Autumn's Hope (Cowboy Seasons) (2 page)

“Well,
why don’t you stop on by as soon as I have this place up and running then?” She
smiled until she noticed the looks they exchanged.
They must really like steak.
“Thank you. I appreciate your hard
work.”

Autumn
smiled at each of them as they left. She closed the door and locked it. The
place was so quiet, and loneliness took away some of her enthusiasm. She tried
to shrug it off but it settled deep inside of her. Her hand naturally went to
her stomach. Not much of a baby-bump yet and she was six and a half months
along. She heard it happened that way with the first baby sometimes.

* * * *

Jonas
Barnes felt hot under his collar. He’d had two days to stew on the information
he’d gotten from Holden O’Leary’s brothers.

A vegetarian juice bar, really? Who
does that in cattle country?
He parked his pick-up
in front of the restaurant and fumed. He had the contract to supply the
restaurant with beef. A contract he counted on to make ends meet. Some slip of
a gal was not going to make his life miserable. She could just go back to where
she came from. He hit the steering wheel with the palm of his hand. Somehow he
was going to have to change Fall’s mind.

He
got out of the truck and strode toward the Bar and Grill. The door was open so
he let himself in. Glancing around, he was relieved to see that nothing had
changed. Maybe the veggie thing was just a rumor.

“Oh,
I thought I heard someone come in.”

Jonas
turned toward the kitchen door and was bowled over. The prettiest little gal
stood there, her long, red hair shining bright and her blue eyes reminded him
of cornflowers. Her smile lit up the whole room and for a moment he forgot why
he was there. “Are you the new owner?”

She
took a step toward him. “Yes, I am. I’m Autumn Lavin. Is there something I can
help you with?”

Feeling
off balance, Jonas cleared his throat hoping for a moment to regain his train
of thought. “I’m Jonas Barnes. I own a cattle ranch right outside of town. I
stopped by to see if the rumors were true.”

Her
blue eyes widened. “What rumors?”

“Well,
Fall, I heard about some veggie joint going in here and I had to see if the ridiculous
rumors had any merit.”

Her
eyes sparked as she stared at him. “I just said my name is, Autumn, not Fall.
The rumors are true. I’m planning to open a vegetarian restaurant with a juice
bar. Frankly, Joe, I don’t enjoy being called ridiculous.”

“Jonas.
My name is Jonas.”

She
gave him an icy glare. “Well, I have a lot to do. It was nice to meet you, Joe,”
she snapped.

Jonas
had to keep his mouth from hanging open. “Sure thing, Fall, I’ll let you get
back to your bean sprouts.” He turned and left before he laughed at her. But he
had to admit, she was glorious standing there with her hands on her hips ready
to take him on.

A
huge grin planted itself on his face and he didn’t care. He was a very tall man
at six foot four. He knew his build was bigger than most and he’d scared more
than one filly away. But man she was amazing, calling him Joe. Guess she didn’t
take to being called Fall. He chuckled and drove all the way home before he
realized that she was still hell bent on the veggie thing.

Jonas
wondered what she thought of him. He’d been told once that he was the total
package with his brown hair and amber eyes. But that was before he became a
soldier. Now he was a ripped open package that had been put back together with
staples. Sadly, he shook his head. It would be best to forget about her.

He
gazed at his cattle, cattle he cut from the herd and saved for the Bar and Grill.
He needed to figure out how much he could sell them for now, compared to what
it would cost to feed them all winter.

A
horse whinnied and he headed straight for the barn. Sure enough it was Yo-Yo.
He’d done all he could for the poor horse. Yo-Yo was found alone in a vacant
barn. He was emaciated with severe rain rot. He’d also had dental problems and
overgrown feet. The poor animal had suffered and Jonas wanted to make his last
days easier if possible.

“Yo-Yo,
old pal, I think it’s time to call Holden to come out.”

