Healing Autumn's Heart

By all appearances, her father was a nice-looking man with Richard Gere appeal who should be enjoying life to the fullest. Except for the fact that he’d become a widower at thirty-seven and had to raise two daughters that were merely thirteen and fifteen at the time, and who both eventually ended up with the very disease that had taken his wife.

When he opened his eyes, their dark depths showed the sadness of those final facts and the reasons that he didn’t enjoy life anymore, the reasons that he didn’t trust in faith, or love, or for that matter, God, anymore.

“I want you back at church tomorrow, Daddy,” she said. “It’d mean a lot to me, and I think it’d do a world of good for you, too.” She waited, and when he didn’t speak, she whispered, “Say yes, Daddy. Please.”

He looked at her, but remained silent.

“Okay then, say maybe.”

He smiled. “Maybe.”

The bell on the door sounded, and Mr. Feazell called out a greeting to the incoming customers. “Well, hello, Dr. Graham. How are all of you doing today?” The store owner proceeded to announce that his new puppets had arrived that morning, and then Hannah heard him direct them to the back of the store, where he’d set up a small stage for children to practice with the marionettes. Mr. Feazell had been eager to get every child’s opinion on the new setup.

Her pulse skittered. She’d been looking forward to this all day and wanted her father to realize that Autumn and Matt Graham were special. “Daddy, there’s a little girl I’m trying to help,” she whispered, hoping her voice wouldn’t carry far beyond the curtain barrier between the display and the store. “I just heard her arrive, and I’d like for you to meet her and her father. Her name is Autumn, and her father is Matt Graham, the new doctor in town.” She paused, not wanting to make her father uncomfortable but wanting him to understand how important this was and how much she wanted to help Autumn. “Daddy, she lost her mother to breast cancer two years ago.”

“How old is she?” he asked, keeping his deep voice low as well, undoubtedly realizing that Hannah didn’t want this conversation overheard by the newcomers to the toy store.

“I believe she’s five or six. She’s in school, probably kindergarten or first grade. Anyway, her father brought her in yesterday, and she spoke to me, connected with me.” Hannah watched him nod as though he totally understood, but she knew he couldn’t until she told him the rest. “And then he told me that she hadn’t spoken more than a word or two at a time since her mother died.”

Bo Taylor frowned. “That’s terrible.”

“But she did yesterday, for me. She talked to me, smiled for me. I—” Hannah tried to form the right words to explain it “—I felt a connection between me and that little girl, Daddy. She needs someone who understands what she is going through. She needs me to help her cope with losing her mom.” Hannah leaned forward so she could peek through the tiny crack in the display area’s curtain and saw that Matt, Autumn and an older woman were all still listening to Mr. Feazell describe the elaborate puppet area. When she was certain they couldn’t hear their conversation, she dropped the curtain back in place.

“Five or six,” her father said. “And already lost her mom.” He sighed wearily.

“She said that I’m like her mommy. I don’t know if it’s because she saw my breast cancer pin, or maybe because my hair is shorter, or what. But because she sees me as someone ‘like her mommy,’ she’s willing to open up to me. Daddy, it touched my heart so much, I can’t even explain it. I’ve been thinking about her all day.” Hannah didn’t add that she’d also been thinking about Matt Graham all day. Or the fact that he fell into the same category as her father, losing a wife to breast cancer and being left to raise a child, even if Matt only had one to raise and her father had been left with two.

However, looking at her father’s face now, Hannah suspected that her dad also put the similarities together and could literally feel the little girl’s pain … and, of course, Matt Graham’s pain.

“Daddy, I really think I can help her. I think I’m meant to.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Bless her little heart,” he whispered. “Bless her precious little heart.”

“I don’t know why she picked me to talk to, but I prayed to God to let me help her, and I think He is letting me do that.” She noticed her father’s face alter a fraction when she mentioned her prayer, but he didn’t say anything negative. “She’s going to start coming here every day to help me with the display.”

“I’m glad you’re able to help her, princess,” he finally said. “I just wish … I wish that no child had to go through that, and I wish you and your sister would have had someone to help you cope with everything back then. The way you’re helping this little girl.”

Hannah edged toward her father and took his hands in hers. It didn’t take but a moment to realize his were trembling. “Daddy, we did have someone to help. We had God, and we had you. And we made it through.”

