Page 30 of Heartbeat Harmony (Hearts in Hawthorne #2)

Moments later, her phone dinged. Summer had replied with a scorching fire emoji and five exclamation marks. Autumn smiled to herself and slipped her phone back into her pocket.

“Ready to go?” Eli asked.

They went to the garage. As they backed out, she said, “Your yard could use a good mowing. I’ll bet you don’t have a mower or edger, do you?”

“What I do have is a lawn service,” he informed her. “As of yesterday. I’d already been given the name of a pool service. The owner also has a landscaping company. When he serviced my pool yesterday, he asked if I might need lawn maintenance. I agreed. They should be here sometime today.”

“I’m glad to hear that. You’re in a small town now, Eli. You’ll be judged on all kinds of things, big and small. One is if you keep a neat yard.”

“Duly noted.”

They entered Walmart and headed straight for the house wares section.

Autumn began filling the basket quickly.

She chose a boxed cookware set of aluminum, nonstick pots and pans, which had a good variety for a reasonable price.

She picked up items such as a colander, corkscrew, and measuring cups.

By the time she was finished, the cart was nearly full.

“Do you have any groceries in the house?” she asked.

He shook his head sheepishly. “Other than coffee, no.”

“Go get another cart and meet me by the produce.”

He did so, and she traded baskets with him, taking on the empty cart, placing items she would need for dinner tonight, as well as things she knew he would need immediately. Some were staples which would last a long time, such as sugar and flour, while others were perishables.

“Do you like spaghetti?” she asked.

“Love it.”

“It’s one of the easiest meals to cook, so that’s what we’ll make together for dinner tonight. Spaghetti and meat sauce. We’ll move up to meatballs in another lesson.”

Autumn made certain she had everything for tonight’s meal, including a big tub of spinach salad and a couple of bottled dressings.

They paid for their purchases and took them to his car.

“You weren’t kidding. That was a dent in my credit card,” he joked.

“You won’t spend that much every week. I would suggest shopping for groceries at the new HEB. They’ll have more variety than Walmart. We can do a trip there another time to stock your pantry, fridge, and freezer.”

They brought bag after bag into his kitchen, putting away everything.

“Okay. That wasn’t the most fun,” she said. “But we’ve got better things to do now.”

Eli wrapped his arms around her. “Any time I spend with you is fun, Autumn.” He kissed her lightly. “But I’m ready for round two.”

“Grab a ballcap. I already have sunscreen and a small ice chest with bottled waters in my car. We’re off to Gainesville now. Have you been up to it before?”

“Nope. I’ve heard it takes about the same amount of time to get there as it does Decatur. That’s the extent of my Gainesville knowledge.”

“It’s a cute little town. Close to the Oklahoma border. One high school, just like Hawthorne. That’s how we judge the size of a town, by how many high schools it has,” she told him.

“Filing away that fun fact,” he teased.

Autumn told him she would drive, and she liked that he didn’t protest. Anytime she and Flint had gotten into the car, it was assumed because he was the man, he’d do the driving. She liked how Eli was easygoing and didn’t throw his weight around, either at work or away from it.

They talked a little about work on the way, and then he asked about West returning to Hawthorne.

“I gather your brother is a big deal. Everyone seems happy he’s back in town and ready to coach. He recently quit playing himself?”

She had to remember that Eli didn’t follow sports and answered, “He was a star player here in high school. Won a scholarship to Texas A&M and then was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys. He played wide receiver for the Cowboys the past ten years. So, yes, he’s retired now, with a few Super Bowl rings, but his heart is with kids. ”

Autumn explained how Coach Markham had previously coached the Hawks, going back to West’s days as a player and even before that.

“He hired West to be on his staff next year, and then West became the head coach when Coach Markham decided to retire after he suffered a heart attack this spring. West may be worth millions of dollars, but he’s a small-town boy at heart.

I think he’ll wind up enjoying coaching the Hawks more than he did his own playing days in the NFL. ”

They drew close to Gainesville, and she told him she was going to make a stop at something unusual. When he asked what, she told him to wait and see.

They left their farm-to-market road and connected with I-35.

“Gainesville has several wineries surrounding it. On another day, we might want to tour one of those. On the square, they have a place which is a coffee shop early in the day, and it becomes a wine bar in the evening. Oh, wait. There it is.”

Eli turned and looked out the windshield. “What on earth?”

Autumn laughed. “Welcome to the giant brick statues, one of the quirkiest road attractions in Texas.”

She exited the highway and drove toward the two brick pieces, pulling off the service road and turning off the car.

“Let’s go see them.”

They got out of the vehicle and headed toward the stacked bricks.

“They’re at the entrance to a private ranch,” she explained, looking up at the giant brick sculpture of a chess knight.

“The artist of this fine horse made out of bricks was a bricklayer from Canada by the name of John Groves. The other sculpture is a fortress tower. West always said it was a rook that accompanied the horse.”

Autumn watched Eli walk the entire circle of the horse head, seeing the awe in his eyes.

“He must be thirty feet tall.”

“He is,” she confirmed. “From what I recall, it took about eight thousand antique bricks to build it. The artist salvaged them from a fire which occurred in Chicago. He also wove in steel I-beams to support the structure. Groves was friends with Ernie Chrustawka, who owns the ranch. Supposedly, Ernie wanted something grand to mark the entrance to his ranch, and this is what the two of them came up with, with Groves creating the art.”

They moved to the giant brick castle, and Eli said, “This does mimic a pawn and rook in a chess game. It’s fascinating.”

“I thought you’d like it.” Autumn paused. “Are you ready to go full-on Instagram?”

Eli looked at her as if she were speaking gibberish. “Come again?”

“I’d like us to take a selfie and post it on Instagram. The minute we do, it means we’ve gone public with our romance.”

He slipped an arm around her. “Selfie away.”

She reversed her camera angle so she could capture them both and then gave him her phone.

“Your arms are longer. You can get a better angle than I can. Be sure to get as much of the horse as you can.”

He snapped a few pictures and let her see them, then she took a couple of him in front of both brick sculptures. Eli returned the favor.

“Okay, ready to post,” Autumn said, choosing two shots of them, one in front of each structure, and then one of Eli by himself. She typed a quick line and then added a few hashtags, her heart beating quickly. Tapping to post, she let out a breath. “We’re up.”

He slipped his arms about her waist. “This was a neat idea. I’ve never really been exposed to art. Never been to a museum. These unusual sculptures are a fun way to kick off my art education.”

His stomach grumbled loudly, and she laughed. “I’m hungry, too. We’ll head into town now. There are a few restaurants and shops along the square. We’ll find something we both like.”

Eli’s gaze held hers. “I’ve already found exactly what I like.”

His mouth touched hers, the contact sending electricity racing along her spine. He kept the kiss fairly chaste, but Autumn knew they were both ready to explore the banked fires within them.

Breaking the kiss, she said, “We’ll do a lot of more that tonight. Right now, I want to introduce you to Gainesville.”

She knew the rest of their day would lead up to what they were both eager to do.

Make love ...