You’re Still The One by Erika Kelly

Chapter Two

Stella’s worldhad flipped upside down. In the space of twelve hours, she’d gone from concrete and skyscrapers to pine needle-strewn trails and mountain lodges.

And she loved it.

She hadn’t seen her family yet. Nope. Not ready for that. As soon as she’d landed, she’d come straight to the Owl Hoot resort to check into the room Diane had reserved for her—part of the employment package Stella had requested.

Since she wasn’t about to move back home with her parents—God, no, I’m too old for that—and she wasn’t sure how her family would react to her after the most recent Lulu debacle, she figured she’d give herself a few days to adjust to her new job and ease herself into seeing them. So, she’d dumped her suitcases in her room and come straight to the office to get started.

Only…it wasn’t exactly the bustling environment she’d anticipated.

In fact, it was empty.

“Hello?” With no one seated behind the receptionist’s desk, Stella wandered further in. Everything looked fancy andbrand new, and it smelled like leather and just-installed carpet. Nice. “Is anyone here?” A rustling sound came from the conference room, and inside she found a tall teenager wearing a black hoodie and jeans. “Oh, hey. I’m Stella Cavanaugh. Is Diane around?”

The boy stood at one end of the long table, surrounded by cardstock, envelopes, and stamps. “No.” He barely spared her a glance.

“Mailed invitations. How retro.” She’d meant it as a joke, considering some brides wanted to save paper and send digitally, but the boy ignored her. “So, any idea when she’ll be back?” She glanced around the elegant office. “Where is everyone?”

“Ugh,” a voice called. “We are screwed halfway to Sunday.” The voice moved closer. “You want a doughnut? I got your hot chocolate, but—oh.” A young woman stood there holding a carry-out tray of drinks and a wax paper bag. “Are you Stella?”

“Yes. Here, let me grab those.” She stepped forward to relieve her of the tray. “You’re not Diane, are you?” Wasn’t her boss her mom’s age?

“Uh, no.” The woman seemed flustered. “Would you like a hot chocolate? I got four. I don’t know why, though.” She gestured helplessly at the empty desks. “I’m Quinn, the part-time receptionist, and that’s Austin.”

“It’s wonderful to meet you. I know Diane said you guys are swamped, so I came straight from the airport, ready to jump right in. Is everyone out on job sites?”

“So, here’s the thing.” Quinn set the bag on the table. “Diane’s mom had a stroke, and she’s gone to New Jersey to take care of her.”

Stella’s smile faltered. “Oh, no. Is she all right?”

“It literally just happened, so we don’t have any news yet. I mean, her mom’s alive. So, that’s a good thing. But honestly, we haven’t heard from Diane since she landed in Newark.”

“Okay. Well, who’s second in charge?”

“That’s the other thing. We had two full-time employees, and when they found out they weren’t being promoted, that Diane hired an outsider to step into her shoes…they quit.”

Oh, my God. “I packed up and moved across the country, and there’s no job? Why didn’t anyone tell me before I left the city?”

“I can’t say why Elise didn’t do it. I mean, I was there when Diane asked her to fill you in.”

“No one told me anything.”

“I’m so sorry about that. We’re right in the middle of some high-profile weddings, and Elise didn’t give notice, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. I know this looks awful. A week ago, we were swamped, phones ringing off the hook, brides fighting over the available dates, and now…”

“And now what? You’re shutting down the business?”

“Oh, no, no, no. We can’t do that. Oh, my gosh, no. Princess Rosalina’s wedding is in five weeks.”

“A princess?” In Calamity? What world had she dropped into?

“Yes, she’s having two, actually. A royal wedding in St. Christophe, and another, smaller one, here.”

“This is unbelievable. So, are you hiring someone to step in during Diane’s absence?”

Quinn cringed like she’d just gotten a paper cut. “We already did. It’s you.” Her shoulder-length, choppy hair kept flopping into her eyes, and she shoved it back. “But don’t worry about a thing. Diane promises she’ll walk you through everything.”

