Wild Bride (13 page)

“No.” She stood up suddenly. “I…I’m sorry, I need to…” She looked around and, without another word, walked out of the kitchen. He heard the front door open and close and sighed as he looked across the table at Maggie, who just looked at him and mushed banana between her fingers and then smiled and laughed.

He chuckled. “I think your mother needs some time to think about stuff.”

“Stuff.” Maggie repeated, causing him to stop and stare at her.

“Stuff,” he repeated and he was delighted when she mimicked him. Over the next hour, he tried hundreds of words and was disappointed when the only word she would say was stuff. Even the standard Mama and Dada, the usual words that developing babies picked up first, weren’t in Maggie’s vocabulary.

S
avannah’s head hurt. She walked at a quick pace and didn’t stop until she hit the bridge. It was too early in the morning for anyone else to be out so she leaned against the railing and relaxed back.

For almost twenty years, she’d believed something about herself with no real reason. She pushed up from the railing and started pacing across the bridge as she thought about it.

First, there was Travis. She hadn’t loved him. She’d enjoyed their time together, but he had only been the means to overcome her fear of men, of being touched. He’d helped by teaching her so she could become the woman she was today.

There had been other men in her life. Fewer than most people in town thought, but she couldn’t deny that she’d learned something from each one of them, Billy included. She stopped cold and closed her eyes as she felt herself sway.

She didn’t love him. She couldn’t love him. He was Billy Jackson. Billy! She was supposed to marry a rich man, a man who could take her places. Take her out of Fairplay, Texas.

She walked over to the side of the bridge and looked down at the water. She hadn’t realized she’d been crying until she watched a tear fall into the calm water below her.

Of course, she loved her father. She’d never questioned that. And she had a deep respect for the sheriff; he’d always been there in her life.

Why was Billy pushing the love card so hard? Why couldn’t he just accept the fact that she wasn’t going to be that for him?

They only had a few more days before he’d be gone for two weeks. Then she would have the time to clear her head and look at things in a more levelheaded way. When he was around, her mind turned foggy and tended to focus on one thing.

She shook her head and wiped her tears from her face. Taking her time to walk home, she came up with a plan of action for how to deal with him. She wasn’t going to stop taking her pleasures, but that didn’t mean she had to fight him on the emotional side.

With her shoulders pulled back, and her head a little clearer, she walked into the house and heard her daughter’s first word.

“Stuff,” Maggie said over and over again as Billy recorded it on his phone.

Savannah rushed over to her daughter. “She… she spoke?” Excitement rushed through her as she watched her daughter laugh and clap her hands, repeating the word.

Savannah hugged her and then looked over at Billy. “When did this start?”

He laughed. “Five seconds after you left.” He frowned a little. “I can’t get her to say anything else though.”

The rest of the day was spent trying to get Maggie to say anything else. But the little girl was too determined and stubborn to even try. She would just smile and repeat the one word.

“I guess she’s just like her mama.” Billy laughed as they took their evening walk.

“Oh?” She glanced over at him, thankful that the day had been detoured from the conversations of that morning.

He nodded and smiled and she felt her heart skip a little at how handsome he was.

“She loves stuff.” He laughed when she slapped at his shoulder playfully. Maggie repeated the word and they laughed again.

That night Savannah lay quietly in bed, pretending to be asleep.

She’d never lived with anyone before and wondered why it was so easy with Billy. He didn’t leave clothes laying around, nor did he leave the toilet seat up like other men she’d been with. He helped with Maggie and, she had to be honest, she was enjoying that part a lot. Not that Maggie was a handful anymore, but she was enjoying having some more time to herself.

When Billy came to bed, she kept her eyes closed and was thankful when he turned off the light and settled down. Then he rolled over and pulled her close to him and sighed.

“Night,” he said in her hair, causing goose bumps to rise all over her skin.

She nodded and sighed. It did feel good to be held. The sweet smell of his clean skin filled her senses and she closed her eyes to the desire.

“I can hear you thinking.” He chuckled.

She turned towards him, running her hands over his bare chest. Enjoying the play of muscles, she continued to run her fingers over every inch of him as she looked into his dark eyes.

When her hand slipped lower, his eyes closed on a moan. Wrapping her fingers around the length of him, it was her turn to close her eyes and moan. He was impressive. The first time she’d seen him, she’d wondered how he’d been so perfect.

“You’re killing me,” he growled as her hand stroked him slowly. Then he reached for her and she couldn’t move fast enough. Pushing on his shoulders, she moved over him and straddled his hips as she flung off her clothes.

Then she was above him, positioning his cock so she could slide down it slowly. His hands gripped her hips as she moved downward and impaled herself fully. Her head rolled back as his fingers tightened on her hips, and then he was pushing and pulling her so she would move over him.

As she looked down at him, she let her body move until she felt herself building. When her release finally came, she was happy to hear him follow her just a few seconds later.

Resting her cheek against his chest, her eyes slid closed as their hearts beat rapidly in unison. She drifted off to the sound of his heartbeat and knew that she couldn’t deny it any more. She’d let her guard slip for the first time in her life and it scared her too much to think about.

The next few days were busy. They had finally released his father’s body, and Savannah had helped him make the arrangements for his burial. Even though he’d spent a good portion of his life being embarrassed by the man, he couldn’t deny him his last wishes. He was buried in the plot next to Billy’s mother at the local cemetery just outside of town.

