Seven

by Susan Renee

  There is one envelope in the stack of mail that I don’t expect to see. Addressed to Ivy and me from the Donor Family Services Coordinator at Give Life, an organization that aids donor and recipient families in communicating with one another. I tear open the envelope and pull out the letter inside.

  Dear Mr. Wood and Ivy,

  We received this letter from the family of Ivy’s organ donor. We hope that this letter brings you joy and peace and finds you both well, and healing happily. If you would like to send a response to this family, please follow the instructions in the attached brochure. I am also available to help you in your communications in any way I can.

  Sincerely,

  Mary Ellen Duffler

  Donor Family Services Coordinator

  Give Life

  It’s a letter from Ivy’s donor family.

  Well I’ll be…

  I never thought about writing one myself.

  Man, do I feel like an asshole.

  Who goes through this painstakingly emotional process and doesn’t say ‘thank you’? Me, that’s who. I never gave it a moment’s thought. I just focused on Ivy and her needs. Shaking my head at myself and resolving to write an immediate reply, I swallow a huge piece of humble pie before opening the envelope that on the front says,

  Donor Recipient

  Eager to learn more, I rip open the envelope and pull out a neatly handwritten letter.

  Dear recipient,

  My name is Savannah. My daughter, Peyton, was the little girl who donated one of her organs to you. She would have celebrated her second birthday on July 7th. Although she is no longer with us, I know Peyton and her Daddy are smiling down on you from Heaven and watching you grow in strength and peace. I hope you…

  “Oh God, no…” I gasp.

  My hand starts to shake. It doesn’t take long for me to figure it out. Bardstown, KY is a damn small town. News travels fast, and when it’s headlines like “Hometown Girl Loses Husband and Daughter in Car Accident,” there isn’t a person alive not talking about it. I still remember the text I got from Sloan that day in the hospital waiting room. I knew Savannah had a husband and a little girl named Peyton. I knew she lost them both the day before in an accident. I don’t even need to read the entire thing because the person writing the letter states that her name is Savannah and that her daughter, Peyton, was the donor of Ivy’s liver.

  Holy shit.

  No.

  Just, no.

  Never in a million years.

  What are the odds?

  Of all the fucking livers in the world…

  How many Savannahs and Peytons could there possibly be?

  It has to be.

  Fuck.

  “Daddy, I need my Mickey!” I hear Ivy whine, standing at the front door. My hand continues to shake as I pull my keys out of my pocket to unlock the front door.

  I clear my throat and wipe the sweat off my forehead before looking up at Ivy. “Go ahead Sweetness. I’ll be right there.” I open the door and let it swing all the way open as Ivy waltzes in, making a beeline for her favorite Mickey Mouse doll.

  The weight of the letter in my hand is too much for me. I stumble in the doorstep and sit down quickly on the bench inside the door.

  What do I…?

  Who do I …?

  I…where…?

  I don’t even know where to start. There’s no way in hell I can tell anyone about this. Not one fucking person. Damnit! Gossip flows through this town just as fast as the bourbon does. There’s no way I can ever risk Savannah finding out, not that there’s anything she can do about it really but if it were me…I don’t…even…know.

  It could break her even more.

  I can’t be the cause of her pain.

  Because the hurricane that was my life at the time wasn’t shitty enough, on top of it all, I now have to hold on to the fact that my daughter’s liver once belonged to the daughter of a girl I wanted when I was young. A girl I wouldn’t mind having a second chance with. What the hell am I going to do with this information? I can’t write her back. I can’t tell her who I am. I haven’t seen her in years, but I know she’s living with her parents. I know she lives on the outskirts of town. We live not even fifteen minutes apart for Christ’s sake. I know she’s alone. I know I would love to see her but how the fuck can that happen now?

  “Oh hey, Savannah. Nice to see you again. Oh by the way, sorry about your kid but thanks for the liver! Ya want to grab a drink sometime?”

