Return of the Runaway Bride

by Donna Fasano

  He said her name again, but this time his low, ragged timbre expressed every ounce of the desire rushing through him.

  Her need for him pulsed, hot and wet.

  "Shut up, Daniel," she said. "Just shut up and make love to me."

  Chapter Nine

  "Can I give you a hand?" Savanna asked.

  "Sure." Sheila motioned for Savanna to sit beside her on the back step. "Snapping beans is probably my least favorite chore."

  Picking up a long, firm green bean, Savanna snapped off both ends. "I haven't done this since I was a little girl." She tossed the bean into the bowl at Sheila's feet and reached into the bag for another.

  "I can remember the smell that permeated the whole house when Mom cooked up a pot of beans and potatoes. She'd add some smoked ham." Savanna rolled her eyes and smacked her lips at the memory. "It tasted as wonderful as it smelled."

  Both women fell silent, the sound of snapping hovering in the hot afternoon air.

  "Where are the kids?" Savanna asked.

  "I hired the Stevensons' daughter to take them to the park." Sheila smiled wearily. "Patty's nearly eighteen. And she's really good with Amanda. Keeps an eagle eye on my little urchin."

  "You look tired," Savanna said. "You should be taking a nap instead of out here in the sun doing chores."

  Sheila shrugged. "It's got to get done. Besides, I'm okay." She shot Savanna a lopsided grin. "Haven't you heard? Being tired is synonymous with being pregnant."

  "Still," Savanna said, refusing to back down until her concern was voiced, "you should take care of yourself."

  "I do," Sheila said. "Don't you worry." She gathered another handful of beans. "Jim says plans for the dinner are going well."

  She nodded. "It's almost scary. Businesses are calling me to offer their help. I've never had anything like this happen before. People from all over the county are calling. This fund-raising dinner has been smooth sailing from the very beginning."

  Sheila lowered her head, intent on her bean snapping. In a low voice she commented, "Looks like your relationship with Daniel has been smooth sailing too."

  Savanna chuckled and gave Sheila's knee a light nudge. "Hey, you don't have to hedge. I don't mind telling you about what's happening between me and Daniel."

  "Well…" Sheila raised one shoulder. "I don't want to seem nosy."

  "You're my friend," Savanna told her. "You could never be nosy."

  At that, Sheila surrendered to her curiosity, sliding an inch closer. "So tell me."

  "Things are...great."

  Sheila's hands stopped and lowered into her lap. "Why the hesitation?" She studied Savanna with concern. "From the tone of your voice it sounds as though you don't think things between you and Daniel should be great."

  "It's not that." Then she sighed. "I came back to Fulton to straighten out everything. To explain to him what happened six years ago."

  "And you did that. Right?"

  "I think so." The three small words harbored a boatload of doubt. "And, like I said, things between us are good. But I just don't understand myself." She twirled the green bean between her fingers without really seeing it. "I don't understand what it is I'm feeling."

  "Tell me. Maybe I can help."

  Savanna snapped the stem off the bean. "I really enjoy being with Daniel."

  "There's some law against that?"

  Smiling, Savanna said, "Of course not. I'm happy that we're getting along so well. It's just that I never expected to...feel so..." The rest of the sentence withered as she searched for words to express herself. Inhaling deeply, she started again. "He just makes me too happy."

  Sheila's brows drew together. "Too happy? I've never heard of such a thing."

  "Sheila, I feel all giddy inside when I'm with him. I find myself worrying about what I'm wearing, how I look. When we're together, I'm afraid I'm going to say something wrong, something to embarrass myself. I'm just, I don't know, on edge all the time. In a good way, of course. And when he kisses me…"

  "He kisses you?" Sheila's eyes were wide.

  Savanna nodded. "Yeah. He has," she said, her voice taking on a dreamy quality. "And when he touches me…"

  "What? You two got down and dirty, and you didn't tell me?"