Mr. Feazell’s voice grew louder as he directed the Grahams back to the front of the store. “Well, I think Hannah’s been working on a section of the town square today that you should all enjoy, the Sweet Stop. It’s the candy shop straight across the square, you know.”

Hannah gave her father a smile, released his hands then turned in time to see Mr. Feazell slide the curtain open and the trio of customers come into view. The woman with them appeared to be in her late forties and was very pretty, petite with short, wavy auburn hair. She tenderly patted Autumn’s shoulder as they neared.

Autumn stood between her father and the woman, but she stepped in front of them as soon as she saw Hannah. “We came back,” she said, her smile stretching across her face and her dark brown eyes growing wide with excitement. She had her hair pulled up in a high ponytail with a navy bow. A waterfall of long brown curls trailed past her shoulders, and she wore a plaid navy-and-green jumper over a white shirt. Even her Mary Jane shoes were navy leather, cute over white kneesocks.

She was absolutely adorable, and Hannah fought the urge to reach out, pull her into her arms and simply hold her, to let her know that everything would be okay again. She didn’t want to scare her away, but she truly wanted Autumn to know how much she cared. Eventually they would work their way to a hug greeting. Hannah hoped so, anyway.

“Hello, Hannah,” Matt said. “I had a patient to see this morning, or we’d have been here earlier. Still okay for us to help you out today? I think Autumn’s been looking forward to it ever since we left yesterday.”

“Of course it’s still okay, and I’ve been looking forward to it too,” Hannah said, smiling at Autumn.

“This is my mother-in-law, Maura,” Matt continued, indicating the woman beside him.

“Nice to meet you,” Hannah said.

“Wonderful to meet you,” Maura replied. “Really wonderful. Matt told me about yesterday, and well, I wanted to come too. I hope that’s okay.”

“It’s fine,” Hannah said. She touched her dad’s hand. “This is my father, Bo Taylor.”

Maura and Matt exchanged greetings with Hannah’s father, while Autumn’s attention zeroed in on the dollhouse that Hannah had pulled out from the remainder of the display.

“Is that the candy store?” she asked, pointing to the dollhouse in progress.

“It sure is.”

Maura’s hand moved to her mouth and she shook her head in apparent awe at Autumn’s communication with Hannah.

“That’s GiGi,” Autumn said, pointing to Maura.

And at her granddaughter’s words, Maura’s eyes trickled silent tears. “She couldn’t say grandma when she started talking,” Maura explained, “and I became GiGi.” She smiled warmly toward Autumn. “But I haven’t heard her say it in a long time.” Her voice broke with that declaration, but Autumn didn’t notice, still smiling at Hannah.

Hannah wasn’t sure what to say in response to Maura’s statement, so she instead spoke to Autumn. “I put that awning on a couple of minutes ago.” She pointed to the newest addition to the structure. “Do you like it?”

Autumn followed Hannah’s finger and grinned. “Yes.” Then she looked over Hannah’s shoulder to gaze out the window and across the square. “It looks like that one.”

Hannah followed her line of sight and saw that she’d spotted the Sweet Stop and the red-and-white-striped awning covering the entrance. “That’s right. And I want this little shop to look just like that big one.”

“I can help you do that,” Autumn said.

Maura moved her hand to Matt’s arm and gently squeezed. Then Hannah heard her whisper, “It’s a miracle.”

Hannah reached for the bag of candy she’d tucked beside the dollhouses. “You know, I also need someone to help me eat the treats Mr. Feazell brought in from the Sweet Stop today.”

The doorbell sounded, and Mr. Feazell laughed. “Well, you guys eat the sweets, and I’ll go check on the other customers.” He released the curtain and returned to the store.

“You have candy?” Autumn asked, peering over Hannah’s shoulder as she reached for the bag.

“I sure do.” Hannah held the sack open so Autumn could see inside. “And I have enough for everyone.”

Hannah’s father patted his hand to his stomach and smiled. “No sweets for me today,” he said, “and I’m going to head on out.” He looked back at Matt and Maura. “Pleasure to meet both of you.”

“And you,” Matt said.

