Falling For You: A Small Town Sweet Romance (Love In Autumn Book 1)

by T. Thomas

  “Good morning, sweetheart,” he greeted.

  “Good morning.” I couldn’t help but smile at him. “Your regular coffee?” I asked him.

  He nodded, following me into the small coffee area, leaning his hip against the counter as I set to work. “Can you throw in a bagel with cream cheese and chives?” he asked me. “Didn’t really get to eat dinner last night,” I frowned because that was my fault, “and my stomach is rumbling.”

  I looked up at him. “I’m sorry,” I said quietly.

  He shook his head at me. “Don’t be sorry, sweetheart. I’m here for you – always.”

  “Thank you,” I told him, meaning it from the bottom of my heart and with every fiber of my being.

  He smiled at me. “Don’t thank me, sweetheart.”

  I handed him his coffee and set about making his bagel. Once I was done doing that, he pressed a kiss to the top of my head before leaving, waving at Mrs. Eldana as he walked out.

  “That boy is absolutely smitten with you, Meredith.”

  I blushed. “The feeling is mutual, I assure you,” I told her. “He’s great, and he’s extremely sweet.”

  She smiled at me. “You’ll do that boy a lot of good. And he’s doing you a lot of good, too. You’re not so standoffish anymore, Meredith. He’s bringing out a beautiful side to you.”

  “Oh, Mrs. Eldana,” I said softly. I pressed a kiss to her cheek. “You are the sweetest soul to grace this Earth, I swear.”

  She patted my cheek. “I believe that title goes to you, my dear. Despite this being a small town and all of us knowing each other, you’re the only sweet soul to offer me a job and let me enjoy doing what I like to do at the same time.”

  I laughed. “You got lucky by having a peculiar woman like me hire you,” I teased her.

  She laughed as well. “Your mother would be very proud of you, hun.”

  My throat closed up with tears. “You think so?” I croaked. Max pushed against my legs, his head nudging my fingers.

  She nodded. “I may not have known the woman, Meredith, but judging by how sweet and lovely you are, she raised you right, and wherever she is right now, my dear, she’s smiling down at you, and she’s extremely proud to have you as her daughter.”

  Jaime waved at me as she took Mrs. Eldana’s spot. I gave Mrs. Eldana a hot chocolate to take home with her before waving her goodbye. Jaime set to work on her homework, and knowing she could man the ship for a little while so I could take a small food break, I grabbed my mail and began heading up the stairs to my small apartment.

  I paused, staring down at the unmarked envelope. Fear crawled through me like cobwebs, settling deep in my bones. With shaking fingers, I tore open the envelope.

  You’re going to pay.

  My vision tunneled. I gasped for breath, my legs giving out beneath me. I faintly heard Max barking, trying to get someone to come help me.

  I slumped backward, and the last thing I felt was my body rolling back down the stairs.

  CHASE

  I stared down at the file in front of me, though I already knew everything that was inside of it.

  Grayson’s father, Gerald Lawson, had always been a nasty guy. He had a bad temper, horrible drinking habits, and he liked to use his fists on his son and wife.

  Mrs. Ira had done the best thing for both her and her son when she finally grew the nerve to call the police during one of his drunken rages. And then, she divorced him.

  They’d been free of him ever since.

  Until now. Until he started messing with one of our own.

  And Meredith? She belonged here in our small town. Within such a little bit of time, she had grabbed the heart of every local here, and they loved her.

  Not as much as I did, granted, but they did love her.

  I was pretty sure I’d loved Meredith from the moment I laid my eyes on hers. There was just something about her – something about her sweet personality that had just called to my soul.

  And I wasn’t letting her go. I definitely wasn’t letting anything happen to her, either.

  My phone went off, jerking me from my head. I snatched it off my desk, frowning when I saw the bookstore’s number pop up on my phone. Instantly, a bad feeling settled in the pit of my stomach.

  If Meredith wanted to talk to me, she always called me from her personal cell phone. She left the store line open for customers and vendors.

  “Hello?” I cautiously answered.

  “Sheriff?” Jaime’s young voice cried through the line. I jerked up from my seat, already pulling my jacket on as I waited for her to gather herself and tell me what was going on. “I just found Meredith passed out at the bottom of the stairs.” My heart clenched so tightly that I almost forgot how to breathe. “She’s not moving.”

  I steeled myself, forcing myself to continue thinking straight despite how panicked I was feeling. Nothing could happen to her. I would lose my mind.

  I could hear Max barking in the background. “I’m on my way, Jaime. I need you to keep everyone away from the back of the store, you hear me? Don’t move her.” God, if she moved Meredith and something was terribly wrong, she could make the entire situation catastrophic.

  “Okay,” she croaked.

  After ending the call, I called for a paramedic to get to the scene and also called the dispatcher to let her know I wasn’t available for calls at the moment and to field them all to my deputy, Drake.

