: say yes to everything and figure out the details later. Besides, this would be a way to keep his job and spend more time with Harper.
It was brilliant, really. Austin crossed his fingers that Bruce would agree to it.
“Well…” The producer rubbed his chin. “That could work. We can’t do it here since the chef is out of control. But we can’t do it without the bride, and apparently, she’s still sick.”
“Oh?” Austin kept his face blank. “No updates?”
“I think she’s made a run for it, personally. But that actress sister of hers keeps insisting she’s just buried in her bed clutching a bucket. Until I see it, I won’t believe it.”
Austin continued to rack his brain. He needed Bruce to agree to this to take the pressure away from Audrey. “It can be just the bridesmaids and groomsmen. Like a surprise for the bride.”
Bruce rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Fine. Take a couple people and a cameraman and make it work.” Bruce dropped his hand and leveled Austin with a hard stare. “But this is it, Austin. Either this succeeds, or you’re never going to work in television again.”
Austin’s nerves were strung so tightly that the cliché words from Bruce were almost enough to make him explode into a fit of laughter. Instead, he bit the inside of his cheek and gave Bruce a curt nod.
Bruce waved at him in dismissal, and Austin was happy to turn his face away as he walked down the hallway.
Now all he needed to do was find Harper and convince her to let Bruce use the Flour Girl Bakery for the competition that seemed to be tearing her family apart.
No problem.
Fifteen
4 Days Until Dream Wedding
Harper drawled on and on and on about the ovens at her bakery. And she still wasn’t able to shake the cameraman who trailed behind the three girls. When she couldn’t think of anything else to say—because honestly, there was only so much to say about ovens—she moved on to the mixer she wanted to order. And then the upcoming wedding cake that she’d worked on, careful to leave out the fact that Austin was with her when she had done the crumb coat.
Man, that felt like a hundred years ago, and it had been less than a day. It was baffling how much had happened in the time that she and Austin had been off The Emerald Inn’s property, and she was dying to talk to someone about it.
“Well,” she said, slowing down in front of her room. “After being in the kitchen all night, I think I’m ready to take a shower.”
She held her breath as she unlocked the door to her room, hoping that the cameraman wouldn’t follow her in.
“That sounds like a great idea,” Sienna said. “I’ve been busy taking care of Audrey, and I really don’t want to get sick. I think I’m going to go to my room and take a quick shower too.”
She casually walked down the hall toward her room. Harper watched her sister disappear out of sight and was surprised that she hadn’t turned to give her a sly wink or anything indicating that they were silently scheming together. But, that was what made Sienna the better actress. She fully committed herself to a role. Just ask Marcey’s plates.
Barely able to keep herself from running down the hall to get the full story from Sienna, Harper opened the door. “What about you, Reagan?”
Her friend shrugged. “I don’t know. Do you mind if I hang out and watch TV in your room while you get cleaned up? Harry is...resting, and I don't want to disturb him.”
“Sure,” Harper answered, and risked a look at the cameraman who still stood in the hall. “You coming?”
The question rolled off her tongue easily, and she even managed to sound bored, though that was the furthest from how she actually felt. Her heart pounded as she struggled to keep her face impassive.
The cameraman lingered for a moment, and Harper pushed her luck by raising a haughty brow at him. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Nah. I’m going to see if I can get any interesting footage of the guys.”
Harper shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
But the second he started walking in the opposite direction, she pulled Reagan inside the room and shut the door behind them. She plopped on the bed and let out a long, shaky breath. “Thank goodness. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do if he decided to come in.”
“You could start talking about your mixing bowls since now I officially know everything there is to know about your ovens.” Reagan smiled but didn’t meet Harper’s eyes.
“Do you want to tell me what’s really going on?”
“You mean about Sienna? The fight wasn’t real, I thought you knew that?”
Harper folded her arms and peered at Reagan. “I do know that. But I want to know why you looked like you’d been crying when you first came up to me. And why you lied and told the cameraman that Harry was resting.”
Reagan bit her bottom lip and stared out the window. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”
Harper got up and walked over to Reagan and wrapped her arms around her. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah. It’s nothing anyway. I’m dying to know what’s going on with the bakery and Audrey and—”
Loud knocking on the door interrupted Reagan, and both girls’ eyes went wide. It would be just Harper’s luck if the cameraman had changed his mind and come back to film in hopes of picking up some secret drama. Secret drama Reagan had almost revealed to Harper.
The knocking came again. “Quick. Let me in!”
Harper smiled as she recognized Sienna’s voice and ran over to the door.
“It took you long enough. Do you know how many secret agent moves I had to pull out to make sure I wasn’t spotted when I came back around to your room?”
“Sorry,” Harper said as she locked the deadbolt. “I was afraid the cameraman changed his mind.”
“Well, he didn't. But who knows how long we have before someone comes looking for us.” Sienna sat down in the chair in the corner of the room while Harper and Reagan took seats on the bed. “So, dish. What happened last night? And what’s the real reason you didn't come home?”
“I was looking for Audrey.”
“And you just, I don’t know, decided it would be fun to give your other sister an evening long panic attack?” Sienna threw up her hands. “I was so worried. I didn't know where you were, and you weren’t answering your phone.”
“I got stuck at Eli’s cabin. There wasn’t any reception.”
Reagan perked up from her spot beside Harper. “What were you doing up there?”
“Austin—” Harper cleared her throat. “The production assistant and I went up hoping Audrey would be there.”
Sienna’s eyes were as wide as saucers. “You spent the night at the cabin with Austin?” His name came out as a song, and Harper was afraid Sienna might start singing about them hiding in a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g.
“It wasn’t l
ike that. My car broke down, and it started storming.” She touched the ends of her hair realizing she probably looked like a complete disaster. Even though she’d been able to take a shower, the cabin only had two-in-one shampoo and conditioner that did nothing for her hair. And she’d gone without lotion, which meant her face felt stiff and dry.
Meanwhile, Sienna and Reagan looked as perfect as usual. Just like that Jennifer girl who had run over to Austin the second he’d gotten back. Did everyone have to look like a supermodel all of the time?
Reagan bumped Harper’s shoulder with her own. “I think that Austin guy is pretty cute. There are worse people to be stuck in a cabin with overnight.”
“He’s okay.” And an amazing kisser.
“Okay?” Sienna asked with a raised eyebrow. “If I wasn’t head-over-heels for Fox, I might flirt a little with him.”
A flare of jealousy sparked in Harper’s veins. She loved Sienna, but her sister was exactly the type of girl Austin always dated in college. Even if she wasn’t going to let this thing with Austin get serious, the idea of the guy she’d been in love with for years flirting with Sienna made her want to scream.
“But Harper isn’t dating anyone,” Reagan said. “She really could flirt with Austin.”
Too late.
“And maybe she could get some intel while we try to find Audrey,” Sienna added. “What do you think, Harper?”
Harper forced a smile. “Sure. I guess I could talk to him.”
“Great.” Sienna crinkled up her nose. “But you might need to clean up for real before trying to talk to him. I don’t know what you got into last night, but you are smelling ripe.”
Harper lifted her arm and took a quick whiff. “Ugh. You’re right. Okay. I’m going to take a quick shower.”
“I’m going to sneak back to my room before anyone gets suspicious.” Sienna got up from the chair. “Just let me know if I need to fight with Fox anymore.”
The Bridesmaid & The Ex (Wedding Games Book 2) Page 10