Then Bo looked at Hannah and Autumn, and Hannah noticed how his attention focused on the little girl, fingering through the sweets in the bag.

“I’m going over to Mitch and Jana’s house later,” he said to Hannah. “She said she’s cooking lasagna and wants us all to come. I think she got some new pictures of the baby yesterday at her ultrasound appointment. You coming?”

“She asked me as well,” Hannah said. “And she told me about the ultrasound pictures. I wouldn’t miss it.”

He nodded, glanced again at Autumn. “Nice to meet all of you,” he repeated, then left.

Autumn looked up from the bag, where she’d found a fluffy piece of divinity wrapped in pink cellophane and tied with an orange ribbon. “Do you get candy every day?” she asked, tugging on the bow and opening the candy. She took a small bite and grinned. “Because I think I’d like to come back, every day.”

Hannah laughed. “I don’t get candy every day, but I get a bag of treats fairly often. Life’s a little better when there’s sugar in it, or that’s what my mama always said.” She heard Matt’s chuckle.

“I think I’d have to agree with that,” Maura said.

“Well, I’d like to come every day anyway,” Autumn said, her words a little muffled with more of the sweet white candy in her mouth.

Hannah grinned. “Good, because that’s what I’d like, too.”

“I believe that’s a great idea,” Maura said. “Absolutely wonderful idea.”

“You want one?” Autumn asked, holding the bag toward Hannah.

“I never turn down candy from the Sweet Stop.” Hannah pulled out a piece of divinity, this one wrapped in blue cellophane and tied with a yellow ribbon.

“You want one, GiGi?” Autumn asked, and Maura nodded enthusiastically, her happiness at hearing her name from her granddaughter evident in her smile.

“Do you, Daddy?”

“Yes, precious,” he said, and withdrew a green-and-white-striped candy apple stick.

While they enjoyed the candy, a few people stopped at the window and waved. Hannah and Autumn waved back, while Matt and Maura smiled from the small visitor’s bench. Then Hannah passed out some hand cleaning wipes to get the stickiness off before she and Autumn continued working on the newest dollhouse addition to the town square display.

“Okay, here’s our plan,” she said to Autumn, while she ran the cool wipe over her fingers. “I’m going to work on the outside of the store, paint the name on the building, place the patio arrangements, put flower boxes beneath the windows and all of that. Your job is to go through these things that Mr. Feazell brought us and pick what you want to put inside the store. It doesn’t have to be exactly like the candies in the store, but we want it to be as close as possible, okay?”

Autumn nodded, intently listening to every word. “Okay.”

Hannah held up a tiny glass case. “This display case looks like the one in the store. You’ll want to put some of the tiny candies inside, and we’ve got plenty to choose from. Mr. Feazell even found small pictures that look like the paintings that hang in the Sweet Stop. I’ll let you pick which ones to hang on the walls.”

Again Autumn nodded and began looking through the tiny items.

“There may be one problem with your plan,” Matt said.

Hannah looked up and found herself face-to-face with the man who, at some point in the past few seconds, had moved from the bench to the floor. Sitting merely a couple of feet away, he looked completely comfortable on the floor, not doctorlike at all, like a dad wanting to be involved in the activity his daughter enjoyed. And like a guy that a girl would enjoy having around, to sit beside her and simply be a part of her life. He was close enough that Hannah could smell the crisp scent of his aftershave, or his soap, or whatever it was that tickled her nose and seemed so undeniably masculine.

It’d been quite a while since she’d been this close to a man, or at least a man that she found this attractive, and she wasn’t prepared for the excited nervousness that went along with the proximity. His eyes, Hannah now noticed, were focused on her, and she had to concentrate to remember what he’d said. Then she blinked, replayed the last couple of minutes, and had it.

“A problem?” she managed.

“Autumn hasn’t been inside the Sweet Stop. We’ve been to the square a couple of times since we moved here, but we never went in the shop. I honestly didn’t even think about it,” he admitted, then smiled and added, “I try to watch sweets, being a doctor and all, but I do like them.” He held up the candy stick. “And I should have realized that Autumn would, too.” He shrugged. “Don’t know why that didn’t occur to me.”

Hannah’s heart clenched in her chest. Bless his heart, he had no idea that Autumn wanted to go to the Sweet Stop because until yesterday, she hadn’t said enough words for him to know.

