Healing Autumn's Heart (Love Inspired)

by Andrews, Renee

  She waved him off. “I am perfectly fine. The doctor told us about these, remember?”

  “Maybe we should go home and let you rest this afternoon,” Mitch offered. “I could fix us a couple of plates to go.”

  She pointed a finger at him. “You’ll do anything to be the first one at the food, won’t you? Don’t worry. I already stashed a few of Mrs. Jolaine’s chicken fingers for you in the kitchen, in case they get gone before you get to them in line.”

  He smiled, then looked at Matt. “She knows the way to my heart.”

  “Right through his stomach,” Jana said, then again waved him away. “Now I told you that I wanted a chance to talk to Matt in private. Go on, so I can do that before Hannah gets out here. She’s still adding cracked pepper to those dumplings. She’ll mess with them until they’re ‘Mama Taylor Perfect,’ you know.”

  “Like I said, don’t mess with a pregnant woman when she issues an order.” Mitch kissed his wife then moved back toward Chad Martin, who was indeed sneaking a sample of something Matt presumed to be blueberry yum-yum from the dessert end of the line.

  “You wanted to talk to me?” Matt asked.

  Jana patted the place beside her on the concrete bench. “About my sister.”

  Feeling like a kid who’d been called to the teacher’s desk, Matt took the designated spot. “About Hannah?”

  Jana nodded.

  “I’m listening.” Matt found himself drawn to Jana Gillespie, in a way that said he could care for her, be a friend to her. She was very no-nonsense, very down-to-earth. Where he’d classify Hannah as beautiful or stunning, Jana would be cute or pretty. The fact that she was so far along in her pregnancy didn’t take away from Jana’s appearance. In fact, Matt would say it enhanced it. Her instinctive manner of protecting her unborn child, even now, cradling her stomach as though she could feel the tiny baby resting against her palms, touched Matt deeply. He imagined Hannah would be the same way when she was pregnant one day.

  And there was something about the way Jana said Hannah’s name, and the way she looked at her sister. The two were close, probably even closer than most sisters, which made sense. They’d been through a lot together, losing their mother, helping their father cope with the loss and then suffering through their own battles with breast cancer together.

  “I’ve prayed for Hannah to find someone who can care for her, love her, the way Mitch loves me,” Jana said matter-of-factly. “I know the two of you have essentially just met, but I can see these things. I mean, I knew that Chad and Jessica were meant for each other. I knew that Mitch and I were made for each other. I even think I know who is meant for Daniel Brantley, the man who is going to be our new youth minister. But for now, I’ll keep that a secret. Anyway, the point is, I see love clearly. And I see it—Hannah and you.”

  Matt was taken aback by her directness. “Jana, I think I know where you’re heading, and…”

  She held up a hand. “No, I don’t think you do. I might have this all wrong and maybe I’m not seeing what I think I see when she mentions your name, or when I see her look at you a certain way, or when I see you looking at her.” She paused then said, “During church, you looked at her, at all of us, several times. And I guess the only way to put it is that you were…” She closed her eyes, apparently searching for the appropriate word, then she opened them, and brown eyes like Hannah’s looked into his. “You were longing.”

  “Longing,” Matt repeated, and felt sucker punched. He had been longing, but he had no idea that he’d been that obvious.

  She nodded solidly, as though the word perfectly fit, now that she’d thought of it. “Yes. You want what you saw on that pew. You want what our family has.”

  “Which is…”

  “Faith. Hope. And love. And, more than that, I’m pretty sure that you want it all with Hannah.”

  “Like you said earlier, your sister and I have only recently met, so it’s a bit premature.” Matt couldn’t deny he’d thought something very similar during the church service, how amazing it would be to sit next to Hannah and know that she was a part of him, that he was a part of her, and that they shared something special, a faith, and a love. Yes, he’d basically just met her, but Maura had nailed it earlier. When he first met Rebecca, he’d felt something special. Something right. He’d known immediately that he could love her and looked forward to loving her for life. He hadn’t felt that again until Hannah. But he also hadn’t felt that horrid fear of potentially losing someone again until Hannah.

