Best Laid Wedding Plans

by Karen Booth

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means goodbye.”

  Twelve

  Autumn had to drag herself out of bed on Monday morning. She was running on no sleep and a broken heart—not a good way to start the week. She’d stupidly held out hope that Grey might change his mind about leaving. Now she knew that nothing could keep him here. Not even her.

  There had been thunderstorms all night long, the rain beating against the windowpanes as Autumn was curled up into a ball in her bed, letting the tears flow just as freely. Even Milton gave up on consoling her and went to sleep in the other room. Mother Nature was showing no signs of letting up today. Black clouds were overhead, drowning out the sun, and although the rain had slowed to a sprinkle, the rain was expected to return with a vengeance later that morning.

  She managed a shower and got dressed, but it didn’t improve her mood. She hated herself for being so softhearted and stupid. She might have told herself that it wouldn’t happen, that they were too different, but that had been short-sighted. He was smart and hiding a very tender inside, all wrapped up in an incredible package. Of course she’d fallen. Of course.

  As she walked out her front door to leave for work, she was unfortunately reminded of the other thing she didn’t want to think about today—the situation with her dad. A car she didn’t recognize was parked across the street, and a man was standing at the curb with his phone, taking pictures of her. She stalked to her car, hopped in and flipped him off as she drove by. Not a smart move. She didn’t care.

  By the time she arrived at Moonlight Ridge, walked through the parking lot, into the inn, and up to her office, she knew how much everyone on staff was talking about her. Gossiping. Despite her inclination to ignore everything, she had to see what the stories were saying. So she did the unthinkable—an internet search for her dad’s name.

  It was all exactly what she’d expected.

  “Accused Hollywood Producer Uses Daughter as Shield.”

  “Leo Kincaid: ‘My daughter hasn’t given up on me.’”

  “A Daughter’s Love Comforts Controversial Producer.”

  The stuff people were assuming about her was mostly wrong. She didn’t want to reconcile with her dad. She didn’t want to be a part of his life anymore. She hated the things he’d done. But one thing was right—somewhere in her heart, there was still a glimmer of love for her dad. She’d tried to make it go away, but she couldn’t.

  The worst of the stories were the few that rehashed the whole wedding-planner-left-at-the-altar story. How the media loved a good juicy twist of fate, and that was one for the ages. Of course, in the context of that particular angle came the unavoidable mention of Moonlight Ridge. She hated that she was once again the reason a negative light had been cast on the property. It wasn’t fair to the Holloways. It wasn’t fair to Jameson.

  Autumn’s phone silently buzzed, facedown on her desk. She’d put it on mute out of necessity. She was getting dozens of calls, so many that it was draining her battery, mostly from numbers she did not recognize. She was going to have to get a new number, or perhaps this was the time to cut herself off from society, move deep into the woods and live off the grid.

  But something made her look at her phone. It was Delilah Barefoot. Autumn scrambled to answer, hoping to hell this was a phone call about table runners or cake toppers or something uncontroversial.

  “Delilah, hi. How nice to hear from you. What can I help you with?” Autumn turned in her chair and looked out the window. Impossibly, the sky was getting even darker. The rain was coming down harder now. Lightning crackled across the sky. A few seconds later, thunder boomed so loudly the entire inn shook.

  “I don’t really know how to say this, so I’ll just come out with it. We can’t have our wedding at Moonlight Ridge. My mother saw your dad on television. She’s not happy. She wants her deposit back. I hope that will be okay.”

  Autumn hated how the ripple effects of this disaster were spreading. She also hated that it was ruining what should be a fun process for Delilah. “I understand. I’m so sorry that it came to this. Truly. If it’ll help at all, I’m happy to help coordinate when you find a new venue.”

  Delilah’s voice got quiet. “Moonlight Ridge isn’t the issue, Autumn.”

  Oh right. I’m the problem. The realization hit her like a steamroller. She was flattened. After last night, Autumn had thought there were no more uncomfortable truths to hear. She’d been wrong. “What if I wasn’t here? Like at all.”

