We could really use Nate right about now,” Sadie said from where she stood on a ladder, attempting to tie the colorful Welcome to Highland Falls sign to a branch of a tree. The printer had forgotten to include Highland Falls’ new tagline: the small town where love is always in bloom. But they’d made up for it by printing the slogan on the balloons decorating the trees.
The executives from Happy Ever After Entertainment were scheduled to arrive in the next hour. Ellie had agreed to host a ceilidh—a party with traditional Scottish songs and dances—to welcome them to the inn. It wouldn’t be long before half the town showed up.
“Damn,” Sadie said when her end of the sign fluttered to the ground. “Where is he?”
Ellie hadn’t seen Nate since he’d crushed her hopes and dreams on the dance floor. One minute, she’d felt like she was dancing on air, like all her hopes and dreams were about to come true. He’d remembered the last song they’d danced to at the wedding. He’d called it their song, and she’d made the mistake of thinking that he’d listened to the lyrics and it was his way of declaring his feelings for her. Instead, seconds later, he’d brought her crashing down to earth in a blink of her star-filled eyes. Now he was avoiding her as much as she was avoiding him.
“Ryder said he’s been on his phone for the last hour.” Ellie stood across from Sadie on the other ladder, tying her end of the sign to the pole, the town’s flag flapping above it in the light breeze off the lake. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of your end,” she told her cousin.
Ellie might as well get used to doing things on her own again. In a little more than five days, she wouldn’t have Nate here helping her out. Ryder either.
She climbed down the ladder, wondering how she’d get through the next few days. She didn’t know if she had it in her to smile and pretend everything was wonderful when all she wanted to do was sit down and cry, which was probably a better idea than trying to convince Nate to give them a second chance. As she knew from past experience, that would be about as productive as trying to read his mind.
She walked to her cousin’s side, looking around to see what they had left to do. Ryder, Joe, and the judge had helped her and her friends set up this morning. Abby and Mallory had left forty minutes ago to pick up the donations from the local eateries in town, which were providing the food for today’s event. Abby was also on a secret mission for Ellie. She was picking up several family-size packs of chocolate bars to replenish her stash.
“I know I promised not to bring it up again, but are you and Nate really okay?” Sadie asked.
“We’re good. Honestly, we are,” she added at Sadie’s raised eyebrow.
Last night, when Sadie and their friends had followed her into the ladies’ room at Highland Brew, Ellie had downplayed what had happened on the dance floor with Nate. She didn’t want their family and friends to feel like they had to take sides. Nate had been nothing but honest with her. It wasn’t his fault she’d fallen for him despite his warnings not to.
“Ellie, you’ve barely smiled or laughed all day. You sing and dance when you work, and you’ve been walking around like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. So you can’t expect me to believe everything is all right.”
“I’m worried about Bri.” It wasn’t a lie. “She hasn’t returned any of my calls, and they go straight to voice mail. This morning, I called my mother and Richard. They haven’t returned my calls either.”
“I wouldn’t worry. Aunt Miranda probably called Bri and Richard the minute she stormed out of here Saturday, and you know how Bri is. She won’t go against your mother. Just give it a few days. I’m sure she’ll call you back.”
Ellie nodded, gesturing for her cousin to come down off the ladder. “You’re probably right. No doubt Richard banned Bri from talking to me.” He’d done it before. “He’ll be furious that we’ve blown the deal he put together.” And her brother-in-law’s temper was why Ellie couldn’t completely push her worries about her sister away.
She was about to try calling Bri again when the door slammed. She turned to see Ryder storming from the inn with Toby loping after him. “Ryder, what’s wrong?”
“I hate him. I hate him!” he cried—his face red and tearstained—before he took off running down the road without further explanation.
Nate. He had to be talking about Nate. Her grandfather and the judge ran out of the inn.
“Grandpa, what’s going—”
“Don’t worry, Ellie my love. We’ve got him,” her grandfather said, and then both he and the judge headed down the road in the direction Ryder had gone, calling out his name.
“I’ve got this. You go talk to Nate,” Sadie said.
As much as Ellie would like to continue avoiding Nate, she couldn’t. “I won’t be long,” she said, and hurried across the lawn to the inn.
The inn was empty and quiet. Spencer had gone to pick up his partners at the airport in Asheville. She hadn’t seen much of him today either.
Supposedly he’d spent the day in his room reading the script for the movie that they’d hopefully be filming in Highland Falls. She had a feeling it was his way of avoiding helping out at the inn. He’d always preferred giving orders to lending a hand. Then again, they couldn’t expect him to pitch in on an event that was being held in his production company’s honor.
Ellie hesitated as she reached the door to Nate’s room. It was slightly ajar. She saw his duffel bag sitting open on the end of the bed, and her chest tightened. He wasn’t leaving Sunday. He was leaving now. It explained why Ryder was so angry and hurt. Nate was breaking his promise to him.
She knocked on the door. “Nate?”
“Yeah. Come on in, Ellie.”
He walked out of the bathroom with his shaving kit in his hand. “You’re leaving,” she said, stating the obvious.
He glanced at her as he tossed the shaving kit into his bag. “I have to. I just got off a call with the task force. Word is my boss is pulling us off the case at the end of the week. I can’t let that happen, Ellie. I have to find something that will change his mind.”
“This isn’t about me, Nate. It’s about Ryder. You made a promise to him, to both him and Gina.”
“I know I did.” He sat on the side of the bed and scrubbed his face. “And I hate that I’ve hurt him. But there’s nothing I can do about it. I owe it to Brodie to see this through.”
“Are you sure this is about Brodie?”
“Come on, Ellie. I’m not leaving because of what’s going on between us. I—”
“I didn’t think you were. You made it clear last night that there was no us.”
His expression softened, and she was afraid he’d say something sweet and kind in another attempt to let her down gently. If he did, she was all but certain the tears she’d managed to hold at bay all day would escape. “What I meant was, Are you sure what’s driving you to solve this case is just about bringing these men to justice? The people who are directly responsible for Brodie’s death are behind bars. You did that, Nate. You and Chase. You got justice for Brodie.”