by Irene Brand
She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. For a moment Landon’s eyes connected with hers before he turned away and walked toward the barns with rigid back and deliberate stride.
The bravado Autumn exhibited while facing her father faded rapidly, and by the time Elwood had driven from the farmhouse to the highway, Autumn had slumped in the seat and buried her face in her hands.
Elwood laid a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Autumn, that was hard to take.”
She straightened in the seat and stared out the window, dry-eyed. “Pastor, I learned one important lesson today. Saying I’m sorry won’t erase the mistakes of the past.”
“Saying I’m sorry is a good way to start reconciliation, but the words won’t wipe out the disappointment, hurt and anger our actions have caused. The disciple Judas was sorry he’d betrayed Jesus, and he rejected the money he was paid for delivering Jesus to his enemies, but the deed was already done.”
“So what can I do?”
“Just what you’re doing now. All anyone can do to promote reconciliation is to be truly sorry, ask for forgiveness and forgive in turn. Sometimes the offended parties will be of the same mind, but if they aren’t, you’ve done all you can do.”
“Thanks for going with me today,” Autumn said when Elwood stopped at Ray’s clinic. “It was easier for me because you were there.”
Chapter Seventeen
The red roses arrived at the clinic soon after office hours started. Olive was in the office working on the monthly accounts, and she called, “Either of you girls expecting flowers?”
“Not me,” Autumn called as she continued to groom the nervous white poodle.
“Tomorrow’s the anniversary of when I got engaged,” Trina said. “Maybe they’re from my sweetie.” She ran into the office, but returned in a few minutes, carrying a stemmed crystal vase holding a half-dozen red roses interspersed with greenery.
“Well!” Trina said. “They’re for you!”
“From Mother?” Autumn asked, her spirits rising. Since Autumn’s hands were busy, Trina removed the card and held it so Autumn could read the message.
Autumn said, “I can’t take my eyes away from this dog. She’s flighty today. You read it.”
“‘Congratulations on the fine vet you’ve become,”’ Trina read. “‘I’m happy you didn’t let anything stop you from achieving that goal. How about a dinner date tomorrow night? I’ll telephone in the morning. Nathan.”’
“Nathan!” Startled, Autumn gouged the palm of her hand with the clippers. “Ouch!” Her wound hurt, but she was glad she’d gotten the injury instead of the dog. She dabbed the puncture with a medicated swab, brushed the poodle, took it into the waiting room and delivered it to the owner.
Back in the exam room, she picked up the card and read it.
“Maybe he’s suddenly afraid you might get away from him again,” Trina suggested.
“But I can’t go out tomorrow night. You’re leaving in the morning.”
“Sure you can. You didn’t sell yourself body and soul to Ray Wheeler when you came here to work for him. Miss Olive will field the calls until you get back. When you start your own practice, you’ll have to take some time off.”
Smiling broadly, Autumn agreed. “This has been a long time coming.”
Lighthearted over the pending date with Nathan, Autumn’s thoughts turned to clothing. She’d saved most of the money she’d been paid as Ray’s helper, so Autumn felt rich, but she still hadn’t bought any dinner clothes. That afternoon she stopped in at a dress shop that sold medium-priced clothing and bought a light-blue classic sheath silk dress. Mrs. Varian, the saleswoman whom Autumn had known for years, raved about the effect Autumn’s physique had on the dress.
“The dress looks as if it was made for you, so chic and charming. You have a model’s body. Autumn, you could have had a great career in fashion, and you chose to be a veterinarian.” She spat the word out as if it pained her and grimaced in disapproval.
The dress cost more than Autumn wanted to pay, but it was the only one in the store that fit, and she didn’t have time to shop further. If the dress nurtured Nathan’s affection, it would be worth the price.
Trina’s fiancé had spent the night in a local motel, and by ten o’clock the next morning, Trina and Dolly were on their way to Wisconsin. Trina had Autumn’s promise that she would be an attendant at her wedding during the Christmas season.
