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“Hi, Nixon!” Ritchie shrieked the greeting to the youngest Trainer brother, who was walking toward them with an older man she’d didn’t recognize.
“Hey there, Ritchie.”
The man with Nixon was looking at her, frowning.
“Hi. I’m having a sleepover at Benji’s, Nixon.”
“Get out. That sound’s exciting. Maybe I’ll come too.”
“You should!”
“Autumn, this is Sheriff Dans,” Nixon said. “He’s here to check up on me.”
“No, I’m not, as you very well know. I’m here to organize the volleyball tournament. Nice to meet you, Autumn and Ritchie.” He shook both their hands. “Sorry if I was staring. You look a lot like someone I know.”
“They say everyone has a double,” Autumn said.
“They do.”
He wasn’t as tall as Nixon but had a solid build and wide shoulders. Sunglasses hid his eyes from her.
“We’re going to his town to kick some butt, Autumn,” Nixon said. “We’re putting two teams in the tournament.”
“Boy, you are going to eat those words,” the sheriff said. “My nephews are good.”
He had a nice smile.
“I used to live in Lyntacky, and Sheriff Dans is the big dog there,” Nixon said.
“That’s Sheriff Big Dog to you.”
The name gave her a jolt. Lyntacky was a six-hour drive from here. She knew that because in her mother’s diary she’d mentioned it. Mentioned spending a summer there the year Autumn had been conceived. She’d mentioned a man’s name too, and maybe one day Autumn would be brave enough to head there and find out if he was her father.
“You all right there, Autumn?” the sheriff asked. “That’s a fierce frown.”
“Sure, thanks.”Ask him if she knows a man called Asher.
“It was nice meeting you both,” Sheriff Dans said before he and Nixon left.
Autumn knew she should just leave it alone. Her life was good now and she didn’t need to confuse things by finding a father who likely didn’t even know she existed. But out there somewhere was a man who carried her blood, and that unsettled her. It made her want to connect with him.
Would he want that too? Did she have siblings? Autumn had always wanted to be part of a large family.
“Ready to go, Mom?”
“Sure. I just need to pick up a few things from the grocery store. We need to make you something to take to the sleepover, and now I need something to give my knitting-club guests.”
“Cool. Are you going to knit me things like Benji’s uncle knits for him?”
“Not sure I’ll ever be that good, buddy, but I can try. Maybe a nice pink sweater for winter?”
Ritchie explained to her the entire way to the grocery store why pink wasn’t a good color for boys.
Autumn grinned. “I don’t know about that. I mean, I wear blue and dark colors. Why can’t boys wear pink?”
“Okay, but I’m still not wearing a pink sweater.”
Chapter19
