Wild Bride

by Jill Sanders

  Chapter Fifteen

  Savannah’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.

  “On that we are in agreement.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  It took her two whole days to get the house cleaned and back to the way it was before. There were still folding tables and chairs in the backyard that her father and Billy had to take back to the town hall.

  They had more leftovers in the fridge and freezer than she knew what to do with. She’d made homemade chicken soup with the leftover chicken and had sent a pot home with her parents. She delivered two whole pies to Holly’s place in hopes that she wouldn’t see them sitting around the house and gain all the weight back.

  She’d even delivered a whole meal’s worth of food to Carmen and her two kids.

  She enjoyed her hour visit, and Carmen updated her on hiring her lawyer back. She told her that he thought she had a very strong case against her ex and assured her that he wouldn’t get full custody of her kids.

  “Well, of course you do.” Savannah smiled at the two kids playing quietly with Lego’s on the floor.

  “I hope so. It would kill me if I didn’t get to see their funny faces every day.” Carmen smiled at her two kids. “What about you? Are you and Billy going to have more kids?”

  Savannah almost gasped, but then she thought about it. She’d always wanted lots of kids. She’d hated that she’d been an only child. But she still hadn’t completely committed herself to their relationship. True, she couldn’t imagine taking Maggie away from Billy, or—her blood turned cold—him taking Maggie from her. Shaking her head, she dismissed the thought. Billy would never do anything like that. He didn’t have the meanness in him like his father had.

  “We…we haven’t talked about it,” she told Carmen and then excused herself, telling Carmen that it was time to put Maggie down for a nap.

  On the short walk back to the house, she pushed Maggie’s stroller slowly and thought about the conversation. She and Billy hadn’t talked about their future. Oh, sure, he’d proposed to her, twice now. But the first time had been because they’d just found out she was pregnant. The second… Why had he proposed the second time? She stopped walking and thought back to that day in the diner. What had they been talking about? She couldn’t really remember. All she remembered was being embarrassed and upset that he’d proposed to her at Mama’s.

  She started pushing the stroller again and thought about their relationship, about their future. About her future. What did she want? She knew that all of the dreams that she’d had as a child were gone and looking down at her sleeping baby, she realized she no longer cared about the same things that she had a year ago. What weighed heavy on her now was the question of what next. What did she want now?

  Billy was scheduled to leave in two days and she still didn’t know how she felt about it. It was only for two weeks this time, but things had changed so much between them. She still wasn’t sure what to think about everything that had happened between them.

  As she walked by Holly’s place, she waved in to one of the sisters that was working behind the tall bar counter. She like both of them, which was funny, because they had been living in Fairplay for a few years and Savannah would have never said that about them over a year ago. They just didn’t run in the same circles she had.

  Now she was thankful she didn’t still run in those circles. Several of her friends had moved out of town shortly after she’d found out she was pregnant. She’d heard that two of them were living in Houston, but other than that, she didn’t know what they were doing. They hadn’t called or texted her, and she’d forgotten about them with everything that had been going on in her own life.

  She remembered how much it had stung that they’d stopped calling her, but now,
she knew it had been for the best. Right after she’d found out she was pregnant, she’d tried to keep their friendships and it had been exhausting. They liked to go out dancing and drinking at least three times a week. Besides, they still smoked and she didn’t want Maggie to be around anyone who smoked.

  She stopped again in the middle of the sidewalk and closed her eyes, remembering the few times she’d pretended to smoke while she’d been pregnant.

  Thank God the doctor had stifled any concerns she’d had about side effects. She’d been so stupid back then. Shaking her head, she started walking again and looked up to see Billy sitting on the front steps of the house, watching her.

  “Deciding if you’re going to come back home?” he asked when she was a few steps away from him.

  “Hmm?” She parked the stroller in front of them and moved around to sit next to Billy.

  He chuckled a little and nodded. “The way you kept stopping back there. It kept looking like you were trying to decide if you wanted to come back home or not. ”

  She shook her head. “No, I was just thinking of how stupid I used to be.” She sighed and rested her elbow on her knees. “I can’t believe I kept smoking for the first few weeks of pregnancy.”

  He looked at her and nodded. “I know what you mean.” Shaking his head. “I can’t believe how much I used to drink. Just that one sip of that beer the other day, and I was wanting a tall glass of tea instead.”

  She chuckled. “I can’t believe I used to have the energy to go dancing three nights a week.”

  He chuckled, then sobered and took her hand. “Do you miss it?”

  She thought about it for a moment. “If it means giving Maggie up, no.” She smiled. “How about you?”

  He shook his head. “If it means giving you two up, no.” He pulled her close and kissed her softly on the lips and she felt something shift inside her. Something she’d been trying to hide her whole life.