  “I’m not sure. My mom is a piece of work. Plus, I don’t want to make you quit your job.”

  “You know, this was already in the works. I’d been planning to leave,” she lied. “I don’t want to hurt the resort.”

  “I’m so sorry, Autumn. I know how hard it is to be in the shadow of a well-known parent.”

  “Thank you. That means a lot.” Autumn choked back tears. “So please let your mom know that she doesn’t need to worry about me anymore. By the time you have your wedding, no one will even remember.”

  “I’ll try, but no promises.”

  “All you can do is your best.”

  Autumn said goodbye, not yet fully absorbing that she’d just committed to leave Moonlight Ridge and the resort still might lose a huge booking. But she didn’t see another path forward. She had to leave. Even though being the wedding planner at Moonlight Ridge was her dream job, and she adored everyone there, she was hurting the place she loved. If she followed her natural inclination to look at the bright side, there was one good result from this. She wouldn’t have to be reminded of Grey every time she came to work.

  She pulled up a word document on her computer and typed out a letter to end her contract with Moonlight Ridge. Despite the few tears she’d shed on the phone with Delilah, there was no time spent being sentimental or crying. This was short and sweet. To the point. She hit print, scrawled her name across the bottom and then prepared herself for her next hurdle. Molly was the natural recipient of this letter, and she was not going to let Autumn leave without a fight.

  Autumn walked with purpose down to Molly’s office. But when she poked her head inside, Mack was there. Not Molly.

  “Hey,” Mack said, looking up from a three-ring binder. “How are you doing today? Grey said you weren’t feeling well.”

  Clearly, Grey had not told his brother what had happened between them. “I’m okay. Is Molly around?”

  “She’s not. She’s chasing down maintenance. There’s a broken pipe in one of the guest rooms. I just stopped in because she asked me to look over some projections.” Mack sat back in his chair. “But I’m glad you’re here. I saw the story about your dad. We should probably have a chat about it and the potential fallout.”

  Autumn knew then that she was doing the right thing. She took a deep breath. It was time to cut her ties with the Holloway family. She handed over the letter, then stepped back from the desk and gathered her hands behind her back. “Yeah, about that. You don’t need to worry about me. I’m leaving.”

  Mack glanced at the letter. “I see.”

  “I want to thank you and your family for allowing me to work as a contractor for Moonlight Ridge. But it’s time for me to go. There’s no reason for you to keep me when I’m only hurting business.” She swallowed hard, willing herself to not cry, and hoping like hell that Delilah Barefoot wouldn’t end up canceling after all. “I’ll clean out my work space immediately. I can get you a list of possible replacements for me next week.”

  Mack set aside the letter. “I’m sorry to hear this. Molly will be really sad to hear it, too. But I appreciate you making this sacrifice for my family. And for the resort. That means a lot right now. Truly.”

  Autumn merely nodded, forcing a polite smile. “No problem.”

  “You’ll still be there for the wedding, right? Molly would lose it if you weren’t there.”

  In th
e midst of all of this, Autumn had completely forgotten about Mack and Molly’s wedding. Not only was Autumn the maid of honor, Grey was a groomsman. She’d be subjected to a horribly romantic day with the man she loved in close proximity. What a nightmare. “Yes. Of course. I’ll be there.” At least Grey would be leaving Asheville the day after, and Autumn could begin the process of starting over. Again.

  Outside, lightning struck once more. The rain was coming down in torrential sheets. The lights in the building flickered, then another loud boom of thunder came. “I’d better get going,” she said, then quickly ducked out into the hall. This all seemed like a fitting ending to her stint at Moonlight Ridge—straight out of a horror movie.

  * * *

  Grey was trying hard to get work done, but it was pointless. He hadn’t slept at all last night, haunted by the vision of Autumn walking away from him. Right out of his life. Outside, it was dark as night and it wasn’t even noon. The rain was unrelenting. Grey had never liked weather like this. It was too unpredictable. He had no control. It was also a huge reminder of the night Travis went out into the storm and he and Mack had chased after him. In a split second, everything changed. Just like Jameson’s brain episode had changed things again.

