Autumn Falls (Seasons of Love)

Chapter One

Autumn

I’m fully dressed and standing in my sister’s room, annoyed as hell. “Girl, we have to hurry up. The parade starts in twenty minutes.”

My sister throws the blanket off her head and hisses at me before looking at the clock on her nightstand. “No, it starts in an hour and twenty minutes, but you want to get a killer spot, as always. You know I hate waking up early. It’s bad enough that Dad made us work the apple stand every year. I thought I was getting out of it this year since he retired six months ago, but no…you want to go there anyway like we need to be subjected to the torture,” she grumbles and then covers her head again.

“Come on. Don’t make me drag you.”

She whips the covers down. “You wouldn’t.”

I cross my arms, standing at the edge of her bed with a smirk and a tilt of my head. She has no idea how far I’ll go. Although she should already know I’m nuts. “Okay, your crazy ass would.” She tosses the covers completely off, and I let out a huge belly laugh. My sister is fully dressed for the day already. Hell, I think she’s still wearing the same clothes as yesterday.

“Damn, late night?” I teased.

“Yeah, I went to the bar because I heard the new owner of the orchard was going to be there, but if he was, I didn’t see him.”

“That’s a weird idea. I heard he’s a loner.”

“Well, Mary Grace said he’s a hot bastard and that he’s super wealthy, so I thought maybe I’d catch me a man.” She winks and crawls out of bed.

“All you’re going to catch is some disease. You know these men in this town have felt everything up in this town.”

“Girl, I think you’re bitter since you gave it up to your ex.” She rolls her eyes, knowing damn well that I’m a virgin.

“Noelle, stop telling lies because you want to be lazy,” I bite out, earning me a dirty look. She hated her name. Being born on Christmas, my parents gave her that name, or rather my mom did. Our mother is a free spirit. I was born during the fall, so naturally, my name is Autumn. When it comes to my name, I go with the flow, but she doesn’t like hers.

“Well, that’s what the latest talk of the town is.” I thought I was pissed before, but now I’m livid. My fists clenched at my sides. Sometimes I truly hated living in this small town. People loved to gossip and lately our family has had its fair share.

“He fucking wishes. I’m so glad I didn’t sleep with him. God, I can’t believe someone would spread that stupid rumor. He and I broke up when I found out about him and Caroline.”

“I bet it was that bitch Caroline Gray who started the rumors. She’s always been jealous of you,” she says as she heads to her bathroom. I’m not sure why Caroline would have it out for me because she has had everything handed to her.

“This is exactly why I need you with me. I have to hold my head up high. We have to represent our family. This is the first major event since I found out that Carter cheated on me with Caroline, and I left his ass. It’s been a shitty summer.” I plop down on the edge of her bed, thinking about how I’d been two years into college at U of I, but I came home when my father had a heart attack six months ago. That’s when I learned that my boyfriend had been having an affair the entire time I was gone.

“Are you sure you’re not still hung up on him?” She asks from her bathroom.

“I never was. I was hurt that he cheated on me and made me look like a fool. Do you have any idea how hard it is to have the entire town talk about you behind your back? They all knew he was diddling that bitch, and they were laughing at me.”

She comes out and gives me a hug. “I’m sorry, Autumn. I wish I was in town more, but I was so focused on helping dad with the orchard I didn’t notice and then dad had his heart attack.”

“It’s okay. I just hate these people.”

“Then why do you want to go?”

“To hold my head up high and prove that I’m strong enough to show them I’m not a weak, dumb woman.” Truth be told, most of the town is wonderful. However, there were a few that would love to knock us down a peg or two. Not that my family ever believed we were so wonderful or anything, but the Sager Orchard had been the largest one around.

“Fine. Well, I’m ready. I hope it’s not too cold. I can’t believe it’s always done so late.”

“Well, it’s coinciding with Thanksgiving, silly.” I shake my head.

She rolls her eyes at me and then links her arm with me and leads me out of the house. “I know, but I have to say I don’t like it. Now come on, you’re taking too long and we’re going to be late with all you’re complaining.”

“One of these days.” I shake my fist at her.