Autumn had been busy in surgery since the clinic opened, and she hardly had time to tell them goodbye. Nathan was aware of their office hours, so he didn’t telephone until she closed the clinic at noon.
“Thanks for the roses,” she said as soon as she answered. “I’ve never had a bouquet of red roses before.”
“What time shall I pick you up tonight?”
“I haven’t said that I’ll go with you.”
“But you will, won’t you?”
“I wouldn’t miss it. Where are we going?”
“To a Middle Eastern restaurant in the Columbus area. I sorta got hooked on Eastern food when I was over there. You’ll like this restaurant.”
“I like anywhere I go with you. Even to an auction.”
When they arrived at the restaurant, Autumn felt as if she’d entered an Arabian Nights setting. The pungent odor of incense invaded her nostrils. Haunting, discordant music greeted their entrance. Heavy draperies covered the windows and hung from the ceiling. They walked on thick carpet.
Eyes gleaming in the faint light, Autumn said, “Have we entered the territory of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves?”
He smiled and put his arm around her waist as they waited to be seated. She leaned against him.
“I like your new dress,” he said.
“Bought especially for you,” she said. “I’ve worn jeans for so long that I feel uncomfortable in a dress, but I wanted to please you.”
“You have,” he assured her.
He wore a brown suit, white shirt and tan tie, and Autumn thought he was the most handsome man in the room.
There were no individual tables. Patrons sat on cushioned benches at long tables along each side of the room. Dim light shone from wall sconces. Autumn didn’t recognize most of the band instruments, nor did she understand a word of the singers’ lyrics. The people sitting around them were strangers, but she and Nathan chatted with them when there was an interlude in the music.
The staff wore turbans, silk knee-length, sleeveless suits belted at the waist with wide girdles. They offered a choice of beverages, but otherwise, the meal was served family style. Autumn liked it. She was with Nathan. Everything was all right.
If they hadn’t had a menu to guide them, Autumn wouldn’t have recognized most of their food. When she commented on that fact, Nathan whispered in her ear, “Perhaps we’ll enjoy the food more if we don’t know what we’re eating.”
The appetizer was celery root with hazelnut sauce. Next came a cup of plain yogurt with sliced cucumber seasoned with mint leaves and garlic, splashed with lemon. The salad was served with Turkish bread rings covered with sesame seeds. The main course was steak grilled over an open flame, spiced with a fragrant mixture of turmeric, caraway and cardamom, served with steamed rice and a variety of vegetables. The last course was a chilled Persian apple dessert made of raw apples and blended with lemon juice and orange flower water, accompanied by dark, strong coffee.
Symbolic of Middle East customs, the meal was served leisurely. Between courses, Autumn leaned against Nathan and his arms encircled her waist. The music was loud and conversation wasn’t easy, but Autumn didn’t care whether they talked or not. She thought how nice it would be to live in a fairy-tale world like this—just Nathan and her—and not have to return to the everyday world.
The floor show featured a dancer wearing a filmy white dress with a fancy girdle of gold around her waist. She wore a silk mask over the lower part of her face and swayed in rhythm to the music of a flute and a plucked instrument, which Nathan said was a qanun.
>
Despite the noise of the streets and the traffic on the interstate as they returned home, enjoyment of the evening lingered. Autumn tried to hum the music of the instruments but found that the melody didn’t come easily to her lips.
“Thanks, Nathan. It’s been a delightful evening. Too bad we have to return to work.”
“I’d soon get bored with that kind of living, but I thought you’d like it for one evening.”
“And I did. It was a change to have a real date, rather than to go do Jimmy’s for a hot dog. Though I like that, too,” she added hurriedly, for she knew he couldn’t afford expensive evenings like this very often.
“Don’t answer if it isn’t of my business,” he said, “but have you done a lot of dating?”
