The Haunting of Autumn Lake (12 page)

“He’s banged up because of Riley and those other boys…who, by the way, ought to be strung up by their thumbs and horsewhipped!” Vaden said.

“Gentry’s so handsome, Mama,” Autumn said then.

Gentry couldn’t help but smile. He’d been told he was a good-looking cowboy by plenty of women plenty of times—but being called handsome by a sweet thing like Autumn Lake folded every other hand.

“I swear, when he smiles at me, my stomach hops up in my throat and my knees go all weak and wobbly. But don’t worry. I know he’s a cowboy. I don’t want you and Daddy worryin’ that I’m gonna…that Gentry James will steal my heart away or somethin’. I know he’s a cowboy, and cowboys always leave come spring. I know that. But can’t I just daydream about him all the same? Just for a time?”

Gentry heard Vaden giggle. He smiled, thinking she and her mother sounded more like sisters than mother and daughter. And she wanted to daydream about him? He was flattered—downright blushing to his toes flattered. He wasn’t stupid enough to believe a girl like Autumn Lake would ever form any serious attachment to him. And he wasn’t stupid enough to think a man like Ransom Lake would let her. But it still made him feel like maybe he was worth a dollar and half after all.

“Of course, sweet pea!” Vaden said. “Daydreaming is what keeps us sane sometimes. You go on thinking about Gentry James and how handsome he is…how heroic. You think on him instead of…instead of other things, all right?”

“Yes, Mama,” Autumn said. “I do understand what you mean. And isn’t Gentry just the handsomest man you ever laid eyes on in all your life?”

“Don’t I know it. Now you get to sleep, sunshine,” Vaden said. “We’ve still got apples to worry over tomorrow, and Daddy wants you to show Gentry some things that need doing too. All right?”

“Yes,” Autumn sighed. “I do feel better now. Thank you, Mama. I love you so much.”

“I love you more, my Autumn angel,” Vaden sighed. “Now, I’m gonna go look in on that handsome cowboy who’s convalescing next door…just to make sure he doesn’t need anything before your daddy and I turn in. Sleep tight, my baby girl…and sweet dreams.”

Gentry hadn’t heard anything else that might have been said between the two women; he’d been too busy trying to crawl back into his bed as quietly as possible.

But in the days that followed, he learned more about Ransom and Vaden Lake than he’d ever imagined he could—for their daughter was as talkative and as good a storyteller as ever she had been during his convalescing at Doc Sullivan’s. Gentry learned a great deal concerning Autumn as well, but most of what he did learn came from his own observation and not what she told him.

Thus, by lingering in such a nurturing environment, Gentry James healed quickly—quickly enough to take on more and more of Ransom’s chores so that his boss could oversee the finishing up of the apple harvest and prepare for bringing in the pumpkins.

Within two weeks, Gentry was feeling quite his old self. He had a ways to go; his ribcage and bullet wounds reminded him of that every night with a deep soreness he was growing tired of. But there was one thing he wasn’t growing tired of—Autumn.

Oh, he’d known she was a beauty. It was obvious to anyone with seeing eyes in his head that she was. But the longer he spent in her company, and the more friendly she became with him, the more Gentry James started wishing he were a man of means instead of an orphan who’d run away to cowboying at the age of twelve. A man like him had nothing to offer a girl like Autumn—no money, no land, nothing of any worth. But it didn’t keep him from admiring her—from allowing their friendship to deepen. And it didn’t keep him from doing things he knew would make her happy.

One morning near the end of September, while Gentry was finishing up the milking of Ransom’s milk cows, Autumn came strolling into the barn like a sweet, refreshing breeze.

“Daddy says he thinks I should turn Abner’s care over to you, Gentry…considerin’ everything,” she announced.

Gentry sighed when he looked up to see the tears brimming in her eyes. “And what do you think, Autumn?” he asked, knowing full well what she thought.

“I think I won’t even be able to sit down to Thanksgiving dinner this year,” she answered. A tear escaped her eye, and she quickly brushed it from her cheek.

