Page 66 of 5 Golden Flings

“Nope, hung my whistle up…almost five years ago. Marjorie has me making candles and soap. Out of soy and goat’s milk if you can believe that. We travel around to art fairs.”

Noah’s lips twitched. “I have to admit, that’s the last thing I would have expected to find you doing, Coach.”

He’d been a hard ass, but a fair one. The man had demanded everything out of his team, and with a few exceptions always got it. The players might have groused behind his back, but they’d also respected and appreciated the things he’d taught them.

A loud laugh boomed out of the other man. “Honestly, neither did I son. But surprisingly enough, I’m enjoying it. Sometimes, life hands you what you need, not what you want.”

For some reason, Noah’s gaze was pulled to Autumn, standing quietly beside him.

They talked for a few more minutes before Noah extricated himself and they moved back into the flow of the crowd.

It didn’t take her long to say, “I didn’t realize you were thinking about moving back.”

“I didn’t either until the words popped out.”

“You hate Sweetheart.”

“I don’t hate Sweetheart.”

Autumn cut him a knowing glance. “You ran from this place so fast there was practically dust in your wake. Not to mention I can count on one hand the number of times you’ve been back.”

Steering her away from the crowd to a quiet spot at the end of a row of booths, Noah grinned down at her. “I wasn’t aware you were keeping up with my comings and goings so closely.”

The faint pink that tinged her cheeks made something light effervesce through his chest. Sunlight spilled over her hair, highlighting golden streaks through the warm chestnut. God, he wanted to kiss her.

“It wasn’t like that,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

One eyebrow quirked up. “Oh? What was it like then?”

She huffed out a breath. “I mean, I wasn’ttryingto keep track. But most of the time, whenever you did come home, someone would inevitably think it was important to tell me.”

“Interesting.”

“Not really. This town is small, gossip is our Olympic sport. You’re famous and everyone knows we were together before you left. That adds up to unwanted information being passed my way.”

“Unwanted information that you kept track of.”

Irritation glittered deep in Autumn’s golden eyes.

“I’m teasing you, Autumn, although I have to say you’re beautiful when you’re upset.”

“I’m not upset.”

“Sure. Either way, I have plenty of good reasons to come back here.”

“And you have plenty of reasons not to stay.”

Reaching for her hand, Noah intertwined his fingers with hers. “I’m not making any promises, Autumn. Hell, we’ve barelyhad a single date. But, I know what we had and I know what we could have again. And that’s worth coming home for.”

He expected for her to argue. Wouldn’t have blamed her for doing just that. But instead, her sharp gaze ran across his face. She stared for several seconds, searching. Noah fought the urge to squirm beneath her knowing, assessing gaze, to shutter and protect himself. But he didn’t. Instead, he let her take her time, laying himself bare to her in a way he’d never done with anyone else.

Slowly, she nodded. “We’ll see.”

She was probably an idiot, but she couldn’t help herself. Not where Noah was concerned.

She wanted to believe that he meant what he said.

There had always been a deep connection between them. Maybe they’d both needed time to explore who they were and grow into adults capable of loving each other the way the other needed.

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