Jilted in January Read online

  Grant held up his hands. “That’s okay. I’m glad…” Was he glad she wasn’t going to break down and cry in the middle of his expo, or was he glad she really wasn’t pining for the guy who’d walked out on her? “I mean, I guess, then, it worked out for the best.”

  “I guess it did.” She held his gaze for a minute, then a half smile curved her lips. “Let’s just forget Harper’s little outburst. How about those quality control samples from the kitchen?”

  Grateful for the excuse to cut the awkward conversation short, Grant swept his hand toward the kitchen. “Lead the way. I’m starving.”

  She headed across the dance floor, and he followed her, a little high on the heady scent of flowers that swirled around her as she moved and more than a little distracted by the sway of her hips and her determined stride. He shook himself out of his daydream halfway to the kitchen. Just because Harper wasn’t carrying a torch for her fiancé didn’t make her fair game. He could certainly admire from afar, but this wasn’t the girl to get involved with, he told himself. As much as she might be fine with canceling her wedding, she probably didn’t need any complications in her life. And with TF still teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, he didn’t either. His job had to come first. Everything else could wait.

  Chapter Four

  A few hours later, Harper lowered herself into a seat behind her display table and stretched her tired feet out in front of her. She’d been standing since the Expo began, answering questions about her centerpieces and trying very hard not to scare any dewy-eyed young brides-to-be out of walking down the aisle.

  She was proud of her restraint, but now that the last of the customers were wandering toward the coat room, she realized how exhausting the day had been. It felt good to wipe the tight smile off her face and slouch behind a bouquet of blush-colored rose buds.

  “Hey, sweetie, are you hungry?” A cheery voice intruded on her moment of self-pity. Harper looked up into a smoky set of mismatched eyes, one aqua blue, the other light brown.

  “Hey, aren’t you…um…Cassie, right? The cupcake girl.” Harper hauled herself out of her chair and reached out to shake the woman’s hand. “Don’t you deliver snacks to my building?”

  The pretty blonde offered Harper a tray of sumptuous-looking mini-cakes. “The accounting firm on Ferry Road, right?”

  “That’s right. I work on the second floor, but I’ve seen you unloading your truck sometimes. I love your red velvet cupcakes.”

  “Thanks. Here, I’ve got a bunch left. Today’s favorite flavor was chocolate raspberry. Those went like crazy. Did you make these arrangements? They’re gorgeous.”

  “Yes, thanks. It’s something new I’m trying out.” Harper helped herself to a tiny pink-iced cake. After the hors d’oeuvres she and Grant had pilfered from the kitchen earlier, she hadn’t had time to think about food, but now that the event was over, she realized her stomach was growling. The little cupcake tasted like heaven.

  “Take another, I’ve got plenty left and I hate to cart them home. The problem with brides is they’re all terrified of gaining an ounce so they hardly eat a thing at the taste tests.”

  Her mouth full of luscious icing, Harper could only nod. How long had she starved herself to fit into the dress she would never wear? She grabbed a second cupcake. “Given time I bet I could eat all of these,” she admitted.

  Cassie laughed. “So could I. That’s why I’m offering them around. The downside of making pastries for a living.”

  Harper greedily eyed the rest of the cakes on the tray and thought of taking a few over to Audrey’s to fuel a nice, healthy pity party. She was about to offer to take the tray off Cassie’s hands when her cell phone buzzed in her pocket. “Excuse me.” She grabbed the phone and checked the caller ID. It was Mrs. Dawson, Bradley’s mother.

  Harper rolled her eyes and let the call go once again to voice mail. “Sorry about that,” she said. “My ex future mother-in-law.” Why had she said that? Hadn’t she gone off quite enough about her personal life to strangers today?

  “Oh! Ah…you’re the bride. The one who…I’m sorry.”

  “Yep. I’m the bride.”

  “That was rude of me to blurt that out.” Cassie’s unusual eyes filled with sympathy. “Gosh, a day like today must be hard for you.”

