As Autumn watched Nathan take charge, she compared him to what he’d been when they’d first met.

Then, he’d been less sure of himself. Now he was strong, assured and capable. His eyes met hers and held for a few brief moments. As if he could read her thoughts, he started toward her, paused and turned away.

To hide her confusion, Autumn got some medication for the injured horse.

“You’ve done a good job on this, Autumn. Having the courage to admit you lack expertise in this situation probably saved the horse for a productive future. You’ve done a great job, in my opinion.”

Dropping her gaze, she said, “Thanks. Your opinion is important to me.”

He ignored the children nearby, who looked on with interest, and drew her into his arms.

IRENE BRAND

This prolific and popular author of both contemporary and historical inspirational fiction is a native of West Virginia, where she has lived all her life. She began writing professionally in 1977, after she completed her master’s degree in history at Marshall University. Irene taught in secondary public schools for twenty-three years, but retired in 1989 to devote herself full-time to her writing.

In 1984, after she had enjoyed a long career of publishing articles and devotional materials, her first novel was published by Thomas Nelson. Since that time, Irene has published twenty-one contemporary and historical novels and three nonfiction titles with publishers such as Zondervan, Fleming Revell and Barbour Books.

Her extensive travels with her husband, Rod, to forty-nine of the United States and thirty-two foreign countries, have inspired much of her writing. Through her writing, Irene believes she has been helpful to others and is grateful to the many readers who have written to say that her truly inspiring stories and compelling portrayals of characters of strong faith have made a positive impression on their lives. You can write to her at P.O. Box 2770, Southside, WV 25187.

Autumn’s Awakening
Irene Brand

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the

altar and there remember that your brother has

something against you, leave your gift there in

front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to

your brother; then come and offer your gift.

—Matthew 5:23-24

With special thanks to

Bill Crank, DVM (a former “A” student in my

United States history class), and his staff at the

Animal Hospital, West Virginia, for their help

and

Jim and Jackie Kessinger,

owners of Green Valley Farm, Ohio,

and their Belgian draft horses

that provided the inspiration for this book

Dear Reader,

The underlying theme of this book is forgiveness, and during the writing I gave a lot of thought to the subject. As my characters wrestled with their need to forgive and be forgiven, I considered the wonderful news of God’s grace and how willing He is to forgive our sins. Perhaps the hardest words for anyone to say are “I was wrong,” and/or “I’m sorry.” However, before the cleansing power of forgiveness can transform our lives, we must be sincerely sorry for our sins, whether they’ve been committed against others or against God.

We often seek forgiveness from others by doing things for them—giving them something, as in the case of Landon when he gave Nathan a filly to replace the one he’d lost. The Bible teaches that it is sometimes necessary to make a tangible restitution to those we’ve wronged (Luke 19:1-10). Yet there’s absolutely nothing we can do to receive God’s mercy.

Consider a verse from the writings of the apostle Paul. “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5). If you have not yet received the grace of God into your heart, I pray that this book will point you to Jesus, and His power to forgive.

My next Love Inspired book will continue the Weaver tradition through Summer Weaver, a sister to the heroine in this book. If you want to contact me, my address is: Irene B. Brand, P.O. Box 2770, Southside, WV 25187.

Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Epilogue

Prologue

When daylight filtered through the open window, Autumn Weaver slipped out of bed, dressed hurriedly and walked quietly down the stairs of her family’s Victorian farm home. She laid a restraining hand on the head of Spots, her border collie, when he rushed to greet her as she stepped out on the back porch. The white barn, housing her father’s prize-winning Belgian horses, was barely visible through the layer of dense fog hovering over Indian Creek Farm in central Ohio.

Autumn hurried into the barn, stroking the long faces of the huge draft horses as she made her way slowly to the tack room. She heard Nathan walking around in his upstairs apartment, and she waited breathlessly until his footsteps came nearer. Nathan picked up a couple of halters before he saw her standing in the doorway.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded.

“I wanted to see you.”

He brushed by her into the main passageway of the large barn. She stopped him by placing a hand on his arm.

“After your date with Dr. Lowe last night, I didn’t think you’d want to see me again,” Nathan said harshly.

“I didn’t have a date with him. Mother invited him to dinner. I didn’t even know he was coming.”

He turned to face her. “It doesn’t matter anyway, Autumn. You know there can’t ever be anything between us. If I can work here until the end of the month, I’ll have enough money to enroll for the fall semester at the university. I’ll leave then, and until that time, we’ll have to stay away from each other.”

“I thought you liked me, Nathan?”

He avoided her beseeching eyes. “That has nothing to do with it. Your father has made it plain that his daughters are off-limits to his hired hands. I don’t blame him. In his place, I’d feel the same way.”

“But we’ve had so much fun this summer.”

“Fun we had to steal when your parents were gone. It just won’t work, Autumn. Go ahead and date Dr. Lowe. He’d make a good husband for you.”

“How can I date him when it’s you I want?”

Her quivering lips, and the blue eyes filling with tears melted Nathan’s defenses, and his determination to avoid her disappeared as though it had never been. Even as he prayed for the strength to leave her, Nathan drew Autumn close and covered her shapely mouth with his. Autumn put her arms around his neck and snuggled into his embrace. When he released her lips, she dropped her head to his shoulder with a sigh of contentment.

“I shouldn’t have done that, Autumn, but I’m only human. I couldn’t resist you any longer.”

“Then you love me?” Autumn asked. Before he could answer, she felt a strong hand jerking backward on her shoulder. She looked up into the angry face of her father, Landon Weaver, who swung his fist and hit Nathan on the jaw.

Nathan grabbed a barn pillar to break his fall.

“Pack your things and get off this property,” Landon shouted. “I’ll figure out what I owe you and send it to your uncle’s farm. Don’t ever let me see your face around here again. I told you to stay away from my daughter.”

“Tell her to stay away from me. I didn’t ask her to come here this morning,” Nathan protested. “This hasn’t happened before.”

“That’s a likely story,” Landon said. “My daughters don’t pursue farmhands.”

Nathan faced Autumn, and she was touched by the distress in his voice.

“Tell him! Tell him I’ve never kissed you before.”

Autumn looked from Nathan’s bruised face and troubled gray eyes to the father she loved more than any other person in the world. As long as she could remember, she’d tagged her father’s heels until she knew as much about the Belgian horses and the farm operation as Landon himself knew. Always before, Landon had given her everything she wanted, but from the belligerent gleam in his eyes, she knew he wouldn’t let her have Nathan.

She looked again at Nathan, whom she adored with all the fervor of an eighteen-year-old’s first love. She’d only known Nathan Holland a few months. Could she choose him over her father? Without considering the far-reaching consequence of her action, Autumn took one last look at Nathan and walked out of the barn without saying a word in his defense.

Chapter One

Blinded by the sudden onslaught of water across the windshield, Autumn braked sharply when an eighteen-wheeler passed her. She flipped the wipers to the highest speed and straightened in the car seat. Numb from hunching over the steering wheel for hours, she considered asking Trina to drive, but it was too risky to stop and change drivers on the interstate. Besides, Trina was asleep, and she was wide awake. Thoughts of the past had kept her wakeful since they’d passed Indianapolis.

When Autumn Weaver left Ohio eight years ago, she hadn’t intended to return to Greensboro. She couldn’t imagine why she’d allowed Ray Wheeler to talk her into taking over his veterinary practice for two months. Was it possible that she hoped for reconciliation with her family? To ask forgiveness for her misguided decisions? To atone for the way she’d disillusioned and disappointed her parents and had caused Nathan Holland to lose his job at Indian Creek Farm?

More than once since she and her closest friend, Trina, had left Wisconsin, Autumn had been tempted to telephone Ray and tell him she’d changed her mind. The bitter incidents that had caused her to leave home had dominated her thoughts for years, but Autumn realized that sometime she would have to deal with the past. Perhaps that time had come.

When she caught herself nodding off, Autumn reached a hand and touched Trina lightly on the shoulder. Trina was a sound sleeper, and when she didn’t stir, Autumn shook her gently.

Trina stretched. “Are we there yet?”

“Not for another two or three hours. I should have telephoned Ray that we’d be late, but by that time, he would already have left for the airport.”

“What time is it?” Trina asked, riffling in her purse for her glasses.

“Midnight.”

“Maybe we ought to stop for the night. There should be a motel at the next exit.”

“Do you have enough money for a motel bill?” Autumn asked.

Yawning widely, Trina said, “I’ve got a hundred dollars.”

“I have about half that much, and I don’t want to spend it on a motel when there’s a free bed waiting for us in Greensboro. We’d better go on.”

“Do you want me to drive?”

“I’ll be all right if you’ll stay awake and talk to me. Otherwise, I might fall asleep and run off the road.”

Trina ran a pick through her short brown hair and took a swig from a water bottle. She handed Autumn a granola bar. “Eat this, and it’ll perk you up.” She glanced at her six-year-old niece curled up on the back seat of Autumn’s old car. “Dolly is sound asleep.”

