Page 70 of The Texas Hero's Homecoming

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Autumn has nothingto do with this.

She glanced at her students taking a math test quietly, diligently, and yet those words slammed in her head over and over again. The words she overhead Sam saying to Joe. He might as well have said,Autumn isn’t important. Autumn isn’t the reason I did this.

She’d shed a bucketful of tears that day, hiding out in her bedroom, trying to keep Papa from hearing her sobs. The hurt ran deep, carving up her heart. She didn’t think she’d ever feel as much pain as she had when Sam left to join the army. But she had… and more. It was devastating to be betrayed twice by him. To think they might have had a future together, only to have it ripped from her grasp, so quickly, so unexpectedly.

What if she hadn’t overheard that conversation? What if she’d gone all-in with Sam only to find out his deception later? Would he have ever told her the real truth?

And now, she had to go on with her life as if Sam hadn’t been there. As if Sam hadn’t come back and brought her all kinds of joy. She had to be the teacher her students expected her to be. She had to be the daughter her father needed her to be.

She couldn’t reveal to him all that had transpired, but she did tell her father the partnership deal with Sam just wasn’t going to work. Her father, a perceptive man, had been disappointed and that was all on Sam. But her father had also been understanding. As much as she’d tried to hide her anguish, Papa had seen her tear-swollen eyes, seen the pain in her expression, no matter the fake smiles she’d attempted to cast his way.

Papa had been wonderful.

He didn’t ask too many questions.

“All right, class,” she said, standing up behind her desk. “Your test time is over. Please pass up your papers and we’ll go over the answers tomorrow.”

Just as she collected the math tests, the bell rang. “Looks like we’re done for the day. Gather up your things and have a wonderful rest of your day, everyone. Remember, tomorrow we’ll be having our class spelling bee. So, study up.”

The shuffling of chairs and her students’ boisterous chatter filled the room and made her smile. She loved the bustle of the classroom, hearing the girls giggling and the boys’ loud voices. It was the one thing lately that brought her joy.

With the last of the students gone, she sat down to grade the math tests here, rather than taking them home to grade. It was hard going home to the farm, seeing Papa sitting in his chair, staring out the window at theFOR SALEsign in front of the house.

A knock at her door broke into her sadness and she looked up to find Bethany Rendell standing at the threshold. “Hello, Miss Messina. May I have a word with you?”

Autumn rose from her seat. “Of course.”

“Dustin is going to a friend’s house to play today, so I’m alone. And I promise to only take a minute of your time.”

“It’s not a problem at all. Please come in. Would you like to sit down?”

“Sure. Thank you.”

They both took a seat.

“It’s so nice to see you again,” Autumn said.

“Well, thank you. It’s good to see you too. I came by partly to tell you that Dustin is doing much better at home these days. He’s made friends in class and he’s been keeping his grades up.”

“Yes, I’ve noticed a difference in him, too. He’s definitely participating more. He signed up for the spelling bee tomorrow.”

“I know. He’s been studying like crazy.”

“Well, I’m glad about that.”

“Actually, I didn’t come here to talk about Dustin. Well, not directly. I wanted to thank you for what you’ve done for Mike, my husband. Ever since Dustin had that incident here at school and you had a talk with Mike, well, he’s been different. Better. Happier. You encouraged him to go to festival, to be a part of it. You gave him the opportunity to teach art to the kids and that seemed to have opened him up to new possibilities.”

“That’s wonderful, but I can’t take credit for that.”

“You and Sam Russell encouraged him and Sam’s next on my list to thank. I just came to tell you that Mike’s going to be splitting time with Captain Price in the everyday running of Veterans Unite. He and Adam have worked out a schedule and Mike’s excited about it. Until he can get back into the workforce, he’ll have this part-time job.”

Autumn clapped her hands together. “That is wonderful news.”

“It is. And he’s also going to run art classes for the vets, right there on site. Mike says that the vets need something to latch onto, something to make them want to get up and get going in the morning. They have the drive. They just need an outlet for their talent.”

“Oh, that’s so true. I’m just thrilled to hear this, Mrs. Rendell.”

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