Autumn's Awakening. Irene Brand

Autumn close and covered her shapely mouth with his. Autumn put her arms around his neck and snuggled into his embrace. When he released her lips, she dropped her head to his shoulder with a sigh of contentment.

      “I shouldn’t have done that, Autumn, but I’m only human. I couldn’t resist you any longer.”

      “Then you love me?” Autumn asked. Before he could answer, she felt a strong hand jerking backward on her shoulder. She looked up into the angry face of her father, Landon Weaver, who swung his fist and hit Nathan on the jaw.

      Nathan grabbed a barn pillar to break his fall.

      “Pack your things and get off this property,” Landon shouted. “I’ll figure out what I owe you and send it to your uncle’s farm. Don’t ever let me see your face around here again. I told you to stay away from my daughter.”

      “Tell her to stay away from me. I didn’t ask her to come here this morning,” Nathan protested. “This hasn’t happened before.”

      “That’s a likely story,” Landon said. “My daughters don’t pursue farmhands.”

      Nathan faced Autumn, and she was touched by the distress in his voice.

      “Tell him! Tell him I’ve never kissed you before.”

      Autumn looked from Nathan’s bruised face and troubled gray eyes to the father she loved more than any other person in the world. As long as she could remember, she’d tagged her father’s heels until she knew as much about the Belgian horses and the farm operation as Landon himself knew. Always before, Landon had given her everything she wanted, but from the belligerent gleam in his eyes, she knew he wouldn’t let her have Nathan.

      She looked again at Nathan, whom she adored with all the fervor of an eighteen-year-old’s first love. She’d only known Nathan Holland a few months. Could she choose him over her father? Without considering the far-reaching consequence of her action, Autumn took one last look at Nathan and walked out of the barn without saying a word in his defense.

      Chapter One

      Blinded by the sudden onslaught of water across the windshield, Autumn braked sharply when an eighteen-wheeler passed her. She flipped the wipers to the highest speed and straightened in the car seat. Numb from hunching over the steering wheel for hours, she considered asking Trina to drive, but it was too risky to stop and change drivers on the interstate. Besides, Trina was asleep, and she was wide awake. Thoughts of the past had kept her wakeful since they’d passed Indianapolis.

      When Autumn Weaver left Ohio eight years ago, she hadn’t intended to return to Greensboro. She couldn’t imagine why she’d allowed Ray Wheeler to talk her into taking over his veterinary practice for two months. Was it possible that she hoped for reconciliation with her family? To ask forgiveness for her misguided decisions? To atone for the way she’d disillusioned and disappointed her parents and had caused Nathan Holland to lose his job at Indian Creek Farm?

      More than once since she and her closest friend, Trina, had left Wisconsin, Autumn had been tempted to telephone Ray and tell him she’d changed her mind. The bitter incidents that had caused her to leave home had dominated her thoughts for years, but Autumn realized that sometime she would have to deal with the past. Perhaps that time had come.

      When she caught herself nodding off, Autumn reached a hand and touched Trina lightly on the shoulder. Trina was a sound sleeper, and when she didn’t stir, Autumn shook her gently.

      Trina stretched. “Are we there yet?”

      “Not for another two or three hours. I should have telephoned Ray that we’d be late, but by that time, he would already have left for the airport.”

      “What time is it?” Trina asked, riffling in her purse for her glasses.

      “Midnight.”

      “Maybe we ought to stop for the night. There should be a motel at the next exit.”

      “Do you have enough money for a motel bill?” Autumn asked.

      Yawning widely, Trina said, “I’ve got a hundred dollars.”

      “I have about half that much, and I don’t want to spend it on a motel when there’s a free bed waiting for us in Greensboro. We’d better go on.”

      “Do you want me to drive?”

      “I’ll be all right if you’ll stay awake and talk to me. Otherwise, I might fall asleep and run off the road.”

      Trina ran a pick through her short brown hair and took a swig from a water bottle. She handed Autumn a granola bar. “Eat this, and it’ll perk you up.” She glanced at her six-year-old niece curled up on the back seat of Autumn’s old car. “Dolly is sound asleep.”

      Trina inserted a tape in the player and the music of her favorite gospel singer filled the car. Through the words of the songwriter, the singer asked God to forgive her if she had wounded anyone with her wilful ways.

      As Trina hummed the lyrics, Autumn considered her friend’s strong Christian faith that had kept both of them optimistic during years of difficulties. Trina’s daily prayers on her behalf had brought a semblance of peace to Autumn’s life, and calmness out of the chaos the two friends shared as they worked their way through the veterinary school at the University of Wisconsin.

      “Sorry I went to sleep and left you alone with your thoughts,” Trina said. “Have they been pleasant?”

      “Not particularly. I’ve been thinking about the summer I left Ohio, wondering why I was foolish enough to return.”

      “I believe it’s the providence of God. It wasn’t a coincidence that we met Doc Wheeler at that veterinarians’ convention. Whether you were right or wrong, you can’t have peace of mind and experience the full love of God in your heart until you come to terms with the past. Our temporary jobs as Wheeler’s assistants will give you time to make up with your family and set things right with Nathan Holland.”

      “I don’t even know where Nathan went to when he left Greensboro.”

      “Did you ask Doc Wheeler about Nathan?”

      “No. Doc surprised me so much when he told me he was taking a world tour, I didn’t ask any questions. To my knowledge, he’s never traveled overseas. Before I recovered from my surprise, I agreed to take over for him. He has a large practice, so I’m glad he wanted you to come along, too.”

      Conversation ceased and the tires hummed as they hit the concrete in steady rhythm. The lyrics of the song once more infiltrated Autumn’s thoughts: “If I have wounded any soul today.” It’s not “if”, God. You know how many people I’ve wounded.

      “The things Ray told me about my family are worrying me. I can’t believe they’ve changed so much since I left home.”

      “You’ve been gone eight years! A lot of things can happen in that time.”

      “But I can’t imagine Mother as an invalid, confined to a wheelchair. And it’s hard to believe that the six years she’s been sick, Daddy has lost interest in the farm. If Ray is right about how run-down the farm is, and I’m sure he wouldn’t have told me if he hadn’t known, it’ll hurt me to see it.”

      “Didn’t he say your sister is living at home? Maybe she’s taken over.”

      “Not Summer! She’s a quiet, shy person, who prefers indoor activities. I was the tomboy who followed Daddy around the farm.”

      Punching a button to clear steam from the windshield, Autumn looked at the highway markers. “We leave the interstate at the next exit, then it’s a short drive to Greensboro.” She handed Trina the granola wrapper to put in the trash bag. “That did liven me up. Let’s stop at a restaurant for a cup of coffee, and I’ll be okay until we get to our destination.”

      “Not a very lively town,” Trina observed as they drove along Greensboro’s main street an hour later.