Page 81 of All Autumn
Connor glanced at Lucas, then at me, and his face and eyes turned downright cold. “I see.”
What did he think he saw? “Connor?”
He ignored me, his attention back on Lucas as he came toward us.
“Connor, it’s good to see you, man,” Lucas said, coming to a stop and putting his hand on Connor’s shoulder. “I heard about you and Adam saving that boy. You sure have a knack for being in the right place at the right time. Taren was sorry you couldn’t come with Autumn for a visit.”
“Sorry I missed seeing her. I would have come if someone had told me,” Connor said with an accusing gaze on me. What the hell had I done wrong? “Why are you both in this building?” he said, still looking at me.
What was his problem? He was being embarrassingly rude. Lucas glanced at me, and if Connor’s attitude was bothering him, he didn’t let it show. Connor was staring at me, waiting for me to explain, but it wasn’t my business to share.
“I guess it’s not a secret any longer,” Lucas said. “I bought the building.”
Connor’s gaze swung to Lucas. “You? You’re the other offer?”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“What the hell do you want with this building?”
“What’s going on, Connor?”
He ignored me, keeping his gaze on Lucas.
Lucas shrugged. “I’m sorry, but I’m not ready to divulge that yet.”
“Obviously she knows.”
The way he saidshesounded like he had a sour taste in his mouth. Gazing up at Connor, Beau whined, not liking the tension in the air.
Lucas nodded. “She does. I hired her to work with me on my plans.”
“What did you mean by other offer?” I asked.
Still refusing to acknowledge me, Connor said, “Adam and I made Humphrey an offer. We were outbid.” He gathered his crutches under him and turned away, heading for the door.
“Connor?” He ignored me. “I’ll be right back,” I said to Lucas. I caught up with Connor at the door. “What’s your problem, Connor?”
He lifted one of the crutches and pushed the door open with the end. “There’s nothing to say.”
“Really? You were rude to Lucas for no reason.”
“So it’s Lucas now? How sweet.” He kept going, and I followed him out.
“You owe him an apology. He’s doing something good for our town. And while you’re at it, you can apologize to me, too.”
“Yeah?” He stopped, and I moved in front of him. “For what, Autumn?”
“I didn’t know you and Adam wanted this building. Is that why you’re angry?”
He let out a harsh laugh. “Among other things.”
“Like what?”
“Well, let’s see. You send me a Dear John letter in the form of flowers and a shitty note. We were supposed to go see Taren together, but you took off without me. I can only assume you didn’t want me tagging along because you hoped to spend time with the senator. You didn’t tell me you were working for him. How long has that been going on?”
“I had to sign a nondisclosure agreement, so I couldn’t tell you. You should understand that. And I resent your implication that there’s anything going on between me and Lucas.” We’d never had a fight before, and I hated that we were. But he was being unreasonable and ridiculous.
“What about the way you ended things between us?”
