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Chapter Five
Harper
WeekOne
“Is that her?”
“Is Flynn looking for a wife, or are we competing in a pageant?”
“What was she thinking?”
Elevated whispers bounced around me like ping-pong balls, flying from all sides as I made a beeline for a spot near the windows in the inn’s main sitting area. Madison warned me that the women here would be on their A game, and she wasn’t wrong. Not in the least.
Everywhere I looked were thin, shapely women with perfectly done hair and makeup and dresses that clung to every curve. I didn’t own a single dress that looked like anything they wore.
Someone walked by with a tray of wine, and I snagged the closest glass within reach. A quick glance down at myself confirmed what I already knew: I stuck out like a sore thumb. Madison had picked out the most formal thing we could find on less than twenty-four hours’ notice, but the outfit didn’t exactly compare to the women that congregated around the inn’s main sitting room.
I was the surprise curveball that none of these women expected. Laurel had the night planned to a tee, down to the order we showed up for Flynn. I’d been last, because no one expected another hometown girl. It broke precedent, and she’d laid it out for everyone before shipping us down to the inn. Because of her tight production schedule, she left little room for error, and before I ever even walked in the door, everyone knew who I was.
They might’ve known I was native to Pine Cove Springs, but they didn’t know my relationship to Flynn. Or that this inn had become a second home to me lately, that I’d helped decorate it with gorgeous arrangements more than once in the last few months.
And all at once, I no longer felt like I fit in. In a place where I’d felt the most at home, I felt like a stranger.
“You look so much warmer than me.”
“I’m sorry?” I questioned, glancing up toward the voice.
A gorgeous brunette stood next to me, easily a candidate for Miss Colorado, or whatever state she was from. She was the picture of class, wearing a long black high-necked dress with lace around the top.
“Candace.” Her smile widened, and she offered her hand. “There wasn’t really a dress code listed for tonight, so I went with what I always see on the dating shows.”
“Harper.” I took her hand and shook it, still feeling very much like I’d entered the twilight zone. “To be honest, I don’t really watch these shows, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. My best friend dressed me.”
“You look beautiful. And warm.” Candace laughed. “You picked something unique—I love the velvet bodysuit. No one here has on anything like this, so you’ll definitely stand out. I wish I’d been brave enough to think outside the box.”
Oh, he’ll remember me alright. And it’s got nothing to do with my outfit.
“That’s me, trying to get the leg up on my competition.” I winked at her before I took a sip of my wine.
“You’ve already got that. I mean, you already know Flynn.”
My cheeks heated.
I shook my head. “Not like that, I don’t.”
He’d once made it abundantly clear I was nothing more than Steven’s kid sister, so I’d be lucky to stick around for a couple of weeks.
“Still more than me. Is that your natural hair color? I’m so jealous. You remind me of Nicole Kidman—absolutely beautiful.”
“Thank you. That’s probably one of the biggest compliments anyone has ever given me. She’s one of my favorite actresses.”
“Mine too!” Candace agreed.
My circle of good friends was small—tiny, even. Madison had been my only close friend until recently, when Chloe and I had gotten to know each other even better. I knew people. It was my job to read between the lines and give them what they wanted but couldn’t explain. Candace was the real deal, which was more than I could say for most of the women here.
I’d found the spot furthest away from most of the women in order to gather my thoughts and wave away the fog of emotions at seeing Flynn again and being so close to him.
Yes, he was the endgame for almost everyone here. Not me.
