Fortune's Surprise Engagement

“I’m going to get dressed and head downstairs to look for her,” Rachel said. “Will you help me look, Liv? I think Zoe should wait in the room in case she returns.”

She considered asking, What if she doesn’t want to be found right now? What if she just needs a little time? I’m the one who has a pounding headache. Why can’t I wait in the room? But she knew this was their way of nudging her to make amends with Sophie. To go look for her and find her so the two of them could talk this out and make up.

Of course, that’s what she intended to do. She took a deep breath and tried to shake off the irritation that prickled her. How had this suddenly become her fault?

Olivia knew her sisters meant well. This was simply their sister dynamics in play: Zoe was the hopeful one; Rachel was the strong one; Sophie was the baby; Olivia was the one who fixed problems and rallied everyone to take action.

Often, Rachel and Zoe formulated a plan and Olivia made sure it got done.

Olivia cleared her throat and shook off the cobwebs from last night the best she could. It gave her a little more clarity. She made a mental note to have someone kick her if she ever felt compelled to finish off a tray of drinks. Though it would surely be a while before she imbibed again.

Her sisters were chattering at her. As their words bounced off her ears, she pulled jeans, a black blouse and fresh undergarments out of her suitcase and disappeared into the bathroom.

“I have to take a shower before I do anything,” she said.

“We can go down to the lobby together,” Rachel said. “I’ll talk to the bellhops and ask if she called for a cab or if they remember her taking an Uber. Since we all rode here together, we know she didn’t drive away and I doubt she walked. We can split up and have a look around the hotel.”

Minutes later, after they’d dressed, Olivia grabbed her cell phone and room key and said to Zoe, “Let us know if you hear from her and we’ll do the same.”

When they got down to the lobby, Olivia looked around as if she might see Sophie standing there waiting for her. She wasn’t there, of course. Next, they pulled up a picture of Sophie that Olivia had taken last night with her cell phone and asked the attendants at the porte cochere if they’d called a cab for her or seen her this morning. They hadn’t. Next they decided to split up and each search a different half of the hotel.

Had Sophie really taken her words to heart? Regret churned in Olivia’s stomach, adding to last night’s bile, making her feel sick again. Only this time it had less to do with the Fuzzy Handcuffs and more to do with her big unfiltered mouth and how it had shoved her sister down this spiral of doubt on the eve of wedding-week festivities.

She had to fix this. She would fix this.

She decided to check the café first since it seemed a likely place to find Sophie.

Olivia pulled open the beveled glass doors of the 1886 Café & Bakery and stepped inside. The place was buzzing with families and couples and individuals sitting at the dark wooden tables and booths enjoying Sunday breakfast. She scanned the room with its white honeycomb tile floor and kelly green accent wall that separated the open kitchen from the dining room, and the flagstone archways that partitioned the dining room into smaller, more intimate sections. She fully expected to see Sophie sitting at one of the tables, noshing on a warm chocolate croissant and a café latte.

The place was crowded so Olivia had to walk around. As she did, she breathed in delicious breakfast aromas. Maybe, she thought, a good breakfast would be the cure for her hangover. Or at least the start. But first—Sophie. She would locate her sister—it couldn’t be that difficult, even though she clearly wasn’t in the café—and then she would treat herself to something delicious. In fact, it would be a good idea to treat Sophie to breakfast too, so they could talk things out and settle this once and for all.

Speaking of delicious...

As if she’d conjured him, there sat Alejandro Mendoza, at a small table tucked into a corner of the restaurant. He was enjoying a hearty omelet that looked like it could feed three people. As if he sensed her watching him, he looked up from the piece of the Sunday New York Times that he had folded neatly into quarters, allowing him to read while he dined. He snared her with his gaze before she could turn away and pretend she hadn’t seen him.

That sexy, lopsided smile of his that crinkled his coffee-colored eyes at the corners made her breath catch. Visions of kissing him last night—of how perfectly their mouths and bodies had fit together—flooded back, swamping her senses and throwing off her equilibrium.

Get it together, girl.

“Good morning,” she said, trying her best to appear nonchalant, to act as if it hadn’t taken every fiber of her willpower to go to bed alone last night rather than give in to the chemistry that pulsed between them. She could still feel his kisses on her lips. Her mouth went dry at the thought and she bit her bottom lip to make the memory go away. As if.

He looked her up and down and smiled as if he approved of what he saw. She was acutely aware of the fact that her face was scrubbed fresh and makeup free. She’d pulled her long dark wet hair into a simple ponytail. She felt exposed and vulnerable, but he didn’t seem to be turned off by her appearance. Not that it mattered. In fact, maybe it would be better if he was turned off because she would want nothing to do with someone that shallow. Still, she sensed that Alejandro Mendoza might be something of a player.

Maybe he was playing her right now.

“Good morning,” he said as he stood. “You’re up early.”

“So are you,” she returned.

He laughed, a deep sound that resonated in her soul and wove its way through her insides.

“Please sit down and enjoy your breakfast,” Olivia said. “I don’t want it to get cold.”

He waved her off and remained standing.

“I have to drive over to Hummingbird Ridge for a business meeting later this morning,” he said. “I wanted to grab a bite before I go. Join me. You know what they say about breakfast. It’s the most important meal of the day.”

The thought of having breakfast with Alejandro conjured all kinds of other possibilities—of what might have happened after the kiss and before the eggs and bacon if she hadn’t said good-night—but Olivia blinked away the naughty thoughts.

“Thanks, but I’m looking for Sophie. You haven’t seen her, have you?”

He looked confused. “Not since last night before she left the bar.”

“So she hasn’t been here this morning?”

“Nope. Please join me until she comes.” He pulled out the other chair at the table for two.

Needing an ear, she sat down and he helped her scoot in her seat, and he motioned for the server to bring another cup of coffee.

She appreciated his gentlemanly way. Of course, she was perfectly capable of scooting in her own chair, but she had to admit the gesture was nice. It said a lot about him. She thought that chivalry had become a dying art these days. It was nice to meet someone with such good manners.

She bit her bottom lip again as she weighed how much to tell him. He already knew that Sophie had left last night’s party upset and that Olivia’s blunt words about love had offended her. They’d kissed and shared that secret. She might as well share this, too.

“I can trust you, right?”

He leaned in and studied her, as if he was trying to figure out what she meant, but he nodded. “Of course.”

The server delivered a cup of coffee. After adding cream, she took a sip and felt some of the fog lift from her brain. She leaned in and rested her chin on her left hand, toying with the handle of the mug with her right.

“When my sisters and I woke up this morning, Sophie was gone.”

“Gone? As in...?”

“Gone. As in packed up her things and left.”

“She’s not in any danger, is she?”

“We don’t think so. Well, not physical danger, anyway. Maybe in danger of calling off the wedding because of my unfiltered tirade on love. I need to find her and fix this.”

Alejandro looked concerned. “Have you called her fiancé?”

“He called us, saying he couldn’t get in touch with her. That she’d called him last night while he was sleeping and left a couple of messages, and when he tried to call her this morning he couldn’t reach her. She wasn’t picking up. I’ve looked all over the hotel and she’s not here. The best I can figure is that she called an Uber and left.”

“Where would she go?”

Olivia thought for a moment, changing gears from likely hiding places in the hotel to where Sophie might go outside of the place. She had an idea.

“We know she’s not at Mason’s. He said he’d call if he heard from her. I can think of a couple of places I’d look to start. She probably went home to her condo.”