“Walk me through? I’m in no way equipped to plan a wedding for a princess.” And what about Gigi? There wasn’t a chance in hell she’d risk ruining her sister’s wedding.

Not when she’d hoped it could be her chance to mend fences with her family.

“Everything’s already taken care of. You just have to see it through. Come on. I’ll show you.” Quinn was on the move, leading Stella to a large, airy, well-appointed office. “Diane’s the most organized person you’ll ever meet. There’s not a single detail that isn’t written down in multiple places.” She tapped the wall. “This is the calendar for the year. One glance, and you’ll know exactly what’s going on every day.” She headed to the other wall. “This whiteboard has the most pressing matters on the to-do list. Diane updates it at the end of every day so she can hit the ground running when she gets here in the morning.”

“This is all great, but I can’t just pick up where she left off.”

“Well, Diane seemed to think you could, and her instincts have never been wrong.” She motioned to the wall facing the desk. “These are the mood boards.” She headed over. “Come take a look at next May’s outdoor wedding.”

She’d worked for Taji Nash, so Stella had seen the most lavish, wildly imaginative events ever planned, but these images were stunning. A wooden bridge, dripping in tiny white lights, a black matte-finish food truck, the menu written in white chalk, a candle set in a jelly jar, covered in coarse string and decorated with a single pink heather blossom…a soaring canopy of trees, the bride and groom facing each other like dolls against the grandeur of the forest. “Wow.”

“And it’s all yours to bring to life.”

“Oh, you’re good.” Stella’s gaze drifted across the other boards—a reception in a barn, a ceremony on top of a glacier. Energy rushed in so fast, her fingertips tingled.

I was born to do this.

Quinn stood right beside her. “You’ll stay, right? Diane can’t do it without your help.”

The rational part of her brain said, Hell, no. But her heart…well, it had been engaged from the moment she’d looked out the airplane window and taken in the Rocky Mountains.

With every mile marker she’d passed on the highway from the Idaho Falls airport, hope had unfolded its tightly packed wings, and by the time she’d seen the Welcome to Calamity sign, it had flooded her body.

I’m home.

And if Gigi let her, Stella would plan the perfect wedding.

At some point, she assumed, she’d run into Griffin…who might still be single.

Who knows, maybe he still has feelings for me?

Anything else seemed impossible—they’d loved each other so passionately.

She didn’t know, but she had to find out. “I don’t know if I can, but I’m sure as hell going to try.”

“Good. Because your first appointment’s in fifteen minutes.” And with that, Quinn walked out of the room.

Toss me into the deep end, why don’t you? “Well, hang on,” Stella called after her. “Where do I begin?” But Quinn was already answering the phone.

Stella sat behind the massive desk. It was clear from the disarray that Diane had dropped everything and abandoned ship. A pen discarded on top of a notepad, a business card perched in front of the landline, and a candle recently burned, its lavender scent still lingering in the air.

She read the words on the notepad.

Emory St. Joseph’s

First three to four months critical

Physical therapy.

Diane had underlined the last two words multiple times. Stella’s heart squeezed for the woman. She’d go nuts if her mom had a stroke. She’d drop everything.

Determination seized her. She’d missed seven years in her family’s life.

And all because she’d done something stupid. No one questioned her motives—they knew she’d had no interest in Trace, knew she’d been madly in love with Griffin.

Still am.

But she’d been drunk, and Lulu had stubbornly refused to listen to the truth about her fiancé, and so Stella had flirted with the dickhead, got him all worked up until he’d kissed her.

Right there at the rehearsal dinner.

In front of all their friends and family. Pretty much the whole town.

Stella lowered her head. She’d give anything to go back to that moment in time. Griffin had warned her to stay out of it. Why hadn’t she listened? Because she’d been desperate to save her sister from heartbreak.

Okay, enough wallowing in the past. She had eleven minutes until her first client arrived.

Where do I even begin?

Just then, the teenager came in and dropped a stack of envelopes on a desk by the window. “What should I do next?”

