An Autumn Romance

I think I found the problem.

There's a discrepancy in the date of the land grant.

- Discrepancy? - Yes.

Captain Daniel Mass received a land grant

of 300 acres in November 1721. But...

Captain Mass was in England at the time.

He didn't return to the colonies until 1723.

Which means he couldn't have helped settle the region

until two years after he was given the land!

- Shh! - (WHISPERS) Given the land.

Exactly. Because he wasn't even here.

I don't know how to thank you, Taylor.

This is the last piece of the puzzle.

Now I can get back to my book. I have to call my publisher.

Well, I'm happy to help, Dr. Sadler.

Digging up history, it's what I love to do.

Uh, be sure to send me a copy when it gets finished.

Excuse me.

It's like you have a sixth sense.

Well, there's still some stuff

that you can't find on the internet.

Do you have a second to talk? Did you get my message?

Yeah. I can't believe it. Why would they cut

our library's funding like that?

The city depends on grants to help meet our budget.

When those grants dry up, the city has no choice.

And without that funding...

You can't afford a research librarian on staff.

I'm sorry, Taylor.

I'm already looking for other funding.

The second I can bring you back, I...

We're gonna miss you so much.

- Not as much as I'm going to miss you, Linda. - (CHUCKLES)

Linda promised to try and find funding,

but that could take months.

I've called everyone I know, but nobody's hiring.

It's gonna be okay, sis. Will it? That was my dream job, Craig.

I know, and you were good at it, too, okay?

But trust me, Taylor, you'll find another job

before you know it.

What do I do in the meantime?

Hey, you know what? I got a good idea.

Why don't you come down here and visit?

Christine and I have plenty of room,

you've never seen Forest Ridge, and it'll be

a really nice change from the big city.

I mean, that does sound nice, but I have to find another job.

Well, you can keep looking while you're down here.

And Zoe will be over the moon

to spend some time with her aunt.

Oh, I do miss her.

So? What's stopping you?

I'll think about it.

- Ray, sorry I'm late. I got up early to help my dad. Man, I still can't believe

you grew up on a ranch in Montana.

Oh, come on, man, my family in Forest Ridge go way back.

My great-great-grandfather cleared the land for that ranch.

Yeah, you told me, him and Daniel Boone.

Look, it's just so far away from you busting sod

- to running a tech company in Silicon Valley. - (PHONE RINGING)

- Oh, my phone. - (LAUGHS)

Come on, man, you gotta love this place, right?

Every time I come here, it's like stepping back in time.

Which is why it's costing

so much money to bring it into the 21st century.

Have you taken a good look at that electric panel?

Yeah, did you talk to Lyle first

- about doing the rewiring? - Yeah, about that.

Your buddy's been keeping it a bit too high.

Okay, well, I'm not sure I'd call him my buddy, but...

He said you two have known each other since grade school.

- Regardless, I hear he's a good electrician. - And I'm your business manager.

Okay, I really appreciate this passion project of yours,

but it's my job to watch the bottom line.

I know, Ray, it just... it makes a lot of sense

to hire as many locals as possible, you know?

No. Not if it's gonna put us over budget.

Okay, all right, you're right.

- We'll get small bidders. - Oh, one last thing before I leave.

Apparently, not everyone's too thrilled about turning

the Graff Hotel into a luxury tourist attraction.

I was worried about this.

I mean, this could be good for the whole town.

- Why would anyone wanna stop it? - Well, you can find out when you ask them

at the meeting.

- Wait, what? - (SIGHS) One of us needs to be there.

And you're the local boy made good.

Sounds good, doesn't it?

I'll call you!

(SIGHS) Hey, Dad.

Hey there.

I was gonna make some lunch. Wanna join me?

- Yeah, sure. Let me give you a hand with that. - Hmm.

I'm heading into Helena for some meetings.

I'll be back tomorrow.

Supposed to be a storm front moving in.

Couple inches of snow.

Dad, it's October.

The leaves just started changing.

- It's not gonna snow. - (LAUGHS) Wouldn't be the first time

we were in for a surprise.

There's a frost warning. You better watch the roads.