  "I'm telling you now."

  Sheila snapped the bean she held in her fingers, tossed it in with the others, then set the bowl aside. "I don't mean to be nosey or anything, but was it, you know, good?"

  The mere memory of that night still made her breathless. "Sheila, it was better than good." More better, she thought, grinning to herself. "Daniel came over and we started talking about the past. We just got caught up in memories; that was all it was. But it was… earth-shattering." The image of him untying the sash of her robe and slipping it off her shoulders made her shiver, even now. "We shouldn't have, of course. Daniel even said so. And I knew he was right. But you know how bull-headed I can be."

  From the thunderstruck look on her face, Sheila could have been knocked over by a single light touch to the forehead.

  "It didn't mean anything," Savanna stressed, unable to look into Sheila's eyes any longer as she repeated, "Of course, it didn't mean anything. It was just a lovely romp, is all. Consensual sex between two adults who…" she scrambled for words "…have a history together. It meant nothing."

  She took a deep breath and gazed out into the yard. "But I can't stop thinking about it. I can't stop thinking about him. I mean… the way he looked at me. The way he kissed me. Touched me." She swallowed. "And the way he smiled afterward. I want to see that again. I want to feel that… again. I just… I want… more. Of that. Of him. Of… something."

  Suddenly filled with frustration, Savanna threw the green bean into the bowl. "See there? I'm babbling like a fool."

  "You're talking like you're in love." Sheila's comment was barely above a whisper.

  Savanna cast her a sidelong glance. "You've got to be kidding. There's no way I'm in love with Daniel. I didn't come back to Fulton for that."

  "Maybe you didn't," Sheila said, "but let's look at this logically. Daniel makes you happy. He makes you giddy. He makes you worry. He makes you afraid. He makes you edgy—in a good way, of course," she teased, counting off on her fingers. "And when he kisses you…"

  "It's wonderful," Savanna finished the sentence, closing her eyes and drawing it out to a lazy and languorous end.

  "Not to mention," Sheila said, enunciating as if she were speaking to a dimwit, "you slept together."

  "Now, wait," she protested. "I told you. That…"

  "Yeah, yeah, yeah. It meant nothing." Sheila snatched up the bowl and began snapping beans again. "But you want more. More of that. More of Daniel." She paused, her brows arching high. "Okay, so what's with the stink eye? Don't be mad at me. I'm just repeating your words." Then she shook her head. "Girl, you not only got it, you got it bad."

  Savanna's shoulders drooped, and then she opened her mouth to speak but closed it, and then repeated the action in a perfect imitation of a fish out of water. Finally, her gaze connected with Sheila's as she realized aloud, "I'm in love with Daniel. How on earth did that happen?"

  "Maybe," her friend murmured, "you never stopped.

  ~ ~ ~

  The fund-raiser meeting seemed interminable. The board members were taking turns going over various details of the dinner. Their proclivity of looking at things up-ways, down-ways and inside-out would help to assure success in the end; however, this kind of micro-managing took hours.

  She found herself stealing a glance across the conference table at Daniel. He'd barely greeted her when he'd arrived. Granted, he'd come into the room just as the meeting was starting, but would it hurt him to smile at her?

  Savanna had never in her wildest imaginings thought she'd fall in love with the very man she'd run away from six years earlier. Questions rolled through her head like a fast-moving silent film.

  What should she do now? Profess her feelings? Or wait for some sign from him? Savanna leaned ag
ainst the chair back, darting a quick look at him. His mouth was pulled into a surly line. Oh, gosh, was he regretting having come to her house? Was he sorry they'd made love? He had expressed doubt that night. Hell, she silently lamented, why hadn't she listened to him?

  "On the other hand, he certainly hadn't put up much of a fight. If he hadn't wanted-"

  "Savanna?"

  Jim Thompson's voice snapped her to attention. She blinked. "Yes? Sorry. Must have checked out there for a moment."