Yo-Yo
stared Jonas in the eye. He seemed to know it was time too. Jonas sighed. It
always saddened him but he was glad to have helped in the end. He’d been like
that since serving in the military. His unit had been in some tight spots and
not everyone returned unscathed. He shook his head and tried not to think about
it.

Jonas
made the call and talked to Yo-Yo until Holden arrived. As soon as he heard the
truck coming up the drive, he left the barn to greet Holden.

Holden’s
dark eyes looked bleak. “I never get used to it but at least it’s painless.”

Jonas
nodded. “Yo-Yo got the raw end of the deal. We tried to help and I like to
think we make a difference.”

Holden
sighed and reached into his black bag. “You do make a difference, Jonas. Yo-Yo
was dying of starvation. It’s not a pleasant way to go.”

“Have
you heard what that dang gal plans to do with the Bar and Grill?” Jonas changed
the subject. He wanted to mourn Yo-Yo in private.

Holden
nodded his head. “My brothers helped her move in. They mentioned it. They
aren’t receptive to the whole idea.”

“I
had the contract to supply the beef to the Bar and Grill. I always hold back my
best steers for it. I could have made more money selling them with the rest,
but the old owner Paul and I had been friends for a long time.” Jonas frowned.
It was still hard to accept that Paul had been killed.
 
“A vegetarian restaurant with some swanky
juice bar? I thought it was a joke.”

Holden
gathered all the supplies he needed to put the horse down. He gave Jonas a sad
smile. “Maybe you could change her mind.”

“Not
that little spitfire.”

Holden
laughed. “I see.”

“See
what?” Jonas shot back.

“That
you like her. Come on I need your help.”

Jonas
followed Holden into the barn wondering where he’d gotten such an idea. Like
her?
 
He shook his head. She might be a
pretty little thing but he wasn’t going to trust his heart to any woman,
especially not a little spitfire who liked to eat plants.

* * * *

Autumn
needed a break. Moving had been exhausting and the silence was starting to get
to her. She stepped out into the bright, Montana sun and was surprised to see a
woman waving at her, hurrying down the sidewalk.

“Yoo-hoo!”
The woman’s hair was a ghastly shade of magenta and her perfume was so heavy it
made Autumn feel a bit queasy. “I’ve been dying to meet you. I’m Beverly Rain
the town librarian. As soon as I heard you’d moved in I came right over.”

Autumn
summoned up a smile. “Nice to meet you. I’m Autumn Lavin.”

“Of
course you are, dear. I’m the Carlston welcome wagon. Come, I’ll buy you a cup
of coffee and we can get to know one another.”

Beverly’s
over-enthusiastic cheeriness got on Autumn’s nerves but she didn’t see any way
out of it. “Sounds good, where should we go?”

“Usually
I’d say Lucy’s Deli, but I’m not too happy with her. Let’s go to The Carlston
Diner.” She smiled and batted her fake eyelashes.

“Lead
the way.” How had she become so easily roped into coffee with this woman?

Soon
they were in front of the diner and she opened the door for Beverly to waltz
in. Beverly smiled and waved to the customers all the while leading her to a
booth. “I’m well known in this town, dear. I try to set an example for all.”

She
wanted to groan. She’d had her fill of busybodies and had no intention of
falling prey to another.

A
waitress started walking their way when Beverly leaned forward. “Shayna isn’t
the right type of person. She’s nice enough, but her background isn’t what
you’d want in a friend.”

Autumn
was dumbfounded. Just who did this woman think she was? Disgusted, she turned
to the waitress and smiled. Her pink uniform was very retro with a big nametag
on it. Shayna had big brown eyes and her brown hair was pinned up in a bun. She
appeared nice enough.

“Good
morning, ladies, what can I get you?” Shayna barely glanced at Beverly.

“Shayna,
that’s not how you speak to a new person. You introduce yourself, it’s only
polite,” Beverly admonished.

Shayna
briefly glanced at Beverly, and then smiled at Autumn. “You must be the new
owner of the Bar and Grill. I’m Shayna Lowerly.”

