Harper nodded. “Perfect. And the wedding cake for Saturday?”
Tiffany’s smile grew. “The cakes should be finished cooling and are ready for their crumb coat. Everything’s out, and I was planning on getting to that as soon as I finished straightening up the display case.”
“Hmm.” Harper looked down at her watch and up at Austin. “What time is Sienna and Fox’s interview supposed to be?”
He looked down at his clipboard because, yes, he was still carrying that stupid thing around. Even as he tried to enjoy Harper’s bakery, Wedding Games and the need for everything to run smoothly hummed in the back of his mind. “Not until three. Why?”
“I’m taking a break to frost a cake.”
Austin’s mouth fell open. “Frost a cake? An entire wedding cake?”
She narrowed her eyes at him, but he glared right back. There was too much going on to stop and play baker. For all her growing up, it looked like Harper was just as unpredictable as always.
“How long will that take?” He clicked his pen and held it over his clipboard, ready to dive into problem solving mode.
“It’s just the crumb coat. Less than an hour with making the buttercream.”
Austin looked at the front door, his watch, and back to Harper. “Are you sure that’s a great idea? We’ve already been gone close to an hour. And if Au—” He glanced at Tiffany wiping down a table on the other side of the room and cleared his throat. “If the thing we need isn’t in town, we’ll need a new plan to find it.”
“I know, but I’ve been trying to balance work and the show and…” She took a deep breath. “Baking is one of the things that can calm me down no matter what. And I’m afraid if I don’t go back there right now, Audrey might not be the only one who goes missing.”
Austin’s eyes went wide and went to Tiffany, who was still across the room but it was a very small room. Did Harper want everyone to know the dilemma they were in? Though her employee probably didn't know Bruce, or even a way to get in contact with the producer, every single person who knew what was going on was an extra liability. A liability they didn't need right now.
“Shh. You shouldn’t say that so loud.” He jerked his head toward Harper’s employee. Well that’s a phrase I never thought I’d say. “Harper’s employee.”
Harper rolled her eyes, and without turning her head toward the pony-tailed girl behind her, called over her shoulder. “Hey, Tiffany.”
“Yes?”
“Are you going to sell Audrey and me to the network for a monetary reward?”
Tiffany laughed. “Depends. How much are you talking?”
Harper shrugged, her eyes still trained on Austin.
His brows lowered as he tried to figure out what she was getting at.
“I don’t know. A thousand. Ten thousand. Does it matter?” Harper asked.
“Nope. I think I’d rather work here than get some snitch check.”
Harper laughed again. “Good, because I doubt they’d give you anything.”
Tiffany shrugged. “Then I guess I made the right choice.”
Harper gave Austin a triumphant grin before she turned and faced Tiffany. “Austin and I are going in the back to frost that cake. If anyone comes looking for us, we aren’t here.” She paused. “Unless it’s Audrey. Then you lock her in and tell us.”
Tiffany gave her a small salute. “Sure thing.”
Harper thanked her, and Austin was helpless to do anything but follow her as she walked into the kitchen. It was smaller than the one at Emerald Inn, and even though Austin didn’t know anything about mixers, it was obvious Harper’s equipment was not as fancy as Marcey’s.
But it was hers, and she was in full command here as she unwrapped sticks of butter and put them in the mixing bowl.
And even though he should have been freaking out about the detour and concerned about finding Audrey, Austin was impressed for the second time since walking through the door of Harper’s bakery. “This is really amazing.”
Harper stopped peeling the plastic and looked up at Austin. “What? Butter?”
“No, this.” He waved his hand around the kitchen. “You’ve always been so good at baking, and you turned that passion into a career. It’s amazing.”
Harper mumbled something as she went back to putting butter in the mixing bowl.
He shook his head and chuckled. She’d always been horrible at taking a compliment. How many times had he told her that her baking was the best thing he’d ever had, only to have her fire back with all the things she wished she’d done differently?