  Double fuck.

  That’s a weight nobody ever imagines themselves needing to carry. Certainly not me, but fate can be a cruel bitch.

  *****

  December 21, 2014

  I have a truck load of Christmas presents for Ivy and not enough time in the world to get them all wrapped. To top that off, if there’s one thing I fucking suck at during any time of the year, it’s wrapping presents. How do women make them look so pretty with bows and glitter and shit? And isn’t the kid just going to rip them open anyway? Why spend all the time and money on shit that’s just going to be purposely ripped up and then thrown away? I’ll never get it, but I’m Santa Claus and that’s the way Santa does it…as long as this Santa has an elf’s help. I tap the quick dial number on my phone for Rachel. She can cut hair, surely she can wrap gifts.

  “Hey Bryant,” she says.

  “Hey. What are you up to tonight?”

  “Uh…not too much. Just finishing up some Christmas shopping. Why? Is Ivy okay?

  “Yeah she’s fine. I just put her to bed. Now Santa has a shit ton of presents to wrap, and Santa has to tie pretty ribbons and bows on his gifts, except Santa doesn’t fucking know how to do that kind of stuff so he’s going to need a little help. You cut hair, so that makes you a ribbons and bows expert right?”

  Rachel laughs into the phone. “Ribbons and bows expert I am not, but I do enjoy making presents look pretty. Don’t ask me why the hell I enjoy it when people just rip it off and throw them away. I know it’s stupid, but yeah. I can help you. Want me to stop by on my way home?”

  “Would you? I’ll feed you and I’m sure I have a few beers in the fridge,” I plead.

  “Sure thing. I’ll be there in about forty minutes.”

  I look at the clock, noticing that it’s not quite time for the salon to be closed yet. “Are you not working tonight? I mean, it’s okay if you need to stay there to help close.”

  “Nope. I’m good. I left early. Audrey and Savannah are closing up tonight.”

  Savannah…

  “Savannah?” I ask innocently. “Who’s that? A new girl?”

  “Oh, yeah. I haven’t talked to you in a while. Remember that girl from high school? Savannah Sanders?” she asks.

  What the fuck? Is she serious?

  My heart rate immediately starts to elevate. “Yeah. She lost her family in that car accident a while back,” I answer.

  “Yeah that’s her,” Rachel confirms. “Anyway my mom and her mom are in the Red Hat Society together and got to talking about Savannah. I guess she’s really had a hard time getting over everything. I mean, not that I can blame her, but anyway, my mom told her in passing that I was looking for new people and her mom mentioned that Savannah actually had her Beauticians license. She thought maybe if Savannah got herself a job, she would start to brighten up a little. I really felt for her, and she was such a nice girl back in the day, so I called her and offered her a job.”

  Holy shit. She’s working right down the street from me.

  How the hell am I going to make this work?

  She can’t ever find out what I know.

  “Bryant?” Rachel asks.

  “Huh? Yeah. I’m here.”

  “Sorry I thought I lost you. Anyway, I’ll see you in a bit okay?”

  “Yeah. Thanks Rache.”

  All this time I’ve been able to keep my distance from Savannah, even with us both in the same tiny town. Why do I feel like no matter what I do, fate is going to force our paths to cross even
tually? And what the ever living fuck am I going to do when it does?

  Chapter 18

  Bryant

  Her deep breath tells me she’s waking up. I look over at Savannah as her eyes open and she shifts in her seat, stretching just slightly. I catch sight of the side of her torso when she reaches her arm up to fix her hair. Thoughts of my hands on her body, my lips on her skin; they consume me, but I’m forced to swallow them back. She deserves to be treated like a damn queen and I can give that to her. But I’ll be damned if I let her think for even a minute that all I want is a one-night stand.

  “Sleeping Beauty awakens.”

  She looks at me with a just-fucked smile, the smile that says she’s comfortable and happy and not embarrassed one bit. Her confidence turns me on even more.