  Harper shrugged. “Not as bad as you’d imagine. The worst part is I’m starving.” She swiped another cupcake. “These are so good.”

  “You know, I think my cousin Max was going to be your photographer.”

  “Really? Max Shannon is your cousin?” She thought of the handsome photographer she and Brad had hired. “He was really nice about the cancelation. He told me he’d give me a credit toward…you know, my next wedding.”

  Cassie put a hand over Harper’s. “There’ll be one. Don’t worry.”

  Harper wanted to say she wasn’t worried, but at that moment Grant appeared, and her concentration drifted. Cassie shifted to follow her gaze, and a slow smile spread across her face. “Maybe sooner than you think?”

  “What? No. What?”

  “Grant is hot, don’t you think?”

  Harper tried not to choke on her cupcake. As if Audrey wasn’t bad enough, now this woman she barely knew was pushing her toward Grant. “Um…he’s okay.”

  “Your eyes lit up when you saw him. And here he comes. I’ll get out of your way.”

  “No, don’t.” Cassie’s comment had only served to make Harper think about Grant that way, and she didn’t want to. “You don’t have to rush off…ah, I’d like to know more about the cupcakes. My grandmother’s seventieth birthday is coming up and—”

  Cassie handed her a pink business card emblazoned with the logo for her business, Buttons and Bows Snacks. “Call me any time. Right now, you have more important things to talk about.” She glanced over her shoulder at Grant who had stopped to talk to the last of the exiting customers. “Trust me on this, it’s sort of my thing.”

  “Your thing?”

  “People tell me I have a knack for matching people up. Looks like you two don’t need any help in that department, though.” With a wink, Cassie walked away, taking her cupcakes with her. Harper stared after her, perplexed. Was it written on her face somewhere that she thought Grant was cute? Even so, it didn’t matter. Just because she could appreciate a handsome face and a nice physique didn’t mean she needed to jump right into another relationship when she wasn’t even sure why she’d been in the last one as long as she had.

  “Confused?” Grant’s question brought her mind back to her body.

  “Hmm, no…uh, just thinking about cupcakes.”

  “Oh, did you try the red velvet? I love those.”

  Harper laughed. “They’re my favorite. So how did it go? Did you book any more weddings?”

  He shrugged. “I handed out a lot of registration forms, and we got the contract for the Women’s Auxiliary Club in two weeks. They were interested in centerpieces.”

  Despite her exhaustion, that bit of news gave Harper a slight thrill. A project was exactly what she needed. Her life needed a change, and maybe working with Grant was just the thing. “That’s great. Did they give any details?”

  “I’ll be speaking to the president of the club on Monday. Can I call you Monday night?”

  “Sure.” Harper crouched down to retrieve the packing boxes she’d stowed under table. She figured the hospital would appreciate her samples, and she could drop by there on her way to pick up a pizza for her and Audrey. When she rose, Grant snatched the boxes from her.

  “Why don’t you leave these here? It’s late and you look beat.”

  “Do I?”

  “I didn’t mean that in a bad way.” He cringed. “I know I’m beat. You could come by tomorrow to pick these up.”

  “You’ll be here on Sunday?”

  “I’m twenty-four seven for a while, so yeah. I was actually wondering if you want to go with me to pick up some burgers or something. I’ve got to come back here and work most of th
e evening, but I can take a dinner break.”

  Harper caught herself gaping and had to force her jaw to close. He was asking her out? She resisted the urge to look around for Cassie. Was the cupcake girl some kind of cupid? “I can’t.” The words came out before her brain signed off on them. What was she saying, turning down dinner with a hunk like him? “I promised Audrey I’d have pizza with her tonight.”

  He looked mildly disappointed, but his voice was light and upbeat. “No problem. Thanks for doing this today. I hope things work out with the Auxiliary Club.”

