The Haunting of Autumn Lake by Marcia Lynn McClure

the quilt covering the bed. It was a simple nine-patch quilt, but the orange and brown squares made her think of pumpkins and rich soil—sunsets and chocolate cake—and she smiled.
    “The fact was Ritter Houston was so very handsome that any female he passed would sigh and nearly swoon,” she added. Already caught up in her own story, Autumn didn’t even realize what she said next. “Why, I imagine he was almost as handsome as you, Gentry James. That’s how handsome it has always been said he was.”
     
    Gentry’s eyebrows arched beneath his long hair hanging over his forehead and almost to the bridge of his nose. Had the girl just inadvertently said he was handsome? He smiled, for he could tell she hadn’t even noticed what she’d said. She was truly a wonder to behold when she was telling a tale.
    Raking his hand back through his hair in an effort to clear his vision so he could see Autumn Lake more clearly, he stifled a chuckle of amusement as she simply continued with her story—entirely unaware of the compliment she’d subconsciously offered to him.
    “Well, the story goes that there was a very beautiful saloon girl workin’ at the local saloon then. Her name was Cat Russell…Cat bein’ short for Catherine,” Autumn continued. “She had long black hair and the deepest green eyes. The folks swore that heaven itself had set two emeralds in her head where most people just had eyes. How Cat Russell came to find herself workin’ in a saloon out in some little town like this was, no one knew. But it didn’t matter. Every man in town was in love with her.”
    Gentry was intrigued as he watched Autumn rather unconsciously reach up and pull the pins from her hair as she spoke. She began combing her long ebony tresses with her fingers, and he grinned—liking the look of her with her very long, wavy hair pulled forward over one shoulder as she worked with it.
    “Yep. Even though Cat was a harlot, every man in town adored her,” she continued. “But then Ritt Houston rode in to town…and Cat’s emerald eyes never noticed another man after that day. They became scandalous lovers, you see.”
    “Did they now?” Gentry asked, pleased when she looked up to him, blushing.
    “Mmm hmm,” she confirmed. “Scandalous lovers. The kind nice people try to ignore.”
    There were other kinds of people that nice people tried to ignore too, and Gentry’s heart knew an angry moment for the sake of his own memories. Still, the soothing sound of Autumn’s voice softened his anger quickly enough.
    “Ritt and Cat were happy lovers and for a very long time,” she sighed. She looked at him again, and he saw her eyes go from blue to gray as her smile faded. “They were happy, that is, until Elliot Tyler rode into town lookin’ for Ritt. You see, Elliot Tyler was the boss man that had sent Ritt away in order to keep him away from his daughter. But you see…somethin’ had gone on back at the ranch where Ritt used to work.”
    Gentry smiled as he watched Autumn’s cheeks pink up. “What went on?” he prodded. Oh, he’d figured what had gone on—it hadn’t been hard. But for some reason he liked to make the girl squirm.
    “Well, something,” was all she said. “Somethin’ that found the rancher’s daughter to bein’ in the family way,” she managed. She blushed a deeper shade of red, and Gentry’s smile broadened.
    “Oh,” he said. “You mean that kind of somethin’,” he chuckled.
    “Yes,” she admitted, glancing away quickly. “ That kind of somethin’. But that wasn’t the end of everything. You see, Cat Russell knew Elliot Tyler! You know, the rancher who had sent Ritt away? It seems that when she had been a young girl, Elliot Tyler had…you know…it seems that Cat Russell had found her own self in the family way because of Elliot Tyler. Her baby had died at birth, but her love affair with Elliot Tyler had ruined her all the same. But Elliot Tyler didn’t want anyone knowin’ about his past