Page 20 of All Autumn
The courtroom was packed. There was nothing the citizens of Blue Ridge Valley loved more than a delicious scandal, and because of Brian they were sure getting one. Dylan, Jenn, and Adam were front and center, there to support Connor and me.
On one side of them were Hamburger Harry and his ninety-something-year-old mother, Granny, dressed as always in her old-fashioned flowered dress, covering her from her chin to her feet, which were encased in well-worn, lace-up black half boots.
Hamburger should feel right at home considering he’d come in front of Judge Padgett more times than anyone could remember. So far Judge Padgett hadn’t been able to put a stop to Hamburger’s moonshining activities, which was a relief to those who were lucky enough to get one of his mason jars. Jenn’s favorite was his apple pie flavor. Mine was the peach pie.
On the opposite side of Jenn, Dylan, and Adam were our mayor, Jim John Jenkins, and his wife, Dorie. Next to Dorie was Mary, and today her hair was pink, her eyeshadow pink, and her multiple earrings also pink. Her dress was lemon yellow. Mary was in her sixties and had more energy than I could ever hope for.
The only people missing seemed to be my parents. My mother was mortified by her daughter, embarrassed that I was the talk of Blue Ridge Valley. Shouldn’t she be angry with Brian about that instead of me? As for my dad, he was too wrapped up in his new squeeze to much care about what was going on with me.
I glanced at Connor, who was sitting next to me, getting a wink and a warm smile from him. He didn’t look at all concerned, which helped calm me. Our attorney had wanted to ask for separate trials, but Connor and I had refused. If we went down, we were going to do it together.
The buzz of voices all of a sudden quieted, and then the whispers started. “Cheater,” Mary hissed before I could turn to see what was happening.
Brian had come in. I decided it was a good time to make some notes. The only thing I could think of was a grocery list, so keeping my eyes downcast, I wroteeggs.I’d made it to number four on my list,wine (lots of wine),when from under my lashes I saw a brown belt I recognized. Why was Brian standing in front of me? Was that allowed in court? Wasn’t it like intimidating a witness or something?
“Autumn?”
I put my hand over my list so he couldn’t see it and wrotecabbage, cabbage, cabbage and more cabbage. Brian hated cabbage, couldn’t stand the smell of it cooked, so cabbage wasn’t allowed in the house. I was going to make cabbage soup and anything else I could think of with cabbage in it.
“Autumn, I’m speaking to you.”
Next to me Connor growled. Before he decided to tackle Brian and take him to the floor, I figured I’d better acknowledge The Cheater’s presence.
I took my time lifting my head. “Oh, were you?” It gave me a little thrill that, as I met his gaze, there wasn’t the slightest hitch in my breathing when I looked into his flecky gold-brown eyes. Score one for me.
He scowled at Connor, then leaned down, putting his face close to mine. “This is your last chance to stop this. Tell me I can come home, and I’ll drop the charges.” He glanced at Connor. “I’ll even drop them on him.”
“Want to hear a secret?” I closed the gap between us, almost laughing when he smiled, as if he really believed he was about to be invited home. It had grown eerily silent, as if everyone behind me was straining to hear us. To make it easy on them, I raised my voice to say, “I’d rather go to jail than live with you.”
“Ya tell him, girlie,” Granny yelled loud enough for those even in the back to hear, following it with the pounding of her cane on the floor.
I glanced over my shoulder, grinning at her.
“Tha jail ain’t sucha bad place,” Hamburger said. “Might wanna bring your own piller, though. Ones they got now be hard as a rock.” Well, he’d know, considering how much time he spent there. He glared at Dylan as if Dylan should immediately do something about the jail’s pillows.
“You people are ridiculous,” Brian said. “Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance, Autumn.” He stomped over to the prosecutor’s table.
“Wouldn’t think of it,” I muttered. I patted Connor’s arm. “I’m proud of you for not punching his lights out.”
“It was a close call, believe me.”
What Brian didn’t know was that Connor and Adam had done a little investigating by way of taking Lina out for a drink. Between two gorgeous guys giving her attention, along with the drinks they plied her with, she’d gotten rather chatty. Turned out that she had a lot of dirt on The Cheater, like the names of three more women he’d been with since we got engaged a year ago. At this point it wouldn’t surprise me if there were even more.
That had gone a long way in hardening my heart against him. I’d almost had to bite off my tongue a few minutes ago to keep from telling him I was on to him. But—and no one knew this, not even Connor—I’d slipped over to Asheville after learning about Brian’s cheating heart and met with a divorce attorney. She’d told me to keep that information to myself for now, that it was best Brian didn’t know that I knew. It was going to be our ace in the hole.
Jed McConnell, our attorney, and Macon Prescott, the prosecutor, walked out, taking their seats at their respective tables. Jed slid a note over to Connor and me.
Celebratory drinks later?
Connor took the note, writing, You buying?
Jed snorted. “Trust me, you are. Client drinks are a billing item,” he said, talking out of the corner of his mouth.
Although I liked their confidence in the outcome of the trial, I didn’t understand how they could joke at a time like this. In a few hours I could be wearing god-awful orange.
“Hear ye, hear ye. Court is now in session,” Herman, the court bailiff for as long as anyone could remember, said in a booming voice.
I sat up straighter when Judge Padgett entered from a door off to the side. Maybe in his sixties, he was about five feet tall with a full head of pure white hair. I’d never been in his courtroom before, but I’d heard stories about him.