“Nice
to meet you, Shayna. I’m Autumn Lavin. I’m dying for a cup of coffee.”

“Make
that two coffees, dear.” Beverly waved her away.

Autumn
hoped that she could drink fast and get the heck out of there. She didn’t
relish spending one minute more than necessary with Beverly.

“I
heard a funny rumor about the restaurant yesterday and I was sure it was a
mistake, this being cattle country and all. I mean who would be foolish enough
to think we’d eat vegetarian meals? What about the ranch hands? They love shots
of whiskey. In fact they’ve been looking forward to your opening.”

“It’s
not a rumor, it’s the truth. I do plan to open a vegetarian restaurant with a
juice bar.”

Beverly
laughed. “Will you be teaching yoga classes too?”

Autumn
stiffened. “Why would you think that?”

“Are
you from California?”

“No,
I’m not.”

“What
about meditating and incense? Would you have that too?”

Autumn
reined in her temper and quickly stood up. “Enjoy your coffee.” She started to
walk away when she spotted Shayna. “It was nice to meet you, Shayna.”

Autumn
heard Beverly grumbling as she went out the door. It was as though she’d jumped
out of one frying pan and into another. What was so wrong with eating healthy?
She had great recipes and it had been a long time dream of hers. The juice bar
part was new but since the Bar and Grill had a bar she thought why not?

She
felt raring to go and get her restaurant started. She didn’t plan on
renovations, the building was fine. She just planned to change the menu and not
serve alcohol. There were always a few people that didn’t like change and Jonas
and Beverly were the few. She’d be a great success, she knew it.

When
she reached her place, she rolled up her sleeves and got to work cleaning the
bar area, wanting everything to sparkle and shine. She’d been on the internet
the previous day looking up all kinds of smoothie recipes and she couldn’t wait
to try them out.

“Am
I interrupting?” Summer asked, standing just inside the open door.

“Not
at all, come in.” Autumn waved her in and grabbed a clean towel to dry her
hands. “What brings you by?”

Summer
walked over and leaned on the wood bar. “Two things really. I saw you with
Beverly.”

“Is
she a friend of yours?”

“Oh,
Lord no. No, she is not. I just wanted to know if she gave you a hard time.
She’s known for being in everyone’s business. I’ve been on the wrong side of
her before.”

“Actually,
she was pleasant until she admonished the waitress for not introducing herself
to me. It went downhill from there.” Autumn sighed.

“Downhill?”

“She
doesn’t like my plans for this place and she was quite insulting.”

“That’s
Beverly for you. Don’t take what she says to heart.”

Autumn
nodded. “You said two things brought you by?”

“Oh,
yes, the most important reason. Holden and I are finally getting married in two
weeks and of course I’d love for you to come. I do have a favor to ask though.
It’s fine if you say no, I’d understand.”

Autumn
wondered what she was talking about.

“You
see, we can’t leave town until we get a replacement for Holden. I’ve been
waiting for weeks now and finally we found someone to fill in for him. The only
problem is that the replacement vet needs a place of to stay and I guess the
motel isn’t good enough. I know you have the extra apartment upstairs and I was
wondering…” Summer bit her bottom lip and pleaded with her eyes.

“I
hadn’t really planned to rent it out. Do you even know the man?”

“Well
that’s the thing. It’s a woman. I think she’s in her late thirties, well
thought of in her field. I wish I knew more details, but that’s all I’ve got.”

“It’s
fine, as long as she knows that she makes her own meals and stuff. I’m going to
be busy setting up.”

Summer
smiled and grasped her hand, giving it a squeeze. “Thank you. Whew, that takes
a load off my shoulders. I can’t believe Holden and I are getting married. I’ll
call you tonight with the details. I’m so excited!” Summer practically floated outside.

Her
happiness for her new friend was short lived as a pang of envy cut it off. She
wished she had somehow found the right man. That wasn’t the way life went for
her. Statistics were always against her. If it said one in four adults would have
something happen to them, she was always the one. It was never a good happening
either.