  The subject of their current conversation exited the side door of the church with a huge yellow Crock-Pot grasped between her hands. Her eyes found her sister and saw Matt sitting next to Jana at the table. Then her brows knitted together in frustration.

  Jana held up her hands as though she hadn’t said a thing. “I’ve never been all that great at keeping my opinions to myself or keeping my mouth shut about those opinions,” she said out of the corner of her mouth, as though she were trying her best as a ventriloquist. “Hannah knows that, and she probably even knows what we’re talking about.” She then gave an over-exaggerated smile to her sister. “Anyway, if the two of you do get close, and if you do end up falling in love with my sister, which I think you will, I want you to know that I think it’s great. And personally, I don’t think you should wait too long before asking her out. She hasn’t dated in quite a while because of her treatments. But she’s not sick anymore, and I’m ready to see her live again.”

  Matt instantly recalled Maura’s words from earlier. Maura wanted him to live again, and Jana wanted Hannah to live again.

  “She’d be good for you, great for you. And she’d be wonderful for Autumn, too,” Jana said, now forgoing her attempt to disguise the fact that she was speaking. But Matt stopped speaking altogether. He was too infatuated with the striking woman in the green sweater, floral skirt and shiny silver shoes carrying a wide yellow Crock-Pot directly toward them and looking at her sister as though she wanted to hurt her—badly.

  “Jana?” Hannah questioned, setting the Crock-Pot on the table to the left of them. “Is everything okay?”

  The scent of chicken and dumplings mingled with Hannah’s sweet perfume, and Matt suddenly pictured her in a kitchen, an apron tied around her waist and Matt’s arms wrapped around her while she cooked.

  He blinked through the image. He had already made up his mind that he couldn’t pursue a future with Hannah Taylor, but though his mind was made up, his heart begged to differ.

  Jana’s mouth stretched into her cheeks, dimples popping into place at once with the rapid transformation. “Everything’s great!” She pointed down the table. “I was showing Matt the salads, but we didn’t get to the rest of the food. Anyway, I’m going in to help bring out more casseroles. Why don’t you show him all of the other things he can choose from, since he’ll be at the head of the line and all?” She giggled. “Hey, if he fills his plate quicker, that means the rest of us will get to eat a little sooner, and I’m eating for two, you know.”

  Hannah’s head tilted to the side. She wasn’t buying Jana’s explanation, but Matt wasn’t about to tell her the real gist of his conversation with her sister. He watched Jana completely ignore Hannah’s questioning gaze as she shuffled toward the church’s side door. And when Hannah turned her accusing stare to Matt, he grinned. “So, you’re going to show me what you’ve got besides salads?”

  “That wasn’t what you two were talking about,” she said. “I’ll find out eventually. I always do.”

  “Kind of figured you would,” he said, which made her smile.

  Have mercy, he liked that smile.

  “It’s a good thing I love her,” Hannah muttered.

  “I’m sure it is, because in her current condition, you could totally take her.” Matt waited a beat and then got the exact response he’d wanted.

  Her laughter rolled out and filled the air. “You’re terrible.”

  He grinned. “Couldn’t resist.”

  Still
laughing, she waved her hand toward the abundance of tables that were becoming more and more jumbled with casserole dishes, Crock-Pots and platters. “Well, okay, since Jana gave me an order, I guess I better follow through.”

  Matt laughed. “Amazing how many people around here adhere to your sister’s directives. Maybe I need her in the office instructing my patients.”

  “Probably wouldn’t hurt,” Hannah said, wiping her eyes from laugh tears then looking at Matt. “More mascara problems?”

  “Nope, it’s pretty much all gone now.”

  “Super,” she said, grinning. “So okay, she said you covered the salads, next comes the bread. Every kind of homemade yeast roll you can imagine, even sweet potato ones.” She indicated a basket of rolls that held a hint of orange hue. “Those are actually pretty good. And we have cornbread muffins and cornbread sticks. Next are the sandwiches. You’ve got chicken salad, pimento cheese, egg salad, tuna salad and good ol’ peanut butter and jelly ones for the kids.”