“Well, aren’t we a pair? I was just thinking the same thing. I guess I need the file for the bride who’ll be here in ten minutes.”

Pulling a folder out of a leather organizer, Austin checked the name against the wall calendar before handing it over.

Smart kid. I like him. “Thank you.” The phone rang—a landline. “Chapel in the Woods. This is Stella speaking.” She put the call on speakerphone so she could skim through the folder.

“Stella? No, I want Diane.” The woman sounded frantic. “Can you put Diane on the phone?”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. An emergency called her away, but I’m here in her place. What can I help you with?”

“We have to change the time of the rehearsal dinner. My daughter’s future mother-in-law booked the wrong flight, and now she’s thrown the whole day out of whack.”

“Okay, I’m sure we can fix this. Give me a little more information.”

“I can’t believe this is happening. She had all the information.” And then she muttered, “That fucking bitch.”

Stella shot a look to Austin, but he seemed unfazed by the language.

“She did it intentionally. She just has to be the center of attention.”

“When’s the rehearsal—” Stella began.

“But she’s not going to ruin my daughter’s wedding.”

“No, of course not. We won’t let her.”

Austin pointed to the calendar, tapping Friday night.

She nodded to him gratefully. “Here’s what I’ll do. I’ll get in touch with the restaur—”

The boy shook his head and whispered, “It’s at Wally’s, here in the hotel. They rented it out for the night, so she can start whenever she wants.”

She grinned. “Since you’ve booked Wally’s, you can just let me know what time you’d like to start, and I’ll tell—” She looked at the boy, who mouthed, Delilah. “Delilah.”

“We need to push the rehearsal to four, so let’s start dinner at seven.”

“Consider it done.”

“Just like that?” the frantic woman asked.

“Just like that.”

“Well, thank you very much. I’ll be in touch.” The woman hung up.

“Whew.” Stella smiled at the boy. “How about you take Diane’s place?”

With a broody expression, he plopped into a chair.

“But seriously, thank you. I appreciate your help.”

He barely acknowledged her. “Yeah.”

“Say you’re welcome, Austin,” Quinn shouted from her desk.

He just rolled his eyes.

Stella smiled at him. “So, tell me what you do here?”

He shrugged. “I’m supposed to be doing homework.”

“True story,” Quinn shouted. “But since he’s so smart, he gets it all done in an hour, and then I put him to work. He’s a huge help.”

Stella didn’t have time to dig deeper. “Okay, well, maybe you can tell me about this meeting that starts in five minutes. Are they already booked? Is this their first appointment?”

“First time here.” Quinn entered the office. “Some of these couples come in and know every detail of what they want, and others don’t have a clue. Either way…” Coming around the desk, she clicked around on the keyboard. “This is the list of questions Diane asks.” She reached for a thick, leather-bound notebook. “She records everything in this, and then I type it all up and send it to the clients, keeping a copy for the bride’s file. That way there’s no chance anyone can pull the Hey, that’s not I said crap. She’s so serious about it, the queen of England could walk into the room, and Diane would keep her waiting while she finished taking notes.”

“Got it. I’ll make that my top priority.” Stella smiled. “It’s actually something I learned in my last job. I did publicity for the Wildcats, and I always made sure to send the guys a copy of the marketing plan and get them to sign off on it. Not that it mattered. They’re like bison. Impossible to get them to do anything.”

“Hello?” a woman called from the foyer.

“Ready or not…” Quinn gave her a sympathetic look. “Here you go.”

“I got this.” Stella gave her a confident smile.

Because that’s part of the game.

You fake it until you make it.

And she would make it.

She’d make this job her bitch.

She’d only worked two hours, but Stella’s head was spinning. She was overwhelmed and unquestionably in over her head…but she was happy.

I love this job. After she finished writing her to-do list on the white board, she grabbed her purse and headed out.

A college student here at University of Western Wyoming, Quinn worked irregular hours. She’d left a while ago, so Stella was surprised to find Austin sitting in the receptionist’s chair, spinning around and playing on his phone. “You need a ride?”

