“Sounds cool to me,” Justin agreed.
Harper wiped her hands on her shorts and said, “I just need to wash up. Gosh, I’ve been going, going, going since first thing this morning.”
“Where did all this extra energy come from?” Gavin asked.
Her eyes lit up as she said, “It all started this morning when I was trying to write. I’m almost ready to grovel to my ex-agent and see if she’ll pitch my script, and I’m really nervous about it. I felt like I’d downed five cups of coffee. It’s like putting myself out there naked for everyone to judge.”
“Babe, your work is fantastic, just like you.”
“Is this about the new script you’re writing that you’ve been talking about?” Justin asked.
“Yes.”
“Well, you might want to wait another couple of weeks,” Justin said. “Our business is slammed right now because we’re trying to wrap up the work we can before the week of the Fourth. We don’t even send bids for new jobs until the week after the holiday. We’ve found that anything submitted within two weeks of a major holiday gets buried in people’s inboxes.”
“Oh, good point. Geez, how could I have forgotten about the Fourth?” Harper breathed a sigh of relief.
“You’re kind of bouncing off the walls,” Justin said.
“I know! Thank you for reminding me. I’ll wait until after the holiday. But that’s not all that’s going on.” She shifted a wide-eyed gaze to Gavin. “I wanted to call you so badly, but I didn’t want to interrupt your meetings. While I was out running errands, I got a call from the producer I worked with in LA. They have ideas for a new twist on the pilot I sold them. It’s a pretty significant rewrite, and they want me to come out there to work with them on it.”
“Babe, that’s amazing. You probably should have led with that news.” A pang of longing sliced through Gavin at the thought of Harper going away after they’d just found each other. He’d never hold her back, but he was worried about how it could crush her if the show were to get canceled again. “You said it was a big deal to be part of the writing team. Being asked twice confirms just how incredible you are. When do you leave?”
Her shoulders sank. “I don’t know if I want to accept.”
“Whoa, Harp,” Gavin said. “This is everything you’ve been hoping for. This is why you write.”
“I know, but I’m just getting settled back here and…” She reached for Gavin’s hand. “We have us, and I’m going to put feelers out with other places for my new script.”
“Sweetheart, you’re not missing out on an opportunity because of me. I’ll fly out to see you every weekend if you want, but don’t give up a chance to make your dreams come true.”
“It does sound like the opportunity of a lifetime,” Justin added.
“I know,” she said in a pained voice. “But for the first time in ages, I’m really happy with what I’m doing and who I’m spending time with. I’m in the middle of a project I believe in, and I just got my life back. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I told him I need two weeks to think about it. And right now I need to get cleaned up, you need to change out of your work clothes, and Justin needs a cold beer. So, let’s get this party started!”
“But, Harp—”
“No, but Harps.” She grabbed Gavin’s and Justin’s arms and headed for the front door. “I don’t want to think about it tonight. I have two weeks to decide, and I’m not going to ruin tonight by overthinking, and you’re not allowed to either.”
“Hey, I’m not overthinking,” Justin said as he opened the front door. “A beer sounds good to me.”
Gavin held Harper on the front porch as Justin went inside. He gazed into her eyes, waiting until he had her complete attention before saying, “Harper, we don’t have to talk about it right now, but please know that whatever you do, it won’t hurt what we have, okay? Don’t ever hold yourself back because of me.”
“Okay.”
“I mean it. I want everything for you, and that includes being there to help you reach every star in the sky. Promise me you won’t let our relationship hold you back.”
She went up on her toes and pressed her lips to his. “I know. I promise.” She took his hand and said, “Come on. Let’s go in.”
“Gavin, this place looks awesome!” Justin called out from the kitchen. “What’d you do, hire a decorator?”
“Funny,” Gavin said sarcastically, noticing the delicious aroma of fresh-baked goods hanging in the air. “What smells so good?”
“Nana’s everything cookies,” Harper said.
Gavin stopped cold, sure he’d misheard her. “Whose cookies?”
Justin poked his smiling face out of the kitchen and said, “Mind if I snag a cookie?”
“Sure,” Harper said, grinning. “It’s Nana’s recipe. I tracked down Beckett on Instagram to see if I could get some recent pictures for the fishing-rod frames. I didn’t want to just steal his pictures, so I messaged him and told him what I was doing. We got to talking, and I asked him about the cookies.”
“Dude, these are amazing.” Justin handed him a cookie. “I’m going to light the grill and chill on the patio while you get the lowdown, change your clothes, and whatnot.”
“Thanks.” He took a bite of the cookie, and sweetness exploded over his tongue. “Oh my God, Harper. These are better than Nana’s.” He set the cookie on the counter and gathered her in his arms, kissing her again, overwhelmed with love for her. “I can’t believe you tracked Nana down and made my favorite cookies.”
“It was fun, and Beckett is hilarious. I love him, Gavin, and he thinks the world of you. He connected me to your mom for the cookie recipe, and we talked on the phone for half an hour. Then she gave me Nana’s phone number, and Nana kept me on the phone forever. They were both so nice, and it’s obvious how much they miss you. Nana said you should come home for your birthday so she can throw you a party. I didn’t know your birthday was at the end of July. Why didn’t you tell me?”
She must have misread the look of surprise on his face over all that she’d done, because she said, “Oh no. Did I overstep? I just wanted to get the pictures, and then one thing led to another—”
He lowered his mouth to hers, silencing her with the hard press of his lips. When he felt the tension ease from her body, he kissed her longer, wanting to make sure she knew just how much he appreciated everything she’d done.
When their lips finally parted, he looked at the amazing woman in his arms and said, “You can’t overstep, Harper. I’m just surprised at how much trouble you went to for me. You’re amazing, sweetheart.”
“Good, because I’m so happy I got in contact with them.” She grabbed a stack of pictures from the counter and handed them to him. “Look at the pictures Beckett sent me. That’s why I went into town, to get them printed off my phone. I know you have great pictures of your family on the other wall, but these are more recent.”