  I was at the bookstore in record time. Ignoring the sea of people that seemed to be in the bookstore, I pushed past them and rushed to the back where her stairs were. She was sprawled at the bottom of them, but she was moaning low in the back of her throat, slowly coming to.

  “Easy, sweetheart,” I soothed, needing to keep her calm. “Don’t move. I’ve got a paramedic here to check on you, okay?”

  Her eyes slowly opened. They were a bit glassy, but one thing registered.

  Fear.

  She was afraid.

  I looked around, noticing the open letter in her hand. I quickly took it, reading the messy scrawl. I clenched my jaw, anger bursting through my veins.

  I wanted to destroy something – or someone.

  She had fainted.

  Josh rushed around the corner and knelt beside her. He checked her over, finally confirming she had a minor concussion but should be alright. As I expected she would, she denied a trip to the hospital.

  “I want to go upstairs,” she whispered.

  I didn’t have to be told twice. I scooped her up into my arms and ascended the stairs, pushing open the door to her apartment. After sitting her on the couch, I strode to her small kitchen and began making a cup of coffee, scrounging around in her bathroom until I found some Tylenol tablets.

  When I came back into the living room, she was hugging Max, her face still extremely pale. I brushed her hair back from her face and handed her the coffee and tablets. “Take these,” I told her. “It’ll help with the headache you’ve got.”

  After taking the medicine and downing the rest of the hot coffee, she had some color to her face, though I knew it was only because the coffee was hot.

  A light knock sounded on the door. Meredith tensed, but I pressed a kiss to her forehead, holding my lips there until she relaxed again. “You’re safe with me,” I gently reminded her.

  She drew in a shaky breath, watching as I strode to the door to open it. Grayson was standing on the landing with Farrah.

  “She’s not feeling all that well,” I told them quietly, knowing the news had already reached them. This town’s gossip vine worked extremely fast. I let them in. “Please keep that in mind while you’re here.”

  Grayson clapped a hand to my shoulder. “If you need to go down and close the shop early for her, we can sit with her until you get back,” he quietly told me.

  I nodded. “Thanks, man.”

  I sat down beside Meredith and wrapped my arm around her shoulders, holding her against my side. Farrah gently squeezed Meredith’s fingers, hesitating a mome
nt before she did so though, to give Meredith time to pull away if she wanted.

  My sister might have been very rambunctious, but she was thoughtful, and she cared deeply about people.

  “How are you feeling, hun?”

  “Like crap,” Meredith admitted. I pressed my lips to the top of her head. “But I’ll deal. I always do.”

  She was so brave.

  “I’m here if you need me,” Farrah told her, sincerity ringing in her voice. “And I mean that, Meredith. I don’t care if it’s two in the morning. You give me a call if you need someone, okay?”

  Meredith gave her a wobbly smile, her eyes flooding with tears. She blinked them back. “Thank you,” she croaked.

  Farrah gently squeezed her hand again before standing. “I know it’s a short visit, but Mr. Crowley has a cow about to give birth, and he’s got a gut feeling it’s going to be a complicated one. I need to be there.”

  Meredith nodded. Farrah leaned down and hugged Meredith before leaving, casting me a worried glance as she did so. I just inclined my head to her, assuring her in our own silent way that I would take care of the beautiful woman at my side.

  And do my best to take care of myself as well.

  MEREDITH

  Silence rang in the apartment after Farrah’s departure. It was uncomfortable, and anxiety bubbled in my chest.

  “I’m sorry,” Grayson blurted. I jerked my eyes up from my lap to look at him. Chase tightened his arm around me. “I know it’s not my fault, but – God, I feel so helpless right now. He’s my father – should be my own problem – not trying to ruin your life.”

  Surprising myself, I leaned forward and grabbed his hand in both of mine, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Grayson, this isn’t your fault,” I assured him. “You shouldn’t feel guilty for something a monster is doing. He hurt you, too,” I quietly reminded him. Grayson frowned.

  “I was hoping the very first time he went to jail would have been a wake-up call for him,” Grayson muttered. “But to find out he got out and hurt you, too – that now he’s back again?” Grayson shook his head. “I hate that he’s tainted someone else’s life, too.”

  He looked up at me. “But Chase and I? We’ll do everything in our power to make sure he doesn’t touch you again, Meredith.” I heard Chase grunt in agreement next to me. “Even if I have to call the bastard myself, I’ll find out where he is, and we’ll stop him before he comes here; I promise.”

  I immediately shook my head, drawing my hands back when they grew clammy. I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “Don’t make those kinds of promises to me,” I told them. Chase narrowed his eyes at me. “Please,” I begged. “It’s not a promise you can one hundred percent guarantee that you’ll be able to keep. And breaking that kind of promise to someone—” my voice broke, “it hurts you – deep.”

  Chase wrapped both of his arms around me that time, pulling me to sit on his lap. He gently ran his hand over my hair as I sucked in a ragged breath, trying not to cry again.

  I just wanted to go to sleep and wake up with this all hopefully being a really bad dream.

