Wild Bride (5 page)

She fell into a pattern. For the most part, she stayed to herself in the tiny house, just her and Maggie. Her parents would stop by and give almost all of their attention to the little baby. She didn’t mind, since it allowed her to relax a little. Her mother kept bringing Maggie gifts and the little girl’s room was quickly filling up with too much stuff. She thought about arranging everything and maybe even decorating it, but just couldn’t bring herself to believe that they would be living in the small place for very long.

She really started enjoying her daily walks. Even though the weather had forced her to take them early or late in the day because of the pounding heat, she struck out each time with a smile on her face and enjoyed the way moving cleared her head.

She’d enjoyed taking the back roads just outside of town more than walking down the busy streets of row houses and people.

The old highway bridge had always been one of her favorite places to go. The old highway wasn’t used anymore and the old bridge sat high over a slow moving stream. There was plenty of fish and turtles in the water and she just loved watching them move about in the clear water. 

On several occasions during the evenings, she’d come across the same young girl sitting on the bridge. At first, Savannah only nodded as she walked by, but one evening, she noticed that the girl was crying. Her face was bright red and her eyes were soaked. When she noticed Savannah, she frantically wiped her nose and eyes on the inside sleeve of her shirt.

“Are you okay, sweetie?” Savannah stopped and took a good look at the girl for the first time.

She was very thin and pale. She had braces and her auburn hair was matted and pulled back in a loose ponytail. Her clothes were baggy and not stylish at all.

When the young girl looked up at her and nodded, Savannah’s first thought was that she would have instantly made fun of the girl had she been in school with her. Then she took a closer look and noticed that her big blue eyes were sad. Very sad. No matter what her initial thoughts were, Savannah remembered seeing the same look in her own eyes just a few short months ago.

Pulling Maggie’s stroller around, she parked it near where the young girl was sitting along the old wood planks. Her feet were dangling off the edge of the bridge. Savannah squatted down and sat next to her.

“It’s a pretty spot you have here.” She looked off to the slow flowing water below them. A handful of turtles jumped into the water quickly.

When the girl remained silent, she looked over at her. “I’m Savannah Douglas.”

She watched the girl nod. “Everyone knows who you are.” Her voice was just a whisper.

Savannah laughed. “Don’t believe half of the stuff you hear about me.” She leaned closer to the young girl and realized she was a little older than she’d first gauged. “For example, these…”—she pointed to her chest and smiled—“are real.”

The girls jaw dropped and when Savannah smiled at her again, the girl laughed a little.

“Seriously?”

“Yup.” Savannah couldn’t stop herself from laughing, but then she frowned a little. “But I did recently get a nose job.” She reached up and played with the tip of her nose, remembering the incident. “But that was only because someone punched me in the face.” She laughed when she realized that she’d deserved it.

“What about you?” She looked at the girl who sniffled and looked off towards the water.

“Kids at school make fun of me. Of the way I dress, of how I look. They call me…” She paused and closed her eyes. “Greasy Tracy.”

“Is that your name?” She quickly added, “Tracy?”

The girl nodded without opening her eyes. “You know, kids can be pretty stupid.” She sighed. “I should know. I used to be one of them. And until recently, I never really thought about how I’d hurt someone else.” She shook her head. “I wouldn’t listen too closely to what anyone has to say about you.”

“Yeah, well…” Tracy stood up and dusted off her jeans. “What would you know; you’ve never been on my end of things.” The girl started walking away and Savannah’s heart sunk a little.

“Tracy.” The girl stopped. “I’m currently on your side of things. I have no friends.” She shrugged her shoulders. “The whole town is gossiping about me, saying mean and hurtful things to the point where I spend most of my days alone in a small house with the only person who loves me.” She nodded to her sleeping daughter in her stroller. “And that’s probably only because she doesn’t know any better yet.” She gave a half smile to the young girl. “But look at me.” She motioned to herself. “I still get up every day, take a walk, and enjoy life. I listen to what people say about me and if what they say is true and I don’t like those things about myself, I change them. If what they are saying isn’t true”—she smiled and looked down at her large breasts—“then I just ignore them and hold my head up high and let them think what they want.”

