Runaway Bride (20 page)

"I'm afraid so." Savannah cried out
then glanced at her Aunt who was smiling.

"I thought so. Well, you did Ben a
favor, I guess it's turn about fair play, isn't it?"

"Not exactly. Oh, Aunt Lucy....this is
such a mess. I mean...I wanted Janet to tell everyone that I was in
love with Ben, before
I
knew I
was in love with Ben. But now, it's just so confusing."

Lucy went into the kitchen and came
back in a few minutes with some tea. Savannah was near tears and
trying to hold back.

"Drink your tea dear. This will all
look better in the morning."

But it didn't. The morning brought new
problems. Problems that materialized on her Aunt's front porch. Her
parents had arrived!

They were all talking as Savannah came
down the stairway, "Hello Mom, dad."

A tall, man in his fifties came to
stand beside her, Savannah looked up at him and tried to smile. How
could she pretend happiness when it was so far from what she
felt?

Her father had aged dramatically in the
last few years, and telltale signs of his greying hair, and worried
lines in his face made Savannah feel guilty for contributing to it.
Yet his blue eyes twinkled when he saw her and she immediately felt
better.

Her mother on the other hand swept
gracefully across the porch, an air of sophistication and
determination to her demeanor. A slim woman, in her fifties with
golden hair, and very grey-green eyes. "Savannah, I was so happy
when Lucy called me to tell me you were here, safe. Whatever
possessed you to run from the church so? Oh no, don't tell me,
Janet said you'd been infatuated with some yokel cowboy out here
from that summer vacation you took all alone. Please tell me that
it isn't true."

Aunt Lucy followed them and began
taking control of the situation that Savannah had no idea how to
handle.

"Let's go have some coffee and talk
about this at the table..."

"That sounds divine dear, does your
maid have any breakfast left over?"

"My maid?" Lucy queried. "I have no
maid, Melanie; I only have a house-sitter when I'm not
here."

"You are kidding me. Why...how can that
be, the house is so big, you can't sit there and tell me you clean
it yourself." Melanie Kingsley was asking as Lucy poured all of
them a cup of coffee. Her eyes quickly scanned the mantle above the
stove, the windows, everything.

"But of course I do. I have nothing
else to do all day. I love taking care of Mama's house."

"I don't understand how you can live
here, much less try and take care of this place alone. And
especially with all the memories of this place," Melanie remarked,
casting her daughter a quick glance.

"They are good memories, Melanie. I
love this old house, its home to me. I wouldn't live anywhere else.
I try to take care of it like Mama would have." Lucy
smiled.

"Lucy, you don't look a day older than
the last time I saw you," John Kingsley was saying.

"Thank you, John. And you're as
charming as ever."

Melanie's attention went straight to
her daughter now, as though the pleasantries had been exchanged and
it was time to get down to business. "Savannah, I've been trying to
understand, to comprehend, as have all of us. So, whatever
possessed you to leave the way you did, without a word? You had us
so worried. Until we heard from that Sheriff, we didn't know what
to think."

Savannah thought long and hard on how
she wanted to tell her parents what had happened. But she had
promised Chad too. How could she satiate one and not betray the
other?

Weighing her words she nodded, and
looked apologetically at her parents, both of them. "I'm sorry, for
worrying you. But honestly, Chad and I had very little time to
think or act. To be frank, I didn't know what to say to you or the
congregation. I freaked out, and ran."

"I know you didn't want a large
wedding, like I planned it, but if I'd have known you were this
upset, we could have talked about it. Planned it differently. I'm
not unapproachable, you know."

Savannah shook her head, "I'll admit, I
didn't want a big wedding mother."

"Chad has been so distraught. Oh...he's
holding up well as can be expected, but he's definitely in such
pain. It's hard to watch." Melanie continued. "How could you do
this to him, Savannah?"

John shifted his weight in his chair
and looked at his wife, then his daughter, "Maybe we should
let
her
explain."

"She got cold feet, that's all,"
Melanie firmed her lips and looked at Savannah, "Alright, explain
it, if you can."

"Chad hasn't spoken with you?" Savannah
asked innocently.

"Only that you mutually agreed to call
off the wedding," John inserted.

Savannah nodded, "Well, that's about
it."

"But why...." Melanie burst
out.

Savannah couldn't explain. And she
couldn't lie to her parents so she just sat there.

"Are you really in love with some
cowboy out here?" Melanie demanded to know.

Savannah met her gaze, "I...I...yes..."
she finally admitted to herself and the world.

"And exactly how long have you known
this young man, and who is he for goodness sake, and why on earth
haven't you spoken up before about him?" Melanie probed.

John touched his wife's arm, "Give her
a minute, dear. You're attacking her. We've raised Savannah to know
her own mind, to make her own decisions. We have to trust she knows
what she's doing now."

"And do you, Savannah?"

"Can you give me some time? Please...."
Savannah sounded desperate even to herself.

"You can have all the time you need,
honey, just come home. I've taken the liberty of speaking to Jordan
Finch about your job; he's agreed to give you, your old job back
when you return. We can even reset a date for the wedding, if
that's what you want...I mean, if you re-consider."

Savannah shook her head slowly, "I'm
sorry you went to that trouble dad. I don't want my old job back. I
didn't get that job on my own merit. It was practically handed to
me. I never liked that job. I took it because it was easy, because
I'm your daughter, not because I earned the position. I'm doing
something now I enjoy..."

"Doing something...what, for heaven's
sake?" now it was her father's turn to be upset.

