“Liar, but I’ll let it slide this time,” she added as she joined us to load the truck with the food left from the stand. If it wasn’t something we could use within the week or pickle, we donated it to the local church, which distributed them to families in need. It was a way for us to help the community.

Silently we loaded the rest of the empty trays into the truck and then broke down the items used at the stand. Rory and I both jumped when Alex slammed the tailgate of the cargo bed. She shrugged her shoulders in a silent apology as she made her way back to us.

“What are your plans today?” Rory asked us both as she counted the money in the metal box.

Alex replied as she opened her door. “I need to do inventory at the bar.”

“I need to hit up the grocery store. Mom and Dad are making my favorite since I’m home. You both will be there, right?”

“Of course. We never miss Saturday dinners if we can help it. Is that why you were here today? I loved having you, but it was a surprise for sure.”

My sisters stared at me with rapt attention, which made me feel like I was back in college public speaking, standing in front of an auditorium full of my peers giving a speech.

“Well, I felt antsy being at home, so I thought I’d go out for a drive and run some errands for Mom.”

“Oh, yeah?” Alex said with a smirk. “There was no pit stop or drive that you detoured?”

“Alex,” Rory scolded.

“It’s fine, Rory. Yes, I drove by the house. It looks so sad just sitting there on that hill. It needs so much love. I just wish there was something more I could do.”

The house sat on a plot of land in the middle of our family’s farm. It used to belong to our great-great-grandfather and was the original farmhouse, but when he passed away, he left it to his youngest son who had a penchant for gambling.

The story goes he lost the title to the house and the hundred acres of surrounding land in a bad poker hand. My great-grandmother had tried her hardest to get the property back into our name whenever it would go for sale, but she was always outbid. It had sat vacant for as long as my family could remember.

Last I’d heard, it was still in the name of the previous owner, but it was at the point I wouldn’t be stunned to find it condemned. Dad did his best to check on the property when he would inspect the adjacent land and would board up windows and holes. He’d even laid a tarp on the roof when a tree branch fell through ten years prior. But there was nothing more we could do but sit and wait.

It felt like it was what I’d been doing my whole life. The house was a fairytale to me, just like my previous job. All of it now out of reach and feeling more like a pipedream with every passing day.

“Have you thought about reaching out to the owners?” Rory questioned.

“Only every day. But all I have is my piddly savings and who would sell their home to someone without a job or any job prospects? It’s not like Ashfield has a need for an event planner or someone with a degree in hospitality. Hell, there isn’t even a hotel close by.

“And by the time I could probably afford the down payment, the developers that keep bugging Dad for some of his land will most likely have swooped in. I’m actually surprised they haven’t already,” I said exasperatedly. It was the same argument I had with myself whenever I drove by the two-story farmhouse.

I could close my eyes and see myself on the upper porch looking over the front yard where my kids would play on the wooden swing dangling from one of the centuries-old oak trees. My husband would stand behind them, pushing them with each passing. It was all so clear in my mind that sometimes I felt bereft realizing that it was all in my head.

It was also no secret in town how much I loved that house; which made it all the more upsetting that the owners didn’t even reside in our town. My nails bit into my palms at my sides and my gut churned just thinking about it.

My sisters must have noticed how I’d grown rigid and tense as they quickly apologized for bringing up the subject at all.

“It’s okay. It’s not like it’s a big secret. I just hate that the town can’t do anything about it.”

I did have some research in my back pocket, though. It was something I wanted to share with my dad first, and I wasn’t ready to divulge it to anyone else.

“I’m heading out,” Alex said as she stepped back from the truck. Rory and I stepped away from the tailgate and watched as Alex jumped into the cab of her vehicle.

“See you guys tonight?” she called out and we both nodded in unison, my arms wrapped around my waist in a protective gesture. Being around my entire family was overwhelming and I didn’t always know how to act. I wasn’t slim and petite like my sisters. My body had curves that mimicked the natural waves in my hair. But I’d also been the only Easterly to ever leave the homestead, something none of them ever let me forget. Tonight I was going to feel more than just a disappointment, I was going to feel like a failure. They wouldn’t do it intentionally, but it would feel that way regardless.

