Page 50 of The Texas Hero's Homecoming

“Yes, I noticed that too. Is that a thing?”

Nicole chuckled. “It is a thing. You’ll get used to it.”

“Good to know. I never want to have my students be afraid of me.”

“Oh, they’re not afraid. It’s more like they’re in awe of you.”

Autumn smiled. “Imagine that. Someone’s in awe of me.”

Nicole’s eyes popped wide open. “Uh, don’t look now Autumn, but I think there’s someone else in awe of you. Isn’t that Jared? The guy you met at the Last Stand Saloon?”

“What? Where?” She scanned the grounds and she spotted him across the yard, standing by the pumpkin house, looking it over. “Oh no. What do I do?”

Nicole’s face twisted up. “What you do, is go over there and welcome him. It’s obvious he’s here to see you. And boy, he’s looking handsome today.”

He wore black from head to toe, jeans, a snap-down shirt, and shiny leather boots. The only thing not as dark as his eyes, was the pristine white Stetson on his head.

“Is it? I mean, is it presumptuous of me to think he’s here for me?”

Nicole tilted her head. “No, he’s here to buy a pumpkin. Of course, he’s here to see you. Why else would he come here from Whiskey River?”

Heavens, Nicole was right. Sudden panic set in. “Oh, my gosh. I must look a mess.” She tried to stuff the strands of hair falling out of her braid, but it wasn’t working.

“Here, let me fix that.” Nicole pulled at her scrunchy and all her hair flowed free, down her back. She fluffed up her hair a bit and backed away looking at her work. “There that’s better. You look great.”

“I do?”

“You really do. Now, go.”

“Okay, I’m going.” She left Nicole and walked straight toward Jared, not exactly sure what she was going to say to him. She came up behind him just as he turned on his heels and they came face-to-face.

“Hi, Jared.” She refrained from asking him what he was doing here.

“Autumn, hello. Wow, this place is great.”

“Thanks. We’ve had a lot of help lately, putting this festival together. Veterans. They’ve been a big help.”

“My father was US Navy.”

She nodded. Not sure what to say next.

“Well, I came out because I wanted to see your festival. See what you do. I was curious.”

“I’m, uh, I’m glad you came.” He had dark-set eyes, and they brightened a bit. “This is our last festival. And we wanted to make it the best ever.”

“Looks like you succeeded.”

“It’s the end of the day or I’d show you around. Most booths are closing up.

“Doesn’t matter. I’d love it, if you could spare a few minutes to give me a tour.”

“Oh, uh. Sure. I can do that.” She smiled.

Jared walked beside her, and she showed him the booths, games, and the haystack photo area, telling him a little bit more about how the festival came to be. He was a good listener. They reached the maze and stopped at the entrance. “Have you been through this yet?”

“Not really. I’ve never made it all the way out. It’s been a whirlwind these past few weeks.”

“You did all this and you taught school too? I’m impressed.”

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