She was too sweet—too good to be true, really. Gentry was finding that Autumn Lake could talk him into doing just about anything—no matter how silly it might seem to the rest of the world. She provoked his protective nature—his desire to make another human happy. She provoked a lot more than that in him, but he was still trying to ignore the nearly maniacal physical attraction he secreted toward her.
Gentry smiled and said, “All right. I’ll take care of Abner from now until…from now on.” The mischief in him rose, however, and he added, “But I think it’s only fair that you swap me somethin’ in return. I’ll take care of Abner. I’ll be the one who fattens him up and then betrays him and eats him. But I need you to do somethin’ for me.”
“And what’s that?” she asked.
Autumn’s heart had skipped a beat or two when Gentry had asked her for something as recompense for taking care of Abner for her. What could he want from her? Maybe a kiss? That’s what she hoped he wanted. Good land! Her dreams were filled with nothing but Gentry James these days—nothing but his image and the excruciating wish that he would someday kiss her. Her gaze lingered on his mouth a moment—traveled to his dimples as he smiled at her. She wanted to touch those delicious dimples—to gently press her thumbs into them for some reason—to hold his whiskery face between her hands.
“Well, the fact is, Autumn,” he began, taking a step toward her. Her heart skipped another beat—and then another. “I haven’t had a slice of pumpkin pie in over five years,” he said. “I was thinkin’ on beggin’ for just one pumpkin pie…all to myself. Your mama was tellin’ me this mornin’ that your Daddy brought in a few pumpkins from the field so you and her could bake up a few. So, if I promise to take real good care of Abner for you…until his time comes…do you think you could scratch me up a pumpkin pie all my own?”
Though her heart sank for the sake of Gentry asking her to bake him a pie instead of asking for a kiss, she smiled and nodded. After all, everyone said the way to win a man’s heart was through good cooking and baking—and Autumn baked a downright mean pumpkin pie!
“Of course I’ll bake you a pie, you silly cowboy,” she said. Her smile faded a little, however, and she asked, “But has it really been five years since you’ve had pumpkin pie, Gentry? That makes my heart ache.”
“Oh, don’t let your heart be achin’ on my account, honey,” he said, returning the milk stool to its place on the barn wall. “Just think how much better your pumpkin pie will taste to me than it would somebody who’s used to havin’ it all the time. Meanwhile, I’ll take care of that ol’ tom turkey you love so much.”
“His name is Abner,” she giggled.
Gentry chuckled and said, “Abner, then. Do I have to call him by his name and talk to him the way you do when I’m feedin’ him?”
“Of course you do!” she exclaimed. “I want his last months to be filled with kindness and spoilin’.”
Again Gentry shook his head as he laughed. “All right then. I’ll spoil your turkey for you.”
Autumn smiled. “Good. And I’ll bake you a pumpkin pie. In fact, I’ll do it right now so you can eat it for lunch. And maybe I’ll bake up an extra for you to enjoy before we all go out to see the harvest moon tomorrow night.”
But Gentry frowned. “Oh…well, that’s somethin’ you do with your family, ain’t it? I don’t think I should—”
“Gentry James! You cannot miss the harvest moon!” Autumn exclaimed—horrified that he would even consider missing such a wonder of nature. “It’s the most beautiful moon of the entire year!”
“All right, all right,” he said, shaking his head with amusement. “But I best get the chores done before too long or your daddy will take a switch to me.”
“My daddy never took a switch to anybody in his life,” Autumn countered. “Oh!” she added then, having suddenly remembered something else. “I forgot to tell you.”
Gentry watched as Autumn reached into her apron pocket and withdrew a handful of pecans. He smiled, knowing exactly for whom they were intended.
“Abner loves pecans,” she said in a whisper as she placed them in his palm. “My daddy probably would take to usin’ a switch on me if he caught me pilferin’ part of his pecan crop for Abner. So I’ll just give you a few now and then. I don’t want you havin’ to worry about snitchin’ pecans for him.”
Gentry smiled again and shoved the handful of pecans in his pocket. “Dang,” he mumbled. “Makes me wish I was your ol’ tom turkey.”
“Do you like pecans?” she asked.
