Page 19 of The Homecoming

“Uh-huh,” he said. “That’s what it is.” He let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer.

“I knew it.” She laughed and snuggled against his chest.

He kissed the top of her head. “Come over tonight and find out how well I can handle your weight,” he whispered.

“But I thought you didn’t want to do all of the work,” she laughed.

“Some things are worth it.”

She rolled her eyes.

“I’m glad you’re happy again,” he laughed.

“I didn’t even realize how much stress I was under until it was gone.”

“Do they know?” He motioned toward the house.

“No,” she replied. “They knew I’d broken up with him, but I didn’t want to worry them.”

“Now you don’t have to worry about him anymore.” He kissed the top of her head again.

“How can you be so sure,” she asked.

“If he knows what’s good for him.”

“You goaded him into throwing the first punch.”

“Maybe,” he smiled slyly. Autumn shook her head. “Look,” he continued, “a guy like that isn’t going to listen to reason. You already tried reason…and for heaven’s sake; you snuck out of town in the middle of the night. If that wasn’t a clear indication of ‘leave me alone,’ I don’t know what is.”

Autumn shuddered. “I wish it didn’t have to be so violent.”

“I know you didn’t like that,” he replied.

“I’ve never seen you so aggressive,” she said.

“Look at me,” he requested. Autumn sat up, and he looked her directly in the eye. “I promise you I will never hurt you. You never have to worry about that with me.”

She nodded. Of course she knew that.

***

Once she went inside, Autumn was startled by her mom sitting at the kitchen table, mug in hand. She pulled the screen door closed with a bang that echoed throughout the quiet house.

“Sorry, I wasn’t expecting you to be there,” Autumn said.

“You and Daniel appear to be quite cozy out there,” she replied.

Autumn sighed. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Do you still want to say you’re only friends?”

Autumn sat across from her mom and shook her head. “No, I don’t want to say that. It just sort of happened one day. But whatever it is, it’s probably ending when he gets deployed again, so there’s no point in you getting invested in this.”

“Autumn, you’ve been seen coming out of his motel room in the morning. Things get around a small town, you know that. People talk, and I’m not completely stupid, I’ve seen the way you look at each other. Carrying on like that may not be a big deal in Knoxville, but it certainly is here. You cannot just have some fling with Daniel. You look like a floozy.” Autumn scoffed; her mouth flew open.

“Look, I’m sorry that I just didn’t tell you that Daniel and I had started dating. But, as I said, I don’t know that it’s a long-term thing. It’s only been a few weeks, and heisgonna leave at some point.

“And you two can just sit in church every Sunday like nothing is going on.” It wasn’t a question, but rather, an accusation.

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