Trina inserted a tape in the player and the music of her favorite gospel singer filled the car. Through the words of the songwriter, the singer asked God to forgive her if she had wounded anyone with her wilful ways.

As Trina hummed the lyrics, Autumn considered her friend’s strong Christian faith that had kept both of them optimistic during years of difficulties. Trina’s daily prayers on her behalf had brought a semblance of peace to Autumn’s life, and calmness out of the chaos the two friends shared as they worked their way through the veterinary school at the University of Wisconsin.

“Sorry I went to sleep and left you alone with your thoughts,” Trina said. “Have they been pleasant?”

“Not particularly. I’ve been thinking about the summer I left Ohio, wondering why I was foolish enough to return.”

“I believe it’s the providence of God. It wasn’t a coincidence that we met Doc Wheeler at that veterinarians’ convention. Whether you were right or wrong, you can’t have peace of mind and experience the full love of God in your heart until you come to terms with the past. Our temporary jobs as Wheeler’s assistants will give you time to make up with your family and set things right with Nathan Holland.”

“I don’t even know where Nathan went to when he left Greensboro.”

“Did you ask Doc Wheeler about Nathan?”

“No. Doc surprised me so much when he told me he was taking a world tour, I didn’t ask any questions. To my knowledge, he’s never traveled overseas. Before I recovered from my surprise, I agreed to take over for him. He has a large practice, so I’m glad he wanted you to come along, too.”

Conversation ceased and the tires hummed as they hit the concrete in steady rhythm. The lyrics of the song once more infiltrated Autumn’s thoughts: “If I have wounded any soul today.” It’s not “if”, God. You know how many people I’ve wounded.

“The things Ray told me about my family are worrying me. I can’t believe they’ve changed so much since I left home.”

“You’ve been gone eight years! A lot of things can happen in that time.”

“But I can’t imagine Mother as an invalid, confined to a wheelchair. And it’s hard to believe that the six years she’s been sick, Daddy has lost interest in the farm. If Ray is right about how run-down the farm is, and I’m sure he wouldn’t have told me if he hadn’t known, it’ll hurt me to see it.”

“Didn’t he say your sister is living at home? Maybe she’s taken over.”

“Not Summer! She’s a quiet, shy person, who prefers indoor activities. I was the tomboy who followed Daddy around the farm.”

Punching a button to clear steam from the windshield, Autumn looked at the highway markers. “We leave the interstate at the next exit, then it’s a short drive to Greensboro.” She handed Trina the granola wrapper to put in the trash bag. “That did liven me up. Let’s stop at a restaurant for a cup of coffee, and I’ll be okay until we get to our destination.”

“Not a very lively town,” Trina observed as they drove along Greensboro’s main street an hour later. The rain had lessened somewhat, but dense fog obscured the streetlights and the business section resembled an eerie scene in a Hallowe’en movie.

“It never has been,” Autumn agreed, but she looked fondly at the stores and office buildings. They passed the high school where she’d graduated, and she remembered the years she’d been the star of the girls’ basketball team. Her sisters, Spring and Summer, had been cheerleaders, but because of her height, she’d considered herself too gauche to try out as a cheerleader.

“Things haven’t changed much, except for the new shopping mall we passed on the outskirts of town. Apparently, it hasn’t hurt the downtown merchants, for most of these businesses are still operating.”

“Where’s your home?” Trina asked. “Did we pass it?”

“No. Indian Creek Farm is south of Greensboro about ten miles.” They crossed a bridge, and the headlights illuminated a muddy creek, running bank full. “Apparently, it’s been a wet spring. The grass looks lush and green. Every year while I’ve been away, I’ve thought of how the farm would be changing with the seasons. I liked spring best of all.”

Yes, she liked spring, although she had to admit that winter was also a favorite time because she’d first met Nathan in the midst of a snowstorm. Every mile she’d come closer to Greensboro rapidly brought memories of Nathan to the foreground of her mind. Things about him she hadn’t remembered for years had surfaced. Coming home may have been the greatest mistake of her life.

Autumn turned into a driveway beside a two-story frame house with a low, long building attached to the rear of the residence. “Here we are,” she said. “That’s the animal clinic in back.”

“The house is dark,” Trina said. “Maybe we aren’t expected.”

“Ray and his sister, Olive, live together, but she’s probably gone to bed.” Flashing her car lights on bright, Autumn said, “There’s a note on the door. It’s probably for us. Wait in the car until I find out.”

Pulling on her raincoat, Autumn got out of the car and ran up the steps. The note was addressed to her, so she pulled it off the screen and hurried back to the car.

“Dear Autumn,” Olive had written. “It’s midnight, and I’m going to bed. The door is unlocked, and your two rooms are upstairs on the right side of the hall. You and your friend will share the bath between your rooms. Make yourself at home. Wake me if you need help. Olive.”

Using a flashlight, taking only two small bags, and supporting the drowsy Dolly between them, Autumn and Trina moved into the central hallway of the house.

“Should we lock the door behind us?” Trina whispered.

“Not many people in Greensboro lock their doors, so don’t bother.” Tiptoeing quietly up the wooden stair treads wasn’t easy, but they didn’t awaken Olive. “You and Dolly take the rear bedroom,” Autumn said.

“Okay. Wake me in the morning when you want to get up.”

“It’s almost two o’clock now, so let’s sleep late if we can.”

For weeks Autumn had been dreading the return to her childhood haunts, and now that she was finally here, she doubted she would sleep, but an antique wooden bed with white sheets, covered with one of Olive Wheeler’s handmade quilts, looked inviting. Autumn pulled off her denim shorts and cotton shirt, slipped into a cotton nightshirt and snuggled beneath the fresh scented covers.

God, she prayed, I feel sort of like Jacob in the Old Testament, who’d run away to escape the wrath of his brother. Jacob returned a rich man, and I’ve come home penniless. So maybe I’m more like the prodigal son, who came back home wanting his father’s forgiveness. Will Daddy be as willing to forgive as the father in the parable? Will I have the nerve to approach him and ask forgiveness? Maybe I won’t be able to make up with my family, but I want to. You know there’s never been a day I haven’t missed them. Even if I can’t be received back into the good graces of my parents, it still feels good to be home.

In spite of her unpleasant memories, incessant rain dripping on the tin roof soon lulled Autumn into a sense of peace, forgetfulness and sleep.

“Autumn! Autumn!” A quiet voice intruded into her thoughts, and she sat up in bed, momentarily forgetting where she was. A soft knock sounded at the door.

“Come in!” she said, and Olive Wheeler opened the door. Autumn blinked when she turned on the ceiling light.

“When did you get in, Autumn?” she asked. “I didn’t hear you.”

“About half-past two. What time is it now?”

“Four o’clock. I hate to bother you, but I’ve had a call from one of Ray’s good customers, so I think you or your friend ought to check it out.”

Swinging out of bed, Autumn said, “I’ll go. Trina doesn’t know anything about this country, and she’d never find her way tonight. Besides, we brought her niece with us, and Trina should be here if Dolly awakens in a strange house.” Pulling a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt out of her bag, she asked, “What’s wrong, and where am I going?” Olive answered the second question first, and her words, “Woodbeck Farm,” halted Autumn with one long leg in her jeans, the other still bare. Matthew Holland, Nathan’s uncle, owned Woodbeck Farm! Why was the first call as Ray’s assistant to a place that dug up best-forgotten memories?

She finished dressing and followed Olive downstairs to the clinic. “What’s wrong?”

“The boy who called said the cow had fallen down in the pasture field, and Mr. Holland thinks she has grass tetany. This happens to cows lots of times in a wet season.” She unlocked a large refrigerator. “Ray keeps all his drugs in there. Do you know what to take?”

“Yes. A lot of my clinical work was among dairy herds in Wisconsin. You go back to bed, Miss Olive, I’ll manage all right.”

Olive opened a desk drawer and handed Autumn a set of keys. “The truck’s in the garage.” Before she left the room, the angular woman peered up at Autumn, eyes compassionate, above a long, bony nose. “I think Ray put you on the spot to ask you to come back here, Autumn, but now that you have, I hope everything works out for the best. They may not admit it, but your family needs you.” She gave Autumn a quick hug before she went back to bed.

Autumn had often helped Ray Wheeler with his veterinary work, and she’d been in and out of the Wheeler house often. Apparently Olive and Ray had remained Autumn’s friends when her family and other neighbors had been quick to judge her, for Ray had been friendly when she’d seen him last month. Now Olive’s compassion brought a lump to Autumn’s throat. But she’d become adept at stifling her heartaches, so she gathered up several bottles of drugs and dropped them in a plastic bucket. Ray’s work clothes hung in the garage, and Autumn stepped into a pair of none-too-clean coveralls, took off her sneakers and pulled on a pair of Ray’s rubber boots. She found a wide-brimmed rain hat to put on when she got to the farm.

