Chapter Seventeen
Autumn had seen Oscar and Joel walking down the sidewalk while she enjoyed her new wraparound porch earlier this morning. Joel didn’t notice her, probably because he wouldn’t have expected anyone to be lurking in the yard with the condition the place had been in for so long, but she did notice him, and he looked as good as when she’d left him a few days ago.
Her friends knew she had it bad, but Autumn was trying to keep her emotions in check around him. That was going to be her goal when they went to dinner. She’d be calm, cool, and completely collected in his presence to make up for his being shoved off the dock.
She cringed at the memory and hoped his brothers wouldn’t hold it against her. Actually, she was less worried about his brothers and more concerned about his mom and grandmother seeing the newspaper.
Way to make a first impression. She shook herself out of it and poured herself another cup of coffee.
Nonetheless, she loved her new porch, and she felt confident that it would withstand a group of people without necessitating an emergency room visit. The house was really coming along. It was amazing how fast things went when professionals were called in. A couple of the powder rooms had already been remodeled. Two sitting rooms upstairs had been painted and new carpet laid.
Autumn wandered to the staircase and ran her hands along the new wooden risers. They’d replaced many of the steps along with installing a new bannister.
Tomorrow, the carpet installers would be fitting a runner in the center of the stairs. Mason had everything scheduled down to the second for when items could be checked off the list.
Autumn made her way to the library. This was the project she and her friends had started last night. They’d already removed all the furniture and had begun tearing up the carpet before they left for their flight this morning. She had amazing friends. No doubt about it.
Beautiful wood floors were underneath, and she felt like the tides were finally starting to turn in her favor. Removing the carpet brightened up the entire space, and the wood floors seemed absolutely perfect for a library.
As she rolled up the carpet and maneuvered it into the hallway, she let out one big heave as she pushed it out of the way. She nearly tripped over the rug as she went back into the room but grabbed onto one of the built-in shelves to steady herself.
A photograph sailed to the wooden floor, and she bent over to pick it up. Halfway expecting to see Uncle Fred or his wife, she was startled to see a young woman, about her age, staring back at her.
Autumn studied the picture, noticing the same auburn hair and green eyes that she had, and chills cascaded over her flesh. Could this have been Uncle Fred’s daughter? Sadness crept over her as she reached up to the shelf where this photo had been stored to find several others.
There was so much she didn’t know about her family, and it seemed like every day she stayed in Silver Ridge, the more she learned about a past she never expected and certainly had never heard about. It made no sense that her father would have shut everyone out of his life.
Her breath caught when she shuffled through them. The photos were all with the same woman but at different ages. There was no doubt that this woman would be around the same age as Autumn. She analyzed the surroundings and realized that whoever she was, she had been in this very same house. Whether it was the old fireplace in the living room or the gardens in the backyard, the backgrounds in most of the photos looked to be somewhere in this house.
Clutching the photos, she made her way out of the library and to her purse in the dining room, where she stuffed the images inside. She’d definitely ask Joel who the woman might be. He could have come across her over the years and would probably know more than she did.
There was certainly a striking resemblance, which was quite unsettling, but what worried her more was that if Uncle Fred had a daughter, why wouldn’t she have received his inheritance?
Hopefully, she’d be able to find some answers.
Autumn looked at the clock and knew she should start getting ready for dinner with Joel. She’d been looking forward to it since she left his house days ago, but finding these pictures really threw her off.
As she climbed the steps to her bedroom, she let the weight of her undertaking slowly lift. This B&B might not resemble a place anyone wanted to stay at the moment, but someday it would, and she’d be the Tucker to get it back into shape. She didn’t know why, but she felt like Silver Ridge was home and where she needed to be.
The town was the closest thing she had to family. The history here provided a connection that she’d desperately craved without ever realizing it. Traveling around the world did nothing but make her feel disconnected. At first, it had been her way to escape the sorrow, but as the years went by, she realized the sorrow only grew until it was screaming at her. She couldn’t escape the grief no matter how hard she’d tried, which was why coming to Silver Ridge seemed like the perfect place to work through everything she’d been trying to avoid.
She walked into her bedroom and flipped on the light. Letting out a sigh, she looked around the room. This spot was last on her list, but it certainly needed as much attention as every other room.