“Well, where did you think turkey on Thanksgiving came from all these years, punkin?” he chuckled, though his heart pinched with empathy. She was so kindhearted that even a dang turkey could wiggle its way into earning her love. Gentry thought she was all the more precious for it.

“But Daddy never raised a turkey of our own before,” she explained. “He always just went out and shot one of the wild turkeys that roam around on the east property. This is different. I can’t possibly eat Abner! I’ve nurtured him from a poult! I’m near to bein’ his mother. How can I betray him like that? How could I eat him? I might as well take up bein’ a cannibal as to eat my own baby turkey.”

Gentry couldn’t stop himself—she was too adorable—and a smile of amusement spread across his face. A low chuckle rumbled in his throat as well.

Autumn frowned at him and brushed another tear from her cheek. “It’s not funny, Gentry James. Abner…he’s like a child to me,” she scolded with one dainty hand at her bosom as if her heart were truly aching. “So Daddy thinks you should take care of him from now on.”

“Well, I think your daddy is a wise man,” Gentry kindly reassured her. “And I think you
should
be loyal to Abner and not eat him when the time comes. I’m sure, knowin’ you and your mama as I do, that there will be plenty of other things to eat on Thanksgiving Day so that you don’t have to even consider on eatin’ up your baby.” She nodded and forced an accepting grin. Still, Gentry’s common sense had to have its piece too. “But I do have to stand with your Daddy on the fact that this is a farm…and life can be hard when a farmer is providin’ things like food for his family.”

“I know,” Autumn agreed. “I know. I know Abner’s purpose…to help us all show thankfulness for all the blessin’s we have. I do understand that…but I just can’t eat him. And I just can’t fatten him up for you all to eat either. All right?”

She was too sweet—too good to be true, really. Gentry was finding that Autumn Lake could talk him into doing just about anything—no matter how silly it might seem to the rest of the world. She provoked his protective nature—his desire to make another human happy. She provoked a lot more than that in him, but he was still trying to ignore the nearly maniacal physical attraction he secreted toward her.

Gentry smiled and said, “All right. I’ll take care of Abner from now until…from now on.” The mischief in him rose, however, and he added, “But I think it’s only fair that you swap me somethin’ in return. I’ll take care of Abner. I’ll be the one who fattens him up and then betrays him and eats him. But I need you to do somethin’ for me.”

“And what’s that?” she asked.

Autumn’s heart had skipped a beat or two when Gentry had asked her for something as recompense for taking care of Abner for her. What could he want from her? Maybe a kiss? That’s what she hoped he wanted. Good land! Her dreams were filled with nothing but Gentry James these days—nothing but his image and the excruciating wish that he would someday kiss her. Her gaze lingered on his mouth a moment—traveled to his dimples as he smiled at her. She wanted to touch those delicious dimples—to gently press her thumbs into them for some reason—to hold his whiskery face between her hands.

“Well, the fact is, Autumn,” he began, taking a step toward her. Her heart skipped another beat—and then another. “I haven’t had a slice of pumpkin pie in over five years,” he said. “I was thinkin’ on beggin’ for just one pumpkin pie…all to myself. Your mama was tellin’ me this mornin’ that your Daddy brought in a few pumpkins from the field so you and her could bake up a few. So, if I promise to take real good care of Abner for you…until his time comes…do you think you could scratch me up a pumpkin pie all my own?”

Though her heart sank for the sake of Gentry asking her to bake him a pie instead of asking for a kiss, she smiled and nodded. After all, everyone said the way to win a man’s heart was through good cooking and baking—and Autumn baked a downright mean pumpkin pie!

“Of course I’ll bake you a pie, you silly cowboy,” she said. Her smile faded a little, however, and she asked, “But has it really been five years since you’ve had pumpkin pie, Gentry? That makes my heart ache.”

“Oh, don’t let your heart be achin’ on my account, honey,” he said, returning the milk stool to its place on the barn wall. “Just think how much better your pumpkin pie will taste to me than it would somebody who’s used to havin’ it all the time. Meanwhile, I’ll take care of that ol’ tom turkey you love so much.”