This wouldn’t have been an easy assignment under any circumstances, but she wasn’t sure she was ready to meet Nathan’s uncle. She’d hoped, while she was in Greensboro, to learn what Nathan had been doing since she’d seen him, but was she ready to learn that he was married and had a family? The thought had ruined her peace of mind for years. That knowledge would hurt, but on the other hand, if, as Trina insisted, Autumn needed something to put a lid on the past, Nathan, happily married, should do it.

Autumn drove carefully to avoid ponding water on the narrow secondary road. After she’d driven for eight miles, a large sign at the roadside pointed the way: Woodbeck Farm, half mile. When she reached the farm buildings, a boy emerged from the shelter of a shed. Stifling a yawn, he stood by the car door when she got out.

“I’m Tony Simpson. Mr. Holland’s out in the field with the sick cow. He told me to fetch you.”

Autumn took the bucket of supplies out of the car, and carrying a flashlight, she followed Tony into the darkness.

She heard Indian Creek tumbling along its course, but so far, the stream hadn’t overflowed its banks. The soil beneath the grass was soft and spongy, and when they reached a muddy, grassless area, Autumn’s feet flew out from under her. She sat down suddenly in the muck. Tony didn’t even know she’d fallen and he plodded onward.

After a quick examination, Autumn decided that nothing was broken, so she struggled to her feet in the slick mud and hurried to keep the boy in sight. All in the life of a vet, she figured, remembering the times they’d called for Doc Wheeler to come to Indian Creek Farm in the middle of the night.

A lantern burned in the distance, and Tony shouted, “The doc’s here.”

Covered with a hooded raincoat, a man knelt in the mud beside a cow. The large animal’s wet black coat glistened in the dim light as it bellowed and struggled with severe paddling convulsions.

“I believe your diagnosis of grass tetany is right, Mr. Holland,” Autumn said, observing the symptoms of a disease found in cows that fed on luxuriant, rapidly growing pasture in the spring, leading to a chemical imbalance. She pulled a stethoscope from the bucket and knelt beside the large animal. “I’ll listen to her heart.”

The farmer quickly lifted his head and peered at her from under the hood. The lantern’s light shone on his face. For a few breathtaking moments, Autumn was speechless, then she whispered, “Nathan?”

“Autumn!”

She pushed back the brim of her hat, and the rain streamed over her face. The cow forgotten for the moment, each stared at the other. Autumn’s heartbeat swelled with wonder, thankfulness and affection as she laid her hand tenderly on the shoulder of this man she couldn’t forget. A man she never expected to see again.

“So you became a vet after all?”

She grinned slightly. “Just last week. And I’ve got a little piece of paper to prove it.”

He reached out his hand and she placed hers in it.

“Welcome home, Autumn,” Nathan said, and Autumn felt that she really had come home.

Chapter Two

One of the cow’s flailing hooves struck Autumn’s leg, and remembering why she was here, she put her stethoscope on the animal’s trembling side. The loud palpitations hurt her ears. She handed the stethoscope to Nathan so he could hear the hammering heart, wondering if he could also detect her pulse beating almost as fast as the cow’s.

“I’m sure it’s grass tetany,” she explained, “but Ray has plenty of medicines, so I hope it’s not too late to save her.”

“I didn’t find her until after dark,” Nathan said, concern in his voice. “She was bawling and galloping around blindly before she fell down. I haven’t had this happen to any of my cattle before. What can you do?”

“I’ll slowly inject her with a mixture of magnesium and calcium compounds and monitor the heart carefully while I’m doing it. If she reacts favorably, I’ll administer a sedative to settle her down so we can take her into shelter. All of this rain has increased the potassium and nitrogen in the herbage, so she needs to be taken out of the pasture.”

After an hour or so, the cow seemed stable, so Autumn, Nathan, and Tony urged her to her feet and alternately led and pushed her toward the barn. After the animal was bedded down in a sawdust-littered stall, Autumn said, “You should feed her hay and concentrate for the next few days to keep the blood magnesium from falling again. I’ll come back later on today and bring some more medication for you to give her every day.”

Exhausted, the boy curled up on a stack of hay and went to sleep. Nathan grinned. “Tony’s not used to working all night. He’s a neighbor boy, who helps me occasionally. His parents are gone and he was spending the night with me, but he hasn’t gotten much sleep.” Nathan shook the boy’s shoulder. “Tony, come in the house and go to bed.” Tony didn’t stir. Nathan took a blanket off a hook and covered the boy with it. “The night’s almost over, so I might as well let him sleep here.”

The rain had ceased and daylight had come when they left the barn. “So you’re the assistant Ray hired while he took a two-months’ world tour. Wonder why he didn’t tell me you were the one?”

“I thought you were surprised to see me. Didn’t Ray tell anyone that I was helping him for a few weeks?”

“If he had, I’m sure I would have heard that the runaway Weaver daughter was coming home.”

Autumn was tired, and she didn’t like the cynical tone of his voice, wondering if Nathan had changed for the worse since she’d seen him. He’d been a shy, soft-spoken, understanding youth. She opened the door of Ray’s truck, pulled off the muddy coveralls and put them and the bucket of supplies on the floor of the cab.

“Do you want to come in for breakfast and a cup of coffee?” he said in a matter-of-fact voice.

Autumn hesitated. She’d only be in Greensboro for two months, so was it wise to open up old wounds? But she couldn’t turn down an opportunity to find out about Nathan. Was he married? Was he inviting her to eat on behalf of his wife? There was one way to find out, so she said, “Yes. I’d like that.”

She followed him up two steps to the back porch, and when he held the door open, she entered the kitchen, a large, squarish room, with an oval wooden table in the center. One corner of the room held a television, a plastic-covered lounge chair and a matching sofa. The room smacked of masculinity. Although it was neat and orderly, Autumn didn’t see any evidence that a woman lived there—no floral arrangements, no feminine apparel, no knickknacks on the shelves. At the sink, Nathan ran water into a teakettle and took cooking utensils from a cabinet, as if he knew his way around the kitchen. No wife now, Autumn was sure, but had there been one in the years since she’d known him?

Until the warmth of the room reached out to comfort her, Autumn hadn’t realized she was shaking from the dampness. Or was it a reaction to his unexpected presence? Nathan directed her to the washroom near the kitchen, and when she returned, he had two plates laid, and eggs and bacon frying.

“Where’s your uncle?” she asked.

“He died two years ago and willed the farm to me. I’ve been living here for a year and a half.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. When she was a girl, she’d admitted to Doc Wheeler that she had a serious crush on Nathan. Why hadn’t he mentioned that Nathan was now the owner of Woodbeck Farm?

Autumn watched Nathan as he worked. Above his straight, wide eyebrows, the years had marked his face with a network of deeply etched lines. His forehead ran freely into the structure of a high-bridged nose. He still wore his dark-brown hair short and his slate-gray eyes were calm but guarded when he looked at her. Nathan had been unsure of himself and exhibited a low self-esteem when he’d first come to work at Indian Creek Farm, but while they had worked with the sick cow tonight, she’d been impressed by his confidence and skill.

If memories of the slender, youthful Nathan had kept her from being interested in any other man, what effect would a brawny, mature Nathan have on her? Nathan’s shirt stretched tightly over well-muscled arms and shoulders, and his hands were quick and deft at his tasks.

God, is Trina right? Could Nathan be the reason You brought me back to Greensboro?

Nathan placed two eggs, bacon and three slices of toast on her plate. “Do you take your coffee black?”

“Yes, and the stronger the better. I started drinking coffee in vet school. After I worked and studied most of the night, I needed something to keep me awake.”

He looked keenly at her. In some ways she looked as he’d remembered her. Curly auburn shoulder-length hair always falling carelessly over her brow. Keen, azure eyes on a level with his. Above-medium height that matched his own. These physical characteristics hadn’t changed. What was missing?

Enthusiasm that had marked her youth had been replaced by resignation. Once he could detect what Autumn was thinking by looking at her, but her steady gaze was unfathomable now. There was a new maturity about her. Dark circles under her eyes indicated a strain that was more than skin deep and her smooth pinkish complexion was marred by slight worry creases across her forehead. When she relaxed, she looked tired.

Autumn squirmed under his intense scrutiny and he said, “You’re too thin. Have you had a rough time?”

“I guess you could say that. Working my way through three years of college and four years of vet school wasn’t easy.”

The food was tasty, and they ceased conversation until their appetites were sated. Nathan replenished their coffee cups and leaned back in his chair.

“I didn’t know you’d left Greensboro until I came back after my uncle’s death.”

Autumn looked out the window where early-morning sunlight revealed a verdant meadow. A herd of about thirty Angus cattle grazed contentedly. A meadowlark softly greeted the morning from a fence post. She wondered if it was too soon to stir up the past, to speak of incidents best forgotten.

“I left Ohio the day after you did, and I haven’t been back since. I’m not sure I should have come home now.”

“Why? Because I’m here?”

“That has nothing to do with it,” she declared, thinking if she’d known he was at Woodbeck Farm, she might have returned sooner. “What did you do before you inherited the farm?”

“After the things that happened between—” he paused “—between us, I wanted to put as much space between me and Ohio as possible. I got a job in the Middle East oil fields. I’d probably still be there if Uncle Matt hadn’t died and willed me this property.”

