She answered with a shrug. “I’m here now. And they were worth the wait.”

They ate and she listened to Emma and Luke discuss their days. She and Emma talked at least once a week, so she was familiar with their jobs. Luke was busy as a local cop in Hope, and Emma had her hands full running the vet clinic. They were both successful, and ridiculously in love with each other. Luke scraped taco sauce off the corner of Emma’s mouth, and Emma listened intently to Luke’s story about a rear-end collision he’d worked today, offering sympathy as he told them about one of the occupants’ injuries.

The way Emma looked at Luke was the same way Molly used to look at—

No point in going there. That had been a long time ago. She never even thought about him anymore.

“So tell me what’s on the agenda for this wedding shindig,” Molly said after they cleaned up the remnants of their fast-food fest. Luke had taken the dogs outside, leaving Emma and Molly to catch up in the living room.

“You and I are going to head to the bridal salon for a final fitting tomorrow. We should be fine, and we’ll bring the dresses home. Ours will go to Mom’s, of course, because we’ll be getting ready there the day of the wedding. Oh, and we’re meeting Jane and Chelsea at the bridal shop.”

“Okay.”

“Luke’s brother Reid flies in from Boston tomorrow as well, but Luke’s taking care of picking him up. The rehearsal dinner is Friday, then the wedding at the country club on Saturday. We’re going to do a brunch Sunday with the families, then Luke and I head out on Monday for Hawaii.”

Molly grinned. “My guess is that you and Luke are way more excited about Hawaii than anything else.”

Emma laughed. “You would guess right. Though I am looking forward to being married. Finally. It’s taken a lot of planning, but it’s going to happen.”

Molly grasped her hand. “I’m so happy for the two of you, Em. Luke’s a great guy.”

“He is. And thanks. I want the same thing for you, Moll.”

“Oh, well. You know, I’m not even close to being ready to settle down.”

“And why is that? With all the traveling you’ve done, haven’t you found one place that suits you yet? Or a guy who makes you want to put down roots?”

“Uh, no.” There’d never be a guy who’d make her want to stay in one place. Never. She’d planted her flag in a guy’s heart once, and love had devastated her. She never wanted to go there again. “I like my freedom too much.”

“And speaking of guys . . . you are aware Carter is in the wedding, right?”

Just the mention of his name made her pulse kick up several beats. “Of course. You told me.”

“I know you two broke up in high school, but you’ve never talked about it.”

Molly shrugged. “Nothing to talk about, really.”

Other than the utter destruction of her heart.

“He is Luke’s best friend. Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

No, she wasn’t okay with it. She was hoping he’d be out of town and unable to make the wedding. Too much to hope for, of course. And running into him at the bakery had been an awful start to her trip. One she wasn’t going to mention to her sister. “Of course, Em. I’m fine with it. High school was a long time ago, you know. I’m so over Carter.”

She’d never be over Carter, or what had happened between them. But this was Emma and Luke’s wedding, and she was going to be an adult about it. Nothing was going to spoil Emma and Luke’s big day.

Her heart was just going to have to suck it up and take it. Then, after the wedding, she’d hightail it out of Hope and never look back.

Just like she’d done twelve years ago, when she’d left town to escape the heartbreak.

Only this time, she wouldn’t be heartbroken, because she’d never allow that to happen again.

Chapter 3

AFTER RUNNING INTO Molly yesterday, Carter had buried himself in the dreaded paperwork. It was only because he’d interviewed a guy for the vacant body repair position that he’d happened to be in Hope during the day and then decided to just spend the rest of the workweek here because of the wedding stuff going on. And because he’d happened to be here, he’d also happened to see Molly, something he’d hoped to avoid until the wedding.

Of course if he’d just stayed at the shop, he could have prevented her unhappiness, and his damn bad mood. So he had no one to blame but himself.

And the interviewing wasn’t going well, either. He was beginning to think he was never going to find a decent body guy. Good thing he had some of the other guys to fill in, and if worse came to worst, he could do some of the bodywork himself, though that wasn’t his preference. Every now and then he enjoyed getting his hands dirty, but overseeing the shops was enough of a full-time job these days.

When he’d first started out, he’d worked for Mo Bennett, who owned the shop he was at today. Carter always had a feel for cars, had started learning about them with his dad when he was a kid. His dad had worked for Mo, and Carter had come in with him on weekends, sitting by and watching until he was old enough to get under the hood and tinker on them himself. Mo had hired him at sixteen, and by the time he turned twenty-two and Mo was ready to retire, Carter had gotten a loan and bought the place. Over the years Carter expanded the garage and brought in auto body guys, then branched out and bought another shop several years later.

Now there were four Richards Auto Service garages, one in Hope and three more in surrounding areas, including nearby in Tulsa. He’d worked his ass off to become a success, put himself in debt up to his eyeballs, but he was in the black finally. He might not get to work on the cars, which he loved, as much as he used to, but he’d made enough to buy a house and he lived comfortably enough that he could sleep at night without worrying about money.

These days if anything kept him up at night it was his personal life—or lack of personal life. The absence of a special woman. Not that finding the right woman had ever been front burner for him before. He’d dated plenty, and women had come into and gone out of his life without a lot of fuss.

Maybe it was seeing Molly again that reminded him of the plans they’d made twelve years ago. Plans that had never come to be. Plans he’d put on hold while he concentrated on work, on building his business.