Tracy looked at her for the longest time. “I better get back home.” She looked down at her feet and kicked a pebble into the water below.

Savannah felt her heart sink and realized she hadn’t gotten through to the girl.

“Will you be here tomorrow?” The girl glanced up through a thick strand of dark hair.

Savannah’s smile was quick as she nodded. “I usually take my walks about this time. I can be here, if you want.”

Tracy took a few steps in the opposite direction. “Yeah, I guess that would be cool.”

She turned and started walking away without another word.

Over the next few weeks, Savannah and Tracy hung out on the bridge a handful of times. Each time Savannah tried to crack her shell and get through to her. She didn’t know if what she was saying was helping or hurting, but she knew she was slowly making a friend and hoped that somehow she could reverse some of the damage she’d done in her youth by talking to the girl.

One day, during her walk, she was pushing Maggie’s stroller past the bookstore when Holly rushed out of the front door and raced towards her.

“Savannah,” she called to her as she jogged across the street towards her. When she reached her, the slender redhead was almost breathless. “Wow, you walk fast.” She smiled at her.

Savannah nodded a little. She’d known Holly her entire life, but had never really paid too much attention to the bookstore owner. The fact that she was the one who had broken her nose only last year still didn’t sit well with her. She tensed a little as the woman stopped right beside her. “I’m trying to burn off some of the baby fat.”

“Well, you certainly have.” Holly smiled and Savannah had to admit, the woman had turned beautiful, despite how she had looked as a child. “You look wonderful,” Holly said, leaning down and looking at Maggie. “I can’t believe how fast she’s grown.” She brushed a hand over Maggie’s hair. “Her hair has lightened up. She looks so much like you.” Holly smiled up at her. “But, I think she has her daddy’s dark eyes.” She cooed and let Maggie take her finger in her chubby hand.

“Really?” Savannah walked around to the front of the stroller and looked down at her daughter. She hadn’t noticed it, but it was true. Maggie’s hair had lightened quite a lot since her birth. Now, she could see some of herself in the chubby cheeks and smiled.

“Yes, I noticed she had Billy’s eyes right away.” Holly said, smiling down at Maggie, and Savannah felt a jolt of pride rush over her. “Would you like to come in?” Holly nodded towards her shop.

Holly’s business was the local bookstore, coffeehouse, and wine bar all rolled into one. Savannah had been inside a few times since Holly and Travis had opened back up after a full remodel of the building, but she had never been there when they were in the shop. Instead, she’d always made sure that one of the employees, April or Karlene, were working instead.

Now as she looked over at the tall building, which sat only a few blocks from her house, she could see the place was full of people. She took a step back. “Well…” She tried to think of an excuse. Any excuse.

“Oh, please. I’m really sorry about breaking your nose,” she blurted out.

Savannah looked at her and realized the woman was as sincere as she could get.

Savannah nodded but remembered the pain and embarrassment. She knew now that she’d probably deserved it.

Holly sighed and looked off towards the bookstore. “Maggie would love seeing the other children. Besides, we’re just about to start reading time.” Holly smiled.

“Reading time?”

“Sure, we take time each week to read to the younger kids. You wouldn’t think of it to look at our town, but there are loads of smaller children here.” She smiled. “We have reading days, craft days, and even mommy break days.” She smiled.

“Mommy break days?” She walked back behind the stroller and thought about retreating.

“Sure, mommies need a break. Every Thursday morning, from nine to noon, we watch the kids so mommies can have a few hours to themselves.” She smiled and started walking back towards the building. “You’ll enjoy it. Besides, Maggie needs to be introduced to some of the other kids in town.”

Savannah frowned. Holly had a point. So far, Maggie hadn’t been around any other kids. Was she stiffing her daughter? She thought of Tracy and how she’d tried to encourage the girl. Maybe she should be taking some of her own advice and putting herself out there more.

Nodding, she followed Holly towards the building. She was going to give her daughter a social life, even if it meant she had to play nice with the other parents in the process. Her daughter was worth the awkwardness of having to deal with people gossiping about her and looking at her funny the way they always did.