Well, it wasn’t happening today. Austin was determined to make Harper see herself as the amazing woman that she was. It might not make a difference now in how she felt about him, but he had to try.
He pulled a stool over to the counter where she was busy measuring powdered sugar. “Seriously, Harper. Look at this place. You’ve followed your dreams and made Flour Girl a reality. How many people can say that?”
She turned the mixer on and, without meeting Austin eyes, she said, “Yeah, well...my mom helped me with a small loan to get this place started. Without that, I would have never been able to do this on my own.”
Austin sighed. “Maybe so. But you took that money and made it work for you. It’s obvious your employees love you. And you’re making a wedding cake.”
She shook her head. “I make wedding cakes all the time.”
Austin leaned forward and put his hands on the steel countertop. “Exactly. People trust you to make their cake on their special day.”
A small smile tugged at her lips. “Well, when you put it that way.”
“I do.” He leaned back and watched Harper as she added the sugar, vanilla, and a splash of cream to the butter inside the mixing bowl. She carefully watched it as the machine blended ingredients together into a batch of smooth, white frosting.
Harper stopped the mixer and grabbed a spoon from one of the drawers. She dipped it into the frosting and put it to her lips. Austin couldn’t pull his eyes away as her lips closed around the spoon. How had he watched her bake treat after treat in college and not realized how undeniably attractive she was when she was baking. Or taste-testing.
He cleared his throat.
Harper looked up and blushed. “Oh, I wasn’t thinking. Do you want to try it?”
No, what he wanted to do was pull Harper into his arms and kiss her like crazy. But instead, he nodded. “Sure.”
She opened the drawer and grabbed a clean spoon. After loading it with a dollop of frosting, she handed it over to Austin. When he reached out and took it from her, the brush of her fingers against his sent waves of electricity up his arm.
“It’s delicious,” he said, after putting the spoon to his lips. It had the perfect blend of sugar and vanilla, without that weird chemical taste that came from frosting in a can.
She bit her bottom lip. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
The two looked at each other a moment longer, Austin’s heart thumping away, begging him to do or say something. Anything. The second he opened his mouth, Harper started moving again. She pulled a cake from the refrigerator and set it on a rotating cake stand. Then she grabbed a plastic, triangle bag and filled it with frosting.
“So, tell me about what you’re doing,” Austin said, the silence too heavy.
Harper walked him through the crumb coat as she spread a thin layer of frosting on the cake. She explained that it was something bakers did to make the actual frosting easier and that the cakes would go back in the refrigerator when she was done.
“Wait, so how long does it take to make a cake?”
“It depends.” She shrugged as she turned the cake stand and made sure the entire thing was covered. “It can take a few days from start to finish depending on how difficult it is.”
“Wow,” Austin breathed. “The skill and patience involved is really impressive.”
Harper dipped her chin, hiding her face. But not before Austin ca
ught a glimpse of the smug smile on her lips.
They didn’t say anything else while Harper finished up the crumb coat and put the cakes back into the refrigerator. He let himself relax into the familiarity of watching her do what she loved and allowed the smell of sugar and cinnamon to waft over him. But when she started putting the dirty dishes in the large sink, Austin got up from his spot on the stool and walked over.
In college, the arrangement had always been that Harper would make something amazing for them to eat, and Austin was on cleanup duty. He started running the water, and once it was hot enough, he put the stopper in and added some soap.
“Austin, you don’t—”
“I know. But I want to.”
Harper nodded. “Okay, but I have a few more regulations I have to follow these days.”
She walked him through the proper way to wash, rinse and sanitize the dishes. In no time they were finished, and just like Harper had promised, it had taken less than an hour, including cleanup.
When the last dish was stacked in a much neater cabinet than Austin had ever seen in Harper’s dorm room, she looked up at him with a small smile. “Thank you.”
“I don’t mind getting my hands pruny.”
“No.” She looked down at her feet. “I mean for not huffing and puffing while I frosted the cake. I know it took forever, but I feel much better having worked on something here.”