“Of course,” he admitted.
She smiled, her eyes glistening with delight. “Then you have some of those before you give them to Abner. And next time I snitch a few…I’ll snitch a few for you too. All right?”
“All right,” he chuckled. “Now, you scoot. Get on about makin’ me that pumpkin pie while I’m cuddlin’ up to your turkey.”
She smiled, and Gentry felt a wave of warmth, contentment, and desire wash over him. The girl truly was as wonderful as the season she was named for. She made him feel strong, pleasant of mind, and as if he were worth a whole lot more than a dollar and a half.
“Thank you, Gentry,” she said. “Truly.”
He nodded, and she turned and hurried from the barn.
Gentry sighed with a strange sort of contentment and headed for the turkey yard. He had a whole lot of chores to do for Ransom, but he’d make friends with Autumn’s turkey first. He shook his head, thinking that he had never in all his life seen the harvest moon. The truth was he hadn’t even known what it was exactly until a few years back. Therefore, he found an unfamiliar excitement swelling in his chest. It was ridiculous, of course—for a man to get wound up over seeing the dang moon. But Autumn and her mother made it sound so beautiful—as if a body weren’t truly living life if they didn’t take a moment to linger beneath it.
Oh, he’d seen Ransom roll his eyes with amused exasperation more than once at the mention of the harvest moon outing. Yet Gentry figured it was one of those things a man did because he loved his wife—and then, when he was in the thick of it, realized he actually did enjoy it.
And so, Gentry sauntered off toward the turkey yard, smiling as he approached and saw the tom come racing toward the fence, gobbling like the happiest bird ever hatched.
“Well, good mornin’ there, Abner,” Gentry said. “Looks like you and me are gonna become saddle pals from now on.”
He reached into his pocket, gripped two pecans in his fist, and cracked them. He tossed them to Abner and watched as the bird did indeed seem to relish the treat. Gentry frowned a bit as a little of Autumn’s empathy for Abner managed to seep into his skull. Shaking his head and silently scolding himself for being too softhearted, he studied the big tom turkey a moment—wondering if the pecans Autumn had been sneaking to the bird would add to his flavor come Thanksgiving Day.
❦
“Five years, Mama!” Autumn exclaimed, shaking her head in residual disbelief. “Can you imagine goin’ five years without one slice of pumpkin pie?”
Vaden shook her head. “Absolutely not! I’d die without pumpkin pie. I literally think I would lie down and expire if suddenly there was not pumpkin pie to be had in the world.”
“Oh, I hear you, Mama,” Autumn said, nodding. “I know there’s worse things in the world than not havin’ pumpkin pie at all…but, Mama, my heart nearly broke in two when he told me he hadn’t had it in five years.”
“Well, I can well imagine that it nearly did,” Vaden agreed. “Poor boy. I wonder what kind of story he has to tell that would put him at not having pumpkin pie for so long.”
“I don’t know,” Autumn mumbled. “But I have the sense that Gentry James—as handsome and as wonderful as he his—I don’t think he’s known a whole lot of happiness in his life.”
Leaning over the four pumpkin pies sitting on the kitchen table, Autumn inhaled deeply and sighed. “Mmmm! Oh, Mama! The first pies of the year always smell the best, don’t they?”<
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“Indeed they do,” Vaden agreed, following suit and inhaling the pumpkin and spice aroma that hung heavy in the kitchen. “Your daddy and Gentry should be in for lunch any time now. Won’t warm pumpkin pie be just the right thing to feed them, sweetheart?”
Autumn nodded. Oh, how she loved pumpkin pie! She hoped (actually, she prayed) that her pies had turned out as delicious as they usually did. She wanted the first pumpkin pie Gentry James was to have in five long years to be the best he’d ever had. Autumn also secretly hoped that, if her pumpkin pie were good enough, Gentry might see his way clear to liking her a little bit more for it. She could tell he liked her well enough—counted her as a friend, at least. Over the past couple of weeks since he’d come to work for her father, she and Gentry had had many opportunities to talk and get to know each other—to become better acquainted. And though Autumn’s heart had begun attaching itself to Gentry the moment she’d first seen him, it was fully pasted to him now!