  “Autumn will go for the PB and J for sure.”

  “Most of the ones in my class do.” She moved to the next section, and Matt listened as she told him about every kind of casserole and also indicated which sweet lady in the congregation prepared each one.

  He liked being this close to her, chatting with her, listening to the sweet lilt of her voice, and hearing her laughter, always merely a short distance away and intermingled in her conversation. He now noticed that the sweet smell of her perfume held a hint of peaches and cinnamon, and when they reached the dessert area and she pointed out her famous peach delight, he assumed that was why.

  A third man had joined Chad and Mitch, still hovering near the desserts, and Matt recalled him as the guy Brother Henry had introduced to the congregation as the new youth minister, who was due to begin working at the church full-time in the spring. He wondered if the guy, Daniel Brantley, had any idea that Jana had apparently already picked out his perfect match. The three men stood next to a lady currently handing the youth minister a square of something that looked, Matt presumed, to be the famed blueberry yum-yum.

  Hannah cocked a brow at the trio. “What are you doing, exactly?” she asked, and then to the woman, “Mrs. Collins, you’re spoiling them.”

  “They’re good boys,” the woman said then smiled at the three guilty guys.

  “We were just trying to make Daniel feel more at home and wanted to offer him something special as the new youth minister,” Chad said, grinning. “Mrs. Collins felt he should have a piece of her yum-yum as a celebration for his new job. Mitch and I hardly even tasted it.” A dab of blueberry stuck to the corner of his mouth. Matt indicated his own mouth to show Chad he displayed evidence of his crime, and Chad quickly licked it away with a nod of appreciation to Matt for the heads-up.

  Hannah shook her head, and Dorothy Collins laughed. “Well, I think it’s terrible that you’re already a bad influence on Daniel.” Then she grinned at the newest member of the group. “But then again, if I remember right, Daniel Brantley was always sneaking desserts when he was younger, weren’t you? Before he left for his years of world traveling.”

  “Hey, I was just trying to blend with my friends.” Daniel licked some blueberry from his finger. “Besides, I’ve got another six months in Malawi before I start here full time. And they definitely don’t have blueberry yum-yum there.”

  “Well, I guess I’ll let you slide this time,” Hannah said. Then she added, “I’m proud of you for all of your mission work, Daniel, but it is good to know you’re coming back home.”

  “Good to be coming back.”

  Matt watched the interaction with admiration. Hannah easily brought her faith into the conversation. He respected the way that the small community kept up with its own and cared for its own, and he was at once appreciative to be a new part of such a close-knit group. And moreover, extremely appreciative to be a part of Hannah Taylor’s world.

  He watched her continue to chat with Mrs. Collins and the other men, while the remainder of the congregation slowly but surely moved toward the beginning of the table. Hannah was so striking, her smile contagious, her love of life shimmering around her like a golden light. Matt felt good simply being around her, and he had no doubt that Jana hadn’t lied earlier when she said that she suspected Matt might fall in love with her sister. He could already tell that falling in love with Hannah Taylor wouldn’t be all that hard. In fact, somewhere between the enormous array of salads and the blueberry yum-yum, he had made a decision. Or rather, two decisions.

  One, he was going to tell Hannah Taylor the truth about who and what he was. And two, he was going to find his faith, forget his fears—and ask Hannah Taylor out on a date.

  “Daddy, Nathan fixes his own plate. Can I?” Autumn stood beside the little blond boy, squinting up at Matt as they waited for his answer.

  “Mama and Daddy watch so I don’t get all desserts or all bread. They can watch her, too, if you want. And I have to put something green on my plate. That’s Mom’s rule.”

  “That’s a good rule, Nathan,” Hannah said, while Matt laughed.

  “Can I, Dad? GiGi can watch me do my plate, too.”

  “Sure,” Matt said, then smiled as his little girl ran beside her new friend to the ever-growing line.