“I haven’t dated anyone since I finished my first year of college. I was in a girl’s school and learning how to date was part of our training. We were matched up with guys from a nearby college. Nathan, are you ever going to believe that I’ve never been interested in anyone else? I don’t how I can convince you.”
“I believe you, and I’ll never ask you that question again. But I can’t imagine why you haven’t been pursued by lots of men.”
“A woman can discourage a man easily enough when she isn’t interested.”
“I’ve gone out with several women, but only once. I guess no one could measure up to you.”
“We’ve learned a lot about each other in these two months. That sudden separation eight years ago tore us apart before we got a chance to really know one another. If Daddy and Mother hadn’t opposed us, we could have had a normal courtship.”
“And saved a lot of heartache.”
When they arrived at the clinic, Nathan walked with her to the front door of the darkened house. He kissed her and held her close. When he’d first met Autumn, her physical beauty had drawn him to her, but during these few weeks, he’d seen the real Autumn Weaver. He’d never known anyone with more compassion, tenderness, loyalty and love to offer. And he thought she was his for the asking. He was ready to speak the words that would bind them together, but was this the place to do it?
“Can you come to the farm tomorrow night? We need to have a long talk.”
“I’ll be there, Nathan. Thanks for a great evening.” The words, I love you, hovered on her lips, but she suppressed them.
Thoughts of their pleasant evening together filled Autumn’s mind as she worked in surgery the next morning, until near noon when Olive came into the room. She had a mysterious look on her face.
“Your father is on the phone, asking for ‘Dr. Jackson.’ His horses are sick. He sounds worried.”
“You didn’t tell him Trina is gone?”
Olive shook her head, and Autumn hesitated momentarily before she reached for the phone.
“Daddy, Trina has gone back to Wisconsin. I’ll come out to see what’s wrong with the horses.”
“Don’t bother,” Landon said and hung up.
“I have a half notion to go anyway,” Autumn said to Olive, and her blue eyes blazed in anger. “How dare he risk the health of his horses just because he’s mad at me!”
“Give it some thought first,” Olive advised. “Come in the house and eat your lunch before you make a decision.”
“I’ve suddenly lost my appetite, but I’ll try to eat.”
“I’ve got spaghetti pie ready. You always like that.”
“Do I have any calls for the afternoon?”
“Two or three, but nothing that can’t wait if you decide to go to the farm.”
“I’ll be in soon.”
After Olive left the clinic, Autumn leaned her head against the wall. God, what can I do to mend the break with my father? If I go to the farm now, it will only make him more angry, but I can’t let his stubbornness endanger the health of the horses. How can a few wrong decisions I made years ago have created such a mess?
Autumn scrubbed her hands and went into the kitchen. She hadn’t eaten more than a few mouthfuls of the delicious spaghetti pie when her cell phone rang. She took it from her pocket and answered.
“Autumn, this is Summer. I think you ought to know that Noel is the horse that’s in the worst condition. Daddy called for a veterinarian from Columbus, but I went down to the barn and talked to Jeff Smith. He’s not sure the mare will live until that vet gets here. I don’t know anything about horses, but she’s coughing and there’s a heavy secretion from her nose.”
“I’ll be there immediately. Thanks, Summer.”
Autumn explained the situation to Olive as she grabbed a wedge of spaghetti pie and headed for the door. “Will you cancel the other appointments? I’ll let you know what’s going on as soon as possible.”
Autumn was mindless of the speed limit as she rushed out of Greensboro. The farm looked peaceful when she parked beside the horse barn and hurried inside to a stall where Landon and Jeff Smith stood looking at Noel stretched out on the straw. When she entered the stall, Landon gave an angry gesture, but she brushed past him.
“Leave me alone, Daddy. I’m going to take care of this horse. If you want the rest of your horses to die, that’s up to you, but Noel belongs to me.”
She dropped to the floor beside the mare and checked between the jaws and found that the lymph glands were swollen. With a thermometer, she confirmed that the horse was running a high fever. When Jeff knelt beside her, she said, “This mare has the strangles,” and he nodded.
