There was more I wanted to say to my dad, but the alarm on his phone blared loudly. My limbs squeaked against the leather as they jerked.
“Sorry, sweetheart, but the man I’m meeting today will be arriving soon.”
“Oh, it’s no problem. I’ll see you at dinner?”
“Of course,” he said, peering out the window. The sound of gravel crunching outside the window alerted us of the stranger’s arrival.
I bypassed the pile of magazines on the island and snagged a bottle of water from the fridge in my haste to my bedroom. There were about four hours to kill before the girls in the book club would arrive. Mostly it was my sisters, Lily, and a few people I had known growing up.
In my room, I tossed my purse on my compact desk and threw my body backward onto the bed. It whined in protest.
I needed a distraction from Colton. He’d occupied most of my time in the last week and he was all I thought about. I knew there was a good chance one of these jobs his agent had set up was going to be his next path in life. How could it not be? Colton Crawford was one of the most charismatic men I’d ever met. And I knew from the internet that the camera loved him.
My phone pinged across the room and I closed my eyes, hoping to ignore it. Only it pinged a second time. Groaning, I shuffled over to my discarded bag and toed off my shoes as I dug around for the phone.
Colton: I miss you.
I didn’t want him to know how excited I was that he missed me already, but the inner teen girl inside me was jumping around like a banshee.
Colton: Send me a picture.
Me: It’s been like eight hours.
Colton: Don’t care.
Turning the phone around, I snapped a quick selfie and sent it as a message to Colton as I laid back on the bed.
Colton: My God, you’re beautiful.
Me: I’m surprised you didn’t want a different kind of picture.
Colton: Naw, I’ll save that for tonight. I have to go in for an interview now.
Me: Good luck.
My phone landed with a flop on the bed as I stared at my ceiling. It had once been covered in those sticky, glow in the dark stars, but I’d removed those when I left for college. I’d always loved them, though. They reminded me of nights camping with my father.
“Hey, girl. Get up.” My body was flung in the air as Alex plopped her body on the edge of my bed.
“I am up.”
“I see that,” she replied as we sat up on the bed simultaneously.
“What are you doing here, anyway? The bonfire starts at seven.”
“Can’t I come hang out with my big sis?”
I tilted my head and pursed my lips. “No.”
“Well, shit. What if I told you I wanted to get the scoop on you and Colton before everyone got here?”
“No.”
“I brought tequila. And I really want to know if his, you know, matches the size of his hands and feet. Because the man is large everywhere.”
Damn. Alex knew that margaritas were my downfall. I sighed heavily, tilting my head back as I agreed.
“You always were an enabler,” I joked as my phone rang.
Glancing down, I noted the unknown number. Usually, I didn’t answer those and sent them to voicemail, but some sort of inclination had me pressing the green button. I silently gestured to Alex that I would join her in a minute, but she leaned her lean body against the doorjamb.
“Hello?”
“Yes, I’m looking for Autumn Easterly. This is Sandra from Elemental Design Events.”
My heart jumped into my throat. It had been a couple of weeks since I applied for the job the weekend I had arrived in Ashfield. The posting hadn’t crossed my mind again and I assumed my blacklist status had traveled all the way to Tennessee with me.
“Um. This is she. How can I help you?”
The woman on the other end of the line went into detail about how their hiring manager had attended a few of the events I’d put together in New York. When my name came across the list of applicants, she knew I would be the best person for the position.
“So, you’re just offering me the job? What about an interview?” My eyes darted over to Alex, who had stiffened, her body rigid across the threshold of my room.
“Well, I mean, we can hold an interview if you’d like one, but she’s pretty certain you’re the event planner she wants. You came highly recommended and your resume is impeccable.”
“Wow. I. . .ugh. . .don’t know what to say.”
“Say yes, of course.”