Page 73 of All Autumn
I called Mr. Humphrey. With everything that had happened, I hadn’t had a chance to follow up with him, and I hadn’t heard a word from him. That was concerning. When I got his voice mail, I left a message and then fired off an e-mail to him from my phone.
Adam walked in just as I hit send. “Brought you lunch.” He handed me a paper bag with Mary’s Bread Company’s logo on it.
“Thanks, man.” Nothing beat one of Mary’s sandwiches. “I’m moving back home today, but first I want you to run me by Autumn’s.”
“Don’t think so.” He filled a glass with ice and water and then gulped it down.
“Huh?” I said around a mouthful of ham and cheese on sourdough.
“You’re not moving back home yet, and you don’t need to be out running around.”
“News flash, bro. Not your decision.”
He let out an annoyed sigh. “You have a concussion. What happens if you’re home by yourself and you pass out or something and no one’s around? Make me happy and stay here for one more day.”
“I need my office, and I need to see Autumn.”
“Have you heard from her?”
“No.” And that was the problem. It didn’t make sense. “You see her around the past two days?”
“Nope.” He leaned back on the kitchen counter and crossed his arms over his chest. “I think you hurt her feelings.”
I frowned. “How?”
“She wanted to stay with you at the hospital, but you told her to leave, that you didn’t want her there.”
“I said that? I don’t remember. Honestly I barely remember her even being at the hospital. It’s all kind of fuzzy.” That didn’t make sense, though. Autumn wasn’t thin-skinned. She wouldn’t have taken my words personally.
“You were loopy. Later that night you woke up and asked if I thought love was a dirty word. When I told you I did, you said, ‘What if I like dirty?’ Are you in love with her?”
“No. Of course not.” And I wasn’t. I was sure of that. But I did remember thinking I was falling for her before I fell off a damn mountain. “I need to see her. Now.”
Adam humphed. “Sounds like a man in love to me.” His expression softened. “She’s a good woman, our friend, but she has issues, Connor. The men in her life have messed with her mind, especially her father. One of you is going to end up being hurt, probably you. Maybe it’s better to back off now before that happens.”
He was right, but the urge to defend her was strong. “She’s not Savannah,” I said before I thought better of it. Adam’s face blanked, and I wished I’d kept my mouth shut. “Sorry. That was uncalled for.”
“Yeah, it was.”
The doorbell rang, and he went to answer it, returning with a vase of flowers. “These are for you.”
“From who?”
“How should I know?” He set them on the kitchen island.
Yeah, he was still pissed at me. I opened the card and read it.
Connor,
Please take care of yourself and get better soon.
Autumn
“What’s going on in that woman’s head?”
“What woman? Autumn?”
“Yeah, Autumn.” I handed him the card, then pulled my crutches to me. “Are you going to take me to her house, or should I just drive myself there?” I intended to get to the bottom of whatever was going on with her.