- Could get icy out there. - I'll be fine.

Yeah, all that time living in California,

- you could be out of practice driving in it. - I'll be okay, all right?

I promise. Hey, let me ask you something.

Do you know

anything about this town meeting tomorrow night?

- Yeah, the one about the hotel? - Yeah. Why didn't you tell me?

Well, I figured you knew about it.

I mean, you grew up here, Joel.

You know when people got something on their mind,

- they're not shy about speaking up. Yeah, that I do.

So, what is it exactly on their mind?

They barely see you around here anymore.

Then one day you show up, say you're gonna turn

one of the oldest establishments in town

into some sort of fancy resort.

It's not a resort.

It's a...

- it's a destination. - (COW MOOING)

See? Right there. "Destination".

- (LAUGHS) - What does that even mean?

Oh, so, what are you saying, I got a bit of a PR problem?

I'm saying you gotta talk straight

to people if you wanna get 'em onboard.

Look, why don't you take my truck?

That little go-kart of yours isn't gonna be much good

- if the weather turns. - (LAUGHS) Okay, Dad.

You know what? I'll tell you what.

I'll leave you the keys, you can take that little

- golden ride for a spin. - (JOEL'S DAD LAUGHS)

Oh! Ooh.

It's okay. It's just a... it's just a little ice.

Ooh! Okay.

- (PANTING) Oh! - (TIRES SCREECHING)

- (GROANS) No! - (ENGINE REVVING)

Oh, man.

This is great.

Okay. (SIGHS)

- (PHONE BEEPING) - Really?

As if I wasn't having a hard enough day already.

Hello?

Oh, hi! (CHUCKLES) Thank goodness.

- You all right? - Uh, yeah. Yeah, I think so.

I think I must have hit a patch of black ice

- and I thought I was gonna freeze out here. Yeah.

Thank you for stopping.

You lose something?

Oh, there it is! Yes!

I don't suppose you have any reception out here?

Uh, yeah, not out here. - (SIGHS)

What I can do is I can offer you a ride,

- if you'd like. - Uh...

But you don't know me, so here's what I'm gonna do.

- Uh... - (PAPER RUSTLING)

I'll write my license plate down, as you can see,

- (SHIVERS) ...and my address...

You can take this, put it on your dash, and,

you know, if anyone comes looking for you,

- they'll know where to find ya. - Well, that's very thoughtful of you. Thank you.

Easy.

So, uh, you know, before I do commit to this,

- which way are you headed? - (CHUCKLES) I'm actually heading

to a small town called Forest Ridge.

I know it well. Come on, let's get you out of the cold.

- (CHUCKLES) It's been quite the day. I see that. Come on.

I'm Taylor, by the way.

Introductions. (CHUCKLES)

Forgot about that part. Uh, Joel.

- It's nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you.

So, uh,

wh... what brings you to Forest Ridge?

Uh, my big brother lives here with his family.

I've actually never been here before.

Well, I might be slightly biased,

being that I'm, well, from here, but... (CHUCKLES)

there's no place quite like it.

- And I know, I've been around a lot, so... - (CHUCKLES)

- I think you're gonna enjoy it. Yeah.

I hope so.

- Can I give you a hand with this? - Oh, no, I'm fine. I got it.

- You've been already so helpful. All right.

It was an absolute pleasure meeting you, Taylor.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, you too.

Thank you for, you know, rescuing me.

- Ah, yeah, no, it was fun. Fun. We should do it again real soon. - (TAYLOR LAUGHING)

Yeah, so fun. Or not. Okay, thank you.

Hope to see you around.

Yeah, that'd be great.

All right.

- (ENGINE STARTING) - Hello?

Hey, hey! There she is! - Oh! (CHUCKLING)

Craig, hi! It's so nice to see you!

Oh, so good to see you too. We were a little worried

- about the weather. Glad you made it. - (SIGHS) Yeah, more or less.

- Aunt Taylor! - (GASPS) Oh, my gosh, Zoe!

You've gotten so big!

- Hi, Christine. Thank you so much for letting me stay. - Of course.

Your house is so beautiful. - Thank you.