Page 14 of The Homecoming

“Something else will come along,” Rebecca said.

“You just need to relax,” Hannah added.

“Well, let’s talk about something else and get my mind off of it,” Autumn said. “How’s the wedding venue coming along?” she called out to Brandon at the end of the row.

“It’s going to kill me,” he replied. “Starting this business will end me.”

“Whose idea was it to do everything yourself?” Rebecca asked.

“My darling and wonderful Benjamin’s,” he replied. “Let’s do all the renovation ourselves, he said. It will be fun, he said.”

They all laughed.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Brandon said, “it has its moments of fun. It’ll be great when it all comes together. If it doesn’t bankrupt us first, that is.”

“As long as it’s ready by April,” Hannah said.

“It will be, my dear. Come hell or high water.”

“How is the wedding planning going?” Autumn asked Hannah, who smiled in response.

“Well, I’m trying on dresses tomorrow. I have it narrowed down to sixteen different designs from the bridal magazines. Both of you need to come and help me.”

“Autumn,” Rebecca said, not paying attention as she stared at her phone. “You don’t have Facebook?”

“I did, but it was just a distraction, so I deleted it.” There was no way she’d be on social media and advertise where she was or who her friends were.

“I was gonna tag you in this cute pic of all of us,” she said.

"Can you come with me tomorrow when I try on wedding dresses?” Hannah asked.

“Yeah, of course,” Rebecca replied eyes still glued to her phone.

“Autumn?” Hannah asked.

“Sounds fun,” she replied.

***

With freshly scrubbed feet and painted nails for the ladies, they arrived at The Bar to meet up with the rest of the fellas who were already well into their beer and talk. She slid into the booth seat next to Dan, who gave her a quick kiss. “You’re beautiful,” he whispered in her ear. Heat rushed to Autumn’s face.

Autumn studied the faces of the other patrons in the building. None of them looked like Mark. Weasel, in the middle of another law enforcement story, stopped and looked at her. “Hey, do you remember ol’ Lenny Baker? I think he was in your grade?”

Autumn nodded.

“Last year, the dumbass blew himself and his trailer up making meth,” Weasel said. “We found bits of that son of a bitch fifteen miles away.” He laughed, making Autumn cringe.

“Oh, god.” She wrinkled her nose. “That’s awful.”

“Don’t go cooking meth, then,” Weasel said. He held up his glass of beer before taking a gulp.

“Well, now that you mention it, that is my plan B,” Autumn quipped.

“I’d go with a plan that doesn’t have a chance of explosion,” he replied. “Oh, and if you ever run into Lenny’s mama, try not to mention it.”

She looked at Dan, who rolled his eyes. That night, she wasn’t in the mood for the bar scene. Everyone around her laughed and joked, but she couldn’t muster the energy to participate. Every time the door opened, she watched for who entered.

Dan leaned over. “You okay?”

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