Page 56 of The Texas Hero's Homecoming

She smiled inside and out. “Yes,” she answered.

She was floating on the clouds now.

And she might never come down.

*

The very nextmorning, her cloud floating came to a crashing halt. She looked at Joe’s angry face via the computer screen and told him for the second time, “Wehaveto sell the farm, Joe. We’ve been struggling for two years. We can’t sustain it.”

“Man, Autumn. I don’t get it. Why didn’t you tell me before this? I can invest in the farm. I can come up with more money.”

“No, Joe. You’ve sent enough,” Papa said. They both sat at the kitchen table, facing Joe’s furious expression. “Don’t blame your sister. She did what she could. We had a few bad years.”

“Bad years that you didn’t tell me about.”

His accusing tone made Autumn super angry. “I wanted to tell you, but Papa insisted I didn’t. You have your future, Joe. You picked it over the farm, so don’t you dare blame us, or me specifically, for its failure.”

“Your sister is correct. She is a teacher now and she loves it. The farm needs passion to survive. I had it when I was younger, but neither one of you felt as I did.”

“Papa, don’t do this,” Joe said. “We’ll find a way.”

“No, son, we will not.”

“I did my best, Joe,” she told her brother.

“Well, you didn’t do enough.”

Tears burned behind her eyelids. “Do you think this is easy for me? Do you think I want Papa’s legacy to fail? Do you honestly think I didn’t do everything I knew to do to save the farm?”

Joe’s expression softened. “Okay, little sis. Maybe I’m just a little shell-shocked. You dropped this bomb on me without any warning. I’ve got a right be pissed.”

“That is all on me, son. I made Autumn promise not to tell. We are proud of you, Joseph. You are serving our country. You cannot do both, but neither can your sister. She has worked hard on the farm, doing things I can no longer do. I’m tired, son. I can’t expect your sister to do it all. I didn’t ask it of you, and I won’t ask it of her.”

“Papa, just give me some time. I’ll… I’ll come up with a solution.”

“We don’t have time, Joe,” she told him, salty tears dripping down her cheeks. “Don’t set Papa up with false hope.”

“I’m not doing that, Autumn. I just need time to digest this.”

“You talk to Papa,” she told him, wiping her tears with her sleeve. She was upset and she didn’t want her father to see how much. “I have to set up for the festival today. Be safe, Joe.”

She left the kitchen, walked out the back door, and began running. As fast as she could, as far as she could. She made it all the way to the maze and then slowed down. Her brother was upset, but then, so was she. He’d said some things to her that she’d expected but that didn’t make it hurt any less. She’d told Papa they should’ve told Joe from the beginning, but her father was a stubborn man at times. And now, all three of them were hurting.

Tears fell freely now. She couldn’t stop them. The volunteers would be coming soon to get the booths ready for the festival. She had little time to get her act together. She walked into the maze, the most private place on the farm to hide her pain and took the turns as she remembered them, trying her best to calm down.

“Autumn?”

She stopped at the sound of Sam’s voice.

“Autumn, I saw you running. Are you okay?”

She turned to face him and immediate worry crossed his features. “What’s wrong? Autumn, why are you crying?”

She stepped toward him and then his arms were around her and his comfort touched her, making her sob even more. “Tell me what’s wrong,” he said, softly. “Don’t cry.”

He held her and walked her toward her father’s bench in the center of the maze.

“Let’s sit,” he said. “And then you can tell me all about it,” he whispered.

---