We stayed out in the woods for about an hour before Brett’s phone rang.

“The missus says dinner is ready if we could head on back.”

“Sure. Let me just get this all put away,” I said of the tackle box and the pole.

“We can take it back in the UTV. Much easier on my knees than walking all the way out here. You can use it too if I’m at work.”

“What’s a UTV?” I asked as I gathered everything and met him at the bench.

“It’s like a two-seater all-terrain vehicle. Follow me,” he explained as he led me to an opening on the other side of the field where a black and blue vehicle sat.

He placed the cooler in the back area, then grabbed the tackle box and fishing pole from me, doing the same.

Together we rode back to the house, our bodies rocking back and forth with the jerky terrain, as I tried to come up with a way to ask them about the property I saw earlier in the day. I didn’t want them to get their hopes up in me staying in the town permanently. But I saw the house as a nice investment property if I could get it up to livable standards. I could rent it or sell it when I was finished. Or keep it as a vacation home for myself.

Now that was an idea.

Once we returned to the house, Lily immediately directed us to the sink to wash up before we could eat dinner. Not that I needed to be told. I had no desire to eat with my hands smelling of fish.

When we were seated, she served the homemade lasagna and my mouth watered at the sight over the heaping plate. I couldn’t recall the last time I had a home-cooked meal like this one.

Unless it could be cooked in the microwave, I was hopeless. Which baffled me that a cooking channel wanted me to be the face of a new show. But I was willing to learn. And I had high hopes that Lily could teach me a few things while I was here.

The room was quiet as we all ate. Brett and Lily chatted about the market that morning to fill some of the silence, but I was more than content to listen to their conversation.

“Did you see much of the town when you drove through today?”

This was it. This was the segway I needed. A clang sounded in the dining room as I set my fork on the plate. Lily went all out with the good china for the meal.

“Actually, what do you know about the house up on the hill about ten minutes from here?”

Chapter Six – Autumn

The theater was more crowded than I anticipated as I turned in my seat and watched another group of people stroll in. It took some digging, but we’d learned that the sheriff was holding the house auction in the town theater to make sure there was ample space. Our courthouse was too small for the function.

The place was something straight out of Architectural Digest. It opened in 1929 and was a staple in our town, supported and funded by our community. There was even a local theater troupe that hosted two plays every year.

It was one of our town’s pride and joys. I’d forgotten how beautiful it was.

But an odd place to hold an auction. What did I know, though? The sheriff seemed to think there was going to be a large turnout, and from the way strangers were filling the seats, he wasn’t wrong.

“Mom, I don’t think we’re going to be able to bid enough. Look at all these people.” I whispered the concern in my mother’s ear, my heartbeat thumping erratically. My parents were willing to cash out everything in their name if I won the bid. They gave me a substantial number to work with, but I feared it wasn’t going to be enough.

“What are they doing here?” Aspen snarled from my other side. I turned to look in the direction she was staring and found a few men in suits, congregating against the wall.

“Who is that?”

“They’re the land developers that keep snooping around the farm. Dad’s had to call the cops on them for trespassing twice in the last month. They’re relentless dirtbags.”

“The sheriff said the land and property couldn’t be awarded to a developer. They weren’t allowed to bid.”

“They’re probably trying to see who they can weasel it out of, I’m sure.”

“What do they want it for anyway?”

“Not sure. But Betsy at the grocery store overheard them talking about an industrial park of sorts.”

That was not what I expected. Our town was all for change and expansion when it did right by the people, but an industrial park wasn’t something they were going to be too happy with. Back in high school, they voted to keep three other developments like that from moving in. We thought we’d proven our point, but apparently not.

“Now I really wish I had more money with me to make sure they didn’t figure out a way to get their grubby hands on it.”

“Everything will work out how it’s supposed to, sweetie,” my father said from the end of the row where he sat next to Alex. Rory was between her and Aspen. My sisters had all taken the day off work for the occasion. They wanted to support me and help get our land back.

The booming room quieted when the sheriff took the stage and began describing the property. I felt ill listening to him talk about the land and home that had once belonged to us. It felt dirty watching the eyes of all these people light up at our misfortune.

A man in a three-piece suit stepped onto the stage and moved behind the microphone stand the sheriff vacated. Mom’s hands gripped our registration papers as the bidding began.

I didn’t raise my hand right away, more engrossed in listening to the numbers climb as people furiously threw their hands up to place a bid.

The offers began to slow and I saw my moment.

The bids were settling around the fifty thousand mark and I raised my hand to place a bid at seventy-five thousand. The couple in front of me turned and sneered before raising their hands to counter bid.

This continued with a few other people in the auditorium until I was reaching one hundred thousand over my initial bid. My family and I knew what the house and land were worth. That was really what we were paying for, but no one else did. They didn’t know the significance of that property or the impacts it had on history, being one of the first farms in the area. They were there for a pretty piece of land to make their summer home.

“Mom.” My voice shook as we approached the top of our budget. My parents had offered more, even suggested a personal loan at their expense, but I refused. I could do with the money they were willing to cash in because I knew I could pay them back for it in time. That was money they already had. I couldn’t ask them to take out more on such a gamble. That was how our family ended up in this mess to begin with.

“It’s okay, Autumn. Go with your gut. If you’re not comfortable going higher, we can deal with someone else on our land.”

“But we shouldn’t have to,” I explained as I raised my hand as the bid hit the two hundred thousand mark.

“One million, fifty thousand, with lien payments on top.”

The bid silenced the crowd. That was far more than the house or the land were worth. Someone was playing a devious game.

Collectively, the crowd looked back at the bidder only to find him tucked in the far back shadows of the theater, ball cap covering the remainder of his face in its own shadows.

“Sold?” the auctioneer questioned, as no one countered his bid. “Um, well, uh. Congratulations. You can meet with the sheriff to determine the collection of your winnings. Thank you all for coming.”

Beside me, my sisters grumbled that they all needed a drink, but I was too busy focusing on the figure slinking further back into the shadows before he ducked into a stairwell altogether.

“Autumn?” Mom said from beside me and turned back in my chair quickly.

“Yeah, I could use a stiff drink. Think The Purple Goat would serve alcohol at 10 a.m.?”

My mother patted my knee in condolence. “I think Harold will make an exception today.”

“I’m sorry, Mom. I’m so sorry I let everyone down.”