"Photography," she sighed knowing how
this was going to upset him, but knowing she had to be firm. "Yes,
I wrote the magazine and sent them my work, they've accepted it.
They've even given me an advance for more. I love doing it....I've
always enjoyed doing it. You know that. I've spoken to you about it
many times."

"Of course you have, and it's a
wonderful hobby, but you don't seriously think you can earn a
living doing something like that, do you?" John was
adamant.

"Why not? Others do. I'd like to show
you some of my work, dad...."

"I won't tolerate you being so
childish, Savannah. You have a good paying job, a home,
everything...and now this? If you don't want to get married that's
fine by me, but you have to be able to earn a living for yourself.
Your mother and I won't always be around. And even though we've
left you and your sisters and brother a generous sum, it won't take
the place of a lifetime job."

Savannah looked at her parents with
tears in her eyes, "This is what I want to do, dad. What I'm going
to do. What I'm actually good at doing."

"Let's drop the job thing right now. I
don't seriously think Savannah is contemplating this kind of life
because of her photography. I think it's this young man she's
involved with. I want to know more about him. Who is
he?"

She tried to turn the conversation away
from Ben, but they were determined to know everything, as
always.

"Ben's a fine young man," Lucy quipped
tightly.

"Ben?"

Savannah stood up, walked across the
room, and then turned to look at them. "I don't expect you to
understand me. I don't understand me. I only know I can't marry
Chad. Chad has accepted it. Why can't you?"

"Accepted it, why he's been so
depressed and despondent since you've been gone how can you
possibly think he can accept it?" Melanie cried aloud.

"Because he isn't depressed or
despondent about me. There are things you don't know, mother.
Things I'm not at liberty to discuss. Things that are between me
and Chad."

John's brow shot upward, and again he
reached for his wife's arm, "Maybe we should let this go for a
while, Melanie. It's obvious there is something between them.
Whether it's this Ben fella, or something or someone else, I don't
know. But I do know our daughter and she wouldn't be this decided
about it, if something weren't amiss."

Melanie shot up from her chair and
looked at them all, "Alright, we'll drop it for now, but I want to
meet this Ben...whoever he is before I leave here. I want to know
why one man can totally change our daughter's life." Her hand
reached to control a wayward blonde curl, as her green eyes
surveyed her daughter closely.

Savannah closed her eyes, her head
began to pound. How would she ever manage this.

"Are you coming home with us, or not,
Savannah?"

"For a while, I need to get a few
things in order."

"Good, now, where is our car, I didn't
see it parked outside?" John asked.

"Oh, Ben has the car," Lucy blurted
out.

"Ben? Why would he have the car?" John
and Melanie chimed.

"Because he impounded it, he's the
Sheriff," Lucy explained with a smile.

"The Sheriff?" again they
chimed.

* * *

Ben had been miserable ever since he
stopped by to see Savannah. She practically admitted she'd been
dating this Jimmy Walker. Not that it was his business, but she was
playing games with him, and he knew it. She had no feelings for
this Jimmy Walker, whoever he was. He'd bet his life on
that.

He felt suddenly like a caged tiger,
contained and yet not contained. There was restlessness in him that
he couldn't explain or deny.

Why had she insisted on bringing Maria
up, that night? He didn't want to talk about his ex. He didn't want
to think about his ex. He had gotten over Maria so long ago; he
wasn't sure when it happened. But the love was gone from that
relationship almost before it got started. He'd learned a hard
lesson in life. Maria taught him well. He didn't need marriage.
Despite Savannah's sweetness, he felt he was right not offering her
more.

All he knew was that he was consumed
with his feelings for Savannah. She was everything any man would
want. And he wanted her...body and soul. So why couldn't he just
let it happen? Maybe being hog tied to a woman like her wouldn't be
so bad. Maybe he'd enjoy it.

Ah, Savannah would never enjoy living
in a little town like Junction, and he sure wasn't moving to the
city. He was happy here. Content! At least until she hit town he
was.

That's when he decided to make the
call. He had to put a few things straight in his mind. He had to
know if Savannah was telling him the truth about her runaway
marriage. So he called Chad. It took some time finding the number
and even with the help of information. When he did it was late and
he had obviously woken Chad.

"Are you Chad Huntington II?" Ben asked
angrily into the phone.

"Yes, yes...who is this?" came the
groggy voice.

"The name's Ben Hogg, I'm Sheriff over
in Junction."

"I see, well, what has that to do with
me, sir?" Chad asked obviously still not understanding who he
was.

"I'm trying to find out exactly why
Savannah Kingsley ran out on you."

There was a pause, a silence and Ben
looked at the receiver as though it had two heads. Hadn't he heard
him?

"Well?"

"I don't understand. Who are you?" Chad
asked again.

"Ben Hogg."

"Never heard of you," Chad said about
to hang up.

"I know that. And I'm sorry for
bothering you at this hour, but I've got to know...it's
important."

"Obviously you know Savannah. Didn't
she tell you?" Chad asked bleakly.

"Tell me what?"

"I guess...I thought she would have
told everyone by now, hoped she would have...but well, the truth
is..."

"The truth is what....?"

"I'm gay." Came the contrite voice over
the phone. "There I've said it, and it feels wonderful being able
to say it aloud."

Ben looked at the receiver again. "Come
again?"

"I said she found out I was gay. That's
why she ran out on me. Gee, it's not that hard to say aloud
anymore. In fact, it's a relief being able to announce it to
someone...anyone. Look, I don't know who you are or what you want,
but thanks... you don't know how much you've helped me."