When they walked into the building, every mother stopped talking and looked towards them. She straightened her shoulders and tried to put on her social smile.

“Everyone, this is Maggie,” Holly said as she gently pulled the baby from the stroller.

Everyone said, “Oh,” in unison, and then several women rushed towards them, and Maggie was whisked into the arms of the other mothers.

“I’m glad you came.” Savannah turned and saw Lauren West standing next to her, a chubby boy of almost two on her hip. She knew it was her sister Alexis’ son, Gavin. She and Alex had never really gotten along, but at one point, way back in grade school, Lauren and Savannah had been best friends.

She set the boy down and he waddled off towards a pile of toys that sat in the middle of a group of kids. “What do you say to a cup of tea and some crumb cake?” She tugged on Savannah’s hand until she followed her to the bar area. “You’ve met April?”

Savannah nodded at the tall blonde woman who had pink streaks in her hair. “I’ve watched you run by the window almost every day.” April smiled. “But I’ve never thought to run after you.” She smiled. “It looked like Holly was going to chase you down and tackle you to get you to stop.” She laughed and set a cup of warm tea in front of her.

Savannah went to push the tea away. “I’m nursing.”

“It’s okay, honey, it’s caffeine free.” April winked. “Drank truckloads of this stuff while I was nursing my kids.”

Savannah nodded and took the cup. She frowned when Lauren sat a large slice of cranberry crumb cake in front of her.

“Oh, I don’t think—” she started.

“Hush now. You may not see it, but you’re skinnier now than ever before.” Lauren smiled. “It’s always hard to bounce back after a baby, but somehow you’ve managed to do it in only a few months, and I’ll bet without going to the gym once.” She shook her head and frowned a little. “Kind of makes me sick.” Then she laughed.

Savannah looked down at herself. She was very proud of the progress she’d made. She was back into the clothes she’d worn prior to getting pregnant and some of them were a little loose on her.

“Besides, you deserve a break.” She leaned on the bar. “Look at her.” She smiled. “She’s enjoying herself.”

Savannah took a little nibble of cake and turned around to see her daughter smiling as she was held by Haley, Lauren’s youngest sister. There were twin boys standing next to her making funny faces at Maggie, who was giggling like Savannah had never heard before.

The sound brought a tear to her eyes.

“Oh, honey.” Lauren took her arm. “Is everything okay?”

Savannah looked over at her and nodded. “I guess I’m just hormonal.” She used the napkin Lauren had given her to dry her eyes.

Lauren smiled. “Comes with the job.” She chuckled. “Now, let’s go sit down before the story begins.”

Savannah nodded and took the cake and her cup of tea and followed Lauren to a small table near the kids.

A
s Billy listened to Savannah talk about Tracy and story time at Holly’s, he wished more than anything that he was back at home. He never should have taken this job. The hours were long and the work was back breaking. Even though he was a supervisor, he still walked into his hotel room each night with more aches and pains than he cared for.

Most of the men were hard workers, but a handful of them were just plain stupid. Actually, a few of them reminded him of himself just a few short months ago.

He missed his girls. Even though they would Skype every night, he missed holding his daughter, missed smelling her hair after bath time. She was growing so fast. In every picture Savannah sent, he could see the subtle changes in her face.

He’d cried after hanging up with them one night after Maggie had laughed and cooed for him. He desperately wished he’d been there in person to see it. Her little eyes lit up, and she was kicking her hands and feet now, making it look like she wanted him to hold her. Only three more months to go until he could go home and get on a more normal schedule.

A few days later, he received a call that sent shivers down his bones. He picked up the phone after being called to the main office.

“This is William Jackson.”

“Well, well. You’re a hard man to track down, William Jackson, Jr.” Just hearing the voice gave him chills.

“What do you want?” he asked, reaching over and shutting the office door so no one else would hear the conversation.

“Heard you made it to the big time. Hitching up with the Douglas girl.” His father chuckled and a million memories flooded his mind. None of them were pleasant.

“I’ll repeat my question. What do you want?”

“Money,” his father said, simply.

“You don’t need money in the slammer.” He almost hung up on him.

“I’m not in the slammer anymore.” His father chuckled. “Actually, I was thinking of heading back into Fairplay. Maybe see that cute grandchild of mine.”

