Page 12 of Falling for Autumn Again

Mr. Green is…gone?

“Summer said the two of you were inseparable,” Meg says, speaking again while I’m still trying to process.

“That was a long time ago. But yeah. We were.”

“And then you left,” she says. And there are so many accusations in those few words. They bring me back to the present.

“Is that what she told you? Because we were supposed to go together.”

She studies me, almost making me uncomfortable. “She didn’t say that. She doesn’t talk about you.Ever.”

Chapter Six

Autumn

I did not smashmy heart into a million pieces just so Ezra could come back here. Love is far from his dreams and exactly where his living breathing worthless father resides. I got him out. It was hard and painful and about killed me. But I did it.

How could he come back here? He can’t live in the same town as that man.

The tight space of the office is too small to pace in. So, I’m snapping the top of a pen to a pad on the desk while I internally vent. Click-click. Click-click. The thrust mechanism moves in, then out. In, then out. Until I press just a tad too hard and the entire thing springs across the room.

My ringing phone stops with Dessie’s answer, but I don’t give her a second to greet me. “Dessie!” I bark into my phone as the pen soars through the air. “I thought you said I was conducting an interview today. Aren’t I hiring the architect?”

“Ohh.” She blows the word out with a long, whistling sigh. “No, sweet pea,” Dessie croons. The woman has lived in the western United States for more than forty years, but she’s never lost her Southern accent. I swear I’ve never heard the “R” sound leave her lips. She’ll forever be a Mississippi girl. “We already didthe hirin’. I thought you understood. But you’ve got the lead on this. You tell Ezra everything he needs to know.”

“ButEzra? Why Ezra?” I bark, anger is so much better than resorting to a sobbing pile of mush.

“Oh, he’s good. He’s very good. And we want the best for our Autumn Pie.”

I’ve never understood Dessie’s nickname for me. And until this very second, I’ve always loved it. Right now, I sort of wish I had a pie to toss through the phone and onto her lap.

“I’m sure he’sgreat,” I say through clenched teeth.

Why wouldn’t he be great? He’s Ezra. I always knew he’d be amazing at whatever he chose to do. And now, he’ll be great at torturing me too.

“ButEzra?” How long has it been since I’ve said the man’s name out loud?

Longer than long.

I tell myself every night that I don’t even remember Ezra Lee Bennett. It’s a lie. Abig fatlie. But it keeps my heart intact and my head sane.

“But it’sEzra,” I say, certain that my older friend has obtained dementia overnight and needs someone to help her think through all of her decision-making.

“I thought you’d be happy to see your old friend again.”

I clear my throat. Maybe this isn’t Dessie’s fault. I don’t talk about Ezra. How would she know that when I saw Ezra my heart stopped? How would she know I’ve been suppressing a breakdown for ten long years? She wasn’t there—she didn’t see how I almost imploded at the sight of him. Nope,happyis not the word I would use to describe how I felt when I saw Ezra Bennett’s hazel eyes and chiseled jaw.

Shocked, sure. Horrified, yep. Happy—nuh-uh.

“But with our history—”

“Exactly, you have history,” she says. “He knows you. He’llunderstand your vision and make this place every bit as special as we hoped for.”

I appreciate herwein that sentence. I'm used to taking care of everyone. Dad—after he got sick. Mom—after Dad died. Summer—after Mom shut down and couldn't function. I don't get charity, I give it. So, the Linus's cannot create this restaurant just forme. It’s theirs too and they have to want it every bit as much as I do.

Don said he wanted it. He was thrilled when I presented the idea. Dessie too. She’s been wanting to add a year-round attraction to the farm. Sure, I’ll be running it. But they’ll be the owners. We’re doing it together. Dessie and Don on the financial end while I man down the fort.

“Unless…” Dessie drawls out. “The two of you didn’t split as simple and easy as you said you did.”

---