Autumn smiled. “Good. And I’ll bake you a pumpkin pie. In fact, I’ll do it right now so you can eat it for lunch. And maybe I’ll bake up an extra for you to enjoy before we all go out to see the harvest moon tomorrow night.”

But Gentry frowned. “Oh…well, that’s somethin’ you do with your family, ain’t it? I don’t think I should—”

“Gentry James! You cannot miss the harvest moon!” Autumn exclaimed—horrified that he would even consider missing such a wonder of nature. “It’s the most beautiful moon of the entire year!”

“All right, all right,” he said, shaking his head with amusement. “But I best get the chores done before too long or your daddy will take a switch to me.”

“My daddy never took a switch to anybody in his life,” Autumn countered. “Oh!” she added then, having suddenly remembered something else. “I forgot to tell you.”

Gentry watched as Autumn reached into her apron pocket and withdrew a handful of pecans. He smiled, knowing exactly for whom they were intended.

“Abner loves pecans,” she said in a whisper as she placed them in his palm. “My daddy probably
would
take to usin’ a switch on
me
if he caught me pilferin’ part of his pecan crop for Abner. So I’ll just give you a few now and then. I don’t want you havin’ to worry about snitchin’ pecans for him.”

Gentry smiled again and shoved the handful of pecans in his pocket. “Dang,” he mumbled. “Makes me wish I was your ol’ tom turkey.”

“Do you like pecans?” she asked.

“Of course,” he admitted.

She smiled, her eyes glistening with delight. “Then you have some of those before you give them to Abner. And next time I snitch a few…I’ll snitch a few for you too. All right?”

“All right,” he chuckled. “Now, you scoot. Get on about makin’ me that pumpkin pie while I’m cuddlin’ up to your turkey.”

She smiled, and Gentry felt a wave of warmth, contentment, and desire wash over him. The girl truly was as wonderful as the season she was named for. She made him feel strong, pleasant of mind, and as if he were worth a whole lot more than a dollar and a half.

“Thank you, Gentry,” she said. “Truly.”

He nodded, and she turned and hurried from the barn.

Gentry sighed with a strange sort of contentment and headed for the turkey yard. He had a whole lot of chores to do for Ransom, but he’d make friends with Autumn’s turkey first. He shook his head, thinking that he had never in all his life seen the harvest moon. The truth was he hadn’t even known what it was exactly until a few years back. Therefore, he found an unfamiliar excitement swelling in his chest. It was ridiculous, of course—for a man to get wound up over seeing the dang moon. But Autumn and her mother made it sound so beautiful—as if a body weren’t truly living life if they didn’t take a moment to linger beneath it.

Oh, he’d seen Ransom roll his eyes with amused exasperation more than once at the mention of the harvest moon outing. Yet Gentry figured it was one of those things a man did because he loved his wife—and then, when he was in the thick of it, realized he actually did enjoy it.

And so, Gentry sauntered off toward the turkey yard, smiling as he approached and saw the tom come racing toward the fence, gobbling like the happiest bird ever hatched.

“Well, good mornin’ there, Abner,” Gentry said. “Looks like you and me are gonna become saddle pals from now on.”

He reached into his pocket, gripped two pecans in his fist, and cracked them. He tossed them to Abner and watched as the bird did indeed seem to relish the treat. Gentry frowned a bit as a little of Autumn’s empathy for Abner managed to seep into his skull. Shaking his head and silently scolding himself for being too softhearted, he studied the big tom turkey a moment—wondering if the pecans Autumn had been sneaking to the bird would add to his flavor come Thanksgiving Day.

❦

“Five years, Mama!” Autumn exclaimed, shaking her head in residual disbelief. “Can you imagine goin’ five years without one slice of pumpkin pie?”

Vaden shook her head. “Absolutely not! I’d die without pumpkin pie. I literally think I would lie down and expire if suddenly there was not pumpkin pie to be had in the world.”

“Oh, I hear you, Mama,” Autumn said, nodding. “I know there’s worse things in the world than not havin’ pumpkin pie at all…but, Mama, my heart nearly broke in two when he told me he hadn’t had it in five years.”