by Sandra Owens
“Autumn, just hear him out. That’s all I’m asking,” my mother said as she followed me outside.
I turned and faced her. “Why? So he can sweet-talk his way back into my good graces like Dad does with you? I can’t do it. You of all people should understand that. In fact, if you cared a lick about my happiness, you’d be telling me to run from him as far and as fast as I can.” I looked into her eyes and saw that she didn’t get it, that she never would.
“Men can’t help themselves, Autumn. It’s just the way they’re built. Brian’s always been good to you, and you’re the one he loves.”
“So that makes him cheating on me excusable? Maybe that kind of thinking is good enough for you, but it sure as hell isn’t for me.” I left before she could say more.
As a mother she should be doing everything in her power to ensure that her daughter didn’t repeat her mistakes. That she didn’t see that hurt more than anything Brian could do to me.
Back home, I buried myself in the plans for the remodel of the country club. I was done feeling sorry for myself, and I was done being sad over the breakup of my marriage. If nothing else, the little lunch episode had made me see the light. A new and improved Autumn Archer had been born.
Connor had called before I left for the lunch that never happened, telling me he wanted to stop by this evening, that he had a surprise for me. All Connor had seen of me this past week was a crazy woman. One minute angry and defiant, and in the next, a weepy, depressed mess who favored her oldest pair of yoga pants and ratty T-shirts.
The new Autumn shaved her legs for the first time in seven days, put on makeup, and dumped the poor-pitiful-me clothes in favor of skinny jeans and a pale blue sweater. She also decided to make Connor’s favorite meal, a big fat cheeseburger and fries.
He’d been so good to me this past week, and I didn’t know how I’d have managed without him. The doorbell rang, and with it, my heart did a little bounce.
10
~ Connor ~
“Hey . . .” My voice trailed off as the door opened fully, revealing a very different Autumn from what I was used to seeing the past week. “Um, you look nice.” Real nice, and I particularly liked that blue sweater. And not because it hugged her breasts. Nope, I wasn’t even looking there. Mostly.
“Hey back.” She stepped aside to let me come in just as Beauregard gave an excited bark. I think he recognized her voice from the times she’d played with him. Her eyes widened, and then she leaned forward, peeking around the doorframe. “You borrow one of Jenn and Dylan’s puppies to come for a visit?”
Not exactly. I picked up the carrier. “Do you know which one this is?”
She took the carrier out of my hand, and as soon as I closed the door behind me, she let the puppy out. Dylan had rescued Daisy from the streets, not learning until later that she was pregnant. Daisy was a full-blooded black Labrador. Her vet guessed that the puppies’ father was a German shepherd mix.
“It’s Beauregard,” she exclaimed as the puppy pranced around her feet, yipping for attention. “Hey, Beau. How’s my best guy?” She picked him up, letting him lick her chin.
Jenn had told me that Beau was Autumn’s favorite of the bunch. I’d had some doubts about my plan driving over, but seeing the two of them together, maybe Autumn would be happy that Beauregard was now hers.
Beau was the closest in color to his mother, almost black, but with a reddish tint and longer fur than Daisy. He’d been named Beauregard after the bull Dylan had found and returned to its owner, and that was a story the town’s residents still talked about.
I followed the two of them into the living room—Autumn giggling and Beau doing his best to clean her neck with his tongue—and settled on the sofa. Autumn sat at the opposite end with Beau on her lap.
It was great seeing her laughing and looking like the Autumn I’d known before Brian broke her heart. What had changed between yesterday and tonight? For all my effort not to, and for all the talks I’d given myself over the past week, I was still thinking dirty thoughts of her.
But I didn’t do girlfriends. Not after seeing how broken Adam had been after Savannah left. I would never let a woman rip my heart out like that. And even if Autumn was interested in having a little fun, she was still married. I didn’t touch married women, even separated ones. I dated a lot, but I didn’t play in my backyard, another reason Autumn was off-limits.