  “Me too.” Harper dropped her gaze. She didn’t dare tell Audrey she’d turned Grant down, but really, was it right to be dating a week after the day she was supposed to have been married? That didn’t seem right to her. How could she justify it when technically, despite the fact that her engagement ring was in a box under her bed, she hadn’t actually broken up with Brad officially? “I’ll stop by tomorrow to pick these up.”

  “Sure. I’ll see you then.”

  Dejected, she grabbed her coat. A voice in her head counted down the steps as she crossed the dance floor and pulled on her scarf and hat. There was still time to change her mind, to run back and tell him dinner sounded like a great idea. Even though her mind screamed to stop, her feet kept going. As she reached the lobby, the lights in the ballroom went out and she heard the door to Grant’s office close.

  Somehow, missing this opportunity stung a little more than missing her own wedding had.

  * * * *

  “Grant, you’re an idiot.” His reflection in the mirror in TF’s men’s room glared at him with obvious contempt. He’d just acted like a drooling adolescent, asking Harper to get burgers with him. Was he out of his mind?

  Elaine’s voice played in his head again. The poor girl.

  She’d looked utterly stunned when he’d suggested dinner. And rightly so. She should have been a married woman by now. She was probably trying to get her life back together, and he was practically stalking her. Not only had he found it difficult to tear his eyes away from her all day, he’d stopped her from packing up her centerpiece samples just so he’d have an excuse to see her again tomorrow.

  He had to get control of himself. He hadn’t come to TF to find a girlfriend. He was here to save a business, and that’s what he had to concentrate on. But damn, it was going to be much more difficult to keep his mind on work if Harper was around.

  Chapter Five

  Harper had no idea how she’d managed not to tell Audrey about Grant’s impromptu dinner invitation, but she had. She felt better about her decision to turn him down the next morning as she sat at the breakfast table listening to the messages left by Brad’s mother.

  Mrs. Dawson didn’t sound angry over the phone, but she was vague. In each of the messages she’d left, she’d just asked Harper to call her and left a number. Now she had something else to feel guilty about, but she still wasn’t sure what she would say to Brad’s mother.

  He would be back from Tahiti now, assuming he hadn’t changed the flight reservations again. Part of her wanted to call him first, but what would she say? How was the honeymoon? She wanted him to know she’d decided there would be no reconciliation, even if he asked for one. But he hadn’t asked, so it was probably better not to say a word until he did. Even if it killed her, she’d ignore him until he came to her.

  She dressed quickly in a pair of gray sweats and a Disney sweatshirt she’d had since college, pulled her hair back in a pony tail and hauled on her parka. The day was brilliantly sunny and bitterly cold. The ride over to Taverna Fiora to pick up her samples would clear her head and give her a break from her constant analyzing. She was so tired of rehashing her arguments with Brad in her head, some fresh air, no matter how cold, would do her good.

  She opened her front door to find Mrs. Dawson just about to knock. “Oh, Harper, I’m so glad I caught you.”

  “Uh…Hi.” Harper stepped back to allow the woman inside. Her first instinct was to apologize for not returning her calls, but she held her tongue.

  “Are you on your way out—well, obviously, you’ve got your coat on. I won’t be long. I’m very sorry to intrude, but I’ve been calling.”

  “I know, I’m…”

  “Harper.” Mrs. Dawson grabbed Harper’s gloved hands in her own. “I wish I knew what to say to you about what happened. I had no idea what Bradley was thinking.”

  Harper offered a dry laugh. “Well, you and me both.”

  “I’m sure you’re angry with him, and I don’t blame you.”

  Harper narrowed her eyes. The poor woman had no idea how angry she was. “Did he send you here?”

  “No. He just got back yesterday evening.”

  “Well, I hope he had a nice flight.” Harper was past feeling guilty about sounding sarcastic or annoyed.

  “If it were up to me, I’d have sent him to the moon. I honestly don’t know what got into that boy, but I wanted you to know that his father and I sat him down last night and had a long talk with him. We were so disappointed by what happened.”