He paused momentarily, remembering the lonely years he’d worked hard, long hours trying to force his fascination for Autumn from his heart. He’d thought he’d succeeded, but now that he’d seen her again, he knew his efforts had been wasted. The affection he’d thought was gone had only been buried, for it had surfaced the minute he’d seen her tonight.

“But I made a lot of money,” he continued. “I sent some to help my mother and banked the rest, so I had some capital to get started. Uncle Matt hadn’t been in good health for a few years, and the place was really run-down. It will take a long time, and lots of work and money, to get the farm the way I want it to be.”

Autumn remembered his dream of becoming a farmer, and she was happy that he’d reached his goal. She toyed with the coffee cup, refusing when he wanted to refill it.

“I’d better go. There’s probably lots of calls to make, and I don’t want to put the whole burden on Trina.”

“Who?”

“Trina Jackson. She’s my friend, and we went through school together. She’ll be helping out until Ray gets back.” She thanked him for breakfast and stood up.

“Sit down, Autumn. You can spare a few more minutes. I’ve told you what I’ve been doing. I’m curious about you.”

Reluctant to talk about the past, but even more reluctant to leave him, she settled back into the chair.

Without meeting his eyes, she said, “When I confessed to Daddy that I—” she hesitated, and chose different words “—was interested in you, he was so angry, he threatened to cut off all my funds until I came to my senses. My mother wanted me to marry Harrison Lowe. She was ambitious for her daughters, and when Harrison showed some interest in me, she decided I’d make a good doctor’s wife.”

“But you wanted to be a veterinarian.”

“That’s true. I’d wanted to be a vet since I was a child and had seen Doc Wheeler save one of our colts. I wasn’t surprised that Mother would disagree, but I was sure Daddy would be on my side. He always had been before.”

Autumn paused, recalling the year she’d been spent in an expensive boarding school in the East. Her parents’ plans to prepare her for a social life had ebbed when she came home for the Christmas holidays and met Nathan. By the end of the first year, she’d made up her mind that she wouldn’t return to the boarding school—a decision that had intensified when she reached the farm and found Nathan working for her father.

Wondering what Autumn was thinking that had caused sadness to overspread her face, Nathan recalled that his uncle had told him how disappointed the Weavers had been when their oldest daughter, Spring, had married a missionary and moved to Bolivia. The second daughter, Summer, was a shy girl, and Clara Weaver was determined that Autumn would be trained to carry on the aristocratic Weaver tradition. Had his appearance in her life caused Autumn to rebel against her parents? Nathan wondered how much he was responsible for changing the vivacious, laughing girl he’d known into this serious woman with a resigned look on her face.

“Harrison was all right, but I didn’t want to marry him, and I wasn’t going to fight with Mother about it. When I learned you’d gone without even saying goodbye, I left, too. I didn’t tell anyone where I was going. As a matter of fact, I didn’t know what I was going to do when I drove away from Greensboro.”

She paused, and the bleak expression in her eyes deepened as she remembered vividly the lost, hopeless feeling she’d experienced that day.

“So what did you do?”

She laughed slightly and the sparkle in her blue eyes dissolved some of the fatigue lines on her face. “I decided to travel. Trina is a cousin of Bert Brown, who’s married to my sister, Spring. Trina and I met at their wedding, and we kept in touch by letter after that. She’d invited me to visit her, and when I had no other place to go, I went to see her in Nashville. I took all the money from my savings account that I’d been accumulating since I was a child, and when I got to Columbus I sold my sports car. I had enough money to last me for a while.”

“I remember that sports car! Wasn’t it hard to give up?”

“Not really. Daddy bought it for me when I graduated from high school. I wanted a pickup truck instead, but Mother objected that it wasn’t a suitable vehicle for me, so they gave me an expensive car. When I needed money, I was glad I had it. Trina was getting ready to go to a Christian youth conference in London, and since I had nothing else to do, I tagged along.”

Autumn paused, thinking about the conference that had introduced her to a whole new way of life. Trina had jokingly called her a heathen, because she knew nothing about what it meant to be a Christian. Except for a few weddings and funerals, Autumn had never attended a church service, but after she spent two weeks at that conference, she’d become a student of the Bible, trying to span her gulf of ignorance about spiritual matters. She’d come to believe the Gospel message, but even yet, she couldn’t submit wholly to Christ’s lordship. Looking at Nathan’s interested eyes across the table, she knew she couldn’t expect God to forgive her own sins until she’d received forgiveness from Nathan and her parents for the past.

“And then what?” Nathan prompted.

“After the conference, with a group of youths and a couple of adult advisors, we backpacked several months on the continent of Europe. We’d travel until we ran out of money, then we’d find work, usually on farms. Trina was a city girl, but she became interested in animals, and we decided to go to vet school. I had $5.25 in my pocket when I got off the plane in Milwaukee.”

“How did you manage to go to college? Did your father help you?”

“I’ve had no contact with my family since I left. I learned through my sister, Spring, that Daddy had disowned me, saying I would never be welcome at Indian Creek Farm again. I guess I’m as stubborn as he is, so I didn’t ask him for anything.”

“You didn’t know your mother is ill?”

“Not until I saw Ray last month. He told me she’s an invalid and also how Daddy has let the farm run down. Those are the reasons I said I might have been better off to stay away. I can’t bear to think of my home and family deteriorating when there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Where did you go to school?” Nathan asked, wanting to learn everything he could about those years Autumn had been lost to him.

“At the University of Wisconsin.”

“Why Wisconsin?”

“Trina’s sister lives in Milwaukee, and after we got back from Europe, she offered us a place to stay until we got settled. Too, it was far enough away from Ohio that I didn’t think I’d encounter anyone I knew.”

“That school has a good reputation.”

Autumn nodded. “I already had one year of college, and some of my credits were accepted at Wisconsin. By taking classes year-round, we graduated last month. There were times when I wondered if I’d ever graduate, for, to pay our expenses, Trina and I started a cleaning business. We hired other students to work for us. We cleaned office buildings at night, and we didn’t have much time to study.”

“And your father sitting here with his pockets full of money!”

“If I’d done what my parents wanted, they’d have taken care of me, but I didn’t choose to do that.” She stood up and stretched. “Thanks for the breakfast. I’ll check on the cow, and then I’ll head back to Greensboro.”

He walked with her to the barn, where they found Tony still sleeping on the hay, and the cow contentedly chewing her cud.

“You saved the cow for me, Autumn, and I appreciate your coming to help. I can’t afford to lose any livestock. I’m operating on a shoestring.” He took her hand in a firm shake. “You’re going to be a good vet. I’m glad you had the courage to get what you wanted in life.”

Not everything I wanted, she thought, for she’d never gotten over losing him. She wouldn’t meet Nathan’s gaze, fearing he could read the emotion in her eyes.

As they strolled toward the truck, Nathan said, “Hearing your story has cleared up something that’s bothered me since I came to Greensboro. It took me months to convince people that you and I hadn’t been living together the years I was away.”

Autumn stared at him. “What?”

“That’s right. And I understand why now. If you left the day after I did, and no one knew where either of us was, they jumped to a wrong conclusion. I wouldn’t have mentioned it, but someone might say something to you.”

“I won’t be here very long, so perhaps I won’t have to answer questions about my past.”

Nathan watched as she got into Ray’s truck and started the engine. Before she drove away, Autumn looked directly into his gray eyes and said, “I don’t expect you to forgive me, Nathan, but that day after Daddy fired you, I told him that I was to blame for what happened between us. He didn’t believe me, but as soon as I could, I came to Woodbeck Farm. By that time you were already gone, and your uncle wouldn’t tell me where you were. There was no way to make restitution, but I’ve always wanted to see you again and tell you I was sorry.”

He held up his hand. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Autumn. I was as much to blame as you. We were both too young to be making decisions for the future. It’s okay.”

“I hope so. Anyway, I’m thankful that God brought us together again so I could apologize.”

He nodded, and the warmth in his steady, gray eyes made her hopeful. “It’s good to see you again. Autumn.”

Chapter Three

When Autumn reached the highway, she took the long way back to Greensboro. She had to deal with this surprise meeting with Nathan before she talked to Trina or Miss Olive. In spite of the lack of sleep she’d had, Autumn couldn’t remember when she’d felt so exhilarated. After being empty for eight years, a part of her had suddenly been filled when Nathan took her hand and said, “Welcome home, Autumn.”

What had drawn her to Nathan in the first place? What had captivated her so forcefully that no other man had ever seemed worthy of her attention? With the window down, and the wind fluffing her curly red hair around her face, she drove slowly over roads that had been familiar to her in the past.

Perhaps one reason she cherished his friendship was that he’d come into her life on a Christmas Eve when she desperately needed help. Her father was returning from a Belgian horse association meeting. Her mother, Clara, and sister, Summer, had gone to the airport to meet him, while Autumn stayed at home. A freak snowstorm had delayed Landon’s flight, and Clara and Summer were marooned at the airport.