Dating local women when you lived in a small town tended to get messy, especially if the relationship ended badly. The whole damn town thought they were entitled to put their nosy noses into your business, and when they took sides, no good could come of it. Although I had nothing to compare them to, Blue Ridge Valley being the only place I’d lived, it wouldn’t surprise me if someone did a study that proved our denizens were the number one nosiest residents on the planet.
After giving the puppy a few minutes to calm down, I said, “What’s new?” The question was an invitation for Autumn to clue me in to the change in her since I’d seen her last night when I’d dropped by with a pizza. I’d taken to doing that each evening, knowing that if I didn’t come by, some kind of food in hand, and sit with her, she wouldn’t eat.
After she told me about Brian showing up at lunch and her mother begging her to listen to him, I pushed my ass deeper into her sofa to keep from storming out the door. First I’d find Brian. I was normally an easygoing guy, but I’d like to see him missing a few front teeth, courtesy of my fists. As for her mother, I wanted to give that woman a tongue lashing. Considering all that Melinda Archer had lived through since marrying Ray, you’d think the woman would love her daughter enough to not want to see Autumn repeat her mistakes.
“So I had this epiphany,” Autumn said, bringing my attention back to her. “I’m not meant for love or marriage. My parents made sure of that, considering they suck at being role models for a happy marriage. Because of them, I have lousy judgment in men, witness Brian. But since I like sex, I’m only going to have affairs from now on.” She gave me an entirely pleased-with-herself grin.
I about swallowed my tongue while somehow managing not to stick my hand in the air, eagerly waving it to volunteer for sex with Autumn. “You don’t mean that,” I said, wincing at how angry my voice sounded at the thought of any man touching her.
“Oh, but I do. I’ve been trying to think of who should be my first, but what are my choices here? Hamburger Harry is way too old and Dylan’s taken, but maybe Tommy Evans? A cop in uniform is kind of sexy, and he’s single.” She scrunched her eyebrows together. “Probably not a good idea to troll for guys around here. Everyone would know about it within minutes if I spent the night with Tommy.” She smiled brightly at me. “I should go to Asheville for the weekend, see what cute guys they have.”
Like hell that was going to happen without me being there to watch over her. Thinking of some dude’s hands on her made me want to break something. This entire conversation was pissing me off. “Beau is yours,” I said, as much to surprise her as to get her off the subject of Asheville’s cute guys.
She glanced down at the puppy, now asleep on her lap, then looked at me. “What do you mean?”
When I’d thought of asking Jenn if she and Dylan would be willing to give up one of Daisy’s puppies, the idea had been to cheer Autumn up. Somehow she’d found her cheer without my help.
“I mean that he now belongs to you if you want him. You work from home unless you have an appointment, and he’ll be good company. As he grows older, he’ll make a great guard dog. If you don’t, Jenn said to send him back home.”
Her eyes lit up, and she lifted the puppy in the air. “Did you hear that, Beau? You’re mine now.” Beauregard yawned.
“I have a bunch of stuff for him in my car. Food, leash, bed, his favorite treats. I’ll go get them.”
When I stood, she set Beau on the sofa, then jumped up and gave me a hug. I closed my eyes and swallowed a groan while managing not to bury my nose in her hair and breathing in her cinnamon and apple
scent.
Down, boy.
She was going to feel what was happening below my belt in about five seconds. “I’ll just go get that stuff.” When I reached my car, I put my hands on the roof and dipped my head, giving myself a firm talking-to. Everything about Autumn suddenly fascinated me, and I was seeing a woman who’d been a friend since first grade in a whole new light.
My timing sucked. Why couldn’t I have had this revelation before Brian came into the picture? All she needed from me now was to be her friend. Not to mention that if Jenn got a hint of what was going on in my head, she’d castrate me for the things I’d like to do with Autumn.
I slapped my hand on the car’s roof. Orphaned at the age of nineteen, Adam and I had made something of ourselves by sheer willpower and determination. Those were both strengths I would call on to get my act together. Loaded down with puppy supplies, I headed back inside, satisfied I’d gotten my head back where it belonged.
