by Karen Booth
Molly gazed down at it. “It’s huge, isn’t it?”
“It’s beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous.” The ring Jared had given to Autumn was not only a stunner, it was still sitting in a drawer in her kitchen. He hadn’t asked for it back, and Autumn hadn’t offered. It wasn’t that she still had sentimental feelings about it. It was more about not being quite ready to admit defeat. She knew she had a hard time letting some things go. “So? Have you guys talked about a date? Please tell me you want to have it here and that you’ll let me plan it.”
“Of course.”
A ribbon of delight wound its way through Autumn. She reached under the spreadsheets and pulled out her calendar. “What are you guys thinking?”
“The last weekend of August. Right before Labor Day.”
Autumn blinked like crazy as she tried to compute this information. “As in ten weeks from now?” She looked up at Molly, hoping her expression could convey exactly how bonkers this was.
Molly gnawed on her thumbnail. “I know it’s soon, but we really don’t want a big wedding. Just something small.”
“People say they want small and then it doesn’t end up being like that.”
“No. I’m serious. I’m thinking fifty people, tops. And Mack is talking to Grey this morning about starting the renovation for the barn. We’d like to get married there.”
“You want to get married in a place that isn’t actually suitable for a wedding, ten weeks from now.”
“Yes. And I want you to be my maid of honor.”
Any skepticism Autumn had was officially shoved to the back burner. It was not the maid of honor’s job to be a downer. “Aww. That’s so sweet. I’d love to. Thank you for asking me.” Yes, this was all going to consume her summer. That was okay. It would keep her mind off Grey. If she tried really hard.
Molly shrugged. “I know it all sounds crazy, but it’s what Mack and I want.”
“Okay, then. We’ll make it happen.”
Molly leaned down and wrapped her arms around Autumn’s shoulders. “Thank you so much. You’re the absolute best.”
Of course, Autumn knew that wasn’t true. She’d been striking out at work lately, particularly earlier that week. “I’m just happy for you.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.” Molly took a seat across from Autumn. “Are you feeling any better about what happened with Rebecca Barefoot?”
“I’m okay. I’m just disappointed in myself. I froze up. She started talking about my family and I couldn’t deal with it. I guess it’s one thing to be on a gossip website and another when someone is right in your face.”
“Of course. That makes perfect sense.”
Autumn was happy about that, too. But now that she’d had some time to gather her thoughts about what had happened, she had this unsettled feeling in the pit of her stomach. She hadn’t been kind or gracious about what he’d done, and it had been an act of chivalry. He’d done the right thing. And Autumn had let her ego get in the way of showing any appreciation at all. “Me too. Grey saved the day.”
“Do you like working with him?”
“We hardly had a chance to get started before I messed up, so it’s hard to say. But I like him. He’s nice to have around, and he sure is nice to look at. ” She stifled a sigh just thinking about exactly how much she enjoyed every chance she had to admire Grey. “He’s also frustrating as hell. It’s hard to know what he’s thinking.”
Molly nodded. “Mack says the same thing. All the time.”
“That’s not a good sign considering that they’re brothers.”
“Those three have their fair share of problems. That’s for sure.” Molly glanced at the clock on the wall. “Oh, shoot. I’d better get to work. I have a million things to do.” She made her way for the door, but stopped short and turned back to Autumn. “Oh. I forgot. Mack and I want to have a small engagement party on July Fourth. Before the fireworks. Put it on your calendar. He’s hoping he can get Travis to visit.”
“Do you need help with that, too?”
Molly held up her thumb and index finger with just a whisper of space between them. “A little bit. Not too much.”
Autumn smiled as her best friend disappeared through the door. As soon as Molly was gone, Autumn’s phone rang. It was Delilah Barefoot. “Hello? Delilah?”
“Autumn, hi. Do you have a minute? It looks like Archer isn’t going to be able to tour the grounds with me right away, but I’d like to go ahead and firm up our date.”
Autumn quickly grabbed her laptop, pulling up the shared catering and events calendar. “Of course. June 28th, right? A little more than a year from now. I wasn’t about to let anyone take it without calling you first.”
“Yes. We’d like to go ahead and sign the contract.”
It was silly, but simply typing in “Barefoot-Morgan Wedding” felt like a step in the right direction. Autumn was playing her role. She’d felt left out and left behind the other day, but it had been her own doing. This was her chance to remedy that. “Fantastic. I will send the paperwork right away. We can schedule Archer’s visit whenever you like. And feel free to call me any time with questions or to discuss details.”
“Thank you so much. I appreciate that. I wouldn’t have blamed you at all if you didn’t want to deal with our wedding. My mother can be brash. I’m really sorry about everything that happened the other day.”
“No need to apologize. It’s not your fault. And everything she said was perfectly valid. My dad is not a good person, and I can understand anyone not wanting to be associated with him, even if it’s only because I’m his daughter.”
“But you can’t help who your parents are. I feel the same way about my mom, and she’s not nearly as controversial as your dad. You’d be surprised by the things people will say to me. They’ll just walk up to me in a restaurant and tell me I’m despicable or that they feel sorry for me because they think my mom is a bad person.”