Oh, she knew he planned to stay only until winter had passed, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t try to change his mind about ever leaving at all. Did it? Autumn knew chances were slim to none that a man like Gentry James—so strong and capable, so used to being independent and following his own ways—would ever truly settle down with a silly girl like she was. But the hope of winning his heart somehow just would not leave her be.
And as she heard the kitchen door open and turned to see her daddy and Gentry enter the room, ready for the midday meal, her heart leapt with fresh hope—hope that her delicious, county fair prize-winning pumpkin pie would please Gentry’s stomach and thereby his heart.
“Mmmm!” Ransom exclaimed. “It smells right perfect in here, ladies!”
“Autumn’s been making pies, handsome,” Vaden said.
Ransom enfolded Vaden in his arms and kissed her squarely on the mouth. “It smells almost as good as you, darlin’,” he flirted.
“And it might taste almost as good as you, lover man,” Vaden giggled, kissing him again.
Autumn blushed and glanced to Gentry. What he must think of her parents! They were forever hanging all over each other, kissing and carrying on. Still, he was smiling as he watched them—smiling that dimpled smile Autumn loved so much.
“Let’s have us some of that pie,” Ransom said, finally releasing his wife. “And look…there’s four pies and four of us.” He chuckled. “That works out now, doesn’t it?”
“If you truly want a whole pie for your lunch, you’re welcome to it, Daddy,” Autumn said. Picking up the pie with the prettiest, most perfectly fluted crust, she held it out toward Gentry. “But this one…this one I made just for you, Mr. Gentry James…for bein’ so good to Abner for me.”
Grace was not always one of Autumn’s strongest traits, however—and as she took a step forward, intent on handing the pie to Gentry, she tripped on one of the table legs. Gasping, she felt herself beginning to fall—saw the beautiful pumpkin pie she’d worked so hard on in order to capture Gentry’s attention fly up into the air.
“Ransom! The pie!” she heard her mother cry out. But even her daddy wasn’t quick enough to catch the pie. And as Gentry reached out to catch Autumn in his arms and keep her from falling to the floor, the beautiful, warm, and spicy pumpkin pie landed facedown on top of his head.
Autumn gasped again as she watched the pie slowly slide from his head, down to his shoulder, its remains finally coming to rest in her daddy’s outstretched hands.
“You all right?” Gentry asked as he helped her to stand. Autumn felt the tears welling in her eyes. It was ruined! Her gift to Gentry—her way from his stomach to his heart! There it was, a mess all over his hair, face, chin, and shoulder.
“Oh! I’m so sorry!” Autumn apologized at once. “I’m so…I can’t believe…oh! Gentry! You’re all covered in pumpkin pie!” she exclaimed as a tear escaped the corner of her eye.
But Gentry only smiled. The dimple divots in his cheeks were evidence of his amusement, and he said, “I’ve been covered in much worse, darlin’. I can assure you of that.”
Then, much to Autumn’s delight, he simply reached over to the nearly empty pie pan Ransom still held, picked off a piece of pie crust, used it to scoop out some of the remaining pie filling, and popped it into his mouth.
“Mmm mmm mmmm!” he moaned. “Autumn Lake…I swear I ain’t never tasted anything so good in all my life!”
Autumn smiled, reached into her apron pocket, and withdrew a spoon. “Really?” she asked, offering the spoon to him.
“Really,” he assured her, taking the spoon she offered and the half-empty pie pan Ransom still held. “I’m not lyin’,” he added, digging the spoon into the pie pan and moaning over another bite of pie. “Mmm! That is so good!”
“Why don’t you go shake off some of that mess outside, Gentry, and then come on in and sit down to one of these other pies?” Ransom said, winking at Autumn.
“Yes, sir,” Gentry said, holding the pie pan and fork toward Autumn. “Will you hang onto that for me for a minute, Autumn?” he asked.
Autumn nodded and forced a smile. “I’m so sorry, Gentry,” she said.
“Don’t be,” he said, winking at her as he headed back out through the kitchen door.
“There’s a towel out there by the rain barrel if you need it, honey,” Vaden called after him.