Resigned to spending Christmas Eve alone, Autumn had turned on the in-house monitoring system that Landon used to survey what was going on in the horse barns. Autumn loved watching the horses. She scanned the huge, well-lit barn with its comfortable box stalls, the huge reddish horses munching slowly on their supper of oats mixed with molasses. All seemed well until she looked at Tulip in the last stall. Instead of eating, Landon’s prize brood mare paced restlessly, acting colicky. Landon Weaver’s horses didn’t get the colic, and Autumn had known immediately what was wrong. Tulip was getting ready to foal.

Autumn had telephoned for the veterinarian immediately, only to learn from Miss Olive that Ray Wheeler was out on a call. Under ordinary conditions, the mare could deliver her foal without any assistance, but if there was trouble, it could mean the loss of the mare or foal. Autumn drew on heavy clothes and fought her way to the barn through the swirling snow. She’d helped her father many times when a mare needed assistance, but she was afraid to try it by herself.

Autumn was busily preparing the foaling stall, when a slender young man walked into the barn. Pulling a red snow-covered cap from his dark-brown hair, he’d said in a hesitant voice, “I’m Nathan Holland. I’m visiting my uncle at Woodbeck Farm, and he volunteered my assistance to clean the barns while Mr. Weaver’s been gone. Uncle was afraid this storm would delay your father’s return, and he asked me to drive over and check on the horses.”

“Oh, I’m so glad to see you,” Autumn said, warming to the sincerity in his slate-gray eyes and the slight smile on his sensitive, well-formed mouth. “One of the horses is going to foal, and I need help.”

He laughed lowly, and Autumn liked the sound. “Shouldn’t you call a vet? I’m a city boy. I won’t be much help.”

“I can tell you what to do,” Autumn had assured him, and the two of them had worked companionably as they padded the foaling stall and moved the large Belgian into place. Then they’d gone into Landon’s office to monitor the mare’s progress on the television screen. While they munched on snacks Autumn had found in the refrigerator, she had told Nathan of her desire to be a vet.

“Seems like that would be a good job for you,” he’d said. “I’d go for it.”

“What would you like to do, Nathan?” she’d asked, for they’d started out on a first-name basis.

“Since I graduated from high school, I’ve been working at a plant in Indianapolis,” he said, “helping to support my mother and brothers, and I haven’t thought much about the future.” He laughed, embarrassed, as he added, “But working here for your father the past few days, I’ve decided I’d like to be a farmer.”

“I can’t think of any better profession,” Autumn told him. “I’d love to spend the rest of my life here on the farm.”

“But to be a successful farmer, I’d need to go to college, and I don’t have any money for that nor to buy a farm. It’s only a dream.”

“It doesn’t have to be,” she’d said. “My great-grandfather started the Weaver Belgian tradition with one filly. He didn’t have any money to buy stock, but a man gave him an orphan foal the owner thought was going to die. He nursed the filly until it was well, and the rest of the story is all around us. I’ve been taught to believe you can have anything you really want.”

Their conversation was interrupted when she’d discovered that Tulip was having trouble. Autumn had spent the next hour moving the foal into position for birth. Nathan had knelt beside her, helping and encouraging her in every way he could. Soon after midnight, Tulip had given birth to a healthy filly, a sleek auburn-brown foal with a pronounced star in the long white streak down its nose. Landon had been so grateful that Autumn had saved both the mare and foal that he’d given the foal to her as a Christmas gift. She’d promptly named the filly Noel to commemorate the day of its birth.

The next day Nathan had gone home to Indianapolis, and at the end of the holidays, Autumn went back to college. She didn’t forget Nathan, however, and during the winter, she’d made two decisions that had plunged her into conflict with her parents and had charted her future course. She would not return to the fancy boarding school, and she intended to find out where Nathan was so she could pursue their acquaintance.

Elated over her chance meeting with Nathan at Woodbeck Farm, Autumn entered the Wheeler home through the kitchen. Dolly and Trina sat at a round table, that had served several generations of Wheelers, feasting on pancakes and sausage. Autumn had hesitated about bringing Dolly, fearing Olive wouldn’t want an uninvited guest, but Ray’s sister had already succumbed to Dolly’s chatter and winning smile. Dolly was a chubby child, and her long brown hair framed a dark oval face dominated by slate-gray eyes. Dolly was cheerful and lovable.

“Come and have pancakes, Autumn,” Dolly called. “Miss Olive is a good cook.”

“I enjoyed Miss Olive’s meals before you were born,” Autumn said, ruffling Dolly’s hair. “I need a shower before anything else. Besides, I’ve already had my breakfast.”

“You’re looking decidedly cheerful for a woman who drove five hundred miles yesterday and spent most of the night out on a vet call,” Trina observed.

Olive laughed, Autumn blushed and Trina stared suspiciously at her friend.

Heading for the stairs, Autumn said, “I’ll be down soon. Do we have a full schedule today?”

“Only a few calls so far. Ray’s usual procedure is to open the clinic for surgery at eight o’clock,” Olive explained, “and go on field calls in the afternoon. Since there are two of you, it should work out well for one of you to be at the clinic all the time. We have lots of emergency walk-in customers. Ray is the only vet in the area, so he’s always busy.”

“Suits us,” Trina said. “We need to put our education to practical use.”

When Autumn got back to her room after showering, Trina was struggling up the stairs with two suitcases.

“I’ll help with that,” Autumn said, “as soon as I dress.”

“Take your time. Dolly is helping Miss Olive with the dishes.” Trina brought a bag into Autumn’s room. She admired an antique barrel-top train trunk that stood in front of the window, then sat on the side of Autumn’s bed.

“You look happier than I’ve seen you since the day Spring and Bert were married. What’s happened?”

Pulling a sweatshirt over her head, Autumn grinned. “Old eagle eye! Am I that transparent?” Her pulse quickened when she said happily, “My early-morning call was to the farm of Nathan Holland. His uncle died and Nathan inherited the property that adjoins Daddy’s farm.”

“No wonder you’re radiant! Don’t tell me you’ve already patched up the differences of the past.”

Autumn shook her head. “We’re a long way from that, for we can’t span eight years in a few hours. He did ask me to have breakfast with him, so I suppose that’s a step in the right direction.”

“Apparently that torch you’ve carried for him is still burning brightly?”

“I don’t know how bright it is, but there’s still a flicker left. It’s ridiculous, with all that’s behind me and the future I have as a veterinarian, that I can’t forget a girlish infatuation.”

“Are you sure it was only an infatuation?”

“I don’t know, but I suppose two months will give me time to find out.” Autumn finished tying her shoes. “Let’s go to work.”

Nathan jammed his hands deep in his pockets as Autumn drove away from Woodbeck Farm. He returned to the kitchen, filled the dishwasher, unlocked a drawer in his desk and took out a large envelope. Sitting at the table, he drew out a photograph that he’d mistakenly taken away from Indian Creek Farm the day Landon had fired him. As he’d angrily scooped up his possessions and loaded them into boxes, he didn’t realize he’d gotten a file folder that belonged to the Weavers.

After he arrived at the oil camp in the Middle East, he started studying the textbooks and notes he’d used at OSU, where he had studied for one semester. Among his papers, he’d discovered a folder containing several newspaper clippings of Weaver triumphs at various fairs and farm shows. Triumphs that had made the Weaver girls famous throughout the Midwest. Their names commemorating the seasons of the year had been noteworthy, but from the time they were able to walk, dressed alike in prairie dresses and sunbonnets, they’d perched on the wagon beside their father as his six-hitch draft horses won numerous trophies in parades and fairs in Ohio and neighboring states.

The enclosure that ruined what little peace of mind Nathan had mustered since the episode with Landon was a large photo of Autumn, dressed in a long, blue dress, wearing a matching sunbonnet, standing beside a Belgian mare. Nathan was angry that her image had followed him halfway around the world, and he started to destroy the picture, but he didn’t have the courage. Posting her picture over his bunk, he learned to live with Autumn’s presence, thinking he would never see her again.

“God,” he moaned, “why did she have to come back? I’ve ordered my life without her and am finally making something of myself. The things that matter the most haven’t changed. I’m still a struggling farmer born on the wrong side of the tracks. She’s Autumn Weaver, member of a socially prominent family and possible heir to great riches. Why did she have to return?”

But had he ordered his life without her? Determined to wipe Autumn’s memory from his mind, Nathan had dated several women, but none of them snagged his interest. Nathan thought Autumn was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen, and all other women paled into insignificance when he compared them to Autumn when she was eighteen. She’d been tall, willowy, regal. Curly chestnut hair framed her oval face like a halo, and her animated sky-blue eyes nestled in a smooth, creamy complexion, soft as a rose petal. She was even more fascinating now. Nathan shook his head to clear away the memories and locked the picture back in his desk.

He went to the barn and took the still-sleeping Tony by the arm. “Wake up, Tony. Your mother told me to bring you home early. You have a dental appointment this morning.”

“Aw, gee,” Tony said, shaking himself awake. “I wanted to stay here.”

