Chapter Eleven
Autumn glanced at the cardboard boxes labeled kitchen and let out a happy sigh. Never in a million years would she have asked the North brothers for help, but she had to admit that after getting over the shock of thinking everything had been stolen from the truck, she was eternally grateful to those men, especially Joel, for organizing the surprise.
She ripped open the box closest to her to find a couple of mugs wrapped in newspaper and a whole bunch of kitchen utensils she’d thrown in the box. This had been one of the boxes toward the end of her packing when she’d just started tossing things in, worrying she wouldn’t get out of her apartment in time.
Looking around the kitchen, she groaned and decided to save these boxes for later. Maybe after she’d painted the cupboards and replaced the counters, she’d feel more inspired and would have somewhere to put her items. She shoved the boxes out of her way and slowly made her way into the dining room to inspect her handiwork.
Autumn loved how much the simple task of painting all the walls had brightened the room. It even made the stained glass stand out more since there weren’t monster flowers adorning the wallpaper, vying for attention.
In the last couple of days, she’d managed to paint the dining room and the study, and she even squeezed out enough color from the last can to paint one of the many powder rooms. It was one of the few that had been remodeled in the last decade or two, so she decided to leave it as is except for the paint. Later, when she got around to it, she’d choose a beach theme for the décor. For now, the paint would do.
As she walked out of the dining room, she got an urge to rummage around downstairs a little. She actually hadn’t been downstairs since she and Joel had made the discovery.
Autumn didn’t want to get all wrapped up in the items in the basement when she had so many things to deal with upstairs, but after seeing the other homes in the area that had once been owned by her family, she was really fascinated with what might be down there.
She grabbed a sweatshirt and pulled it over her head as she made her way into the closet. She opened the basement door. Running her hand along the stone wall, she felt for the light switch and turned it on.
Excitement pulsed through her when she took that first step into the basement, but with each step down, unease started to fill her veins. She glanced back over her shoulder and hoped the door wouldn’t magically shut and lock her down in the basement that no one knew about except Joel. With her luck, it was a distinct possibility.
After shaking that ridiculous and paranoid future out of her head, she made her way to the bottom of the stairs. Everything was as she’d left it. She was relieved the ghosts and goblins weren’t messing with her or Uncle Fred’s belongings.
Autumn stifled a laugh as she thought about Ronald. It certainly had been quiet from him since he’d left. Thank God.
Maybe the ghosts told him to stay away.
She grinned on that happy note and wandered over to the trunk she’d seen with Joel. Autumn knelt over the leather box, trying to lift the lid. After several pulls and tugs with no luck, she felt around the front and sides to see if it was locked.
She didn’t find any padlocks, but she did feel a hard substance filling the seam where the lid met the trunk. She ran her finger along the joint and bent over to get a better look. It was as if the lid had been glued down.
She didn’t really have the energy or muscle strength after so much painting the last couple of days to get it open, so she decided to save that for another day.
Autumn noticed several folders placed on some worn canvas that had been draped over furniture. She wandered over and flipped the cover open on the first folder to reveal old snapshots of Silver Ridge.
Seeing some of the same buildings that still stood in town now made her heart grow even fonder of this little mountain town. She saw women with dresses structured with long boned bodices, tight sleeves, and high ruffled necks roaming the streets. Many women were clutching their parasols, and Autumn could easily imagine the beautiful fabrics even though the photos were black and white.
As she went through the photos, a sense of pride filled her. As silly as it might seem, she felt connected to these men and women, the pioneers of this town, possibly even her family.
Every once in a while, she thought she saw someone who looked a little like her or her dad, but she knew she was probably taking it a little too far.
Although, why else would Uncle Fred have had these photos? She slid the photos back into the top folder and grabbed another to look through.
This folder was filled with photocopies of newspaper articles. She glanced at the first page and saw Silver Ridge Tribune blazed across the top. From what she could tell, it was the third issue, dating back to 1892.
She shook her head in amazement that something so old could be preserved. Granted, this was a photocopy, but the fact that there was once an original floating around was shocking. She glanced at the articles and noticed that while it might look like simpler times to anyone born in the twenty-first century, it really wasn’t. Between illness and injury making the front page to articles about expected wintery storms, she was grateful for how far medicine and heating systems had come.
Autumn flipped to the next page, and she let out a little gasp when she saw the headline.
Philip Tucker will stand trial for Arson of Carl North’s Company Store
She slapped the page down and quickly thumbed through other issues in the file, hoping to find the outcome. She couldn’t imagine anyone in her family purposefully lighting someone’s business on fire.
Granted, it was almost a hundred and fifty years ago, and she had no idea who this man was as a person, but she personally preferred to think that she didn’t have any criminal blood running through her veins.
Unable to find an answer, she snatched the top photocopy with the attention-grabbing headline and spun around to head to the one person who might have an answer. It would also give her an excuse to see him.
It was strange. She thought there was a connection, but since his brothers had moved everything in for her, she hadn’t seen or heard from Joel. She’d even kept her front windows open over the last couple of days in case she heard Oscar barking down the street.
But now, she had the perfect reason to stop by.