“If you step foot in Fairplay…I’ll…”

“What?” his father broke in. “I’ve served my time. I’m out on good behavior.” He heard his father take a drink of something and knew without a doubt it was a shot of Jim Beam.

“How much?” he asked and closed his eyes. “How much do you want to stay away?”

“Ten thousand,” his father said quickly. “That should keep me busy for a while.” He chuckled again and Billy felt his skin crawl.

“Fine, tell me where.” He wrote down the information quickly as his father gave it to him. “I’ll wire it tomorrow.” He hung up before his father could make any more demands.

Sitting down behind his desk, he rubbed his forehead and felt a headache building behind his eyes.

Two months couldn’t go by quickly enough.

Savannah looked at herself in the mirror one last time. She couldn’t explain why she was nervous, but she was. She must have changed outfits a half dozen times. She’d changed Maggie just as many times, but for different reasons. Maggie had wet the first one, and had thrown up a little on the second dress she’d picked.

Now, she leaned forward and applied just a little clear lip gloss to her lips and smiled. “There. Perfect.”

She’d changed so much in the last few months. Living alone with just Maggie as company had made her look inward. She hadn’t liked the person she’d become and just like dropping a few pounds, she’d decided to drop a few tendencies she had. And she owed it all to Maggie.

She looked down at the little girl, who smiled and tried to grab the fuzzy frogs that hung over her head in her carrier. “Shall we go get your daddy?”

Maggie squealed at the word “daddy,” like she always did. Savannah laughed and picked up the carrier. Maggie was getting so heavy, it took both of her arms to hold her and the carrier now. She set the carrier in the stroller, grabbed her purse, and locked up the house.

“Morning, Savannah,” she heard before she reached the end of her walk. “How’s Maggie today?” Mrs. Cole rushed over from her yard as fast as her eighty-year-old legs could carry her and started cooing at Maggie. “She sure is growing so fast. I do believe she’s grown another inch since I saw her yesterday.”

Savannah laughed. “Mrs. Cole, I think it’s time you had your eyesight checked.” They laughed.

“Going to get Billy from the bus station today?”

Savannah nodded.

“Well, won’t it be wonderful to have your daddy back in town,” Mrs. Cole said to Maggie. “Well, you two better get going. I thought I saw the bus pass by a few minutes ago.”

Savannah looked down the street with worry. “Thanks. See you later.” She pushed the stroller quickly down the sidewalk and hoped that she hadn’t left Billy waiting too long.

Halfway down the next block, she spotted him walking towards them. He looked a little thinner and a little taller, if that was possible.

“Billy,” she called out, and he lifted his eyes from the ground to them. Then he was smiling and running towards them.

He jogged a little and met him in the middle.

“Hey.” He smiled at her and dropped his bags.

All of a sudden, a bout of awkwardness rushed over her. She didn’t know if she should hug him or not. He made the decision for her and pulled her into his arms and kissed her right there on the street. She felt her heart jump and her pulse skip. Then he released her and knelt down to pull Maggie from her stroller.

She used that time to get her breathing back under control. She had never reacted to him like this before. For that matter, she’d never reacted to anyone like that before.

“I can’t believe how big she is.” He tried to hold Maggie like he’d done when she was a baby, but Maggie was having none of it and kept trying to sit up in his arms.

Savannah chuckled. “She likes to be held like this.” She walked over and helped him turn her around. “There, now she can see you.”

Maggie’s little hands came up and rested on his chin as he smiled down at her. He laughed when she reached up and put his chin in her mouth.

“Sorry,” Savannah laughed. “The doctor says she’s teething.”

“What?” He chuckled and looked up at her. “So soon?”

“She is just over six months old.” She smiled and waved at someone who honked as they drove by.

His eyes were on her and she saw him smiling at her.

“What?” she asked, feeling self-conscious.

“Look at you.” His eyes ran over her and he frowned a little.

“What?” She frowned back and looked down at herself. “Did Maggie mess up this shirt as well?”

He shook his head and held Maggie tighter. “No, you look good.” His voice softened and lowered, causing her face to flush as she smiled.

