Irene Brand - Autumn's Awakening

Autumn felt as if she’d been drenched in a bucket of ice water. Was Nathan avoiding her? she wondered. A red pickup was parked in front of the house so he must be working on the farm. She scanned the fields around the house, but she didn’t see him.

Since their chance meeting last night had been amicable, she’d hoped they could become friends and maybe move from friendship to a more intimate relationship. She didn’t ask the boy where Nathan had gone. The events of the past few years had been humbling, but she still had a touch of the Weaver pride.

“How’s Flossie doing?” she asked to break the silence.

“Okay,” Tony said. “We’ve got her in a pen so she won’t move around too much and hurt herself.”

The cow’s condition was vastly improved, but Autumn gave her another injection of magnesium oxide and handed the bottle to Tony.

“Tell Mr. Holland to give her the rest of this bottle in daily injections. He can turn her out to pasture in a week. The weather forecast is for dry, hot weather over the next few days, so that should eliminate conditions that cause grass tetany. Mr. Holland can telephone if he needs any more help.”

On her way back to Greensboro, Autumn drove by Indian Creek Farm. Fences that had once been snow-white were now a dingy gray. A dozen Belgian mares grazed in a pasture near the road. When Autumn slowed the truck, they lifted their heads, but she couldn’t tell if Noel was among them. The house was partially hidden by the maple trees that were noticeably larger than they had been the last time she’d seen them. Autumn paused at the driveway, wanting desperately to go home, but after several minutes, she continued toward Greensboro.

Not knowing what time Autumn would come to Woodbeck Farm, Nathan had left in early morning to work on the far side of Indian Creek. The ground was too wet for cultivating, so he spent the day repairing fence, a job he detested and normally put off as long as he could. Today, he looked forward to the tedious work as an excuse to be away from the farm buildings when Autumn came.

Nathan had learned to live without Autumn, and he didn’t want her to disrupt his life again. He’d been convinced she would never return to Greensboro, or he wouldn’t have settled here. He could have sold Woodbeck Farm and bought a comparable farm in another location where the memory of Autumn wouldn’t eat at him like a canker. After he took possession of his uncle’s farm, he could never pass Indian Creek Farm without remembering Autumn. On those days, he had often wished he could see her again, believing that the person she’d become after eight years wouldn’t appeal to him at all. Now, he groaned at the thought. In spite of the sadness that marked her expression, the bewitching, impulsive teenager who’d captured his heart had turned into a stunning, enigmatic beauty. To his dismay, he’d learned he was still susceptible to her allure.

To avoid recalling the things he admired about Autumn, he deliberately thought of the things he resented about her. She’d caused him to lose his job at Indian Creek Farm and his good standing in the community, for the neighbors had jumped to the wrong conclusions about why Landon Weaver had fired him. Now it annoyed him even more to realize that the resentment he’d harbored for years disappeared when he had looked up and saw her kneeling beside him in the muddy pasture field. He had to avoid her. He wouldn’t trust Autumn with his heart again.

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