  Damnit this girl.

  “Yeah, sorry-not-sorry about that.” She chuckles. “I guess this truck is more comfortable than I thought. I wasn’t out long though was I?”

  I clear my throat and shake my head “Nah, only a few minutes. Nor nearly enough to drool on my shoulder or anything.”

  “Hmm.” Her lips purse.

  “What?”

  “A few minutes huh?” She smirks when she leans forward and taps the digital clock on the dashboard. “I would believe you if the clock didn’t say three-thirty!” She laughs.

  I suck in my breath and scrunch my face. “Busted. Okay. Okay, you slept most of the way and you snore like a damn troll. Does that make you feel better?”

  Savannah slaps me on my arm. “I do not snore like a damn troll, you big liar!”

  I love it when she laughs. I could listen to her laugh all day.

  Taking my hands off the wheel for a second I raise my hands in defeat. “Alright. You got me. You weren’t out that long and I selfishly enjoyed every minute of watching you sleep. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.”

  Within minutes I’m pulling into Savannah’s apartment complex and helping her out of the truck. I’m at a little bit of a loss because it’s the middle of the day. This isn’t the end of the night where I kiss the girl and then walk away thanking God that I never have to see her again. This is completely different. I want to kiss this girl. I want to lay her down and make love to her in the middle of the goddam afternoon, but I have places I need to be if the bar is going to be ready to go for the night.

  “Penny for your thoughts?” she asks quietly as we walk up the steps together.

  I feel the heat rise in my cheeks. I vowed to handle this girl with every honest thought I had except for the one thing I can’t ever bring myself to tell her. “Well Seven, I was thinking about how I was going to kiss you before I left you. I mean, it’s not the end of the night so hopefully I’ll get to show you a proper good night kiss a bit later, but I am leaving you for now so…you know…”

  “Yeah…I guess you’ll have to try a proper goodbye kiss then…”

  Fuck! This girl knows how to turn me on.

  If the blush on her face doesn’t give her thoughts away, her body language does. She stands in front of her apartment door with her hands hanging on her back pockets, causing her chest to push forward, closer to me. I try to remain calm, focusing on taking one breath and then another.

  For a moment we don’t speak. I make the mistake of letting my eyes travel down her body one last time but they come to a quick halt. The swell of her sweet breasts peek out of the tank-top underneath her button-down shirt. The way she stands in front of me, it’s like she’s offering them up to me, free for the taking.

  Soft and gentle or rough and hard?

  Focus, Bryant!

  Soft and gentle or rough and hard?

  I don’t know which way to go. I want to be gentle with her, but when I finally make eye contact with her she’s biting her bottom lip and I’m gone. I can’t hold back any more. I step into her, immediately grabbing onto her so my weight doesn’t slam her into the door. With my right hand I hold tightly to the hair on the back of her head, pulling just slightly enough so that her face reaches up to mine. Being taller than her has dominant advantages. I slide my left hand under her chin and around her ear, holding her face as I bring my lips to hers with vigor and force. She rewards me with a relieving sigh, happy to have her breath taken away by my lips. She moans when I press my body harder against hers. The feel of her chest pressed against mine, our breathing in tandem, it’s all I can do to not lift her up and wrap her legs around my waist.

  I lick her bottom lip slowly, savoring the taste of her mouth, wishing I could taste more of her. The desire I feel for this woman is like nothing I have ever felt before. I want to slow down. I want to take my time and savor every fucking minute with her, but when her tongue reaches out to meet mine, we find a rhythm that I don’t ever want to break.

  “Bryant.” My name said breathlessly between kisses.

  “Seven.” I slow my pace until our lips separate. I kiss her lips softly again before kissing her cheek, and her nose, and finally her forehead, all the while trailing my arm down the side of her body until my hand rests just underneath her chest. I could do it. Holy fuck I want to slide my thumbs softly across the front of her, so I can feel the hardened peaks; I want to see her aroused. I want to know that it’s me that makes her feel that way. I want to help her let go. I want to make her mine. Her eyes are closed as if she’s waiting for me to make that move, but damnit, the hallway is no place for that and I can’t stay now.