Autumn made her way back up the stairs and grabbed her phone to take a photo of the headline to text to some of her friends. They might get a kick out of the headline from another century.
She sent it off and glanced out the window. It was nice having the moving truck gone and her possessions inside. It made her feel more grounded, and getting both rooms painted and promising herself she could tackle a tile job in the master bathroom put her in perfect spirits to go across the street.
Autumn quickly got a text from one of her friends explaining she now knew why she never trusted Autumn around candles. She chuckled to herself and wrote back a quick message.
She hoped that at some point, her friends would come to visit. She didn’t expect them to want to stay forever, as she did, but Autumn was pretty certain they’d appreciate the charm of the mountain town.
She left her phone on the kitchen counter but kept hold of the newspaper article, and she took off to see her sexy and suddenly quiet neighbor. Knowing she was going to see him again did all kinds of crazy things to her. There was no doubt about it. She liked him. She thought he was interesting, handsome, charming, kind . . .
By the time she found herself knocking on his front door, she’d put herself in complete bliss until a blonde swung open his front door.
“Hi.” The blonde was bubbly and wore a white pair of short shorts with a red and white striped shirt. Her blonde hair was in a bouncy ponytail. She was absolutely beautiful and completely the opposite of Autumn in every way. “May I help you?”
There was a possessive quality woven throughout her tone, and although she was smiling at Autumn, she wasn’t overly friendly.
Clinging to the article about a possible long, lost Tucker, Autumn cleared her throat and straightened up. She might be in a pair of slouchy jeans and a sweatshirt, and her hair might still be in the messy bun from this morning, but she wasn’t going to give this woman a reason to think she had an advantage over Autumn.
The blonde pulled her brows together, and Autumn realized she needed to say something. She glanced over the woman’s shoulder, surprised she didn’t see Oscar running up behind her, and brought her gaze back to the blonde’s.
“I found this over in my basement, and I thought Joel might know a little more than I do about who was in the photo and what the outcome was.” Autumn smiled and watched relief immediately wash over the woman.
The woman leaned against the doorframe, and Autumn braced herself for what she was about to hear. After all, he was a single guy. They weren’t in a relationship. They’d shared a kiss, but the rest was history. No need to make a mountain out of a—
“He has been talking nonstop about you since I arrived, and I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am you showed up.” She laughed. “I swear, my husband was about to track you down.” And then she stopped herself, and her brown eyes locked on Autumn’s. “You’re Autumn Tucker, right? Neighbor from across the street?”
Every inch of apprehension shrank into oblivion, and Autumn let out the breath she didn’t even know she’d been holding.
A husband!
What music to Autumn’s ears. The information certainly made her like the woman standing in front of her a lot more.
“That’s me. I’m sure I’ve been the most annoying neighbor in history.” Autumn smiled.
“Not if you hear Joel describe you as a neighbor.” She ushered Autumn in and shut the door. “I’m Beth Livingston.”
Joel’s home was gorgeous, with thick wood-wrapped windows and rustic beams framed the ceiling alcove. A matching grand bannister swooped to the second story, and she imagined Oscar and Joel bounding up the stairs. Even though the home was large, the place felt cozy and warm.
Autumn caught a library right off the foyer and a living room on the other side. A beautiful ivory and grey runner down the hallway helped to offset the dark wood floors and built-ins.
“We’re out back. I’m glad I popped in to check my phone, or I probably wouldn’t have heard your knock on the door.”
Still clutching the article, Autumn followed Beth down the hall toward the kitchen and great room. The space was breathtaking. She noticed hallways leading in opposite directions. She’d imagine this home had as many rooms as hers did, but unlike hers, they’d been impeccably remodeled over the years.
“Help yourself to a glass of wine or beer.” Beth pointed toward the quartz countertop with a bucket of ice and beer and then a bottle of red wine right next to it.
“Oh, I don’t plan on staying. I was only going to—”
“Nonsense.” She grinned and reached toward the glasses. “What should I grab? A wineglass or a regular glass?”
Autumn glanced at the apricot ale. “I’ll take the apricot ale, but honestly, the bottle is fine.”
“A woman after my own heart.” Beth reached for the bottle opener and flipped off the lid before handing the ale to Autumn. “So, do you like Silver Ridge?”
“Love it.” Autumn took a sip of the ale, thinking it was funny she’d already helped herself to a beer and introduced herself to Joel’s guest, and she hadn’t even seen Joel. Hopefully, he wouldn’t mind. “I can’t even imagine how pretty the place is with snow on the ground.”
“It’s magical.” Beth nodded and glanced out the French doors.
Autumn followed her gaze to see Joel coming inside. Despite his smile, he looked tense until his eyes found hers. His smile widened as he came into the house.
“Well, this is a surprise.” He walked into his kitchen, placing an empty beer bottle on the counter. “A really pleasant surprise.”
“I thought that rather than hear about her nonstop, I’d let her inside.” Beth slapped his shoulder and went out back, leaving Autumn and Joel standing in the kitchen staring at one another.
“Hear about me?” Autumn asked, thoroughly enjoying the revelation.
