Page 37 of She Autumn Be Mine

Mom returned with something in her hands that put my heart on notice.

A red velvet box.

“Here you go, son. I’ve been saving this family heirloom for years, hoping one of you two would use it.” She took a seat expectantly, looking between us, hands folded in her lap like church.

Autumn shot a look between me and Jamie, a little awkward. “But—wouldn’t you rather have this?”

Jamie made a face with her tongue out like the box contained liver and onions, her least favorite dish Mom ever made. “Absolutely not. I think the ring is hideous. I mean, it’s gorgeous for you, but not my style. A simple gold band is all I want. Someday. Maybe. I mean, if I ever get married, which I’ve made clear I likely won’t.”

She’d been making it clear for many years. Mom sighed and let her daughter’s comment go by, the way you let a familiar train pass.

“Well, go on. Ask Autumn again, Jake, properly, with a ring. I didn’t see one on her finger, so I’m assuming that’s one reason you’re here today.” Mom continued to wait.

My ears went hot. “In front of all of you?”

She raised one eyebrow. That was all it took. I’d stared down enemy fire before. But I couldn’t last two full seconds against my mother’s eyebrow. I slid to one knee and took the ring out of the box.

I hadn’t seen it in years, and it was even more pretty than I remembered—a smooth diamond in the middle, bordered by small garnets on all sides, on a band of old, solid gold. Family lore stated Grandpa McCall had panned for the gold himself in the Gruff Bear River.

Autumn’s breathing came out in shaky spurts. I reached for her left hand and rubbed my thumb over her knuckles in circles, considering what to say. Granted, the first proposal was more like a debate, trying to win her over on the idea. This… was real, even if she gazed upon the ring and this entire setup with questioning eyes.

“Sweetheart… we both know how we got here and why.” That was a loaded start only she’d comprehend. “Separate journeys that found their way. As far as I’m concerned, every road I’ve ever been down was just the long way around to you. All that matters now is we found each other. Where we go from here is together, on a new path of our own making. You, me, and Stetson. So—marry me, Autumn? Become a McCall, a part of this crazy family, goats and all?”

“Even Macho?” Autumn sputtered, tears brimming over her eyes.

“Especially Macho.”

Through tears came her reply: “Yes. I’ll marry you.”

The ring ran a little big, and went right on. Hugs came next—Jamie, Dad, and Mom all welcomed Autumn to the family, and I stood in the middle of it trying not to cry myself.

“Dada! Mama!”

We all turned. Stetson—almost forgotten in all the excitement—stood on his own two feet where my father had set him down. With a wooden goat clutched in his fist, he lifted one foot, and the other, and walked—four steps, five, wobbling, arms out like a tiny tightrope artist. He made it right past his gasping mother, and dove into my arms.

“Well, look at that,” Dad uttered.

“First steps,” I whispered, holding that boy against me, and there wasn’t a dry eye left among the women. Or among the men, too. “First steps, sweetheart.”

“Hm-hmm.” Autumn nodded. “Right to you.”

We left an hour later with a jar of honey, three bars of soap, a whole pie, one wooden goat, and my entire family following behind us in their truck—because the moment Mom heard the wedding was happening in one week, she’d announced she needed “a melding of the minds with Ivy Wylde” to make sure everything was perfect, and no force on this earth was going to stop her.

“Whew. That went well,” I relaxed.

Autumn sat too quiet. I’d been watching her from the driver’s seat as we left the Double M—how she twisted the ring around and around on her finger, how she gulped shaky breaths of air. I figured her for tired. Overwhelmed, maybe, hopefully in a good way.

Stetson fell asleep immediately. But Autumn made it about four miles down the road before she broke. The tears came on fast, the way a Montana storm does, and kept coming. Every alarm I owned went off at once.

“Hey, sweetheart.” I checked the mirror, the road, her face, in that order, and her face frightened me most.

I put on the blinker and pulled the truck onto the shoulder.

Behind us, my entire family pulled over too. In the side mirror I watched Mom’s door start to open. I stuck my arm out the window and waved her back. The door closed, reluctantly.

Then I turned in my seat, and the cab got very small and hot. God, I wanted to reach for her, assure her everything would be fine.

Fuck it. She was about to be my wife. I couldn’t sit here while she cried about it another second more. I pulled her into my arms, across the truck seat, almost into my lap.