“Whatever.” She waves me off. As the older sister, she just ignores my threats and taps my nose. “So, how is dad?”

I checked on him before I came into her room, even though it was early in the morning. The parade kicks off at nine and the Fall Harvest Fest starts at eleven. It’s only seven thirty, but we still have to get a good spot, and I want one in the center of it all. “He’s fine. The nurse said he’s sleeping, and he has no plans to join us today.”

“I expected that. It has to be hard on him.”

“Dad has been through so much since mom walked out.” We don’t talk about the woman who birthed us anymore because the pain is too much. She ran off with one of the workers, breaking our hearts and destroying my father’s belief in their future.

He’s still pretty young at forty-eight, but he won’t date again, and the heart attack pretty much sealed it. He’s not permanently disabled, just emotionally broken.

“I can’t believe she did that bull crap,” I snapped.

“God, I hate her.” I see it in my sister’s eyes. We both lost our mother that day. Noelle decided to drop out of college and come home to help with the orchard. It was a crucial time, and Dad wasn’t in the right state of mind. Between being down a hand, he’d lost his will to work.

“Tell me about it,” I say. Mom didn’t just leave him; she left us. I was just fifteen when she bailed. I remembered when she walked out. She dared to say she was too young to settle for a life like this and wanted more. I hope she got everything she wanted, but we never wanted to see her again.

When we stepped into the front hall, we nearly ran into our dad. “Hey girls, are you on your way to the parade?”

“Good morning, daddy,” we say together. I instantly noticed the bright color in him this morning. He’s looking better every single day.

“Why are you up so early?” I ask, giving him a big hug.

“I was trying to catch you before you left,” he answers after giving Noelle one as well.

“Do you need something?” she asks.

“Yes, can you bring back one of Ms. Griselda’s apple pies? I think Jaqueline would love it.” Jackie is his rehabilitation nurse and a total sweetheart.

“Oh, that would be great. She deserves a special treat for all the wonder she’s worked on you. Okay. We’ll see if her stand is there this year and hit her up.”

“Thank you, girls. Have a good time. I need to rest a bit longer before Jacqueline returns.”

“We love you, daddy.”

“Yes, Daddy. Take it easy and don’t do too much. We’re a call away.”

“I promise I’m not so fragile anymore.”

“Okay.” We kiss his cheeks and then leave the house.

“Do you think he’s doing well?”

“Yes, actually, he’s looking very good this morning.”

“I think so too.” We drive downtown, which is only ten minutes away, and as we make our way, the crowds are starting to grow. Ugh. I’m not a fan of it and my sister’s expression turns amused.

“Shut up, Elle.”

“What? I didn’t say a thing.”

“Trust me, our spot is fine, Autumn brat.”

“Seriously, I just hate having to fight for a spot.”

“I know you do. I’m surprised you don’t knock down all the little kids from the spot.”

“Whatevs. It was one damn time, and the kid ran into me. I caught him before he fell and the parents apologized to me.” She giggles and we finally pull into the parking lot. Thankfully, it’s mostly empty, and it’s near the Harvest Fest even though it’s far from where we’ll sit. It always works better to park here because we’ll take things back with us after shopping instead of walking back to the parade location.

“Come on.” We don’t take chairs today because we stand the whole time. “I hope the coffee shop is open already.”

“Yes, Lou Ann told me that she’ll be open at seven for the early birds and all the parade people who need their fix.”

“Good, because someone woke me up so early.”

“Whatever.”

“Expand your vocab, little sister.”

“Chinga tu madre.”

“Whoa, I don’t know what that means, but you need to stop hanging out with Marisol because her ass is teaching you some bad words.”

“Actually, it was her brother, and it means…” I whisper it in her ear with a giggle.

“Ugh, oh that’s even worse, but I agree,” she says with a laugh because Marisol’s brother has a huge ego and is only sixteen. “And don’t go saying that to people who piss you off.”

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s behave so we don’t get the boot.”

“I’ll try. Especially since they have the snipers on the rooftops.”

“What?”

“Yeah, you know, since they had that terrible shooting up at the parade in Highland Park. It’s a crazy security measure, but I guess it’s for the best.”