“That’s what I think, too.”
Strangles was an infectious, transmissible disease, characterized by inflammation of the upper respiratory tract and by abscesses of the adjacent lymph nodes, that affected horses. Autumn broke out in a cold sweat, knowing that the infection could spread rapidly in the individual animal and to the rest of the herd. If not treated quickly and efficiently, the horse could die. In any event, it took a week or two for infected animals to fully recover.
Autumn looked up at her father, who stood in the doorway of the stall. She was surprised to see a look on his face that might have been tender, compassionate.
“How did this happen, Daddy? You’ve always been so careful before.”
He turned and left without answering, and she looked questioningly at Jeff.
“Your father isn’t as watchful of his workers as he used to be. The animals probably picked up this disease at the county fair. There might have been a contaminated hay rack or maybe the workers used a bucket or equipment from some other farm.”
“Didn’t he have them vaccinated?”
“I don’t know.”
Autumn put in a call to Olive. “Would you check Ray’s records and see if he vaccinated Daddy’s horses for strangles?”
Olive soon confirmed what Autumn suspected. The horses hadn’t been vaccinated.
“Miss Olive, I’m going to stay here for a while, but I’ll send in for some supplies. If you’re low on vaccine, have a shipment sent in immediately. Also, be sure we have plenty of antibiotics. You’d better alert the other horse owners in the neighborhood. Jeff thinks the horses might have been infected at the county fair, and if so, the disease could spread through the whole horse population of the county. As soon as I’ve done all I can here, I’ll go to any other farm where I’m needed.”
“Are the other horses sick?”
“Not as bad as Noel, but they’re coming down with it, too.”
On her way to get some medication from the truck, Autumn passed by the office, and she paused momentarily. Her father sat at his desk, head bowed in his hands.
She wanted to go to him, put her arms around him and give him comfort. When anything was wrong with his horses, Landon was in pain, too. She knew she could help him more now by keeping his horses from dying than to comfort him, but her heart ached to see her once vibrant, energetic, father hunched over the desk like an old man.
“Poor Daddy!” she said to Jeff. “I don’t know how he ever let this happen.”
“You dad hasn’t been himself the past few years. The burden of t
his farm is more than he can handle since Mrs. Weaver has been sick.”
“Mother has been the dominant partner in the marriage, but he always took care of the mares. It used to be a neighborhood joke that Landon Weaver looked after his horses better than he did his family, which wasn’t true. But I’ve never known Daddy to let his mares drink from a community watering tank, and he would never loan any equipment when he was away from the farm.”
“He still wouldn’t do it, but he’s careless in supervising his hired hands, and they don’t always do what he tells them to.”
“No matter where the blame lies, the horses have strangles, and I have to do what I can to keep them alive.”
“Although it’s an infectious disease, it rarely results in death,” Jeff said.
“That’s true, but I don’t want to have one of those rare occasions when I’m in charge. Will you send one of the workers into town to bring back the medications I asked Miss Olive to prepare? When that other vet gets here, Daddy will make me leave, but I’ll do what I can in the meantime.”
Jeff laughed lowly. “The other vet won’t be coming. I heard Mr. Weaver telephone and cancel the order. I guess he realizes he has an expert medic in the family.”
She flashed Jeff a smile of gratitude. “Then I pray I’ll not disappoint him this time.”
After checking the other stalls, where most of the mares showed signs of strangles, they went back to Noel. Violent coughing shook her whole body and her eyes were lackluster.
“All I can do now is administer antibiotics to prevent secondary infections and keep her warm. If you’ll bring feed for her, I’ll keep checking the other horses.”
Autumn went from stall to stall, finding the eight animals in varied stages of sickness. One mare had no sign of strangles, and Autumn had a worker take the animal to a field and isolate her. Hopefully, the young stock out in the pasture could be kept from contacting the disease.