Tiny rose covered wallpaper was peeling in the corners, and underneath, where the wall was exposed, tiny cracks reached for the ceiling. This was one of the rooms that led Mason to believe there was a roof problem, and he was right. While the roof was certainly high on her list of musts, she wasn’t planning on a new roof until late summer, before the rain and snow hit the area.
The bathroom tile project was something she wanted to get started soon. The pink and mauve tile signaled another era, and she dreamed of an evening when she could turn on the water in the claw-foot tub and soak away her day’s problems, but until then, she turned on the water in the somewhat grimy shower and climbed in under the steady stream of hot water.
Her mind drifted to the woman in the photos as she rinsed her hair. There had to be a connection to the Tucker family. There was no doubt about it with a resemblance like that, but she couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to her, whoever she was.
As she rinsed out the conditioner, she let her mind drift to Joel. He was so easygoing and understanding, not to mention extremely good-looking, which only made her dry off and move faster so she could see him sooner.
Autumn quickly dressed, dried her hair, and dabbed on some mascara before dashing out of the house. When she reached Joel’s front door, she saw a note attached.
In the shower. Went out on a call that went a little longer than anticipated. I’ll be right down.
Autumn ripped the note off the door and drew in a deep breath. The thought of Joel upstairs showering while she was downstairs staring at a wall seemed like such a waste of water. She walked into his house and stuffed the note into her purse.
She wasn’t sure where he’d planned on taking her tonight, but as she walked further into the home, she saw a beautiful table set for two on the patio, a bottle of wine chilling on the kitchen counter, and a gorgeous bouquet of roses.
Autumn looked around the kitchen as she tried to get her nerve up for what she was about to do. Seeing everything laid out here tonight with such care made her heart swell. It didn’t matter if he was right next to her, across the street, or upstairs in the shower. She felt such a strong connection to Joel, and it only grew with time. She bent over and inhaled the scent of the crimson roses, and the fragrance gave her the little courage she needed.
Setting her purse next to the bouquet, she drew in a deep breath and made her way to the stairs. She’d never done something like this before, but every cell in her body wanted to be close to Joel, and she couldn’t stop imagining him in the shower.
With each step up the stairs, the intensity of her need only grew, but her body was trembling with a mixture of fear and excitement. She had no idea what she was going to do. She hoped when she saw him under the water, her brain would start working again because right now, all she felt was a pull to him.
When she reached the top of the stairs, she saw Oscar snoring on the landing next to a bench. It suddenly dawned on her that maybe scaling the stairs in a home with an Oscar might be the wrong kind of surprise for both of them.
“Hey, Oscar,” she said calmly, hoping he wouldn’t greet her with teeth.
Oscar opened one eye and closed it just as quickly. One obstacle down.
Autumn drew in a deep breath. She could do this. She glanced down both hallways and took a guess as to which way to go. As she got closer to the door at the end of the hallway, she saw that it was propped open and heard the sound of the shower.
Her pulse was pounding with each step forward, but the excitement was pummeling through her. She walked into his bedroom and couldn’t believe she’d made it this far. Not with Joel naked in the bathroom through the next door. Autumn looked around the room and loved how it felt like Joel. A large sleigh bed centered the room, and several short chests anchored each side of the bed. The room was done in neutrals with ivory walls and beige bedding.
His clothes were thrown on the bedspread, and for some reason, that made her breath even shakier.
“You can do this,” she whispered to herself.
Autumn took a few steps toward the bathroom. The door was already open and steam was rolling out.
She made it about a foot away and looked inside to see a double vanity, a claw-foot tub, and then a tile wall. She assumed the shower was just behind the white tile.
“Joel, are you in here?” She poked her head into the bathroom and smelled the same soap she loved smelling.
A few seconds of silence passed, and her heart rate was beating all over the place. She’d been too presumptuous.
Just as she was about to turn around and slink away, she felt his arm slide around her waist. She gasped with surprise and turned around to see Joel’s beautiful eyes full of desire as his gaze settled on hers.
“Hey, beautiful,” he whispered.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in the shower?” she teased.
“I forgot a towel.” His voice lowered as his gaze fell to her lips.
She felt desire pulsing through her so sharply she knew she there would be only one thing to make the ache go away. She needed Joel. She’d needed him from the moment she met him.
Autumn drew in a shaky breath and looped her arms around his neck. She’d never wanted a man so badly in her life.