“Your mother can drop you off on the way back from the dentist, and you can finish painting the fence around the paddock. I’ll be out in the fields, and if Dr. Weaver leaves any medicine, put it in that refrigerator here in the barn.”

After the short trip to the Simpson farm and back, Nathan got on his tractor and headed toward the fields to cut alfalfa, hoping to avoid another encounter with Autumn until he stifled his emotions, but that was a mistake. One of his most memorable incidents with Autumn had occurred when he was cutting hay.

The summer day she’d returned home from college was seared in his memory. He’d been in the alfalfa field driving a team of Belgians hitched to a mower, when he’d seen her hurrying along the path to the pasture. She’d stopped when she reached the mower, and her eyes had brightened when he tipped back his hat so she could see his face. He’d heard about her homecoming, and he wondered if he’d see her. His pulse was racing, for he didn’t suppose she would even remember him.

Her eyes had brightened. “Nathan?” she cried delightedly.

He’d grinned and stepped to the ground beside her.

“I didn’t know you were working for Daddy.”

“After Christmas I came back to Ohio and asked your dad for a job. He hired me the first of the year to take care of his young stock. I live in that little apartment over the tack room.”

“Oh, I’m so glad. I remember you said you’d like to raise Belgians.”

His dark face flushed, and embarrassed, he’d said, “That’s only a dream. I don’t suppose I’ll ever reach it.”

“You’re at the right place to learn the trade. If anyone can teach you about draft horses, it’s Daddy. I’m pleased to see you, Nathan. I’ve thought about you often this winter. I was never so happy to see anyone as I was when you showed up in the barn last Christmas Eve.”

Surprised at her candor, Nathan had felt his face flushing. “I didn’t do anything. You were the expert.”

“But you were there! If you hadn’t encouraged me, I might not have saved the foal.”

They’d been standing on a high point providing an overview of the farm. Autumn had looked around in delight as she surveyed the four hundred acres of flat fields and slightly rolling hills bisected by Indian Creek and bounded with white board fences. She’d pulled off her sandals and run circles in the dark-green alfalfa hay while a slight breeze stirred her curly hair.

“Glad to be home, are you?” Nathan had said, grinning at her exuberance.

“Oh, yes! I’m going to the pasture to see Noel. How is she?”

“Looks like a fine filly to me. Bet you can’t pick her out of the other foals.”

“Of course I can! I’ve had her picture on my desk since Christmas. How much do you want to bet?”

“Just kidding!”

“No. I mean it. If I can pick Noel out of all the other foals, you buy me dinner. If I can’t, I’ll pay.”

He shook his head. “I’m not betting.”

“I’ve got to hurry. Mother insists that I be back in time for dinner. Can you go with me to the pasture?”

When he’d heard that Autumn was coming home for the summer, Nathan had made up his mind to avoid this girl who’d dominated his thoughts for months. Now that he’d seen her again, his good resolutions had dwindled. It was one thing to say he’d have nothing to do with Autumn when she was in Massachusetts. But seeing her in the flesh, her windblown red hair framing a smiling face, her luminous blue eyes smiling at him, all of his resolutions had disappeared as if he’d never made them.

Knowing it wasn’t wise, Nathan had unhitched the reins and tied the horses to the fence, so they wouldn’t stray while he was gone. “I only have another hour’s work, so I can spare a few minutes.”

“What else have you been doing since I saw you?” Autumn asked as they walked side by side.

“I’ve been taking night classes at OSU’s agricultural college, where I’ve learned you need a lot of head knowledge, as well as experience and money to become a farmer. Uncle Matthew is helping me.”

Nathan’s father, a half brother of Matthew Holland, had never been a good provider, and Nathan had grown up in poverty. His father resented Matthew’s affluence and distanced himself from his brother, but after the death of Nathan’s father, Matthew had helped his sister-in-law and her three boys.

“So, you still think you’d like to be a farmer? That episode at Christmas didn’t discourage you?”

Nathan had shaken his head, but didn’t answer. He couldn’t think dispassionately about anything that had happened at their first meeting.

When they’d reached the pasture, Autumn clapped her hands when she saw the ten red foals grazing. “Aren’t they beautiful?”

“I think so.” Nathan had unlatched the fence, and ten sorrel heads lifted expectantly. Nathan took a halter from a fence post, and they entered the pasture and walked slowly toward the young animals, whose legs seemed much too long in proportion to their graceful slender bodies. Their chestnut coats gleamed like burnished copper, and a breeze ruffled the white manes.

“They’re used to me,” Nathan had said, “so I can usually catch them. They’ve only been weaned for a few weeks, but I’ve been breaking them to the halter all winter. Pick out Noel, and I’ll put a halter on her.”

Autumn walked slowly among the foals and looked at all of them carefully before she stopped in front of one and ran her hand over the white strip on its face. “That’s Noel,” she said, and Nathan grinned, walked to the filly and put the halter around her neck.

“How did you know?”

“Instinct, maybe. Remember I’ve grown up with Belgian colts, but mostly, because I found that red star in the middle of her forehead. That’s the clue I looked for.”

Noel had tossed her head, but she’d quieted when Autumn’s hands caressed her neck and shoulders. “Oh, she’s wonderful. Do you think I have time to train her for showing at the state fair in August?”

“I don’t have a clue, but your dad will know.”

“But I’m not sure he’ll agree to let me show Noel. He might, if Mother doesn’t interfere.” Autumn had given the filly another hug when they left the pasture.

Before they parted in the hay field, Autumn had said, “Don’t forget, you lost the bet.”

Wanting desperately to have a date with her, he’d shaken his head. “I’m sorry, Autumn. I think your father is pleased with my work at Indian Creek Farm, but he wouldn’t approve if I took you out for dinner. A few months ago, one of the workers invited your sister to go to a church meeting, and Mr. Weaver fired him immediately.”

“I’m old enough to choose my own friends. I like you.”

Nathan’s heart had leaped at her words, but trying to control the tremor in his voice, he said patiently, “You don’t understand. Just because you and I met under unusual circumstances doesn’t mean we can be friends.”

“We will, if I have anything to say about it.”

“Give me a break, Autumn. I need this job. I want to work here, so don’t get me in trouble with the boss.”

When he stepped back on the mower, she’d said, “I can handle Daddy.”

Famous last words! Nathan thought as he remembered what had happened on the day Landon Weaver had fired him.

Chapter Four

The clinic resembled most medical doctors’ offices. A small waiting room contained several chairs, and magazine racks were filled with periodicals for adults as well as magazines to interest children. A small wooden desk provided a place for Miss Olive to serve as Ray’s receptionist.

The office contained modern computer equipment with Ray’s accounts entered into the system. The records were up-to-date, and Trina and Autumn had little trouble understanding how he operated his clinic. Two surgery rooms, an X-ray room, a half-dozen cages and several runways provided good facilities.

The morning passed quickly as they pumped the stomach of a cat that had helped itself to a pizza laced with hot peppers, gave several dogs a series of shots, and treated a large brown rabbit for ear mites.

Dolly had been an interested bystander in the surgery rooms, but with her first question, Trina said sternly, “You may watch as long as you stay out of our way and keep quiet. Get up on that stool and stop talking.”

“And I thought going to vet school was hard,” Trina complained when they went into the kitchen for the hot lunch Olive had prepared.

“Welcome to the real world, Trina,” Autumn said as she sat down. “I followed Ray around long enough when I was a kid to know that a vet doesn’t have an easy job, but I can’t think of anything I’d rather be doing.”

Dolly was placing plates and cutlery on the table. “Can I ask questions now, Aunt Trina?” she asked.

Trina laughed. “I suppose so. I’m sorry I was cross with you, but I was nervous because it was our first day on the job. I didn’t want to make any mistakes.”

“Oh, that’s all right. Why do cats and dogs need shots? You treated those animals just like they were real people, taking X-rays and stuff.”

“Animals need shots to make them well, or keep them healthy, the same as you do,” Trina said. “I won’t tell you all the names, for you wouldn’t remember them anyway, but animals can have the same kind of diseases humans do—viruses, hepatitis, heart trouble, Lyme disease and lots of other things.”

“Gee!” Dolly said, her expressive gray eyes sparkling.

“I noticed Ray has kept up with the latest in medical equipment,” Autumn said to Olive. “He has everything our professors recommended that we should buy when we started out on our own.”

Pleased, Olive said, “He’s always interested in the latest cures and supplies. The reason he took this long tour is to study diseases and medical procedures in other countries. But he has more work than he can handle.” Looking keenly at Autumn, she said, “He needs another vet, so he won’t have to be on call all the time. Why don’t you and Trina stay on when he gets back? Ray would like to semiretire, and all of you could make a good living here.”

Olive had always fussed like a mother hen over her bachelor brother, and Autumn figured this idea of semiretirement was more her idea than Ray’s. Still, if problems of the past could be erased, it would be nice to settle down in Greensboro, especially now that Nathan was living in the county.