Once Alex’s truck sputtered away, the dark clouds puffing from her exhaust finally clearing in the air, Rory turned and asked if I was parked nearby. We’d both left our cars in the public parking lot by the town bakery and we opted to walk together.

Rory was a good buffer for the townspeople when they’d stopped and waved. Despite them asking her if she was ready for a new school year as a first-grade teacher for our local elementary school, I noticed how their eyebrows raised in surprise when they realized I was her companion. It seemed the confirmation of my return hadn’t begun spreading yet.

“Don’t let them get to you, Autumn. Everyone is really excited to see that you’re back.”

“Yeah, right. They probably think I’m a joke.”

“Well. . .um. . .no, but you’re the town sweetheart. They were all devastated when you left.”

“Yes. The once valedictorian has returned uninspired, unattached, and unemployed. What a sad story they’re going to paint of me.”

“Don’t think like that,” she scolded as she followed me to my small red two-door coupe. “Have you thought about speaking to Dad about using the old barn on the outskirts of the west field as a wedding venue? That was always your backup plan if the internship after college didn’t work out.”

In fact, I hadn’t thought about it. The prospect hadn’t crossed my mind once. I’d been wallowing in an Olympic-sized pool of self-pity that I hadn’t even considered any other options than to start sending out resumes. But Rory was right. And thank goodness she had the memory of an elephant.

“Maybe I’ll speak to him tonight about it. I’m not sure how open he’d be to the suggestion, though. You know how he feels about tourists and that is mainly who we would target.”

“Well, I’ll back you up. I think it’s a great idea and think about how much revenue that could bring to the farm. And you could probably look at partnering with the bed-and- breakfasts in town for sleeping arrangements. The possibility is there.”

Turning around, I looked at my little sister. There was a hopefulness in her enthusiasm that I couldn’t deny. Her eyes glistened in the early afternoon light like sun rays on a pond and the corners of her mouth reached upward in an encouraging grin.

“You’re excited,” I teased her as I shifted my bag from my shoulder down to my waiting hand and began searching for my car keys.

“I’m excited to have you home. And if I can find a way for you to stay, I’ll do whatever it takes. Besides, I think Jeremy may propose soon.”

Her high school boyfriend was a sleazebag to the first degree, but Rory would hear none of it.

“Ulterior motives, I see.” With the key fob in hand, I pressed the button to unlock my car doors. The resounding beep and flash of yellow startled the couple crossing the lot in front of my car and I winced when they sneered at me.

Replying with a quick one-armed hug across my shoulders, Rory replied, “Always. See you tonight.”

Chapter Two – Colton

I knew my old minors coach lived in a small town, but as I drove down the winding single lane road, I felt like I’d been transported back in time. There was nothing but fields of grass and flowers, rolling hills, and towering mountains on either side of me. I feared I was lost and was about to end up in a real-life version of Texas Chainsaw Massacre if the cell reception hadn’t been outstanding.

When I reached out to Brett, my old coach when I played for the farm team before getting in the NHL, he had offered me a place of solace, a respite to get my head on straight. The last two years had been anything but calm. A career-changing injury sent me for a whirlwind both physically and mentally. At my age, I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to return to the game. A torn ACL was an ender in most sports. But my issue ended up having more to do with my love of the game than with the injury.

I fought tooth and nail to heal and get back on the ice, but by the time I’d returned, I felt like an old man compared to the newbies on the ice. That was the life of a retiring player.

It was more than all of that, of course, but that’s the story I gave to the press, and they ate it right up. I hoped that while I was here, Brett and I could get some time on the ice.

At least that gave me something to look forward to. I hadn’t discussed a concrete amount of time with my agent, but I knew he was in the mindset that I’d grow tired of small-town living and I’d want something bigger and brighter in a few weeks.

Little did he know that my favorite childhood memories were made in a small town.

Maybe not this small, I thought to myself.

Franklin, Illinois, was outside of Chicago and where I had learned to play hockey, but it had a few big box stores and its own sign off the interstate.