The simple casket had cost almost as much as his father had demanded in blackmail. Savannah must have realized that he was getting frustrated dealing with it all, because she stepped in and took over. Making the rest of the arrangements, she had even picked the flowers and the headstone out. It took two full days for everything to be completely arranged.

Now he was standing in the summer heat out in front of the local town hall in his best suit with Maggie in his arms. He greeted a few guests and friends who had shown up for the small service.

He was surprised at how many people showed up to show their support. It was nice knowing people could put what his father had done aside, even if he was still having difficulty with it. Of course, as he shut the outer doors and walked inside, he noticed that the room was only half filled.

Taking his place next to Savannah, he sat down and listened to the short sermon from the town’s preacher.

The group followed the lead car out to the cemetery. Billy’s hand was shaken more times than he could count.

He was thankful that Savannah’s family was there and that she hadn’t left his side the entire time.

When she’d walked out of the bathroom that morning in her dark skirt and blouse, he’d thought of a million things he’d rather do with her than attend his father’s funeral. Her hair was tied in a bun at the nap of her neck in a sophisticated look.

With Maggie on her hip, she looked more mature than he’d ever seen her before. More respectable somehow.

He watched everyone who stopped and talked to her. She might not have known it, but in the eyes of the town, she’d changed. Now she was the woman he’d always imagined she’d be.

He found it hard not to watch her every chance he could. He knew she was struggling with her feelings for him. Finding out what she’d gone through as a child tore him apart, but he knew that someone as strong as she was could overcome. She’d done just that her entire life.

She’d taken charge of her life and was still doing so now. It wasn’t as if he wanted to control her, just love her.

After they had lowered his father’s casket into the ground, he sighed and glanced her way one more time as he talked with Travis.

“Savannah has planned a small get-together for later this evening.” He glanced back at Travis. “We’d love it if you guys would swing by.”

Travis nodded. “Should we bring anything?”

He shook his head no. “She and her mother have been cooking the last two days. Everything is taken care of.”

Travis nodded and reached for Holly’s hand. Billy watched his friends walk away and sighed again, thinking about Savannah. When he glanced at her this time, she was smiling back at him as she held Maggie.

He watched her walk across the grass towards him and couldn’t help but admire the way her hips swayed with each step. She’d always known how to turn a man on. When he’d arrived back home, she had seemed more intimidated around him, but as they had grown closer physically, she’d become more secure around him.

She stopped right in front of him, a huge smile on her face.

“Maggie learned another word today.”

He reached over and took his daughter, a huge smile on his face. “Oh?”

“Dada,” Maggie said and took his face into her hands and started kissing his chin.

Savannah laughed as he smiled. “That’s my girl.” He felt tears building behind his eyes, but he blinked them away and buried his face in his daughter’s blonde hair.

By the time people started arriving at the house, the heat of the day had cooled to a warm eighty-seven. They had pulled out every chair they could and had folding tables set up in the backyard, where Savannah’s father stood by the grill, flipping hamburgers.

He hadn’t expected so many people to show up; there were more people there than had been at the service, including the sheriff and Jamella. Maggie had been whisked away by one of the West sisters earlier on. There was a large group of kids playing in Maggie’s room, and he knew that she’d be watched after.

Savannah had been rushing around making sure everyone had drinks or plates. After a while, her mother had told her to sit down, since she was looking a little tired.

She took the seat next to him and sipped on a bottle of water. For the first time in almost a year, he nursed a beer. He only drank it because someone had handed it to him, and he didn’t want to get up to hunt down a cold glass of ice tea instead.

“Thank you.” He reached over and took Savannah’s hand in his.

“For?” She tilted her head and her silver earrings sparkled in the dying light.

“For all this.” He looked around and heard laughter coming from inside of the house. Shaking his head, he looked back at her. “Did you ever think we could have so many people in this place at once?”

She laughed and shook her head.

“Or that so many people would come out to show us how much they care?”

Her laughter stopped as she looked around the backyard. She shook her head.

“They’re here for you,” Billy told her.

She dropped his hand and stood. “I need to go check on Maggie.” He let her go and watched her walk inside, looking a little lost and scared.

Savannah’s father sat down next to him and sighed. “What’d you say to put that scared look on her face?”

He chuckled. “Nothing much.” He shook his head. “Just that everyone was here because of her.”

Her father shook his head. “A year ago she would have eaten up the attention. Now…she’s changed a lot.”

Billy nodded.

“We spoiled her. We had our reasons, and I doubt I’d change a thing, but I’m glad to see that she’s changed.”

He looked over at the man. He could see silver in his hair along his temple. There were lines on the man’s forehead and near his eyes, but he still looked young. It was hard for Billy to imagine how this man had dealt with knowing his brother had destroyed his family so many years ago.

“Savvy told me what happened,” he said, looking down at his beer and wishing for an iced tea instead.

When John didn’t say anything, he glanced back up at him. He could see sadness in the man’s eyes as he watched a group of older kids chase each other in the small yard.

“It’s about time she let someone in.” He took a sip of his drink and looked over at him.

“She thinks she can’t ever love someone.” He shook his head and watched her walk out the back door with Maggie in her arms.

“Well, that’s just bull,” her father said, causing him to laugh.