“No, my uncle’s going to get me.”

“Okay.” Well, she couldn’t leave him here alone. “Where does he live?”

“At the Inn.”

“Which Inn? The Homesteader?”

He nodded.

Anxiety zinged through her. Griffin’s parents owned that place. How many times had they met in a guest cottage and spent hours hanging out? Laughing, eating, talking…and making love.

Because they hadn’t been able to keep their hands off each other.

She shook it off. He owned the Boneyard now. He wouldn’t just happen to be at the Inn on a random Thursday evening. “I can save him a trip and give you a ride if you want.” She needed to go into town and pick up some food anyway. No way could she afford room service, and the prices at the resort restaurants were way beyond her means. “Why don’t you text him and tell him I’ll take you?”

He stilled, watching her warily.

“You’re not going to get in trouble for accepting a ride from a stranger, are you? You can tell him I’m working for Diane now.”

She gave him a moment to answer, but when he didn’t, she made an executive decision. “This morning at four AM, I was in New York City. Other than a latte and a protein bar, I haven’t had anything to eat since landing in Idaho Falls. I’m dead on my feet and starving, so I’m heading out now, and there’s no way I’m leaving you here alone.”

“Fine.” Reluctantly, he shot off a text message. As he grabbed his heavy backpack off the floor, his phone vibrated, and he read the screen. As usual, his expression gave nothing away. Not even a flicker of emotion.

God, when she’d been his age, she’d been a hormonal mess. Crazy in love with Griffinand unable to be with him because of Lulu’s crush, jealous of all the time her sisters got with her mom, frustrated beyond reason that she didn’t have a passion the way Lulu and Gigi did.

So, for this boy to be so flat…made her wonder what had happened to him. She couldn’t help the clutch of protectiveness. “Let’s go.” Heading out of the office, she locked the door behind her and stood in the long hallway. “I forget which way I came in.”

“Where did you park?”

“Employee lot.”

He pointed left. “This way.”

With everyone gone for the night, the only sound was their footsteps on the plush carpet.

“How old are you?” she asked.

“Fourteen.” He mumbled it. “I’ll be fifteen in six weeks.”

“Really?” He looked older. Or maybe he just had an old soul. The moment she pushed on the release bar, the cold evening air seized her. “Oh, my God. I forgot how cold it gets in the mountains.” She thumbed the remote keypad for her car, and the taillights blinked. As part of her package, Diane had rented it for two weeks, but after that, Stella was on her own. She’d need to buy something.

So many expenses.

She couldn’t afford to buy a house, but where would she find a rental during ski season in Calamity? And without a secure job, she didn’t want to commit to a long lease. What if she screwed up majorly and got fired? She’d only worked with Taji for three months.

Well, she just had to hope Diane would be back soon. She’d do great with guidance, but she didn’t have the experience to run the show on her own.

The minute she got inside the car, she cranked up the heat.

“You have to wait for the engine to warm up.” Austin didn’t sound impatient or annoyed, just like he was stating a simple fact. “Otherwise, you’re just blowing out cold air.”

“And the proof of your theory is that my nose is turning into an icicle right this minute.” Closing the vent, she pulled out of the lot. “Okay, so tell me what a fourteen-year-old boy’s doing in a wedding planner’s office.”

“I don’t know. I just help sometimes.”

Not much of an answer. “But you’re staying at the Inn, so are you and your uncle visiting for the holidays?”

“No, I’m staying with him while my dad’s deployed.”

“Ah, okay. So, you’re not from Calamity.”

“I mean, I was born here, but I only lived here as a baby.”

“And how long are you here this time?”

“Nine months.” His tone suggested a prison sentence. “Eight to go.”

She grinned at him. “Can’t wait to get out of here?”

Slumping in the seat, he didn’t answer.

“You really dislike it here that much?”

“I don’t care about it.”

