Page 14 of The Texas Hero's Homecoming

“Sounds promising.”

“I don’t know. I’m not feeling it, being in the food industry.” He lifted his nose to the air. “But I sure like eating. What’s that I’m smelling coming from your house?”

“I don’t smell anything,” she fibbed, just to rankle him.

“It’s onions and something delicious.”

“Okay, it’s stew.”

“Your papa makes stew?”

“No silly. I made it before school today. It’s been cooking in a pot all day.”

“You’re a woman of many talents,” he said, handing her two more pumpkins.

“At least you think of me as a woman now,” she blurted.

She couldn’t hold back. She couldn’t keep resentment and pain from her voice either. She felt like a fool for divulging her innermost feelings to him, ones she’d thought safely tucked away.

“I’d be a darn fool if I didn’t.” He gave her an appreciative once-over.

She wore jeans now and a blue chambray work shirt. She looked like a farmhand, but his eyes said something different and his scrutiny touched her down deep, surrounding her.

He heaved a big sigh. Yanking off his hat, he pushed his hand through his hair several times, making several dark blond strands stick up. He slipped off his gloves and leaned against the back end of the truck. “Come here.”

She hesitated like a belligerent child.

“Come on, Autumn. It’s got me puzzled why you’re so dang mad at me all the time. Care to tell me why? I already know you’re not happy that I enlisted with Joe and left town. Is there more?”

She folded her arms across her middle and leaned back against the truck too, keeping a good two-foot space between them. “No.”

“No? Now, why don’t I believe that?”

She remained silent.

So did he. Only the sound of his breathing touched her ears.

She looked down at her boots. “I, uh, I idolized you, Sam. For years. You were at the top of all my lists for just about everything. You were always around the farm, working or playing with Joe. I looked up to you. You know that already. I was a little kid following you around all the time. And while Joe would call me a pest, or shoo me away, you never did. You were always kind.”

“I had a little sis of my own to shoo away. So being kind wasn’t hard. Nicole was my little pest.”

“And I was Joe’s. I get that, but it still had a lasting effect on me. Your kindness. Your thoughtfulness. And then, when I became a teen, my feelings for you got…”

“Got what?” He leaned in closer, ready to hear what she had to say.

This was so terribly hard to admit. It shouldn’t be. Years had gone by and she should be over it by now.

“Got stronger.” She let out a breath, shaking her head.

Their eyes met. She couldn’t read his expression, but his eyes filled with sympathy and understanding. Heavens, she didn’t want his pity.

“Go on.”

“I-I couldn’t help it. When I turned seventeen, I thought for sure you’d see how much I’d grown up. And that night in the hayloft, under the stars, you kissed me.”

“It was a mistake, Autumn. All my fault.”

“You see, Sam.” She turned to face him, to peer directly into his eyes. “I never once thought it was a mistake. Never once…”

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