Secret Millionaire for the Surrogate

“Fine, and don’t change the subject. I’ve known you for two years now and I’ve never seen you blush over a guy. In fact, other than mentioning the odd one-off date, I don’t think I’ve seen you talk about guys at all.”

Harper took a sip of tea, decaf Earl Grey this time since she no longer relied on mint tea to settle her stomach. “I’m not a social butterfly, you know that. My friend circle is pretty small, so it’s been kind of nice.”

“I’ll let you off the hook for now.”

“Thank you so much,” she replied, sarcasm ripe in her voice but accompanied by a smile. “Have another scone. There’s a chocolate chunk one in there somewhere.”

“Bless you.” Juny rooted around in the bag until she came up with the scone, then broke it in half and gave a piece to Harper. “So how is this going to work with the studio?”

“I’m glad you asked.” Harper gave her the rundown on her plans to include Juny in more photo shoots, so that she could take on some of the photography duties as the pregnancy advanced. “I’m not booking anything after New Year’s,” she said. “I’m due in January, and I don’t want to leave anyone stranded. Right now we only have one date in November and one in December, but that’ll change. I think you and I should consult together on any late-year jobs that come up and decide if we can take them. But I’m not taking much time off after the baby is born. I’m going to need to get back to work and into a regular schedule.”

Juny’s dark eyes took on a concerned expression. “Are you afraid, Harper? I mean, you’re going through all this and then handing the baby over. I know you said genetically it’s Dan and Adele’s, but this isn’t an easy thing.”

Harper nodded. “Yeah, I’m a little afraid. So I don’t want to set myself up to mope around after it’s over. I’ll get to spoil this baby rotten.” She put her hand on her tummy. “Anyway, if you’re okay with a few extra weekend hours doing events with me, I thought I’d look at hiring someone part time to work the storefront.” It would mean being even more disciplined with the finances, but if Juny worked out as Harper hoped, they could take on more bookings in the new year to balance out the extra cost of another staff member.

“I’d love that.”

“I can spare some extra equipment for now when we go out together. But if it’s a tentative plan moving forward, we can figure it out as we go.”

“Sounds fine to me. You can pay me in chocolate chunk scones.” Juny brushed some crumbs off her lap.

Then she looked up at Harper and smiled. “I’m only going to say one more thing about Drew. Yesterday, when you came out of the back room and he was waiting, you looked so happy. I’ve never seen you look quite that way before. Even if you’re just hanging out until he goes back to wherever, he’s good for you. So enjoy yourself.”

The support sent a warm feeling through Harper, and she felt very blessed with her friendships. They weren’t great in number, but quality-wise they were top-notch.

“Thanks,” she said, trying not to look too happy and sure she was failing. The memory of last night’s kiss still made her stomach tangle in delicious knots. “And speaking of, I’m taking him on a day hike up to Healy Pass tomorrow. We’ll be out of range so I’ll be back in the studio on Friday morning. I have the MacPherson rehearsal on Friday night.”

“Sounds fine. Now I’d better get out there and unlock the doors. I sold three of the five-by-sevens yesterday, by the way. Maybe next week you can pick some new photos for prints and we can shuffle some stuff around out front. It’s the perfect size for tourists who want something for their luggage.”

“I’ll pick a few and match some mattes and frames. Which ones sold?”

“One was a Peyto Lake, and I think the other was Bow Lake. An eight-by-ten of Lake Louise went earlier this week, too.”

They were recognizable landmarks, and they did tend to sell well, though Harper knew she had equally good photos of more obscure locations. Maybe there was something to what Drew had said about greeting cards. A good portion of their foot traffic was tourists, and smaller did sell better when it came to transport. It didn’t make a lot of sense to turn down an opportunity for sales just because they were a more “disposable” form of her work.

“I’ll put some stuff together today and double-check the details for Friday’s rehearsal party. Do you want to come with?”

“We close at six. I can meet you after that, if it’s local.”

“It is.”

With the day’s plan solidified, Juny went to the store to open and Harper started going through her to-do list. If she were going to be gone all day tomorrow, she had to have things in order today.

Tomorrow. A whole day with Drew in the outdoors. She couldn’t think of a finer idea.

CHAPTER NINE

DREW KNOCKED QUIETLY on the screen door. It was only seven thirty, but they had a fun day ahead of them. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d looked forward to something so much. Even Dan’s “are you sure you know what you’re doing” during their phone call last night couldn’t put a damper on his good mood.

He’d come up with a crazy surprise for Harper today. Something that would keep Dan and Adele’s worry at bay, and give her a special treat.

Harper came to the door, her face bright and cheery. “Good morning. You’re right on time.”

“I hope so.” He slid his pack off his shoulder and put it down in the entry as he stepped inside. Two days ago he’d kissed her brainless in this very spot, and his body stirred with remembrance. Harper did something to him that he hadn’t expected. Something wonderful. It was too bad he had to head back to California late next week.

Or maybe not. It would be too easy to get caught up in her and he didn’t want to go with any hurt feelings left behind or misunderstandings. On either of their parts.

“I’m just finishing breakfast. Did you have any?”