  Another time.

  It’s okay.

  “I should go,” I say quietly. I feel like a shmuck walking out on her after what we just did in this hallway. What I wouldn’t give to keep going. “I have to get to the bar so I can be there when the band arrives.”

  “Yeah. Okay,” she says, watching my every move.

  What is she thinking?

  I kiss her forehead one more time, letting my lips linger at her hair line, breathing in her scent and committing it to memory.

  As if I could forget.

  With a hand on each of her shoulders I softly say to her “I…I had a wonderful day with you, Seven. Every single moment with you was…perfect.”

  She slowly smiles. I feel her hand on my bicep rubbing back and forth.

  She could do that all damn day.

  “I had a perfect day with you as well, Bryant. Thank you…I really did enjoy myself, and you.” She blushes. “I’ll see you tonight though right?”

  Yes! She’s coming!

  God, I hope she’ll be coming soon…

  “Absolutely. I’ll be the guy at the bar serving all the hot ladies.” I wink at her so she knows I’m just teasing.

  “Oh yeah? Well I guess I’ll be a hot lady then.”

  “You already are, Seven.” I shake my head eyeing her body one more time before I leave. “You already are.”

  Chapter 19

  Savannah

  As soon as I shut the door, I run to the window to watch Bryant walk back to his truck. I stand back from the window just enough that he won’t know that I’m watching him. I see him appear in the parking lot and immediately my body responds. The heat, that tingle in my stomach, the blush in my cheeks…that good-bye kiss was…hot! I could’ve stood in that hallway all afternoon, not giving a damn who saw us. I bet Patty Prude next door could learn a few things if she watched for a while.

  I watch Bryant walk back to his truck, open the door and then turn to look up toward my window. Instinctively I gasp and step back, afraid of just being caught ogling at him. I watch his head fall back as he takes a deep breath, releasing it with a huge smile across his face. He touches his lips with his hand before sliding his hand over his face and slipping into his truck.

  He’s happy.

  With me?

  I almost wish he could see that my expression matches his at this very moment. He made feel happy today, special, like my life mattered to someone. That’s a feeling I haven’t had in a while and it was nice to feel it again. I was so wrong about Bryant Wood. He’s not at all the douchebag I
once thought he was. I guess life changes people. I’m a testament to that as well, and now that I’ve had a taste of what Bryant is offering, suddenly living doesn’t sound so bad.

  *****

  Once I’m out of the shower I send a text to Rachel making sure she’s good to go for our girl’s night at Wood’s tavern.

  Me: Are you ready for a little Jennifer Hudson action tonight?

  Rachel: Woot! Hell yeah I am, girl! What time?

  Me: Tell the girls eight? I need to do my hair and rethink my outfit. Want to come help?

  Rachel: I would LOVE to! I’ll be over in an hour. Girl, when I’m done with you, Bryant’s not gonna know what hit him.

  Me: Counting on it!

  Rachel is right. Bryant has no idea that the girls and I have these break-into-song moments at the salon. I’m usually the girl who keeps to herself, but every now and then the old me seeps out and I want to do something carefree and fun. Together Rachel and I have worked up quite the song list…but Bryant doesn’t know that. Karaoke and a few drinks tonight will be perfect. Now I just need to focus on looking like the hot lady without looking like the desperate hussy.

  I decide on a flirty plum colored strapless tunic dress covered with my denim jacket and, of course, my trusty cowgirl boots. Rachel helps pull my wavy curls up into a loose ponytail to expose my neck since “guys love that” she tells me. Big dangly earrings and a long necklace complete my look for the night and for the first time in years I look at myself in the mirror and approve. I look good. Really good. In the next two hours, we’re walking into the bar ready for a good night.