Chapter Sixteen
Autumn sipped her tea and sat in her dining room.
“I still can’t believe you pushed him into the lake,” Dina scolded her.
“He deserved it.” Autumn did feel bad about it, and she wasn’t entirely sure what had come over her, but in the water he went, and she didn’t even wait for him to pop back out.
“It was the middle of the night. He could have drowned.” Dina shook her head and glanced out the window, where several workers were finishing up Autumn’s front porch.
After the raccoon family was relocated, the workers were able to replace the last few supports and create a safe and cute porch for human guests. It was a small step toward her overall goal but a really important one. A B&B needed a front entrance and a way for guests to get to it without feeling like they were on a carnival ride.
“So why are you pretending like you don’t care?” Tami asked, bringing in a plate of bagels and cream cheese to share.
“Why would I care?” Autumn shrugged and reached for a chive and onion bagel. “And it wasn’t in the middle of the night. It was only ten o’clock.”
“You care because you’ve fallen for him and you shoved him into a lake in front of the entire town.” Tami ignored the other portion of her statement.
“I have not fallen for him.” She rolled her eyes and took a bite of the fresh bagel. “And it was dark. I’m sure no one saw.”
Tami slapped down the town newspaper on the dining room table to reveal a photo of Joel North climbing out of the lake with fireworks blazing in the sky behind him. Autumn was nowhere in sight, but several women had rushed to help him with blankets and towels in their hands.
How considerate.
A twinge of jealousy surfaced, but she quickly pushed it away as she pretended not to notice every detail in the photograph.
Like the fact that even after she pushed him in, he climbed out of the freezing water smiling with clothes clinging to his beautifully defined body that she might never get the chance to see because she’d let her fiery temper take over. She fully blamed her mom for that.
“So what did he say to make you so mad?” Dina asked.
None of them had spoken about the incident since they’d driven home.
“It wasn’t what he said. It was what he did.”
“And what did he do?” Dina’s brows scrunched together.
“He kissed me.”
“God forbid.” Tami rolled her eyes and Dina started laughing. “This small town thing is getting to your head.”
“What in the world are you talking about?” Autumn asked, shoving the paper away.
“A sexy-as-hell man leaves his family’s annual party to come see you. You’re in the middle of the most romantic setting ever. He leans over to kiss you and you push him in the water? It makes no sense.” Dina took a bite of her bagel. “You were willing to put up with no-personality Ronald, but this one you decide to drown?”
“I didn’t drown him.” But Dina had made a good point.
Autumn let out a sigh. “Yesterday, I found some documents signed by my uncle in the basement. It looks like Joel’s family took away most, if not all, of his properties.” She chewed her bottom lip and let out another heavy sigh. “He never mentioned it.”
“That is kind of odd,” Tami agreed, taking a sip of her coffee.
“He was kind of telling me about the properties last night at the park, but I feel like it’s only because he knew I’d found out.” Autumn glanced at the photo on the front page again and her stomach clenched.
Why in the world did she push him off the dock?
What actually made her do it?
“I can’t believe I did that.” Autumn hung her head. “And I still don’t know what all Joel was trying to tell me.”
“It’s not too late to find out.” Dina motioned toward the front door, and Autumn nodded.
“If he’ll want to speak to me.” She grabbed the paper and held it tightly. “Thanks to me, he made the front page.”
“Well, you’ve never been boring.” Dina chuckled. “This will give him a taste of years to come.”
“Please.” Autumn rolled her eyes. “I don’t go around pushing people into vast bodies of water all the time.”
“No.” Tami took a bite of the bagel. “But you have booked a flight to Belize to avoid a second date. You’ve sent me on one of your blind dates more than once.”
“And I wound up with a drink in my lap the first time we met.” Dina smiled fondly at the memory.
“I didn’t throw the drink at you. I tripped.” Autumn laughed and felt so much better having her friends here.
“You didn’t know this uncle, right?” Dina asked, her voice softening.
“Correct. He and my dad were estranged.” Autumn drew in a steady breath. “Actually, it seems like my dad was estranged from more than my uncle. It was like he’d turned his back on his entire history.”
“Maybe Joel holds more answers than you know,” Dina prompted. “Maybe things are more complicated than you realize, and he was trying to protect you.”
“And you dunked him in the frigid mountain water.” Tami chuckled “Typical.”
Dina’s expression became solemn. “Do you think that’s why we’re all still single?”
“We try to drown our dates?” Tami giggled. “That could be it.”
“I wasn’t trying to drown him. Just shock some sense into him.” Autumn giggled and stood up. “Okay, I’m going to go over there and I don’t know what . . . say sorry or maybe—”
“Hear what he has to say?” Tami was still laughing.
“Yeah, maybe that.” She glanced toward the front door and then the kitchen before taking off for the side door. “A contractor is coming this morning to start on the drywall issues. He knows where to go in case I’m not back in time.” She stopped in her tracks and turned to look at her friends who were holding in giggles. “You guys are stuck in high school.”
“You know you love us.” Dina smiled as she took another bite of her bagel, and Autumn nodded, nearly bounding toward the side door, but she stopped at the coffee pot and filled a mug with steaming coffee.
“You know I do.”
When Autumn found herself practicing all the things she wanted to say at Joel’s front door, she knew she was in trouble. After the fourth failed run-through, she lifted her hand to the door and knocked a few times. She had to go through with it.
She heard Oscar barking in the back of the house and waited a minute or so before knocking again.
This time, Joel opened the door and stood staring at her.
He looked extremely sexy and dry, like he’d just recently rolled out of bed. He was wearing a pair of plaid pajama bottoms and a t-shirt.
Autumn couldn’t read his expression as he studied her, so she held up the mug of coffee.