“We have a surprise for you.” She smiled. “But we’ll have to drop off your bags first.” She nodded to the discarded duffel bags that lay on the sidewalk.

He nodded and bent down to pick up the bigger of the bags. “Toss that one on her stroller will you? I want to carry my girl for a while.” He smiled and kissed Maggie’s cheek.

Savannah picked up his bag and set it on the stroller and then walked beside him as he started back down the street.

“How was the trip back?” she asked, not sure what to talk to him about. Why was she feeling nervous? After all, it was just Billy. She’d known him her whole life. They’d slept together, made a baby together, and lived together. Why was she feeling nervous around him, like she didn’t know him?

“It was okay. The bus had a flat tire just outside of Dallas.” He shook his head and placed another kiss on Maggie’s cheek, causing their daughter to squeal with glee.

“I hope you don’t mind, but the sheriff stopped by one day and suggested I have the house painted, so I hired Corey to put a fresh coat on the place.” She nodded to the house.

Corey, Billy’s friend, had done a fantastic job, and he’d put a fresh coat of paint on the inside, as well.

“The place looks good. Corey texted me and filled me in.” He smiled. “Who would have known he’d have the talent and patience to do that.” He laughed.

She used her key and opened the front door. “He also did some work inside.” She stepped in and set the stroller in its corner. “I hope you don’t mind, but I moved a few things around.” She nodded to the room.

He smiled. “Savvy, I told you, you can do whatever you want with the place.” He set his bag down.

“Good, because I was reading this book about parenting, and well, Maggie needed her own room,” she blurted out.

He turned to her, his dark eyebrows going up slowly. “Oh?” His smile spread a little.

She ignored his smile and walked past him. “Yes, well, I think you’ll like it. Maggie loves it,” she said nervously as she opened their daughter’s room.

He stepped in with Maggie on his hip and smiled. “Frogs?” He laughed.

“Yes, well, it seems your daughter has a thing for the Princess and the Frog.” She frowned a little.

“She does, does she?” He laughed.

She’d hated doing it, but painting her daughter’s room a light shade of green seemed to make Maggie happy. Every time she would hold up the pink swatch of paint in front of her daughter’s face, she would reach for the green instead. When Savannah would hold up a picture of Cinderella, Savannah’s favorite character, Maggie would cry and reach for the Princess and the Frog one instead.

There were two large wall stickers of frogs on the wall next to her crib and a frog mobile that hung over her daughter and played sweet chimes as she slept.

“I like it.” He smiled. “If it makes my girls happy.” He walked over and sat Maggie down on the floor and then sat next to her and handed her a stuffed frog. “I can’t believe how big she is.” He looked up at Savannah and smiled. “And how little you are.” His eyes raked over her and she felt a wave of heat flood her entire body. “You look good.” He stood up and started walking towards her. “Real good.”

His hands grabbed her hips and pulled her closer to him. It had been so long since someone had touched her. Too long. She couldn’t stop herself from melting into his arms.

He smiled down at her and she realized he did look taller. Her neck craned as she looked up at him. Then he dipped his head and his lips touched hers lightly.

The kiss was different than the one he’d given to her on the street. It was different than any kiss he’d given her before.

They were adults. Her mind zeroed in on the thought. Everything else they’d done prior to this, they’d done as children. For the first time in her life, she felt like a real woman. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she pulled him closer, feeling her body heat next to his.

Then her cell phone rang and she jerked back. “Oh,” she said, looking down at the screen. “I almost forgot.” She pushed her hair away from her eyes. “We’re going to be late for your surprise.” She smiled and walked over to pick up Maggie.

He groaned. “Can’t you just give me my surprise here?” he asked, reaching for her. She laughed and pulled away.

Billy tried to keep his mind on anything other than how sexy Savannah looked walking next to him. Even as he held his daughter in his arms, his eyes kept rushing back to her body. She was wearing tight black leggings with a long flowing gray shirt. She had on sexy gray ankle boots, which made her legs look even longer than he remembered. He felt a bead of sweat drip down between his shoulder blades. He doubted it had anything to do with the almost ninety-degree weather they were having.