  Maybe it was the lack of sleep, but Grey felt like he couldn’t see anything clearly. Lately, Autumn had been the person in his life who’d made things make sense, but he couldn’t reach out to her. She’d be furious with him. Which left Mack. Grey felt so unsettled right now and he had to do something about it. So he reached for his phone. Just as he picked it up, a screeching sound came from the device—the emergency warning system. A quick glance told him that there was flash flooding in the area. Good thing he didn’t need to go anywhere.

  “I was just about to call you,” Mack answered. “Have you talked to Autumn?”

  “Not since yesterday.” Grey still hadn’t told his brother about their falling-out. “We had an argument. Or a disagreement.”

  “About what?”

  “About me leaving. She told me she loves me.”

  Mack grumbled on the other end of the line. “I thought you were keeping things casual. Why didn’t you stick to the plan?”

  It was such a simple question, the sort of thing Grey asked himself all the time. He loved plans. His entire career revolved around them. When he made one he always stuck to it. But he hadn’t with Autumn. “It just happened.”

  “Did you tell her you loved her, too?”

  “No.” He felt sick about it, but he’d been too angry about Mack trying to get him to do something he hadn’t planned to.

  “So you don’t love her?”

  Grey was about to say that he had feelings for Autumn he couldn’t explain. But that wasn’t entirely true. They were simple—he wanted to be with her. He wanted to protect her and keep her safe. She made him look at the whole world differently. But...he was afraid to label his feelings as love. Love could go away. It could fade or get twisted into something else. It happened with his parents. It happened with his brothers. Then again, he’d found a new parental love with Jameson. And he and his brothers were finding their way back. “Dammit, Mack. I messed everything up. I should have told her I loved her, but I panicked. Why did you have to pick that fight with me yesterday, anyway?”

  “Because I love you, you big dummy. And I want you to stay here.”

  Grey could hardly believe he’d been so stupid. “I have to go. I have to talk to Autumn.”

  “She just left. She quit her job and emptied out her office.”

  “What? Because of me?”

  “I’m sure you’d love to think that, but it was because of everything with her dad. The Barefoot family was going to cancel their wedding. She saw that it was hurting the resort.”

  “She can’t quit.”

  “Too late. She already did.”

  “No. Let me fix this. I have to call her now. Bye.”

  “Hold on. Can I give you one piece of advice?”

  “What?”

  “Don’t call her if you aren’t ready to tell her that you love her.”

  I know that now. “I have to go. Bye, Mack.” Grey hung up and immediately called Autumn’s cell. It went straight to voice mail. He ended the call and sent her a text. Please answer your phone. He called again.

  “What do you want, Grey? I don’t want to talk to you right now. I’m trying to drive home through a monsoon.”

  “Why are you on the roads right now? There are flash flood warnings.”

  “I know that. I’m fine. Or maybe a river will just carry me away and nobody will need to worry about me anymore.”

  “I would worry about you, Autumn. I always will.”

  “Next subject, please.” The anger in her voice was unavoidable. He had to see her. He had to tell her in person what he was feeling.

  “Look, Autumn, we need to talk. Pull over to the side of the road and I’ll find you. What route are you taking?”

  “The back way. I figured the old logging road lets me avoid most of the low-lying areas.”

  Grey’s heart began to pound. The mere mention of the logging road made him sick to his stomach. “But that stretch of road before the ravine. It gets washed out sometimes.” The lights in Grey’s cottage flickered. It felt like a bad omen.

  “I’m fine. Don’t—” There was a click on the line.