“I might have mentioned you’d moved into the B&B,” he said matter-of-factly, moving closer to her.
“Did you happen to mention anything else?” she asked, looking up into his blue eyes. She swore they’d gotten bluer since the last time she saw him. His gaze settled on her with a contemplative reserve.
“I might have mentioned that you’ve put me in an awkward position.” His lip twitched slightly.
“How so?” Autumn put both hands on her hips.
“You’re my neighbor.”
“Last I checked.” She nodded her head in agreement.
“And you’ve recently gotten out of a rocky relationship.”
“I got out of something rocky, but I wouldn’t call it a relationship.” She smirked.
His grin widened. “I’ve been trying to give you your space.”
“I noticed.” Autumn glanced out on the patio and saw Oscar sleeping on an outdoor rug.
“Would you like to join us on the patio? I’ve got smoked salmon out there from my brother.” Without waiting for an answer, he slid his arm around Autumn’s waist.
“I feel bad for intruding,” she stammered, feeling him gently nudge her to the door. “I actually came over because I found this in the basement, and I thought you might know more.” She held up the photocopy in front of him.
His eyes fell to the page. “You don’t have any gasoline or matches, do you?”
“Ahh. So, not wanting to date me has nothing to do with being a neighbor and everything to do with my pyromaniac heritage.” She playfully groaned, and the sound made Joel imagine what he’d like to be doing to her right now. “Does that mean you know what happened? Did a Tucker really set fire to a building?”
He’d already led her to the outside patio by the time she’d finished asking her questions.
“Did I miss something?” Beth asked, sliding her hand to her knee. “Is everything okay in town?”
“Oh, yeah. Everything is fine. This is merely gossip from the nineteenth century.” Joel smiled warmly at Beth, and a man stood and stretched out his hand toward Autumn, which she eagerly took.
“I’m Josh, Beth’s husband.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“You as well. It’s so good to put a face with a name.” He glanced at Joel before returning his eyes to hers. He seemed genuinely kind and quite interested in Autumn, which only piqued her interest more. Had Joel been talking about her?
She didn’t want to get her hopes up, but not hearing from him made her wonder. She let go of Josh’s hand, and he sat back down next to his wife.
“So what kind of gossip?” Beth asked.
“I found this article in the basement of my uncle’s house, and I was curious whether the man was found guilty. Basically, I’m curious if Joel has any dirt on my distant relatives.” She handed the article to Beth.
Joel laughed and shook his head. “I actually know a little bit about that, but the library has more details.”
“Yep.” Beth clapped her hands and looked thrilled at the thought. “Margaret, who also happens to be my mom, has done a fabulous job curating so much about this town. She’d love to hunt down the info.”
“That sounds like fun, especially if it turns out he wasn’t guilty.” Autumn chuckled and eyed the spread Joel had mentioned.
“Well, the story goes that he was let off.” Joel’s arm fell from her waist and she immediately missed his touch
“So, he didn’t set the fire?” Autumn felt ten times better finding that out. “What a relief.”
“Well, that’s not exactly the case.” Joel grimaced and chuckled nervously.
“What do you mean?” Autumn’s eyes widened.
“He did set the fire.”
“Are you serious? On purpose?”
“So the story goes.” Joel scratched his chin. “Apparently, the Norths opened up a company store, which much of the town thought was thievery because all the miners working for the Norths were paid partially in credits to use at the store, but the prices were hellacious compared to the grocery store the Tuckers owned. So the miners were stuck using the credits that their employers gave them, even though it was highway robbery. Anyway, the owner of the general mercantile—”
“A Tucker?” Autumn interrupted, and Joel nodded.
“The guy in the paper took matters into his own hands. His sales plummeted when so much of the town was forced to use credits, and his own store was on the verge of collapsing, so he lit a match.”
“That’s awful.” Autumn shuddered, shocked that someone would think that was okay to do, especially someone related to her.
“Yes and no. From what I read about it, as mine owners, the Norths were really taking advantage of the miners, paying them almost nothing on the ounce, working them long hours, keeping most of the silver and gold, and then forcing them to buy all their food and necessities through their own company store. He was kind of looked upon as a hero in the town. They didn’t rebuild the company store, and it forced a lot of change in how the mining operations were conducted.”
Autumn looked at Joel, somewhat astonished, as she absorbed everything. “I guess that’s one way of looking at it.”
Beth laughed. “Hey, have you shown her Tucker Park?”
“Not yet.” Joel smiled, and Autumn noticed amusement speckled throughout his gaze.
“Does she know?” Beth asked.
“Know what?” Autumn looked between Joel and Beth.
“The Tucker General Store is actually inside the park. It’s on the historical register and the park service maintains it,” she continued. “They turned it into a museum.”
“That’s pretty incredible. I had no idea.” Chills went through Autumn, and a smile crept along her face as she thought about this little mountain town and all of the surprises it had in store for her. She knew all of these stories from more than a century ago didn’t define who she was, but with the loss of her parents, she felt a strong connection to her past, and finding out little things about Silver Ridge somehow made her feel closer to her parents.
“Well, you two will have to make it a date then.” Beth beamed as if she’d made the perfect match.