  “Brother Henry is about to bless the food. We should get over there too if you want that coveted spot at the beginning of the line. You’ll only qualify as a visitor for so long, you know.” She paused, grinning at him, gold rays of sun sliced through the trees and into her hair.

  “I think I’ll let someone else have the front spot this time,” he said.

  “Really? Why?” she asked. “Like I said, this visitor thing will only last for so long.”

  “Because I need to tell you something.”

  “Tell me something?” Her dark eyes widened. “About what?”

  “About me, about my past. You may have noticed that Maura slips from time to time and calls me by the wrong name.”

  “She’s called you William,” Hannah said. “I wondered if maybe she had a son named William, but I didn’t really know her well enough to ask.”

  “She doesn’t have a son named William,” Matt said. “She’s calling me by the name I went by before, in Atlanta.”

  “You were called William?” Confusion apparent on her expression, she seemed to realize that this conversation was more intense than she’d first anticipated. She stepped a little farther away from the bustle of commotion around the tables, more toward the towering oak trees that bordered the church grounds. The leaves were starting to turn, with small bursts of yellow and gold mingled with the green. Hannah leaned against the trunk of one of the largest trees and waited for Matt’s explanation. “Should I be nervous about why you would have changed your name?”

  “Well, I haven’t done anything illegal, if that’s what you’re thinking,” he said, glad that she was making this less difficult for him, her eyes filled with understanding already, even though she didn’t know the reasoning behind the change.

  “Witness protection program, right?” she asked teasingly.

  “Afraid not,” he said. “Nothing that glamorous.”

  “Okay,” she said, smiling and nodding at a family that passed by them with full plates on their way to a picnic table. “I don’t have any more guesses, but first things first. What is your real name?”

  He cleared his throat. “My full name is William Matthew Graham, and I went by William before, when I worked in Atlanta.”

  “So Matt is a shortened version of your name,” she said, apparently eased by this revelation.

  “Yes, of my middle name.”

  “But you started going by Matt because…”

  He ran a hand through his hair, glanced to see if anyone was near enough to hear and decided that they were alone. “You knew that I was a doctor in Atlanta.”

  “Yes.”

  “And I was, but I wasn’t a general physician. I actually worked at a research facility
and was considered something of a specialist in my field. I had a notable success rate,” he said, “but we called it survival rate.” He waited for the words to sink in.

  “Survival rate,” Hannah repeated, and he saw the moment that realization dawned, when she glanced down at the tiny pin on her sweater. “You knew a lot about Jana’s tests during the pregnancy and about the risks of her being pregnant if her cancer returned.”

  His eyes also focused on her pink ribbon pin. “I worked with advanced experimental research at the Atlanta Breast Cancer Research Center.”

  Chapter Five

  Hannah’s mind struggled to process what Matt—or William—said. Her doctors were in Birmingham for the most part, but she’d heard about the research center in Atlanta and had even considered going there for treatment if she hadn’t finally been deemed cancer-free last year. The Atlanta Breast Cancer Research Center was one of the most notable centers in the country, with the absolute best doctors and analysts working toward finding a cure for the disease. Hannah’s oncologist in Birmingham often mentioned medical instruction that he’d received from his affiliation with the renowned center. And Hannah had prayed for the doctors there, specifically for the research teams that were trying new techniques to combat the dreadful disease that had so thoroughly impacted her family.

  In other words, she’d prayed for Matt before she even knew him. But he’d left the center, and as the pieces fell into place, she thought she knew why. “When did you stop working there?”

  “Two years ago.” His jaw tensed, and he nodded toward more people that moved past them on their way to find a place to eat.

  Hannah knew he was getting a grip on his emotions, and she didn’t want to press too much. He’d left after his wife died of the very disease he was trying to cure. Now he was opening up to her about something very difficult, and she was grateful that he could trust her enough to tell her the truth about the pain of his past. She found that she couldn’t be around Matt Graham without wanting to know more about him, wanting to be more a part of his world, and right now, she glimpsed a part of him that she suspected he’d kept hidden since he lost his wife.