But would she be able to receive Nathan’s forgiveness and win his love? Did she even want his love now? Was that a pipe dream of the past? Would her parents forgive her and welcome her into the family circle again? Until she knew the answer to those questions, Autumn wasn’t making any promises.

“Thanks, Miss Olive,” Trina said, “but I’m engaged to a great guy who has a few more months of veterinarian training. When he’s licensed, we plan to take over his father’s practice in St. Louis. It sounds like a good opportunity for Autumn, though,” Trina said with a meaningful glance at her friend.

“We’ll wait and see how these two months turn out.”

Slumping in her chair to rest a bit, Autumn jumped when frantic pounding sounded at the back door.

“Help! Help!” a youthful voice yelled.

Autumn rushed out on the porch.

A teenage boy stood on the back step. Tears glistened in his eyes and he swiped them away.

“Flossie’s got a broken leg. She’s in the truck.”

Autumn opened the screen door, calling, “Come to the clinic when you can, Trina.” The boy ran down the sidewalk, and Autumn’s long-legged stride kept up with him.

A girl, younger than the boy, sat in the back of a pickup holding a bleating goat in her arms.

Autumn took the struggling goat from the girl, who jumped out of the truck and ran beside Autumn. The boy sprinted ahead to open the door, and Autumn carried the animal inside the clinic. The goat’s left foreleg dangled helplessly.

“What happened?” Autumn asked.

“A mean ole’ dog jumped on her,” the little girl said, her lips quivering.

“Don’t worry,” Autumn said. “Flossie will be as good as new in a few weeks.”

Trina, with Dolly tagging at her heels, came into the surgery and prepared to tranquilize the goat. The three children crowded close to the operating table.

“Hey! We can’t have this,” Trina said. “Dolly, you go back in the house.”

A hefty woman, who’d been driving the pickup, came into the waiting room. Without saying a word, she gestured to her children and they scuttled out of the surgery. With another quick look at the goat, Dolly ran out too, and Trina closed the door.

While Autumn scrubbed her hands and arms, Trina put a mask over Flossie’s nose and slowly sedated her until she was as limp as a rag. Autumn carried her to the X-ray room to determine the extent of the break. Fortunately, the bone hadn’t punctured the skin, so Autumn straightened the leg and encased it in a Thomas splint. The goat was still sedated when she called the family in. The little girl patted the goat’s head.

“Flossie, you’ll be all right,” she crooned.

The woman followed her children and held out her hand to Autumn. “I’m Sandy Simpson, and my kids are Tony and Debbie. Welcome to Greensboro.”

“Tony, you look familiar,” Autumn said.

“I work for Mr. Holland. I saw you at his farm last night.”

“Oh, yes. I didn’t get a good look at you in the darkness.” She turned back to Sandy. “Thanks for the welcome, but actually, I’m a native of this area. I’m Autumn Weaver. This is my associate, Trina Jackson.”

“Weaver, as in Weavers of Indian Creek Farm?” Sandy asked, amazement mirrored on her round face.

“Yes, but I’ve been gone for several years,” Autumn said evenly. No doubt she’d be answering that question often in the next two months.

“Stop by our farm for a visit when you’re out that way,” Sandy said. “We live a few miles north of Woodbeck Farm. We run a few cattle, but our major interest is horses. We have three Thoroughbreds now, but we don’t intend to buy any more until we see how we make out with them.”

Sandy wrote a check for their services.

“In case there might be complications,” Autumn explained, “I’d like to see Flossie again tomorrow morning. The splint will need to stay on a few weeks, but check a couple of times each day above the splint for swelling or dampness. Also, feel the foot to make sure it’s warm, which is an indication of normal circulation.”

“Can Flossie walk now?” the boy questioned.

“Sure,” Trina said.

Still a bit woozy, Flossie staggered when Autumn set her on the floor, but she wobbled out of the building to the delight of her happy family.

A bemused expression on her face, Autumn said, “That’s the reason I wanted to become a vet. I like to bring happiness to people, especially children.”

“But we can’t heal all their pets, and that’s going to hurt,” Trina replied.

Leaving Trina to handle the office work, Autumn made calls to two dairy farms where some cows were in the early stages of grass tetany, but the cases weren’t as severe as Nathan’s cow had been. By late afternoon, as she turned into the driveway of Woodbeck Farm, every nerve in her body was twanging at the thought of seeing Nathan again.

Nathan’s home, a pre-Civil War structure named Woodbeck after the Holland family’s ancestral home in England, had been completely renovated during the lifetime of his grandfather. The brick walls had been painted white and modern accommodations added several years ago. At one time, it had rivaled the Weaver farmhouse for beauty, a fact that Clara refused to acknowledge. Since Matt Holland had been a bachelor, he hadn’t kept the house nor grounds in tiptop shape, but the two-story building with huge chimneys at each end and a comfortable front veranda the width of the house was still an architectural masterpiece.

Matt had spared no expense on his red wooden barns and utility buildings, and Nathan had followed his example. Autumn’s heart swelled when she saw the newly painted buildings and the herd of Angus cattle grazing in a nearby pasture. It seemed like a miracle that Nathan’s youthful dreams had been fulfilled.

Tony Simpson sauntered off the back porch.

“Mr. Holland’s gone,” he said. “He said to tell you the cow’s still in the stall. You can check her and leave your bill with me. He’ll mail you a check.”

Autumn felt as if she’d been drenched in a bucket of ice water. Was Nathan avoiding her? she wondered. A red pickup was parked in front of the house so he must be working on the farm. She scanned the fields around the house, but she didn’t see him.

Since their chance meeting last night had been amicable, she’d hoped they could become friends and maybe move from friendship to a more intimate relationship. She didn’t ask the boy where Nathan had gone. The events of the past few years had been humbling, but she still had a touch of the Weaver pride.

“How’s Flossie doing?” she asked to break the silence.

“Okay,” Tony said. “We’ve got her in a pen so she won’t move around too much and hurt herself.”

The cow’s condition was vastly improved, but Autumn gave her another injection of magnesium oxide and handed the bottle to Tony.

“Tell Mr. Holland to give her the rest of this bottle in daily injections. He can turn her out to pasture in a week. The weather forecast is for dry, hot weather over the next few days, so that should eliminate conditions that cause grass tetany. Mr. Holland can telephone if he needs any more help.”

On her way back to Greensboro, Autumn drove by Indian Creek Farm. Fences that had once been snow-white were now a dingy gray. A dozen Belgian mares grazed in a pasture near the road. When Autumn slowed the truck, they lifted their heads, but she couldn’t tell if Noel was among them. The house was partially hidden by the maple trees that were noticeably larger than they had been the last time she’d seen them. Autumn paused at the driveway, wanting desperately to go home, but after several minutes, she continued toward Greensboro.

Not knowing what time Autumn would come to Woodbeck Farm, Nathan had left in early morning to work on the far side of Indian Creek. The ground was too wet for cultivating, so he spent the day repairing fence, a job he detested and normally put off as long as he could. Today, he looked forward to the tedious work as an excuse to be away from the farm buildings when Autumn came.

Nathan had learned to live without Autumn, and he didn’t want her to disrupt his life again. He’d been convinced she would never return to Greensboro, or he wouldn’t have settled here. He could have sold Woodbeck Farm and bought a comparable farm in another location where the memory of Autumn wouldn’t eat at him like a canker. After he took possession of his uncle’s farm, he could never pass Indian Creek Farm without remembering Autumn. On those days, he had often wished he could see her again, believing that the person she’d become after eight years wouldn’t appeal to him at all. Now, he groaned at the thought. In spite of the sadness that marked her expression, the bewitching, impulsive teenager who’d captured his heart had turned into a stunning, enigmatic beauty. To his dismay, he’d learned he was still susceptible to her allure.

To avoid recalling the things he admired about Autumn, he deliberately thought of the things he resented about her. She’d caused him to lose his job at Indian Creek Farm and his good standing in the community, for the neighbors had jumped to the wrong conclusions about why Landon Weaver had fired him. Now it annoyed him even more to realize that the resentment he’d harbored for years disappeared when he had looked up and saw her kneeling beside him in the muddy pasture field. He had to avoid her. He wouldn’t trust Autumn with his heart again.

Chapter Five

“I‘m taking Dolly to Sunday school tomorrow morning,” Trina said on Saturday evening as they lingered at the supper table, sipping iced tea. “Want to come with us?”

“No, thanks,” Autumn said, “someone has to be on call, and I shouldn’t take my beeper to church.”

“Miss Olive goes to eight o’clock service at her church,” Trina continued, “and she says she’ll be home in time to answer the phone. If an emergency comes up, she can reach us by telephone at the church.”

“What church? Where are you going?”

“Community Chapel. It’s a new congregation on the east side of town. Sandy Simpson told me about it and invited us to attend. She said it’s mostly younger couples who’ve moved into the region without any family ties here. I think you should go.”

Autumn took her iced tea and sauntered out on the back porch and sat in a rocking chair. Trina followed and leaned against the porch railing.

“What’s bothering you, Autumn? You were animated and happy when we first got here. What’s wrong?”