“Well, that is a problem,” Hannah said, glancing at Autumn.

The little girl’s head tilted to the side and her smile faded. “So I can’t do it? I can’t put the things inside the store?” She paused, her mouth tightening. “I can’t help you?”

“No, baby, that’s not it,” her daddy said, and he reached in his back pocket, withdrew his wallet and fished out a few dollars. “You can definitely do it, but it’d be easier if you were able to see the store from the inside. So why don’t we go over and let you take a look before you try to decorate the little one here? We can even take some pictures with my phone, so you can look at them when you’re picking the things out for your store.”

Pride illuminated Autumn’s face when he said “your” store, and the sight of it thrilled Hannah. She was such a pretty little girl, and absolutely breathtaking when she smiled.

“And while we’re there,” Matt continued, “we’ll get some sweets to take home. I haven’t had nearly enough candy in the house, and every little girl needs candy every now and then. Because—” he grinned “—I have it from a very reliable source that life’s a little better with sugar in it.”

A frisson of pure happiness shimmied down Hannah’s spine with his words and his smile.

“Okay!” Autumn said, standing. “Let’s go get candy!”

“Can I take her?” Maura asked, her tone almost pleading. “I want to pick out some sweets for home, too.”

Matt had been preparing to stand, but stopped and eased back down near Hannah. “Sure,” he said, handing over the bills and his cell phone to Maura. “Just make sure you get me some, too,” he said with a laugh.

“Thank you, William. I truly appreciate this,” Maura said, reaching her palm toward her granddaughter. Hannah noticed that she referred to Matt as William, but he didn’t seem to acknowledge the error, so she didn’t let it register on her face, either. Maura gave Autumn a timid smile. “You want to go get some candy with GiGi?”

“Yes,” Autumn said, placing her hand in her grandmother’s and then telling Hannah and Matt, “We’ll be right back.”

Maura beamed with delight.

“That sounds great,” Matt answered. “And make sure you get some more of these apple candy sticks. I’ve got a feeling I’m going to want another one later.”

“We will,” Autumn said.

Hannah waited until they exited the toy store and she and Matt had waved to them before they headed across the square. Then she said, “I didn’t think about the possibility that she hadn’t been in the Sweet Stop yet. I should have thought of that, since you haven’t lived here that long.”

“No need for you to apologize. I should have thought about the possibility that she would have wanted to go in the candy store,” he said, rolling the green apple candy stick between his thumb and forefinger as he spoke. “I took her all around the square yesterday hoping to find something she liked and didn’t even think of the candy store.”

“You’re a doctor,” Hannah said. “Sweets probably aren’t as high up on your list as they are on everyone else’s, or at least mine.”

He smirked at that. “Hey, I’ll have you know I like candy as much as the next guy. I just try to be smart about it.” He popped the end of the green apple stick in his mouth.

“Well, I’ll have you know that I try to eat a little candy every day,” Hannah said, reaching back into the bag and withdrawing another piece of divinity. She peeled back the wrapper and popped the whole thing in her mouth without getting an inkling of stickiness on her fingers. But her mouth was now full, and he noticed.

“You know, I wasn’t going to try and take it from you,” he said, laughing.

She started to speak but couldn’t and held up a finger while she chewed. Eventually, while he kept laughing, she swallowed then also laughed. “I didn’t think you would,” she clarified. “I was simply trying to get it all in my mouth with the cellophane so my hands wouldn’t be sticky while I work.”

“Sure you were.”

Hannah’s skin tingled at their easy, flirty banter. Here he was, a nice guy—a doctor, no less—with a sense of humor, an amazing smile and an adorable little girl that had already touched Hannah’s heart. She could really get used to this.

“You said yesterday that you and your sister are both in remission,” he said.

“Yes, we are,” Hannah said with a grin. “Isn’t that wonderful?”

“Definitely. And your dad mentioned she’s having a baby?”

“She’s due in a few weeks,” Hannah said. “I think he was worried about her getting pregnant, because of the cancer and all, but everything has gone very well. I think Dad was afraid that if something happened and her cancer came back, then she wouldn’t be able to get treated during the pregnancy, or it would hurt the baby, or something like that. But she hasn’t had any problems at all.”