  “Get some rest,” Grayson quietly told me as he stood up from my coffee table. “Chase, I’ll hit you up in the morning.”

  “Drive safe, bro.”

  Grayson nodded before he left my apartment, quietly closing the door behind him. Chase stood from the couch with me cradled to his chest. After placing me on my bed, he pressed his lips to my forehead. “Take a nap,” he said softly. “I’m going downstairs to close the store early. I’ll be back up soon.”

  “Okay,” I whispered, wrapping my arm over Max as he snuggled against the front of my body, his head beneath my chin.

  I was asleep not too long after I heard my apartment door slowly click closed after Chase left.

  Chase’s phone blared out from the nightstand, jerking us both out of our sleep. He was above the covers, his arm over me. With a groan, he rolled over and snatched up the phone. He was out of bed a moment later, yanking his boots onto his feet.

  “I’m on my way,” Chase said. “Fire is contained?”

  I sat up on my elbows, frowning at him. He hung up the phone a moment later. “I need to go take care of this. Some kids decided to have a drunken night in Mr. Hallow’s field out on Mayberry, and they started a fire. He’s losing his crops.”

  “Go,” I urged him, making a mental note to give Mr. and Mrs. Hallow free coffee and brownies tomorrow morning when they came in for their coffee – if they came in, that was. “I’ll be fine.”

  He grabbed my face in his hands. “I hate leaving you.” He pressed his lips to mine in a short, sweet kiss. “Call Grayson or Farrah to come sit with you if you need them to.”

  “Chase—”

  He pressed a finger over my lips, shutting me up. “No arguments, sweetheart. I’ll be back soon.”

  He left the apartment, shutting the door behind him. I sighed and laid back down, snuggling back against Max. I shut my eyes, willing sleep to come back to me as I sent up a prayer to God that Chase would be okay.

  Glass breaking broke me out of my sleep. Max growled from next to me, already standing up. My alarms went off a moment later, making me shriek in fear. I quickly sat up and grabbed my phone, calling 9-1-1.

  “There’s been a break-in at my bookstore,” I rushed out when the dispatcher picked up the phone.

  “Hold on, hun. We’ve already got officers en route. Just stay upstairs and keep your door locked, okay?”

  “Okay,” I whispered.

  I ended the call and dialed Chase, my fingers shaking. It rang and rang, but he didn’t answer. Worry settled in the pit of my stomach. I tried again. Still no answer.

  The sound of heavy boots slowly moving up the stairs to my apartment reached my ears. Max barked, trying to warn the person away. I kept dialing Chase, my tears blurring the screen of my phone.

  He wasn’t answering.

  Why wasn’t he answering?!

  The doorknob jiggled. Max jumped off my bed, growls and barks tearing from his throat and chest. I stared in horror when my door was shoved open, and the man of my nightmares stood before me.

  Max attacked, but the man had been anticipating it and kicked Max in the side of the head, knocking my dog out.

  “Max,” I whimpered, fear clawing at my throat. I rushed off my bed, too panicked to think straight.

  “It’s all over now,” Gerald snarled at me.

  GRAYSON

  I was aimlessly driving, trying to clear my head when I saw the mess. Officers were already on the scene at the bookstore, inspecting the shattered glass.

  But Meredith was nowhere to be found; neither was Chase. I instantly knew something was wrong, a bad feeling settling in the pit of my stomach like a dead-weight stone.

  I slung my truck into park and jumped out, rushing up to the scene. “Where’s Chase?” I asked Deek, one of the officers.

  He shrugged. “Don’t know. He’s on-call tonight, but he’s not answering his phone. I’m guessing he went somewhere with Mrs. Meredith.”

  I shook my head. This wasn’t like Chase, and I had a feeling that it definitely wasn’t like Meredith.

  I rushed around the back of the building to the stairs that led up to Meredith’s apartment. I jogged up them two at a time, swinging open the screen door that led into the small hall. To my left were the stairs that led down into the bookstore. To my right was Meredith’s door, which was standing ajar.

  I rushed inside and instantly saw red.

  The monster from my childhood was straddling Meredith, holding a pillow over her face. Max was unconscious on the floor in the kitchen. I snatched up a frying pan on the counter and slammed it against Gerald’s skull, knocking him out.

  He landed on the floor next to Meredith with a thump. “Meredith?” I asked, rushing forward. I shoved the pillow off her face. Her body was already bruising. Her face was blue. I pressed my fingers to her pulse, finding it after a moment. It was weak, but she was still alive.

>   “Stay with me, girl,” I mumbled. “Help!” I shouted down the stairs before I rushed back to Meredith’s body.

  A moment later, I heard shoes pounding up the stairs. Instantly, two paramedics began to work on Meredith, placing an oxygen mask over her face, checking her pulse, loading her onto a stretcher to carry her down the stairs.

  And that’s when Chase rushed in.

  His eyes were crazed, his clothes torn, blood running from some cuts on his body. His skin was smudged with soot.