“Oh, okay.” She smacked the steering wheel. “You just threw down on my hometown. Challenge accepted. Next time you come to the office we’re going for a drive. Give me an hour, and I’ll turn you into a Calamity fanatic.” When he didn’t even crack a smile, she said, “You are coming back, aren’t you?”

“No idea. I think something’s wrong with my babysitter.”

The whole situation was very odd. First, he’s fourteen and has a babysitter? But then, staying in a hotel with his uncle? And how does he know his way around the office? None of this adds up. “So, you can tell me to mind my own business, but if you’re just visiting, how do you know so much about Diane’s business?”

“When my babysitter’s got an appointment or something, I get off the bus there. Usually, I know before school, but today my uncle dropped me off and told me to hang out with Quinn until he came back to get me.”

His uncle sounds shady as fuck. “Owl Hoot’s pretty cool, huh? Bet you’ve never seen anything like it.”

It hadn’t existed seven years ago. As the original settlement of Calamity, the Bowie family had purchased the ghost town to keep it preserved. But they’d turned it into a living museum and high-end resort. It was the coolest place Stella had ever seen, and she loved that she got to work in a town where people dressed like gunslingers from the late eighteen-hundreds.

Her headlights lit up the two-lane road that led from Owl Hoot to Highway 191. Once there, she turned to get to the Inn. “Well, I’d have been lost without you today, so I’d be happy to pay you if you’d like to earn some extra cash.”

He flicked a glance at her. “How much?”

“Minimum wage. Under the table, of course.”

His eyes narrowed, and his interest sharpened, but he didn’t say anything.

“You want to do it?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“What’re you going to spend that money on?”

“Guitar lessons.”

Gigi.How badly did she want to tell him her sister was a musician and could teach him everything he needed to know? But nope. She’d keep her mouth shut. Since she hadn’t talked to her sister in years, it seemed a little premature to offer her services. So, she changed the topic. “You’re in ninth grade, right? Does Ms. Marshall still teach Geometry? I swear that woman wanted to fail me.”

His phone chimed, and he checked it, his forehead creasing in concern.

“Everything all right?”

“My uncle says to wait.”

“Wait where?” It’s like zero degrees outside. Finally, they turned onto the Inn’s long driveway. “Tell me where I’m going.”

“Just drop me off here.”

“No way.” His dull tone worried her. “It’s too cold.” This whole situation’s just weird. “I’ve got a bunch of messages to catch up on anyway, so I’ll wait in the car with you. You can tell him that.” So, whatever drug deal his uncle’s doing, he’ll at least know someone’s looking out for his nephew.

With a few hand gestures, he led her toward the most remote cottages on the property—exactly where she and Griffin used to hook up. They’d had a hard time finding places where they could be alone, so they’d come here, and…God, it all came rushing back.

That jittery feeling of anticipation. The buildup, all day, of texting him, looking forward to the final bell after sixth period, when she could race over here and finally be with him.

That explosive connection when their bodies would slam together, their mouths fusing.

It hurt so much to remember his hunger, the way he’d devour her.

Sometimes, she just ached for him.

Nearing the last row of cabins, Austin grabbed his backpack off the floorboard. “This is good.” He didn’t even give her a chance to brake, before throwing the door open.

“Would you wait a second?” Nothing felt right about this. Parking, she left her rental car on the side of the two-lane road. Their boots crunched on the fresh show, and when the top of her head brushed a low hanging branch, ice rained down on her. It went under the collar of her coat, sending pinpricks of cold through her. “Oh, my God, it’s like the Arctic here.”

“You have to be quiet.” He whispered it harshly. Not like he was scared—more like it was vitally important. And then, just before they broke through a clearing between the trees, his steps faltered, and he jerked to a stop.

A second later, he darted behind a tree.

Every protective cell in her body sounded the alarm, and she followed him. “What’s going on?”

“Shh.”

An older couple—covered head to toe in expensive winter wear—stood talking to a tall, broad-shouldered man on the front porch of a cottage. Wait…

That long, dark hair, that sexy facial scruff, and loose-limbed stance…her body reacted before her mind could catch up.

Griffin.