“It is a bit scary to me, but we need the protection. I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

“Seriously, Elle.”

We walk to where I want to stand, but there are chairs there and I’m about to cry, but there’s a sign on them. “For Autumn Sager & Friend.”

My mouth falls open and my sister says, “What?”

“Who did this? Did you?”

“Maybe…”

“When did you do it?”

“Well, maybe I was up early this morning.”

“So you’ve been fucking with me all this time?”

“Yeah. I came to help Andie and her shop set up, so I put a thing of chairs for you right away. We just have to give them back to Andie before we go back.” I give my sister a big squeeze and squeal. “Yeah, but you owe me. Now go get our coffees.”

“Fine,” I huff. “If I must.” I roll my eyes, smiling the entire time.

“Do you want your usual?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I’m practically skipping as I make my way over to Café La La, which is just twenty-five feet away. The line is pretty short right now, but soon it will be down the street. Thankfully, there are two shops on this street that sell early-morning coffee. Although they’ll pause for the parade.

“Sometimes I forget why I hate this place,” I sigh to myself, forgetting how nosy my neighbors are.

“It’s a shame to hear how you hate it here,” a deep voice says behind me. I gasp, feeling the color draining from my face. I have no idea who it is, but I refuse to back down from the assholes in this town, so I turn around and see a man in full tactical gear.

My eyebrows raise and so does his. They’re sexy brows too. Like the kind that comes from a man who is all beast. “Oh, I guess I shouldn’t be telling you that I hate this place.” My heart thumps inside my chest, but it feels like it could burst out.

He has his baseball cap on backward with his shades on the top of the hat, looking tough and ready to take down any troublemaker without breaking a sweat. The thought of him pinning me down crosses my mind, and my brain is going haywire. “Why is that?” he questioned, staring into my eyes like he was reading my soul.

“Well, I might seem like trouble,” I confess, biting down on my bottom lip.

“Hardly. You don’t look like the kind of trouble I’m watching for, but just in case, I’ll make sure I keep an eye on you.” Seriously, I don’t need soaked panties now. It’s too damn cold outside for it. They’ll be popsicle panties before the day is out.

I smile, letting out the quickest laugh. “Are you flirting with me, sir?”

“Perhaps I am.” His lips turn up in a crooked smile with a devilish look in his eyes.

“Autumn, I’m surprised you made it today,” a voice I recognize says from over my shoulder. I close my eyes and try to control my temper because she’s the last person I want to see or hear from.

“I’m surprised you could find your way out of bed this morning, Caroline.” She’s the perfect woman and my ex-boyfriend fell for her ways while we were still dating.

“Well, that’s because there’s no point being in it when my man isn’t in it,” she purrs, then she presses her hand on my shoulder. “But you wouldn’t know, would you?”

I wrench my shoulder out of the way. “Don’t put your filthy hands on me. Now I’m going to need a flea bath.”

“Don’t be a bitch because you can’t keep a man,” she hisses.

“I don’t believe she has a problem with keeping the right man,” the handsome, well-built man in uniform says. “Especially when he leaves for a girl not worth half of her.”

“Ouch. Now, if you’re done holding up the line, can you excuse us, Caroline? I need to get the coffee orders.” I wave her off and walk to the front, since we are next.

Lou Ann smiles at me and the handsome officer who hasn’t introduced himself to me yet. “Autumn, the usual?”

“Yes, make it a double. I’ll get my head bitten off if I don’t bring her cup back.”

“Or she’ll steal yours,” she says with a laugh.

“For real.”

His radio goes off while I’m talking and it sounds like garble, and he responds about returning now.

“I’ll take a large hot coffee with two sugars please,” he says behind me, dropping down the twenty bucks.

“Sorry, I’m sure you’re in a hurry.”

“It’s okay, beautiful. I’ll be seeing you around.” She makes his first and then he walks out before I get to say anything else.

I sigh and take my cups from Lou Ann. “He’s totally into you, you know?”

“Yeah, well, we might not ever meet again.”

“Who knows?”

“I’ll see you around.” I can’t wait to see him again. In fact, I’m going to be scoping him out .