Map
Chapter1
No... no... For the love of... NO.
Harper Wilson groaned as her Mercedes shuddered to a halt. Unbelievable. She banged the heels of her hands on the steering wheel, then twisted the key in the ignition. Nothing. Three more turns. Yep, her baby was dead.
She grabbed her phone, stepped out of the car, and slammed the door shut, grimacing against the blast of muggy midday heat. But that was nothing compared to her rising panic. In fifteen minutes she was supposed to show a potential client a seven-acre plot of land nearly three miles down this dusty road. In just a few hours she needed to be at Amazing Grace Church for Anita and Tanner’s wedding. She was a bridesmaid—again—for one of her BFFs, and normally she would already be at the church helping out with whatever needed to be done. But Olivia, Anita’s perfectionistic maid of honor, had things under control for the bridal party. Since Anita’s mother was controlling everything else, Harper had decided she could sneak in this showing.
She looked at her cell. Zero bars. “Great. Just great,” she muttered, holding the cell away from her, then up in the air. After turning around in a circle, she finally saw a bar appear in the upper corner of the screen, but only if she held the cell above her head while she stood on one foot, her narrow four-inch heel sinking into the soft ground of the dirt road. Quickly she searched for the familiar number, then hit it with her thumb.
“Hiya, Harper.” Rusty Jenkins’s low, affable drawl came through the speaker.
“Thank God you answered,” she said, not daring to move and lose the precious service bar.
“Did ya break down again?”
She sighed. “Of course I did.”
“Dang it. All right, I’ll come get ya and tow ya back to the garage. I’m sure sorry about this, Harper. I thought I’d fixed her up for good this time.”
“It’s okay, Rusty.” She gave him her location, then hung up and tried to call her client, only to lose her balance and drop the phone onto the dry dirt. “No!” She grabbed it and searched for service. Nothing. Held the phone above her head and stood on one foot again. Zip. Now beads of sweat were running down the side of her face.
Yuck.The only time perspiration was permissible was when she was working out or playing for the church softball team. But dripping sweat while standing next to her stupid car? Ridiculous.
She opened the door and sat on the driver-side seat, the hem of her peach-tinted silk sheath dress rising above her knees. Bad idea. The cream-colored leather interior wasstifling. She grabbed her Louboutin Paloma bag—a luxury purchase to celebrate her first real-estate sale seven years ago—and exited the car. She fished for her makeup bag inside the purse, then pulled it out, quickly unzipped it, and found the small rectangular mirror inside. One look at her reflection had her cringing. Her perfect coiffure, meticulous makeup, and optimistic disposition were all wilting under the scorching sun.
Who gets married in August anyway?Anita and Tanner, that’s who. And while Harper was just as happy for the two of them as she’d been last summer when her friends Riley and Hayden had gotten married, summer weddings in Arkansas were peak insanity.
As she waited for Rusty to pick her up, she dabbed at her face with a tissue and scrolled through the emails already downloaded on her phone. Six messages from prospective buyers surfing property websites on the internet.Good, good. For the past six months the local real estate had taken a downturn, which was one of the reasons she didn’t want to cancel today’s showing. Thankfully her business was still in the black, and she wanted to keep it that way.
She then scanned the email reminder of the final committee meeting for the ALS Foundation gala and auction happening in Hot Springs the last Saturday in October.Oops.She’d already missed the last few meetings due to work. This was her third year volunteering for the gala, although she’d attended them for the past five years—once with Anita’s brother, Kingston. She made a mental note not to schedule anything for that evening.
The rest of the emails weren’t urgent, and she decided towait to answer them until after the wedding reception was over. She glanced at the time on her phone. If Rusty arrived in five minutes or less, she’d still have time to meet the client and not be late for the wedding.Please, Rusty. Hurry.
As if on cue, his tow truck appeared in the distance, clouds of dirt flying behind it. She tossed her phone into the Paloma and hurried to the middle of the road to flag him down. When he halted a few yards away, she met him on the passenger side. “Perfect timing,” she said after he rolled down the window. She poked her head through the opening. “Can you do me another favor?”
His easygoing grin reappeared. “Sure.”
“I’m meeting two clients farther up the road. Could you take me there?”
“After I hook up your car?”
“No, before.”
Confusion entered his eyes. “All right,” he drawled. “Climb on in.”
Relieved, she opened the door, barely noticing the light-blue towel draped over the seat. She sat down and pointed straight ahead. “They should be there already.”
Rusty put the truck in gear and drove for a few minutes until they saw a dark-gray sedan parked on the side of the road. Only then did she realize she’d left her phone and purse in her car. She pulled down the visor and checked her face. The air-conditioning in the truck had helped her cool off a bit, but she still shone with perspiration. “I look awful.”
She felt a tap on her shoulder. When she looked down, she saw Rusty’s huge hand holding out a clean white papertowel. “Thanks,” she said, then dabbed her damp skin a few times before opening the door. “Wish me luck.”
“But Harper—”
She shut the door, pasted a smile on her face, and walked to the middle-aged couple standing by the sedan. The smartly dressed woman fanned her face with what looked like a brochure as the man wiped his brow with the back of his hand.
“Hello,” she said when she reached them, extending her hand. “Harper Wilson. Goodness, it’s a hot one today, isn’t it?”
