The Haunting of Autumn Lake Read Online Free Page A

were lost as her husband’s open mouth captured hers.
    Autumn bit her lip to stifle a delighted giggle as she watched her father kiss her mother. There was no timidity about the way Ransom Lake kissed his wife—no concern with propriety. Autumn stood in awe as she watched her parents kissing, open-mouthed and wildly passionate, in the kitchen.
    “Mmmm. Cinnamon, huh?” Ransom said as he ended the kiss and studied his wife. “Apples too?”
    “Daddy!” Autumn teasingly scolded. “Are you tasting Mama’s mouth again? And right in front of your innocent daughter?”
    “You bet,” Ransom said, gathering Vaden into his arms and grinding his mouth to hers.
    “For cryin’ in the bucket, Daddy!” Autumn squeaked. “Wash your hands for supper! Let’s eat before you two disappear into the parlor for your sparkin’ session. I’m starvin’ near to death.”
    Autumn felt warm and safe inside as she watched her father release her mother, slapping her square on the bum as she smiled up at him.
    “Your daddy still turns my knees to pumpkin guts,” Vaden giggled as she kissed her index finger and pressed it to the manly cleft in Ransom Lake’s strong chin. Looking to Autumn, she added, “You wash up too, sweetie. Supper’s ready.”
    Following her father to the pump at the sink, Autumn smiled as her father winked at her.
    “You like all that lickery kissin’ between me and your mama…so quit playin’ like ya don’t,” he teased her.
    Autumn giggled. “You’re scandalous, Daddy. And it’s one reason I love you so much,” she told him.
    As they washed their hands for supper and her mother set the table, Ransom said, “Someone saw the Specter out in Nate Wimber’s cornfield last night.”
    “Really?” Autumn gasped. “Daddy…really?”
    Ransom chuckled. “Yes, darlin’, really. Or at least that’s what Tawny Johnson claims.”
    Autumn wrinkled her nose as her mother said, “Tawny Johnson? Ransom, you know you can’t trust a thing that girl says. She’s just like her mother. Belva Tibbits always was a…a….”
    “A liar,” Ransom finished.
    But Vaden softened her expression. “That seems a little harsh…but yes. Belva always embellishes…so I’m sure Tawny does too. The apple never falls far from the tree.”
    Autumn wrinkled her brow. “How do you think Mrs. Johnson managed to land Mr. Johnson as her husband?” she asked. “You and Daddy always say she was such a troublemaker as a girl. How did she manage to—”
    “She coaxed him into takin’ her out to the meadow and—” Ransom began. But Vaden’s hand over his mouth hushed him.
    “It’s not nice to spread gossip, Ransom,” Vaden said. “No one knows for sure that anything happened out there in the—”
    “Everyone knows what happened, baby!” Ransom exclaimed, pushing Vaden’s hand from his mouth. “Rolland Johnson wasn’t born too early. Hell, he weighed nine pounds.”
    Autumn’s eyes widened, and Vaden waved a hand of dismissal. “Everyone makes mistakes, I suppose. And stop cussing, honey.” Nodding to Autumn, Vaden added, “Not that Rolland was a mistake. He’s a lovely boy. He’s a gift to the world.”
    “That’s because he takes after his father,” Ransom mumbled.
    Autumn bit her lip to stifle a giggle. She loved the way her parents interacted—the way they bantered and were always so affectionate. Oh, how she longed for such a marriage as theirs.
    “So Tawny is the one who saw the Specter then?” Autumn asked, for her delightfully chilling curiosity concerning the legend of the Specter knew no bounds.
    “That’s what she says,” Ransom confirmed as he pulled Vaden’s chair out from the supper table and seated her before doing the same for Autumn. “She says she saw the Specter off in the distance…all white and ghostly…with flowing white shreds of cloth binding him. And he sat on a black horse.”
    Autumn shivered with delicious dread. “Do you think he’s real, Daddy?” she asked.
    “No,