“Good.” So did Austin, surprisingly. The satisfying swish of the whirling mixer blades, and the slow and careful way Harper smoothed frosting onto the cakes had been hypnotizing and calming.
It was the perfect moment to tell her how he felt. Well, technically, the perfect moment would have been a half second after she told him she loved him four years ago. She’d moved on, but she deserved to know.
Right now, just do it.
Harper looked back up at him. “But I think it’s time for us to get back to looking for Audrey.”
“I think that sounds like a good idea. Where to next?”
“Let’s go check out Audrey’s apartment.”
Nine
5 Days Until Dream Wedding
The calm that came with being in Flour Girl’s kitchen disappeared precisely two point three seconds after Harper and Austin got into her car again. If Austin washing the dishes wasn’t enough to muddle Harper’s thinking, the fact that his stupid cologne permeated the air in her car—again—made her crazy.
Thankfully, it was only a ten-minute drive to Audrey’s apartment, and Harper turned the radio on to keep Austin from giving her any more compliments about her bakery. It was sweet of him to be so impressed. Too sweet, really. She just couldn’t listen to that right now. She needed her head clear and her emotions under control.
When Harper pulled up to her sister’s apartment, Audrey’s parking space was empty. Harper blinked back tears and turned off the car. She really thought her sister would be here. There was nowhere else she could be, and time was running out. If she and Austin didn’t get back to The Emerald Inn soon, then they’d both be in trouble, and Bruce would find out.
“Any updates from the inn?” Harper asked, stalling while she considered her options. Go inside and confirm that Audrey was really gone, or head back now and admit defeat?
“Nope.” His walkie-talkie had been silent since they left, and Harper’s phone hadn’t buzzed once.
“Do you think we should call Sienna to see what’s up?”
Austin shook his head. “It’s too risky. If someone overhears, we’re all cooked.”
“Or baked?”
He groaned, then unbuckled his seatbelt. “Should we take a look?”
Austin followed Harper up the stairs to the second story of the building. After she’d fished out her keys and unlocked the front door, he held the door for her to walk inside.
The bright white and blue apartment was quiet, and the living room was still. The kind of still that no one had disturbed in at least a week.
“Doesn't look like she’s here,” Austin said.
Harper spun around. “You think?”
He lifted his hands and took a step back. “I’m just wondering if we should try somewhere else. Eli’s apartment maybe? See if she’s snuggling with Mister Mittens in yours?”
Harper shook her head, and her eyes continued to search the small apartment. “Tiffany’s feeding my cat during filming and would have mentioned if she’d seen anything unusual at my apartment.”
Austin raised his eyebrows. “You trust her a lot for someone so young.”
“She’s reliable. I’ve gotten better at recognizing who I can count on.”
Austin’s cheeks flushed pink, but he didn’t say anything. Harper took a deep breath and reminded herself Austin was going out on a limb to help her.
“Maybe she left some kind of clue,” she said, and began to hunt around for a receipt for a hotel, a plane ticket, anything that might tell Harper where her sister had gone.
But there was nothing. Every surface was clean and clutter free.
She knew there wouldn’t be any traces. This wasn’t the 90s. People didn't keep paper receipts for anything. If Audrey had booked a hotel or a flight, she’d have the confirmation on her phone.
Harper suppressed the frustrated growl. Where was Audrey?
“So this is where Audrey lives,” Austin said. He trailed behind her as she rifled through drawers and flipped through books. There was a pristine copy of The Joy Of Baking sitting on a shelf that Harper didn’t even bother to open.
“Yep. She’s had it for the last few years. It’s going to be weird when she doesn’t live here anymore.” The hours Harper had spent here, laughing and baking with her sister had been some of the happiest memories in recent years. It made her forget all the pain that someone standing very close to her right now had caused her. And the even older pain both Audrey and Harper carried around from Milo’s absence.
