Spring River Valley: The Winter Collection (Boxed Set) by Clarice Wynter

a client? She didn’t want to ruin another contract for him.
    “Do you want me to leave him a message, hon?” Elaine asked, her pen poised over a pink message pad.
    “No. I’ll come back. Will he be in this afternoon?”
    Elaine eyed the heavily falling snow which was starting to drift up against the glass lobby doors. “He said he might be back, but I don’t know. I’m only here until two, and we don’t have an event scheduled tonight, so the place will be closed by five.”
    “Oh. Okay. Well, please tell him I was here, then , and that he can…” She considered her instructions. How would it sound if she said he was welcome to drop by her house any time? What would Elaine think if she…
    Stop! Audrey’s voice cut through all the crap in her head. Who cared what anyone thought? “Yes. Please tell him Harper was here, and I’ll be waiting dinner for him at my place, and if he doesn’t show up, I’ll be back first thing tomorrow morning and every single morning after that until I get to see him in person.”
    “ Uhh…okay.” Elaine seemed a bit dumbstruck by her suddenly forceful tone. “What’s your address?”
    Harper smirked. “He knows it.”
    She turned on her heel and strode out of the lobby feeling confident for the first time all day. She’d fix things with Grant. Whatever she had to do, she’d do it because she might not have been able to tell Bradley wasn’t the right person for her, but she sure as hell knew Grant was.
     
    * * * *
     
    For the second time since he’d started back to Taverna Fiora from Harper’s house, Grant considered pulling over. The snow swirled relentlessly in front of him, almost obliterating the roads which hadn’t yet been plowed. He’d already seen one car careen through an intersection, and he had no desire to end up in a snow bank, so he slowed down to a crawl. He worried about where she might be in this weather and hoped she’d gone to her friend’s house. He’d just have to call her as soon as he got off the road, but he hadn’t yet decided what to say to her other than just to beg her to see him again, regardless of what anyone in Spring River Valley or anywhere else thought about them being together.
    He considered stopping just to call Elaine and tell her to lock up the lobby and go home, but technically he was only five minutes away from the restaurant , so he was probably safer going there and staying in the office for the night. There was plenty of food in the kitchen, hot coffee always ready, and he could sleep in the bridal suite if he needed to, though it wouldn’t be any fun to lie on that comfy couch alone.
    He slammed on the brakes without thinking about it as a pair of headlights drifted into his lane from the other side of the road. His momentary lapse into thoughts about Harper had taken his attention away from the treacherous conditions for a split second during which another driver had hit a slippery patch and slid across the double yellow line.
    Grant’s car spun halfway around, fishtailing into a snow bank with a dull thud. At least he’d avoided hitting the other car which halted in the middle of the road.
    After a deep breath, he flung his door open and stepped out into the storm to see if the other driver was all right.
    Bundled in his jacket with the hood up, yet still shivering, he crossed the street and tapped on the frosty driver’s side window of the other car. The icy pane rolled down a few inches and a red nose and a familiar pair of sky blue eyes appeared.
    “Harper? Oh my god, are you all right?”
    “Grant? What are you doing out here in this weather?”
    He laughed, thrilled to see her, thrilled she was all right , and desperate to climb into the warmth of her car with her. “Looking for you. What are you doing out?”
    She ducked her head and made a sound that could have been a laugh or a sob. “I was trying to find you to apologize for being such a ninny the other night.”
    Grant leaned on the frame of the car