Autumn Promises (10 page)

“We don’t have to do that. Adam and Xandra are staying and his son Mark’s flying in with Joy when she comes to get Jim and Cris.”

“It’ll be interesting to have a teenager around the place again. I’ll show him the ropes of a ranch. It’ll give me something useful to do.”

“You know it doesn’t have to be a hands-off thing for you with the ranch, Dad.”

It was tempting. Now that this wasn’t going to work out with Meg, he’d need something to do, something familiar to get his mind off her. “I got an idea today about getting into a speciality breeding
program with a select herd of cattle. You’re right about eating trends. Lean meat, that’s the wave of the future. And maybe I can help Seth get a handle on that place of his while I’m at it.”

“I confess to being intrigued. Sorry I jumped to the wrong conclusion about Mom. We’ll talk when I get home.”

“Sure thing, son,” Evan said, but felt uneasy again. Why had that felt like a threat?

M
eg sat on her front porch looking out over the rolling hills of Laurel Glen. She’d bundled up against the dampness and had armed herself with a steaming cup of coffee. It was a perfect March morning. Punxsutawney Phil had been really annoying this year with his six-more-weeks-of-winter prediction, but it was clear that winter had finally given up its stranglehold on Pennsylvania.

The bare winter trees that bordered the pastures and shaded the buildings dotting the landscape had begun to thicken with new growth—a promise of spring. It was Saint Patrick’s Day, and the fields had begun to green up just in time for the “wearing of the green” in southeastern Pennsylvania.

She’d arrived home in time to welcome another baby girl into the Taggert family. Amelia left for the
hospital to deliver little Rose Taggert only hours after Meg’s limo had arrived at the quaint little cottage she now occupied. Cole had mended fences with CJ and they were now happy again, living on an adjacent property passed down from his maternal grandparents.

She’d thrown herself into helping with both the new baby and CJ when Cole was busy with his veterinary practice, until both women were able to fend for themselves. Amelia was her old self again, but CJ still had the cast on, so Meg often ran by to help out a little. She also had her work with the historical society. She had the big spring benefit to help plan for the group. Her life was full and busy. Just the way she liked it.

So why was she dissatisfied for the first time since moving to Laurel Glen to help raise her niece and nephew? Why did nothing feel the same anymore?

Because Evan Alton put doubts in your head.

He’d cast suspicion on her family. Her wonderful, happy family who had been through so much pain and turmoil and was now doing so well. But now she felt as if she were on the outside looking in. And that was just plain ridiculous!

She was happy as a free agent.

No one demanded an accounting of her time. No one missed her if she wasn’t home at a specific hour. And she let no one down if she took off for parts unknown on an adventure.

But did that mean that no one cared at all about her?

That’s what Evan thought, but he was wrong.

He was wrong about roots, too. They were important but transportable. She thought of the expression “Home is where the heart is.” Evan didn’t understand that or her relationship with the rest of the Taggert clan. That was all there was to that claptrap he’d been spouting.

The phone rang and she picked it up from the chair next to her. It was her niece. “Hope, how is Faith? Still down with the sniffles?”

Hope chuckled. “Are you kidding? She was up at six-thirty, tearing around with enough energy to run her father into the ground. And has. She took pity on him and fell asleep on his chest a few minutes ago. He followed within seconds.” She sighed. “Honestly, I don’t know where the time goes. This last month with the new students getting settled in was so busy I’ve barely had a minute to call my own. Since right now there’s peace, I wanted to touch base with you. We never get time to just sit down and talk anymore. Are you okay, Aunt Meg?”

Meg heard the concern in Hope’s voice. Hers was not an idle question. “How sweet of you to worry. But it’s unnecessary. I’m just fine. Why would you think otherwise?”

“Well, you came home so suddenly last month. Beth was still in the hospital.”

“But on the mend.”

“I thought you’d stay till she came home and was on her feet.”

“Adam and Xandra Boyer were there to take care of the babies and Jack was with Beth all the time. And then there was that man I had to put up with.”

“Man? Oh, Jack’s father. He seemed so nice when he was here visiting Crystal and Jack. What was the problem?”

“Oh, you know how some people just rub each other the wrong way. That’s us. Oil and water.”

“Oh. Well, now, that’s a disappointment.”

“Why on earth would my problems with Jack’s father be a disappointment?”

