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.

He shoved aside the paperwork and stood, stretched his back, and decided to go take a look out in the shop. Sitting at his desk gave him too much time to think, mainly about things he shouldn’t be thinking about.

Diving headfirst into an engine or body repair would clear his head, and that’s just what he needed on a day like today.

MOLLY PARKED GEORGE in the driveway of her parents’ house, needing a few minutes to catch her breath before she went inside to face the hordes.

Catching up with Emma had been fun, but she had to admit she’d been distracted, her thoughts straying to her meeting with Carter yesterday.

Of all the people she hadn’t wanted to run into, she’d walked outside the bakery to find him leaning over her car.

He’d looked good. No, he’d looked hot, with jeans that fit his oh-so-fine ass perfectly, a polo shirt that defined his muscled biceps. He was lean and fit, and he wore his dark hair shorter than he had in high school, but those green eyes of his still mesmerized her.

And he’d been . . . nice. How dare he be nice to her, after what he’d done?

It felt like all the air had been sucked out of her lungs, and even now—a day later—she still found it hard to breathe when she thought about him. As she’d driven over here, she was afraid she was going to run into him, which was ridiculous. Hope was a small town, but it wasn’t that small.

She needed to get a grip or her mother, who was observant of all things, was going to notice. Then she’d get questioned incessantly, and she wouldn’t be able to deal with it.

She took several deep breaths, relying on her yoga training to calm herself inwardly and block out the negative.

It wasn’t really working, because every time she closed her eyes, Carter’s face swam before her.

She was just going to have to fake it as best she could and hope the impending wedding extravaganza stuff would take precedence over any of her peculiar behavior. Besides, it wasn’t like anyone was used to her being around anyway. How would they know what was normal for her these days?