“You look absolutely gorgeous,” Joel said softly, tucking a fallen piece of hair behind her ear, “but I should finish my shower.”
His words nearly unhinged her. They were so close. She moved her hands down from his neck and rested them on his bare chest, feeling the heat roll off his skin. Rather than step away, she kissed his chest and slowly worked her mouth up his neck. He let out a slow, long growl of desire as her hands skirted along his bare skin.
Without waiting a second longer, he lifted her dress off her and tossed it on the floor. She put her mouth on Joel’s, and he let out another deep groan as her mouth parted against his. He cupped her breasts in his palms through the lace bra and kissed her deeply, feeling her arch into him.
Joel’s hands slid down and around her waist, pulling her into him, and she let out a little moan as her hands ran down his back, her fingers resting on the waistband of his jeans. She kissed him so hungrily, he nearly lost it, but he promised himself to take it slowly. Take her slowly.
Autumn traced her fingers along his waist until she reached the front of his jeans, where she quickly unbuttoned them, but he caught her hands in his and pushed them to the side as he moved his mouth along her neck and down to her breasts.
A trembling breath escaped as he unfastened her bra and let it fall to the floor as his mouth quickly teased and taunted her while his hands pushed down her lace panties. She felt so exposed but on fire with a hungry need for Joel. She’d kept herself from feeling emotion for so long that every thought that was racing through her made her desire that much stronger.
Joel let out a low moan as she peeled off the rest of his clothes, and he brought his mouth back to hers as he lifted her and took her to the shower. The heat of the water streaming down her body made Autumn’s skin respond to every touch, lick, and breath from Joel North.
He moved her against the cold tile wall, and she sucked in a deep breath, which he caught with more kisses as he covered her mouth with his. She slid her fingers through his wet hair as he pressed his body against hers.
Autumn’s knees nearly gave out when she felt his bare skin against hers, the water rolling over them both as she clung to him. His kisses were so hot and wet as her mind fell into a blissful state between need and desire. She moved her hands down his back, and his kisses turned hungrier as his fingers moved down her belly and between her thighs. She felt her legs tremble from his touch.
Feeling her pleasure, he knelt and looked up at Autumn, her eyes closed, and he knew she was the most beautiful woman in the world. Watching her lips part and her tongue slide along her bottom lip made his need insatiable, but he kept a steady rhythm as her body responded to his touch.
“Joel.” Her breathy word nearly undid him as he peppered kisses along her thighs and into her V.
She could hardly catch her breath as he worked his tongue and slid his hands around her waist to keep her centered. Autumn let out a little moan and he knew she was close. She twisted her fingers into his hair, and he closed his eyes, feeling the water drip along their bodies as he tasted her. Autumn’s body tensed, and he opened his eyes to see her head arch back and her body shudder into his. He’d never felt so close to another woman as he did with Autumn. She let every part of herself go as she fell under Joel’s spell.
The water continued to pelt down on them as her eyes slowly blinked open. He wanted her so badly that when she looked at him with hungry, promising eyes, he stood. Her fingers wrapped around him, and he gasped as she pulled him forward, feeling her palm against him.
Autumn looked so beautiful bare, her teeth grinding into her bottom lip as she watched Joel with anticipation. She curled her arm around his neck, bringing his mouth to hers as he felt her breasts against his chest. The ache to feel her around him was almost unbearable until she slid him toward her.
“You feel so good,” she whispered as her hands slid free.
Joel pushed inside her, and she let out a moan of pleasure as he lifted her higher, pressing her body against the tile. She wound her arms around him and pulled him deeper inside her. Joel bit his lip as she whispered to him, feeling her tighten around him.
“I’ve never felt like this before,” Autumn whispered, and with those words, Joel completely lost himself. He felt her constrict as her fingers dug into his back and his body experienced more pleasure than he’d ever known before.
She let out several soft moans to match his pace, and he knew he would never want any other woman but Autumn Tucker for as long as he lived.
Autumn blinked her eyes open and sank her forehead onto his shoulder.
“I’m speechless,” she murmured as he still clutched her tightly.
“So am I.” And he was because he knew how much he’d fallen for Autumn, and he wasn’t sure she felt the same way. He knew what he wanted to tell her, but he also realized it was too soon.