“Aunt Meg! Think how romantic that would have been. You two have so much in common, Jack among them. Suppose you two had hit it off and you’d found each other after all these years because Jack came looking for you. That would have been wonderful.”

Meg felt her heartbeat speed up. It would, wouldn’t it?

No, it wouldn’t! She’d loved her father and he’d cast her out of his life. She’d loved Wade and he’d been mercilessly ripped from her by death. She couldn’t risk giving anyone that kind of power over her. She’d never feel that kind of disillusionment again. Or that kind of pain. Never.

“Have you been tippling the cooking sherry, darling? It’s a bit early in the day.”

“Aunt Meg! I’m serious. He’s absolutely yummy-looking, and you know it. What’s the problem?”

“He annoys me,” Meg drawled. “Have you ever known someone who’s gone to a counselor and has become an authority on how everyone else should live their life? That’s Evan Alton. I think my life is just perfect, contrary to his take on it. I just couldn’t stay until Beth came home and have her saddled with the tension he’d created between us. Oh, dear. I really must run. Would you look at the time? I promised to get CJ’s lunch today and I have errands to handle first. See you later, darling,” she said, and hung up after Hope said goodbye.

“So much for my family not caring about me, Evan Alton!” she growled, and took a gulp of her coffee. She stood, telling herself the beverage had been too hot and that was the reason for the tears flooding her eyes.

Lunch with CJ quickly shaped up to be more of the same. They sat across from each other in the informal little breakfast room off Cole and CJ’s kitchen. Meg poured the tea and set the pot onto the place mat in the center of the round table. “There now,” she said to Cole’s petite blond wife. “What do you plan for tomorrow after the cast comes off?” she asked.

CJ simply tilted her head a bit and blindsided her. “Meg, are you all right?”

Meg blinked. What on earth was going on? “Of course. Why would you ask?” She longed to know, but hoped she wouldn’t dislike the answer.

CJ shrugged nonchalantly and poured dressing on her salad. “I don’t know. I’ve noticed you looking sad and thoughtful a lot of the time lately.”

“Oh, don’t be silly,” she said, tossing off CJ’s concern with a dismissive hand gesture. “I’ve just been puzzling out the spring benefit for the historical society. We’ve had more response than usual and the facility is on the small side.”

“Where is it going to be?”

“The Duportail House. It’s a lovely place. Early eighteenth century. Lots of history. It was Lafayette’s headquarters when the Continental army was at Valley Forge.”

“Oh. I’ve been there. A friend of Cole’s had his wedding reception there. Why don’t you rent tents the way Ross does for the Valentine’s Day party?” CJ suggested, an air of disbelief in her tone.

“Now, why didn’t I think of that? There are even stone terraces like Laurel House’s to set them up on.” Meg grinned sheepishly. “I feel so silly. I’ve been ordering those tents for years.”

“You know, you’ve been preoccupied ever since coming back from Colorado. Are you missing Jack
and Beth that much?” CJ asked, and took a bite of her salad.

Meg took a sip of her tea to ponder a good answer. No matter how she tried to change the subject it kept coming back to the same uncomfortable place. “I didn’t really have much of a visit because Beth was so sick and Jack was with her at the hospital the entire time she was there.”

“Then go back now that Beth’s on her feet.”

She shook her head. “Not for a while. My nerves couldn’t take it just now.”

“What gives? Come on. Talk.” CJ could be a terrible strong-arm for all her smallness of stature.

“Evan and I don’t see eye to eye about some things. It makes for uncomfortable moments.”

“Evan Alton? Really, Aunt Meg, you’ve never let anyone dictate what you do—even passively.”

“Evan isn’t a passive man, dear. And he isn’t dictating anything to me. Leaving was my decision. It’s
always
my decision,” she told CJ, drawing a startled look. She wondered what she’d revealed unwittingly. Whoops! Time for another change of subject. “Now, tell me. Is my nephew behaving himself these days?”

Evan dismounted and led Apple Boy into the barn. It was snowing again. It was as if the Lord was determined to remind Evan of the day he’d ridden out in the storm to find Meg. And the evening that to him had held such a promise of happiness.

The really annoying thing was he couldn’t remember a winter that had had so many snowfalls and so little resulting accumulation. It seemed as if every time he mounted up, the sky sent flakes drifting to earth unexpectedly. Hauntingly.

A month.

She’d been gone a month.

And he couldn’t remember ever being so lonely.