“Yes, ma’am,” came Gentry’s reply.
As both her parents turned to look at her, Autumn could no longer keep the tears from escaping her eyes. “How come I’m so clumsy anymore?” she asked in a whimper. “Did you see him? All covered in pumpkin pie like that?”
Her parents both nodded at first—assuring her that they had indeed seen the condition of Gentry James after Autumn had tripped and the pie had flown into the air. And yet Autumn knew what was coming next. So, even though she was somewhat miffed at her parents for making light of what she knew was a tragedy, she wasn’t surprised when both her mother and father burst into laughter.
“You two are so mean sometimes,” she scolded. “You think everything is funny…even if it’s not!”
“But it was funny, sweet pea,” Ransom explained.
“Did you see the look on his face?” Vaden asked as she continued to giggle, the moisture of mirth apparent in her eyes.
“I did,” Ransom said, chuckling. “I did indeed.” He reached out, gathering Autumn into his arms then. “But he didn’t give a thought to that dang flyin’ pie and where it might land. All that boy was worried about was whether or not you were gonna fall, honey. He’s a good man, and one pie over the head ain’t gonna change whether or not he likes you…or the pie, for that matter.”
“I’ve lost my appetite all the same, Daddy…and whatever is left of my pride,” Autumn pouted.
“Then why don’t you just go for an amble, darling?” Vaden said, kissing her daughter on the cheek. “That’s what I always do when I’m upset, you know. And it always, always makes things seem better.”
“Yes, honey. Why don’t you take your sketchbook and do some drawin’?” Ransom suggested. “Me and Gentry have a heap of work waitin’ for us after lunch. You take a long walk, and when you get back, all will be well.”
She couldn’t face him—not yet. Autumn just couldn’t face Gentry after such a clumsy, ridiculous performance as tossing a pumpkin pie in the air to have it land all over him. She did need an escape—some time to just sit in her daddy’s pumpkin patch and sketch Jethro for her mother. Then she’d be brave enough to face that oh-so-delicious Gentry James again. At least, that’s what she inwardly told herself.
“All right,” she mumbled. “Tell him I’m so sorry, Mama. Will you please?”
Vaden smiled, and Autumn knew her mother, of all people, understood her feelings of humiliation. “I will, sweetheart. Now you just run along and have some time to yourself. The apples and pumpkins will be gone all too soon…so you just soak them in so you can remember them until next year when the new crops come.”
“I w
ill,” Autumn said. She paused a moment and asked, “He was smilin’ when he went out, after all…wasn’t he?”
“Yes, he was,” Ransom confirmed. “Grinnin’ like a jack of the lantern on Halloween night.”
Autumn nodded. She kissed her father’s cheek and then her mother’s and then hurried off to her bedroom to gather her sketching supplies. She did need a new sketch of Jethro—maybe a new one of Clarence and Clementine too. After all, her mother had said Clementine would need a new dress next year, and Clarence’s long johns were nearly threadbare. So Autumn figured she’d best sketch them as well—if she wanted to have the best memories of how they looked the year Gentry James had stolen her heart.
Vaden’s eyes narrowed as she studied Ransom a moment. “You know something, don’t you?” she more accused than asked.
Ransom grinned. “Maybe I do…and maybe I don’t.”
Vaden smiled, slipped her arms around her husband’s waist, and planted a kiss on his square chin. “Have you been having visions again, Mr. Handsome Ransom?”
But Ransom chuckled. “Oh, baby…the only sure and for certain visions I’ve been havin’ in my mind of late…is of you standin’ in the kitchen wearin’ nothin’ but your underwear and an apron.”
“I cannot believe you said that, Ransom Lake!” Vaden scolded, playfully slapping her husband’s broad, muscular chest.
“Yes, you can, darlin’,” Ransom mumbled as his mouth captured Vaden’s in a moist, impassioned kiss.
Gentry James shook his head as he paused before entering the Lake’s kitchen. He had never seen the likes of Ransom and Vaden Lake before. Never in all his years nor in all his travels had he seen a man and woman so in love. It was a rare blessing, and he knew it.
The Haunting of Autumn Lake Page 10