Austin walked around the small living room, hands in his pockets. “It’s just cool to finally get a glimpse of your family. One that doesn’t involve Wedding Games.”
“Don’t these shows do like, a ton of research on people before they sign them up? To make sure there are no ax murderers or Justin Bieber fans or anything?”
“The studio does have a strict no-Belieber policy.” Austin’s lips pulled up into a half-smile. “I was brought in last minute when someone dropped out. Jennifer did most of the research.”
Harper frowned. She’d seen the name Jennifer on a badge hanging around the neck of a skinny, pretty brunette who always seemed to be hovering around Austin.
“You’ve worked with her before?”
“On a few projects,” Austin said. “She was one of the first people I met out in LA. She’s great.”
They were in the minuscule kitchen now, and he opened up each cabinet to look inside carefully.
“I know my sister is tiny compared to me, but I don’t think she’d fit inside there.”
“Like you said, maybe there’s a clue here.” He gestured at a half-empty cabinet. “Look, all her plates and cookware are gone. Does that mean she’s moved in somewhere else?”
Harper shook her head and laughed. “If you knew her at all, the state of her cabinets wouldn’t seem suspicious. She’s a terrible cook and eats out or at Eli’s at least five times a week.”
Austin closed the cabinet and looked Harper in the eye. “I would have liked to have met your family before.”
Harper inhaled sharply and bit back a catty reply. Austin probably knew Jennifer’s family pretty well by now, he didn’t need to know Harper’s.
At first she’d been relieved she’d never mentioned him to her family while she’d been at college. He was just one of her friends, grouped together with others when she’d told her stories. She’d never given a hint to anyone what she’d felt for him, thank goodness. It meant there was no one to pity her when it had all blown up in her face. No one to tell her “I told you so” that a guy like him could never love a girl like her.
But now, she regretted the secrecy. It was the reason no one could understand why she was so out of it those first few days of filming. Seeing Austin had been a kick in the gut, and there was no one she’d been able to talk to about it.
“Well,” she said. “Now you’ve met everyone. Including my future brother-in-law.”
“They all seem great,” he said and leaned against the kitchen island. “Well, except that Harry guy. He seems kind of rude and doesn’t talk to Reagan that nicely.”
Harper’s heart swelled. Audrey and Harper had been debating for months if they should tell Reagan what a jerk they thought Harry was. To hear Austin reach that same conclusion in a matter of days was intensely gratifying.
“She’s like the fourth Hudson sister.” Harper sat down on a stool across from Austin. “She really stepped in to support Audrey when Milo left. She was in her freshman year at college. Eli didn’t know what to do when that happened. Without Reagan there, she probably would have dropped out. Then this whole reality show wedding may never have happened.”
“You never told me that.” Austin reached out a hand toward Harper, then seemed to reconsider and drew it back. She bit her lip. Was she disappointed or relieved?
“You know I don’t like to talk about him,” she said, and turned her head to look out the window above the sink. The view of the parking lot was not so interesting, but she knew the bedroom had a great view of the mountains. She should probably look there, too, but was rooted to the stool. Any mention or thought of Milo still took her a minute to work through, even though over ten years had passed.
“I know you think you’ll never see him again, but you never know,” Austin said, and Harper whipped her head around to glare at him. He paled under her intense gaze. “I mean, I never thought I’d see you again and look what happened. All it took was a bit of randomness and a production assistant with mono and here we both are on the set of Wedding Games.”
Harper squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her palms into them while a storm of feelings collided inside of her. Austin probably thought she was trying not to cry, and maybe she was. The hope of seeing her brother again that she usually shoved as far down as possible surged to the surface. Maybe it really was as simple as a random chance. Maybe that’s all that had pulled him away in the first place. She’d been in high school, old enough to know something was going on with him, but what twenty-two year old would confide in his sixteen-year old sister? It must have been something beyond his control, to keep him away for so long.
The Bridesmaid & The Ex (Wedding Games Book 2) Page 6