“I can’t believe Dylan and Jenn were willing to give up one of their puppies,” Autumn said as we ambled along behind Beau.
“Only because it was you.” We’d grilled hamburgers, each had two glasses of wine, and I think we were both feeling pretty mellow. Autumn was still in her happy place, and I hoped she meant it when she’d said that she was done being sad. I didn’t hope she meant it when she’d said she was going to go trolling in Asheville.
It was a clear spring night, only a little chilly. The dog was stretched out to the end of his leash, darting from one interesting smell to another. I breathed in the fresh mountain air as I lifted my head to see the stars.
“Quick, make a wish,” I said as a falling star shot across the sky.
She tilted her face up. “Oh, cool. Okay, I made mine. What’d you wish?”
I bumped shoulders with her. “If I tell you, it won’t come true.” Without even thinking about it, I’d wished that someday I’d get to kiss her.
“Then I’m not telling you either.” She slipped her arm around mine.
Now that I’d thought it, wished it, kissing Autumn was in my mind like a drug I had to have. To knock the image of my mouth on Autumn’s out of my head, I said, “Are you nervous about our upcoming trial?”
She exhaled a long breath. “A little. I can’t believe Brian refuses to drop the breaking and entering charges.”
“I’m guessing he’s hoping that will be your incentive to take him back.” I still hadn’t told her the offer he’d made to me.
She gave a very unladylike snort. “Not going to happen.”
Which meant we would have to keep our court date next week. That was going to be interesting.
“Think we’ll be found guilty and have to go to jail? I don’t look real good in orange.”
I grinned down at her. “I choose to believe our attorney.” We’d hired Jed McConnell, one of two lawyers in Blue Ridge Valley, to represent both of us. He was young, aggressive, and smart. He swore that, if we were found guilty, the most we’d get was community service. Of course, if we were found guilty, that would mean we’d both have a record. Brian was proving to be a real pain in the ass.
“Do you still love him, Autumn?” That question had come out of my mouth from nowhere. Probably because as hard as I’d tried to stop thinking of kissing Autumn, I’d failed.
“I don’t know. I don’t want to.”
It wasn’t the answer I wanted to hear.
11
~ Autumn ~
The courtroom was packed. There was nothing the citizens of Blue Ridge Valley loved more than a delicious scandal, and because of Brian they were sure getting one. Dylan, Jenn, and Adam were front and center, there to support Connor and me.
On one side of them were Hamburger Harry and his ninety-something-year-old mother, Granny, dressed as always in her old-fashioned flowered dress, covering her from her chin to her feet, which were encased in well-worn, lace-up black half boots.
Hamburger should feel right at home considering he’d come in front of Judge Padgett more times than anyone could remember. So far Judge Padgett hadn’t been able to put a stop to Hamburger’s moonshining activities, which was a relief to those who were lucky enough to get one of his mason jars. Jenn’s favorite was his apple pie flavor. Mine was the peach pie.
On the opposite side of Jenn, Dylan, and Adam were our mayor, Jim John Jenkins, and his wife, Dorie. Next to Dorie was Mary, and today her hair was pink, her eyeshadow pink, and her multiple earrings also pink. Her dress was lemon yellow. Mary was in her sixties and had more energy than I could ever hope for.
The only people missing seemed to be my parents. My mother was mortified by her daughter, embarrassed that I was the talk of Blue Ridge Valley. Shouldn’t she be angry with Brian about that instead of me? As for my dad, he was too wrapped up in his new squeeze to much care about what was going on with me.
I glanced at Connor, who was sitting next to me, getting a wink and a warm smile from him. He didn’t look at all concerned, which helped calm me. Our attorney had wanted to ask for separate trials, but Connor and I had refused. If we went down, we were going to do it together.
The buzz of voices all of a sudden quieted, and then the whispers started. “Cheater,” Mary hissed before I could turn to see what was happening.
Brian had come in. I decided it was a good time to make some notes. The only thing I could think of was a grocery list, so keeping my eyes downcast, I wrote eggs. I’d made it to number four on my list, wine (lots of wine), when from under my lashes I saw a brown belt I recognized. Why was Brian standing in front of me? Was that allowed in court? Wasn’t it like intimidating a witness or something?