Autumn hadn’t realized until right then that she’d never met anyone who was in even a vaguely similar predicament to her own. She had friends back in LA with famous parents, but their moms and dads were beloved figures, not people with a name uttered in hushed tones with an edge of disgust. “I’m so sorry you’ve had to deal with that. But if it makes you feel any better, I completely understand how you feel.”
“Thank you so much. I’m glad Grey turned things around with my mom. I guess he really sang your praises.”
This came as a surprise. Autumn had assumed that whatever Grey said to Rebecca had been about selling Moonlight Ridge. It hadn’t occurred to her that she might be her own selling point. “That’s nice to hear. Thank you.”
Delilah and Autumn said their goodbyes and Autumn rushed upstairs to her chaotic office. She quickly plugged Delilah and Archer’s information into the standard Moonlight Ridge wedding contract and hit “print” on her computer. As the papers chugged their way out, Autumn glanced out the window overlooking the property. She owed Grey an apology. Or at least another thank-you. But she still hadn’t taken his phone number. Sure, she could ask Molly for it. But something told Autumn that an in-person visit would be better.
Autumn collected the contract, sealed it up in an envelope, and gave it to Harry at the front desk to send by courier. Then she grabbed her sunglasses and hopped into one of the resort’s golf carts and headed for Grey’s cottage. When she arrived, she was a bit disappointed to discover that Grey was not out on his patio doing push-ups. She could only be so lucky. And today, she already felt lucky.
She went to one of the glass patio doors and rapped lightly on the frame. A few seconds later, Grey answered, looking just as confounded as he had when she’d shown up with baked goods. She couldn’t deny just how good he looked in a decidedly more polished ensemble—dark jeans with a perfect fit and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows. She had a thing for forearms and Grey�
��s were magnificent and strong, made all the more enticing by a chunky silver Breitling watch with a midnight-blue face on his wrist.
“We’ve got to stop meeting like this.” Autumn hoped she sounded clever, not like a stalker.
Grey’s expression immediately softened. “Right now. You and I are exchanging cell numbers.”
“Don’t you enjoy my little visits?”
“Yes. And no. I also think there’s something to be said for using all available technology.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and Autumn fished hers out of her bag so they could finally take care of this small task. “Now that that’s out of the way, what can I help you with?” he asked.
“I wanted to say I’m sorry for the way I acted the other day. You saved my butt and I should’ve been far more gracious about it.”
“No need to apologize. I think anyone would’ve done what I did.”
“Would they though? I get that you care about your family’s business, but Delilah said you sang my praises to her mom. I wasn’t aware we’d known each other long enough to get to the praise-singing phase of our relationship.”
Grey laughed, a sound that made her think she was really breaking down walls between them. It was one of the sexiest sounds Autumn had ever heard. “Do you want to come in?”
Autumn shouldn’t be feeling so delighted by the invitation, but she was. “I’d love to.” She followed him inside, and they entered the great room on the back of the house, with wood-beamed cathedral ceilings, a large stone fireplace, a modern kitchen to one side, and truly breathtaking views down to the lake. “This is beautiful, Grey. Why don’t all of the guesthouses look like this?”
Grey nodded. “Excellent question. That’s one of those things my brothers and I are working on.”
Autumn turned around in the cozy, but elegant space. She’d thought of Grey as the sort of guy who could only be truly comfortable in New York, with a bachelor pad decorated entirely in black and gray, but he seemed perfectly at home in a setting with a few softer edges. “I’m sure occupancy will go up after you do. Who wouldn’t want to stay somewhere like this?” Through an open door, Autumn caught a glimpse of the bedroom—there was a big bed, dressed in crisp white bedding with a masculine brown tufted leather headboard. That seemed to work with Grey’s personality, too. “So? Mack and Molly, huh? Pretty big news.”
Grey stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “Yep. Hard to believe it, but one of the Holloway brothers actually fell in love.”
Autumn perched herself on the arm of a leather club chair. “Is that really a surprise? It seems like a forgone conclusion. All three of you are ridiculously handsome and successful. Honestly, I’m wondering what Jameson was putting in your cereal bowls every morning when you were kids.”
Grey arched his eyebrows. “Ah. But I don’t eat breakfast.”
“Oh, right.”
“But seriously, no, it wasn’t a forgone conclusion at all. We’re all hyperfocused on our careers. Making time for things like romance doesn’t always pay dividends.”
“It’s not a stock purchase.”
“It’s just a fancy way of saying it’s not worth it.”
“It can be worth it. If you meet the right person.”
Grey shrugged. “I’m not the guy to ask. I don’t believe in all of that.”
Autumn got up from her seat and stepped closer to him. The instant she got a real whiff of his heavenly smell, she had to make a conscious decision to stop her approach before she was standing toe-to-toe with him. The urge to nestle her face in his neck and breathe in the warm and woodsy scent was a little too powerful. The thought of his facial scruff on her nose only added to the enticement. “All of what?”
“Love. It’s something we construct in our minds. Or at least romantic love. The idea of staying with someone forever. I don’t think we’re meant to do that.”