  What he did, you mean, Harper thought. Saying “what happened” made it sound like the whole thing was some kind of accidental occurrence. She bit her tongue. “What did he say?” Not that she cared.

  “He’s still very confused.” Mrs. Dawson’s tone made Harper think she was talking about someone who’d been hit in the head. She sounded as if Bradley was sick in some way and needed time to recover from something. “He’s working through his emotions.”

  “His emotions are what exactly?”

  “Well, like I said, he’s confused, but he knows one thing. He loves you very much and he wants to get married.”

  Harper let out a sound that surprised her with its vehemence. It was half laugh, half growl. Mrs. Dawson’s eyes rounded. “He had his chance to get married. And he blew it.”

  “I know you’re upset, and I don’t blame you. I just wanted to tell you that Mr. Dawson and I are on your side. We’re very committed to seeing the two of you work this out.”

  Harper took a calming breath and patted Mrs. Dawson’s hands. She had two choices here. She could rant or she could repress. Contrary to everything her whirling mind wanted her to do, she chose to repress. “I appreciate that. I really do, but I think Brad would have to be committed to this. I don’t want to turn you into a middleman here, so I won’t say anything other than, Brad knows where to find me if he wants to talk. When he’s not confused anymore, he should call me.”

  “Well, I was hoping maybe you would go to see him. He feels terrible about what happened, and maybe if you…”

  “No, Mrs. Dawson. I’m sorry. I’m not going to see him. He knows where I live and he knows my numbers.”

  “But don’t you want to work this all out?”

  Harper hated to be rude, especially since Brad’s mother had always been very kind to her, but this conversation was getting a bit surreal. She opened the front door, a not-so-subtle hint for Mrs. Dawson to leave. “As far as I’m concerned, it is worked out. The wedding is off, the engagement is over, the relationship is done. If Brad wants to change that, like I said, he knows where to find me.”

  For a moment Mrs. Dawson seemed stunned by Harper’s vehemence, then her shoulders slumped and she headed for the porch. “I hope you’ll reconsider. I think if you just—”

  “No. I’m done being the one to just do anything. It’s Bradley’s move.”

  Mrs. Dawson nodded and shuffled out onto the porch. “I am sorry, Harper. I do feel terrible about what happened.”

  Once again, Harper cut herself off before she said what she really wanted to say. Yelling at Brad’s mother wouldn’t do any good. “Thank you. I appreciate you coming over to talk to me.”

  The woman left, and Harper took a moment took a moment to breathe deeply as she watched her pull away. After a few minutes her cheeks were tight from the cold, but her head was clear.

  So she’d turned down dinner last night. Maybe Grant was available for
lunch.

  * * * *

  “I’d love to book TF for the party, but unless we start showing some real profits, the place is going to be on the chopping block by March.” Grant hated to admit this, but as much as he believed he could turn things around financially for the catering hall, he didn’t want to disappoint his friends.

  Through the phone, Owen DeWitt sighed. “I don’t think anybody’s going to care where we have it. All that really matters is, James will be back. Two years in the Middle East is a damn long time. He won’t care if we have his welcome home party in my garage as long as he gets to see everyone.”

  “So it’s definite, his tour will be up at the end of November?” Grant hadn’t seen his college roommate in more than five years, and his phone calls and letters home had gotten fewer and farther between since his assignment to a war zone. After a year of academics, James had joined the army, and he’d been all over the world in the last few years, culminating in a stint in Iraq. Having him finally home would be great, even if it was still almost a year away.

  “Well, you know the army, but supposedly he has it in writing. I figure we’ve got plenty of time to put together something awesome.”

  “Do me a favor, you see his parents once in a while, right? Ask them what they’d like to do, and I’ll pencil it in any day they want. If the place ends up getting sold, I’ll find a new place to hold the party.”

  A soft knock on Grant’s office door interrupted him. “Hold on, come in!”