  “Autumn? Hello?” There was no answer. Grey’s mind switched into overdrive. What if she’d gone off the road? What if she was hurt? What if she was dead and he’d never get to tell her how he felt? He grabbed his keys and ran out to his car, already soaked by the time he hopped inside. For a moment, he hesitated. He knew his blood was running hot right now. Emotions were at a fever pitch. And Mother Nature was not playing nice. This was exactly what it was like the night he and Mack went out after Travis. The night when everything went horribly, horribly wrong. Was this a mistake? Was he about to do something truly stupid?

  Of course, he could answer neither of those questions. This was the unknown in all of its glory and he had to face it. He had to fight through it. With his hand trembling, he stuck his key in the ignition and started the engine. He put it into gear, knowing he couldn’t leave Autumn out in this. He cared too much. He loved her.

  The car fishtailed when he punched the accelerator, and he nearly peeled out of the driveway next to his cottage. Luckily, there were very few cars out in this weather, so Grey was able to get to the old logging road in no time flat. His heart raced just as fast as the wipers struggled to keep up with the rain. He was pushing the speed limit, which he knew was unwise, but it was the only way he stood any chance of catching up to her. He hoped she had the sense to take things slow. Autumn’s eyesight was not great, even with her glasses on. Plus, and this was the big thing—she was upset. The thought of her behind the wheel right now was too much. All he could do was focus on the road and finding her. He rounded a big curve and he knew that he wasn’t far from the ravine. Up ahead, he saw fuzzy red lights. Brake lights. A car was stopped on the side of the road. A silver car.

  Autumn. His gut instinct was to drive like a bat out of hell, but it wasn’t safe, especially not in these slick conditions, so he slowed down. His heart was threatening to beat its way out of his chest as he eased up behind the car and turned off his engine. There was no sign of life in the car. Definitely no Autumn. And she’d left her headlights on, which he found odd. It hadn’t been that long ago that she’d had to replace her battery.

  He climbed out of his car, immediately getting soaked in a deluge of rain. The sound was deafening. Lightning crackled across the sky. He walked to the driver’s side door and shielded his eyes with his hands, peering into the window. She wasn’t inside. He straightened and looked down the road, but there was no sign of her. “Autumn?” he called with hands cupped around his mouth.

  “Grey?” her voice was small and muffled, b
ut it gave him life.

  “Autumn? Where are you?” He turned back and that was when he saw her car rock side to side. He rounded the front to the passenger side and that was where he found her—crouched down trying to turn a nut on her tire. The relief he felt was so immediate he wondered how he could’ve ever doubted his feelings for her. “Autumn! You’re okay.”

  She fell back on her butt, sitting in the muddy ditch with a tire iron in her hand. Her glasses were foggy and had slid down to the end of her nose. Her hair was just as wet as it had been when they’d gone skinny-dipping. “Grey? You came looking for me? I told you not to.”

  He dropped to his knees next to her, one landing in soft and muddy ground, not that he cared. He took her hand. “Of course I did. I had to go after the woman I love.”

  She just stared at him from behind those glasses. “What did you just say?”

  “I love you. I should have said it yesterday. I was feeling it, I just hadn’t wrapped my head around the idea of it. Probably because admitting my feelings for you means that I would have to stay, and that would’ve meant giving in to Mack’s demands.”

  Autumn scrambled to her feet and looked down at him, aggressively pointing at him with the tire iron. “If you’re leaving, I don’t want to hear that you love me.”

  He hurried back to standing, not bothering with the pretense of brushing himself off. He was a disaster. So was Autumn, although she managed to make it look beautiful. “I’m not leaving.”

  “You’re not?”

  He shook his head. He wanted her in his arms. “Will you put down the damn tire iron, please?”

  She dropped it to the ground, her shoulders drooping in defeat.

  He didn’t waste a second reining her into his arms so he could hold her close and watch the water drip down the tip of her nose.

  “Are you serious? Are you really not leaving?”

  He nodded emphatically. “I’m staying. I love you, Autumn, and I know it’s only been a few months, but I hope that you’ll still want to see me. I’m hoping you can forgive me for everything that happened yesterday. I had a momentary blip of insanity.”