“The same old thing that’s plagued me since you’ve known me. I wonder sometimes how you ever became my friend. You’re an upbeat person, always with an optimistic outlook on life. We’ve been here four days, and my parents haven’t made any overtures. And I’ve hoped that Nathan would telephone or stop by. He could have come in to pay his bill, but instead we got a check in the mail today for that vet call.”

“The Bible has a lot to say about forgiveness. Sometimes it’s the person who’s been wronged that has to make the first move.”

“I asked Nathan to forgive me, and he brushed my apology aside. And making the first move was what got me in wrong with Nathan and my parents before.”

“I know you think you’re the one who was wrong, but your parents are as much to blame as you are. They had no reason to disown you and forbid you to come home.”

“I disappointed them.”

“What children haven’t disappointed their parents in some way?” Trina argued. “Did you disappoint Nathan, too?”

“That’s a different matter. I pursued him when he tried to get me to stop. Right from the first, I think the attraction was mostly on my side,” Autumn reminisced. “I was never sure what he thought about me. So don’t blame Nathan. He didn’t promise me anything, I expected too much. It’s little wonder he’s avoiding me.”

Autumn drained the rest of her tea and stretched her long legs. “Yes, I’ll go to church with you in the morning,” she said. “As weak as my faith is, I need some spiritual nurturing.”

Trina laid an arm over Autumn’s shoulders. “I’m sorry, Autumn. I know it’s hard to give up a dream. I’ve prayed that you’d get to meet Nathan again, but perhaps that was the wrong thing to ask for.”

Autumn shook her head. “No. I’m thankful I know where he is and how he’s getting along. That’s important to me, no matter how our association turns out.”

Community Chapel stood near a new housing development. Autumn thought the congregation was mostly drawn from that area, for she didn’t recognize anyone as they walked into the crowded foyer of the metal building. An overweight, blondish, brown-eyed man came forward to greet them with a cordial smile and a warm handshake.

“I’m Elwood Donahue, pastor of the church. Welcome to our fellowship.” He asked for their names and Dolly’s age.

“Our classes are about to begin.” He called a child, and Autumn recognized the girl as the one who’d brought the wounded goat to the clinic. “Debbie, take Dolly to class with you, please. Autumn, if you and Trina will come with me, I’ll show you to the Berean classroom and introduce you to the teacher. Our worship service is at eleven,” he said as he walked beside them down the hallway.

“An interesting name for the class,” Trina said, chatting with the pastor in the easy way she had.

“The members organized the class for the specific purpose of searching the Scriptures to learn the way to abundant Christian living. We were fortunate to find a good teacher for the group.”

He paused at a door displaying a poster, on which a Scripture verse was printed in calligraphy.

“The purpose of the class is indicated in this biblical passage,” Elwood said, reading the words, “‘Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”’

“This should be an interesting class,” Trina said. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Elwood motioned them into a well-lit room where several people stood talking. “Let me have your attention, folks,” he said, “we have guests this morning. Make them welcome.” He tapped a man on the shoulder.

“Nathan, Trina Jackson and Autumn Weaver have come to worship with us. They’ve taken over for Doc Wheeler while he’s abroad.” To Autumn and Trina, he explained, “Nathan will be your teacher.”

Nathan wheeled around, and a sudden hush fell over the room as he and Autumn locked eyes, tense in their concentration on each other. Autumn was suddenly dizzy, and she closed her eyes. She’d never fainted in her life. These unexpected meetings with Nathan were tearing her apart. What if she dropped at Nathan’s feet?

It hadn’t entered Nathan’s mind that he would see Autumn this morning. What had brought her to church today? To see him? His pulse quickened at the thought.

But how could he teach a Bible lesson with her blue eyes watching his every move? After such a long time, why did the Weavers still intimidate him?

A buzzer sounded in the hall, and Nathan shook his head as if to clear the fog away. “Won’t all of you be seated? It’s time to start. We’re pleased to have visitors this morning,” he added with an effort.

Nathan’s face flushed when he took his place behind the podium. His fingers fumbled through the pages of his Bible.

God, what can I do? Why are You subjecting me to this torture? I’m trying to serve You, to be a witness for You in this community. I can’t make a fool of myself before these people. Help me!

Keenly aware of Nathan’s agitation, and knowing she was the cause of it, Autumn muttered, “I’m going to leave.”

“No,” Trina whispered as she slid into a chair on the back row.

“Did you know Nathan attended this church?” Autumn demanded accusingly.

“No. No. I had no idea,” Trina protested. She clutched Autumn’s arm and pulled her into a chair. “If you leave, that would only make it worse. Tough it out.”

Autumn did as Trina commanded, but she couldn’t remember when she’d spent a more miserable hour. Her body was rigid, and she stared at her hands where veins bulged from a racing pulse. And Nathan was so uncomfortable her heart ached for him. She sensed that ordinarily he would be an effective teacher, but he hardly looked up as he read the text almost word by word from the lesson book, often faltering on the words.

Several people seated in front of her glanced at one another in amazement, affirming her belief that Nathan’s current behavior wasn’t natural. The lesson subject itself was enough to distress Nathan, as the Scriptural text was taken from the Model Prayer from the book of Luke. When he read the words, “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us,” Nathan’s face paled even more. His voice was barely audible when he stumbled over the next words, “and lead us not into temptation.”

Perspiration drenched his face when he finally sat down on a chair behind the podium, and the president of the class stood up. Autumn recognized the woman as Sandy Simpson, the mother of the two children who owned Flossie, the pet goat.

“We need to make final plans for our picnic next Saturday afternoon,” Sandy stated. “Nathan has graciously invited us to picnic in the hickory nut grove on his farm. Burgers and buns will be provided from our class treasury, but it’s up to us to bring the rest of the food. Plan to arrive early and stay until evening. We’ll eat around half-past four.”

Sandy asked for a show of hands of those who planned to attend the picnic, suggested they should sign a sheet on the bulletin board indicating the food they’d contribute, then closed the session with a prayer. She made a beeline for Trina and Autumn as soon as she said, “Amen.”

“You must come to the picnic Saturday,” Sandy said. “That will give us an opportunity to get better acquainted.” Looking at Autumn, she said, “Families are invited, too, so you can bring your daughter.”

“Daughter?” Autumn looked from Sandy to Trina, wondering what the woman meant.

“Dolly is your daughter, isn’t she?”

“Of course not,” Autumn answered, more sharply than she should have.

“Forgive me. I was misinformed.”

“Dolly’s name is Rossini. She’s my niece,” Trina said.

“Oh, I see,” Sandy said, with a skeptical look at Autumn. “You’ll come to the picnic?”

Autumn didn’t answer, and Trina said, “We’ll try, if our work schedule isn’t too heavy. We’re finding out that we’ve taken up a time-consuming profession.”

Dolly joined them in the foyer and they went into the sanctuary together. Autumn looked keenly at the child, wondering who’d started the rumor that Dolly was her daughter. The gray-eyed girl with brown hair didn’t resemble the Weavers at all, but with a start, Autumn realized that Dolly’s features were similar to Nathan’s.

Just what I need, she thought morosely, to have such a story circulating. What had Nathan said that morning at the farm? “It took me months to convince people that you and I hadn’t been living together.”

Would Dolly’s resemblance to Nathan cause him any embarrassment?

During the informal service, Autumn momentarily forgot the miserable hour she’d spent in Nathan’s class. Elwood Donahue wasn’t a dynamic speaker, but his message on commitment was simple and easy to understand. Lacking a deep understanding of the Bible, Elwood’s straightforward explanation of the Scripture passage filled Autumn’s need to have the Gospel presented simply, and soothed her spirit temporarily.

Nathan chose a pew behind Autumn, and he was vividly conscious of her presence. Why wouldn’t he be, with her red head catching the lights from the windows? Had Autumn deliberately come to church to embarrass him? Was she still pursuing him as she’d done when she was a girl?

God, he thought during the pastoral prayer, why do You keep bringing us together? Has she changed from the willful, spoiled girl who almost ruined my life? Can I trust her again?

He’d resolved to avoid Autumn, but how could he when they attended the same church? Was it unchristian of him to keep thinking of the past? Was he the one who’d been wrong to leave without giving her the opportunity to explain? But after Autumn had run out of the horse barn eight years ago, her father said, “Autumn is going to marry Dr. Lowe. Can’t you have the decency to leave her alone? When I told you to leave, I meant leave this area. You’ll be nothing but a thorn in the flesh of our whole family if you stay here. There’s already a lot of gossip about you and Autumn seeing each other while I’ve been gone.”

Even though Autumn had protested that she’d never intended to marry Dr. Lowe, he’d wondered if she was telling the truth. But with Landon’s ultimatum, he had no choice except to leave. The Weavers had enough influence to ruin him in the community if they wanted to. When he’d left Greensboro, he supposed his brief association with Autumn was over. Now their paths had crossed again, Autumn looked as if she was unhappy. Had she really cared for him? Did she still care for him? How could he find out?

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