“Autumn?”
I put my hand over my list so he couldn’t see it and wrote cabbage, cabbage, cabbage and more cabbage. Brian hated cabbage, couldn’t stand the smell of it cooked, so cabbage wasn’t allowed in the house. I was going to make cabbage soup and anything else I could think of with cabbage in it.
“Autumn, I’m speaking to you.”
Next to me Connor growled. Before he decided to tackle Brian and take him to the floor, I figured I’d better acknowledge The Cheater’s presence.
I took my time lifting my head. “Oh, were you?” It gave me a little thrill that, as I met his gaze, there wasn’t the slightest hitch in my breathing when I looked into his flecky gold-brown eyes. Score one for me.
He scowled at Connor, then leaned down, putting his face close to mine. “This is your last chance to stop this. Tell me I can come home, and I’ll drop the charges.” He glanced at Connor. “I’ll even drop them on him.”
“Want to hear a secret?” I closed the gap between us, almost laughing when he smiled, as if he really believed he was about to be invited home. It had grown eerily silent, as if everyone behind me was straining to hear us. To make it easy on them, I raised my voice to say, “I’d rather go to jail than live with you.”
“Ya tell him, girlie,” Granny yelled loud enough for those even in the back to hear, following it with the pounding of her cane on the floor.
I glanced over my shoulder, grinning at her.
“Tha jail ain’t sucha bad place,” Hamburger said. “Might wanna bring your own piller, though. Ones they got now be hard as a rock.” Well, he’d know, considering how much time he spent there. He glared at Dylan as if Dylan should immediately do something about the jail’s pillows.
“You people are ridiculous,” Brian said. “Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance, Autumn.” He stomped over to the prosecutor’s table.
“Wouldn’t think of it,” I muttered. I patted Connor’s arm. “I’m proud of you for not punching his lights out.”
“It was a close call, believe me.”
What Brian didn’t know was that Connor and Adam had done a little investigating by way of taking Lina out for a drink. Between two gorgeous guys giving her attention, along with the drinks they plied her with, she’d gotten rather chatty. Turned out that she had a lot of dirt on The Cheater, like the names of three more w
omen he’d been with since we got engaged a year ago. At this point it wouldn’t surprise me if there were even more.
That had gone a long way in hardening my heart against him. I’d almost had to bite off my tongue a few minutes ago to keep from telling him I was on to him. But—and no one knew this, not even Connor—I’d slipped over to Asheville after learning about Brian’s cheating heart and met with a divorce attorney. She’d told me to keep that information to myself for now, that it was best Brian didn’t know that I knew. It was going to be our ace in the hole.
Jed McConnell, our attorney, and Macon Prescott, the prosecutor, walked out, taking their seats at their respective tables. Jed slid a note over to Connor and me.
Celebratory drinks later?
Connor took the note, writing, You buying?
Jed snorted. “Trust me, you are. Client drinks are a billing item,” he said, talking out of the corner of his mouth.
Although I liked their confidence in the outcome of the trial, I didn’t understand how they could joke at a time like this. In a few hours I could be wearing god-awful orange.
“Hear ye, hear ye. Court is now in session,” Herman, the court bailiff for as long as anyone could remember, said in a booming voice.
I sat up straighter when Judge Padgett entered from a door off to the side. Maybe in his sixties, he was about five feet tall with a full head of pure white hair. I’d never been in his courtroom before, but I’d heard stories about him.
One rumor was that he’d gone to the Big City—what locals called New York—after graduating high school, hoping to make it big as a comedian. When that failed, he’d made his father happy by following in the older man’s footsteps and going to law school.
His nickname around town was The Funny Little Judge, but he was known to be fair. He fluffed out his robe, then sat in his chair high above us. When he banged his gavel, I almost jumped out of my skin.
Connor put a hand on my knee under the table. “Everything’s going to be okay, Autumn,” he whispered.