Autumn snorted in not-so-elegant fashion, but she could not believe the utter nonsense coming out of Grey’s mouth. “You realize you’re saying this to a wedding planner, right? My entire career is built on the idea that people are meant to do exactly that. Fall in love. Depend on each other. Take care of each other. Forever.”
“Believing in that and your career choice don’t have to be dependent on each other. Do your parents have a good marriage?”
“No. It was toxic. They’re divorced now. But neither of them were faithful. I’m not sure they were ever really in love. I think they were caught up in the excitement of it. My dad’s career was on the rise and my mom worked for him.” Autumn didn’t care to talk about her parents any more. It brought up too many memories of big fights and outrageous drama, like the night her mom broke every single dish in their kitchen in a fit of frustration over another of her dad’s affairs, and ended up in an ambulance because her feet were all cut up. “That doesn’t mean I don’t believe in love and commitment. My grandparents had an amazing marriage.”
“What happened to them?”
“They’re still together. They’re still in love. They’re retired and they travel all the time, but I see them once or twice a year. They’re really the only family I still see.”
“Well, my parents were a horrible match, too. And I’ve never felt any need to permanently attach myself to anyone. Ever. And I can’t imagine it, either, to be honest.”
That struck Autumn as incredibly sad. Despite everything she’d been through, she still saw herself falling in love. She dared to see a long-term partnership with someone. Someday. “You never know when the right person will come along.”
“And in the meantime, you spend a lot of time with the wrong people. You should know that better than anyone. How many months were you with your fiancé before things fell apart?”
Good God, Grey had a way of saying things that cut to the bone. “I don’t care about that. It’s the past. I’m looking ahead.”
“But it just happened.”
“More than three months ago. Ancient history as far as I’m concerned.”
Grey pressed his lips together, seeming thoroughly unconvinced. “I think you’re in denial.”
“And I think we should talk about something else.”
“Like what?” It wasn’t really a question. It felt more like a challenge.
“How about the future of our working relationship?”
Grey took a step closer to her. “Why in the world did you tell Molly that you weren’t the one who got the booking for the Barefoot wedding? That was your out.”
Half of Autumn’s brain was listening to his words. The other half was fixated on his shoulders—she’d seen them in a dress shirt, and she’d seen them doing push-ups, but she couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to touch them. To roll her fingers over what was surely a solid block of muscle. “It was the truth. I wasn’t going to take credit for something I didn’t do.”
“You just put yourself in a worse position though. If you’re fighting for your existence at Moonlight Ridge, you aren’t making much of a case.”
Autumn’s frustration with Grey was only growing, partly because he seemed truly mad that she’d done something that would only mean they would continue working together. “I don’t see it that way. I know that I’m good at my job. I make people happy and I find it very rewarding to do that.”
Grey cast her another doubtful look. It was like he had a daily quota of doubt. “How do you see the bright side in everything?”
“I don’t have a choice, Grey. Any other way and I wouldn’t be able to function.” She made her way to the door. “I’ll get out of your hair now. I just wanted to stop by and say thanks again.”
“Autumn, wait.” Grey reached for her arm, and Autumn couldn’t help but notice the zap of electricity between them when his fingers touched her elbow. Why was she so susceptible to Grey’s charms? She didn’t understand why he had any power over her at
all. The man didn’t believe in love. Aside from the fact that he was ridiculously sexy and incredibly smart, he was completely wrong for her.
“Yes?” she asked.
“When will we be working together again?”
“There’s a wedding next weekend.” Autumn scoured her brain for some reason she could see Grey before then, but then she scolded herself for being so attracted to him. “You can help me with that. See what my job is really like.”
Grey smiled slightly, just enough to give her some encouragement. “I don’t know that I’m dying to go to a wedding, but I do want to see you be successful. And you promised me you were going to show me the ropes.”
“I absolutely did. And I always keep my promises.” Autumn opened the door and stepped out onto the patio, but Grey followed her.
“I still don’t understand why you outed yourself to Molly. I’m not entirely convinced it’s because you couldn’t stand to be anything less than honest. I have to think your survival instincts are stronger than that.”
Autumn wasn’t sure why she’d done it, either. It wasn’t like Molly had tried to pry the information out of her. Autumn had given herself up. Maybe it was just that she wasn’t eager to claim credit when it wasn’t hers to take. Or maybe it was something else. “I don’t know, Grey. Maybe I just like having you around.”
Five
Grey had been nothing less than completely honest when he’d told Autumn that he wasn’t a big fan of weddings. He didn’t really see the point. So much money and hoopla, knowing that 50 percent of marriages ended in despair and divorce. What person would walk into a casino and put down a year’s salary, knowing they only had a one-in-two chance of winning it back? It was a risk only a fool would take.
Of course, Grey had his reasons for thinking this way. His parents’ marriage had been dismal, never suggesting even the slightest glimmer of love or true affection. And when Grey was rescued from that situation, it was by Jameson, a single man who never seemed to want for a wife or commitment involving a ring, vows or a ceremony. It left Grey with only one conclusion—romantic love was a trap. It was an illusion, a way to turn lust into something more meaningful or turn loneliness into something less persistent.