“I’m glad she hasn’t had any problems.” He paused, seemed to think about something, and then said, “Even if something would have happened and she had needed treatments, it’s believed that treatment after the first trimester is still safe for the baby.”

“Really? I’m sure they probably talked to Jana about it, but she never told me that. I guess I assumed you’d have to wait until after you had the baby to keep the baby from getting hurt by the treatment.” She shrugged. “I’m sure our family spends a lot of time thinking about things like that when we don’t need to worry. Especially since Jana is doing great,” she added with a smile.

“I think any time you’ve been affected by a disease, you think about it. I’m glad Jana’s doing well. And I’m glad that you are doing well, too. Very glad.”

“Me too.”

He glanced out the window toward the Sweet Spot, where Hannah could see Autumn’s dark curls through the store’s window. She stood by the candy display case and pointed to something, and Maura held the phone up to take a picture. “Our family has been affected by that disease, too, I’m sure you can tell,” he said. “But this past week has been an answer to our prayers in helping us deal with everything. It’s amazing, seeing Autumn like this, happy again.” He paused. “I told Maura about her breakthrough yesterday, and she wanted to come today. I assumed it’d be okay.”

“Of course.”

He eyed the bag of candy then peeked inside.

Hannah laughed. “Go on, I know you want to try something else.”

“With the way you wolfed down that divinity, I thought I’d be lucky if there was another piece left.”

“There are three pieces left, thank you very much,” she said, handing him one of the remaining candies.

He smiled, unwrapped the divinity and followed her method of popping the whole thing in his mouth. Then he held up a hand to show her he’d also managed the feat without a bit of stickiness.

“Good job,” she said, admiring not only his manner for eating the candy without getting sticky, but also the way he looked so appealing accomplishing the task.

He finished chewing and swallowed. “Thanks. I have a feeling I learned from the master.”

She laughed again, put down the bag of candy and picked up a tiny flower box. “Okay, but I need to take a break from eating candy now and get back to the job.”

He fingered the small patio pieces. “I know we’re causing you to work extra hours on this display, and I want to apologize for that.”

Hannah smiled. Here he was, finally finding his daughter again after two years and concerned that Hannah’s part in it all was something of a burden. On the contrary. Hannah thought it nothing short of a blessing, or maybe even a miracle, like Maura had said, but definitely not a burden.

“No apology necessary. I’m not exactly on the clock when I work. I quote a price for a window display, and then I work whatever hours it takes to complete the project.” She shrugged. “I usually try to take my time, because people like watching me work in the window.”

“I can understand why people want to watch you,” he said.

“Yeah, I think people find it enjoyable to get a bird’s-eye view of something being created. It’s kind of like watching through the window at the Sweet Spot and seeing how the doughnuts are made, the cookies are decorated and all of that. I think I could watch them all day.”

“You do like sweets, don’t you?”

She smiled. “Very much.”

He smirked. “I see, but I wasn’t talking about watching you work. The reason I can understand why people want to watch you is because I also find it enjoyable—” blue eyes lifted and found hers “—looking at you.”

Hannah noted the intensity of his tone and the fact that he now looked at her in a way that made her feel very feminine, very pretty. She felt herself blush, and glanced away.

“Didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable,” he said. “Just stating the facts. Kind of goes along with my profession, you know.”

“It shouldn’t make me uncomfortable,” she said, fiddling with the miniature flowers for the window boxes. “But I’m out of practice at hearing those kinds of compliments, I suppose.”

“You aren’t used to hearing compliments? Really? Why is that?”

She was thrown by the genuine surprise in his tone. However, instead of finding his question too personal and feeling awkward, for some reason, she found it easy to talk to him, even about things that she rarely admitted. Maybe it was because he’d been through similar circumstances, dealing with breast cancer and losing someone he cared about, but for whatever reason, Hannah didn’t hide the truth. She, like him, stated the facts.

“Because of my cancer. I didn’t want to get close to someone and then put them in the situation of going through those treatments, then all of that waiting and wondering and hoping. So I’ve kept to myself the past few years.” She shrugged. “The past three years, in fact, ever since I was diagnosed. No dating or anything like that. It’d have been too difficult with everything going on in my life.”