He’d been careful how he was handling it, though. Even though he’d entered into a partnership with Seth Stewart to develop a range-tough but tender steer, he hadn’t thrown himself into the project to the exclusion of all else.

Evan made sure to spend quality time with Jackson and his family. And he’d taken his son’s spiritual advice and found a Christian counselor. He prayed a lot, but hadn’t yet found any peace with what had happened between him and Meg.

His life was full and varied. He was doing all the right things. But he was miserable and he didn’t have a clue what to do about it.

“Why don’t you go after her, Dad?” Jackson said as if in answer to his silent question.

Evan hadn’t even realized he’d halted his forward progress into the recesses of the barn. He turned to Jackson, who stood in an empty stall.

“Huh?” he asked, stalling—pretending not to have heard.

“I said, why don’t you go after her?”

“Her?”

“Mom! The woman you’re crazy about,” Jackson clarified.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Are you saying you have no feelings for her?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said again. Jackson fell silent and Evan continued on to Apple Boy’s stall, confident that he’d dodged the bullet.

“Are you denying that you fell in love with her?” Jackson asked casually a few minutes later.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he repeated, knowing he sounded like a broken record. “Whatever gave you that idea?” he added, trying to recover lost ground.

Jackson snickered. “I’m not blind. And I talked to Crystal and Jim before they left. I hear dinner with you two was a study in furtive glances. If it helps, they thought she did as much looking as you did. And the more I think about the way she acted that day at the hospital before she left, the more I think she was running scared.”

Evan scowled and flipped the stirrup up over the saddle so he could get at the cinch to loosen it. Okay, so maybe he
should
talk to Jackson about this. After all, his son was happily married to the woman of his dreams. What harm could it do?

“If this little talk is supposed to be uplifting, I’ve got to tell you, it’s missing its mark. A man does not want to hear that the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with was afraid of him.”

“But that’s good. Don’t you see? Beth was scared to death of me. She didn’t show it at first. She came back at me like a spitting kitten.”

Evan raised an eyebrow. That was how he’d thought of Meg. He tried Jackson’s idea on for size while carrying his saddle out of the stall. He tossed the saddle over its rack and turned to his son. That
was
what he’d thought or he wouldn’t have been as aggressive with her that last night she was there. He’d scared her right onto that plane!

And that was only part of the problem.

“They all take her for granted, run to her with their problems, then go back to their lives. Then she goes on one of her adventures to either get away from all the tension or because everything is suddenly fine and she no longer feels needed. I tried to tell her that having them in her life isn’t the same as having her own family—that you and Beth and the kids
are
her real family—but she isn’t interested in changing her life.”

“I think you’re being too extreme about Ross and the rest of them. I think they care deeply for her.” Jackson grimaced. “But maybe they do take her a little for granted, too. It’s like she lives in this little slot labeled ‘Aunt Meg’ and they don’t see any other possibility for her. Neither does she. And you’re right about me and Beth and the kids. We’d love to have her here. So why don’t you go change her mind?”

“I just don’t know, son. I really messed up the last time I tried. Why do you think she left?”

“Pray about it.”

Evan sighed. “You think I haven’t done that? God isn’t talking. All He’s doing is snowing on me and reminding me of the last night she was here. And that reminds me of how badly I blew it with her.”

His son’s blue eyes, so like his mother’s, twinkled. “You’re praying. But are you
listening?
” he asked, and sauntered away leaving Evan pondering his son’s question.

Listening? Was God talking to him? It was a light-bulb moment. Were all these hit-and-miss snowfalls they’d been experiencing God’s way of talking to him? Was He warning Evan that there was no forgetting Meg, so he’d better do something about it? He was still pondering the question when Beth knocked on his door later that evening.

“May I come in?” she asked when he opened the door.

Sometimes Beth could be so proper, even standing on the steps of a cabin wearing jeans and a sheepskin coat. He grinned. “Anytime. What can I do for my favorite daughter-in-law?” he asked, smiling broadly, glad to see her doing so well and looking so healthy.

“You can go follow your dream. You can challenge Meg to come back.”

Evan pursed his lips, shaking his head. Not to re
fuse necessarily, but because he still thought it would be a fool’s errand. He walked away, leaving Beth to follow, and all but threw his body into the chair by the fireplace. He looked into its bare cavity and thought of that night in the main house in front of the warm and cozy fire. His idle hearth felt like a symbol of his life since she’d left.

Cold. Dark. Empty.