“Hey, you.” Autumn smiled. “It’s a peace offering in case you have frostbite.”
Joel’s lips curled up slightly, and he took the mug as Oscar pushed his nose between Joel and the doorframe. Autumn quickly scratched Oscar’s ear and glanced up at his owner, who was sipping the coffee. He still hadn’t said a word.
“I’m sorry I pushed you in the lake.” She stood up straighter and Oscar left them alone.
“You know.” He took another sip. “Before I stepped on that dock, I thought better of following you out there.”
“No, you didn’t.” Her brows shot up.
“Yeah. I actually did.” A smile broke across his lips, and she felt like she could finally take a breath.
She dropped her head in her hands and groaned. “I swear, I don’t usually push unsuspecting souls off docks.”
“How about bridges?” he teased.
She laughed and shook her head.
“I shouldn’t have kissed you. Not right then, at least.” He took a step back from the door and invited her in. She glanced behind her at her house and stepped inside. She was sure her friends were watching every step she made. She also wished she’d thought more about her wardrobe choice. She was in a low-cut camisole and a pair of jean shorts.
Joel invited her into the study, and he took a seat on an ottoman while she sat on the leather chair.
“The worst part about last night was that I actually liked the kiss.” Her cheeks reddened. “I didn’t want it to end, actually.”
“Well, that’s certainly a different way of showing it.” A bemused look settled into his eyes.
“I just . . .” She bit her lip. “Look, I’m sorry for what I did, but I’m not sorry for being disappointed. I really don’t understand why you’ve been keeping things from me.”
“There’s no good reason.” He shrugged. “Possibly self-preservation.”
She chuckled, and her body instantly relaxed. “I’m glad it didn’t happen around any power tools.”
“So am I.” Joel stood and walked over to his desk. A pile of papers sat tidily on top, which he grabbed and brought over to her.
Her eyes fell to the top page, and it matched the coversheet she’d found the day before in the basement.
“Your uncle needed a substantial amount of money. At first, the amounts were small, but they continued to add up. He leveraged some of his smaller homes in the beginning.”
“So you gave him loans using his property as collateral.”
He flipped a few pages back. She didn’t recognize the page from the stack she’d found in the basement.
It looked like her uncle had attempted to use the B&B as collateral right before his death.
“Do you have any idea why he needed so much money? Was it to live on?” Autumn asked, bringing her gaze back to Joel’s.
“I don’t. His wife passed away many years before he started to take out the loans. We didn’t want to pry. He’d done so much for the community for so long that we’d actually tried to help him without going this route.”
“What do you mean?” Her pulse sped up.
“I lent him twenty thousand as a personal loan way before all of this.” He shrugged and didn’t bother mentioning that he never got it back and never intended to. “Maybe it was for medical expenses or general upkeep on the B&B.”
“It’s hard to imagine any of the money went to the B&B. It’s in rough shape.”
Joel nodded in agreement, but she noticed that his jaw clenched.
“What?”
“He wanted to put up the B&B, but my brothers and I knew the risk didn’t outweigh the reward on that one. No offense.”
Autumn laughed and shook her head. “None taken.” She handed him back the papers, and he put them back on the desk before taking a seat.
“I always felt bad about that decision.”
“You shouldn’t. I noticed there had been a lien on the B&B at one time though.”
“That’s correct.” He nodded. “It was for such a small amount, we just forgave it.” Joel scratched his chin. “It was in the very beginning before he started looking at his other properties, and the B&B was still in halfway decent shape, but as far as I know, that’s long been released.”
“I’d imagine it would have come up during the title transfer,” she agreed, which was one of the reasons that kept churning through her head last night. She’d felt like such an idiot for presuming anyone would want the pile of problems she’d inherited, especially a North. “I’m so sorry. I feel so bad for pushing you in.”
“Hey, it made me famous so . . .”
She groaned. “You saw that?”
“Hard to miss on the front page.” Joel laughed, and the sound filled her with hope that maybe she hadn’t completely blown it with him.
“At least you look good in print.” She smiled and noticed the paper was on the side table next to her. “You certainly have a lot of women willing to drop everything and help out.”
“What can I say? To some, I’m actually a catch.”
“I can see it on the surface. Tall, dark, and handsome, with beautiful blue eyes and a body—”
“A body that what?” he asked, his voice lowering slightly.
“A body that is tempting.”
He let out a low growl and stood. “You’re never boring.”
“Music to my ears.” Autumn chuckled and stood too, thinking she needed to get back to her friends.
“How about you have dinner with me? Any questions you have, I’ll answer to the best of my ability. No more secrets.” He looped his arm around her waist, and she stilled, not wanting to go anywhere.
“I’d like that.”
Neither of them moved. Joel’s eyes stayed on Autumn’s as she felt her pulse rise by his mere proximity. She loved everything about him, from the way he smelled like soap to the ruffled bedhead he was sporting.
“You know, I’m going to make that B&B so cute that you’ll wish you had a lien on it.”
He smiled widely and shook his head. “I don’t doubt it.”
Joel ran his finger along her collarbone, and she shivered, loving every second of his touch.
“You have to have vision to be excited about the B&B like you are, and that makes me see your vision too.” He stepped closer. “I know that place is going to be the talk of the town someday, and it will all be because of you.”
She blinked up at him. “You really think so?”
“I know so.” He looked down at Autumn and saw the familiar spark of determination in her gaze. “Everything about you is such a turn-on.”
That brought a smile to her lips, but she didn’t say anything.
“When do your friends leave?” Joel asked, looking into her eyes and feeling the desire pulse through him.
“A couple of days.”
“Then we’ll have dinner in a couple of days.”
She nodded, and he wanted to kiss her, but after last night, he decided to make her wait.