  "I asked how many tickets have been sold. For the dinner."

  "Eighty-five percent," she stated, thankful at her quick recovery. "And there's still two weeks to go. I'm sure we'll sell them all."

  Savanna hesitated a moment until the murmurs of excitement subsided.

  "I sold four tickets to the mayor." Miz Ida's shoulders squared proudly. "Will we have any other distinguished guests?"

  "We have quite a few mayors from the surrounding towns," Savanna told her, "and at least one senator. One former governor. Several of Virginia's most prominent authors will be there. I've got a model, two actors, a former Miss America, and a NASCAR driver. I'm working on a second. All of these people were born and raised in Virginia." She started naming names and heard happy murmurings around the table. "Oh, and I don't think I mentioned it before," she continued, "but I was contacted by two musical groups, offering to entertain for free. I accepted both offers."

  "How is that going to work?" Daniel's curt question cut her off.

  She glanced over at him, startled by the harshness of his tone. "Well…"

  "What died and crawled up your butt, Daniel?" Miz Ida asked none too gently.

  Savanna appreciated the support.

  Then Jim said, "Ida, I think it's a legitimate question."

  She cleared her throat. "As I was saying, I accepted both. The Bradley Brothers play jazz and will entertain as dinner is served, and the set will last through the dessert course. Then after a slight intermission, about nine, Times Gone By will take over. I don't know if any of you have heard of them, but they specialize in the big-band sound. They've put out several CDs. They've agreed to play until midnight."

  "Oh," one woman piped up, "they are fabulous." She was sitting right beside Daniel and she addressed him as she added, "They played at my sister's wedding. Abigail was getting married for the fourth time, you know, and that band was just fabulous." Each time she stressed the word "fabulous," she tapped Daniel on the forearm. "I danced till dawn." The woman's eyes glittered. "It was just fabulous." Again she tapped.

  Savanna pressed her lips together, reining in an unexpected grin, as she watched Daniel grit his teeth.

  He turned toward her with a gaze so sharp she expected to be cut in half.

  "Did you clear this with the manager of the country club?"

  The urge to smile disappeared completely. "Of course I did," she snapped.

  "Of course she did," Miz Ida parroted.

  But Daniel continued to press. "Do you have a contract with these bands?"

  "Well, no," she admitted. "They're playing for free."

  He frowned. "What if they decide not to show up?"

  The question felt like a personal attack. "Why would they do that?"

  "Oh, I don't know," he said breezily. "They're offered a paying gig at the last minute?"

  "But both bands know how important this is," she said. "They called me. They offered to play to help the hospital."

  "If they don't show up," Miz Ida proclaimed boldly, "then we have the dinner with no music. Doesn't seem like the end of the world to me."

  The woman sitting beside Daniel screeched, "What kind of party would that be?"

  Savanna focused on her notes and thought it best to change the subject entirely. "Oh, yes," she said. "Charlie Hickman of Hickman Travel Agency here in Fulton called me. He's donating a trip for two to the Bahamas."

  "My word!" Ida said. "I can't believe it. Charlie Hickman is so tight his shoes squeak when he walks. He donated a trip?"

  "Yes," Savanna happily confirmed. "The package includes airfare and five nights' accommodation in a four-star hotel right on the beach."

  "That's just fabulous," the woman next to Daniel said, tapping him on the arm.

  "And just what," Daniel intoned flatly, "are you going to do with a trip for two to the Bahamas?"

  It wasn't the question that sparked a fiery anger in Savanna. The inquiry was perfectly reasonable. What infuriated her beyond words was the tone in which the question had been asked.

  Granted, he doubted her ability to successfully pull off these events. At each and every meeting he had probed and questioned, forcing her to prove that she was dotting every i and crossing every t. But tonight's verbal assault was especially critical.

  She pressed her lips firmly together and inhaled deeply. This didn't have anything to do with bands or contracts or trips. This had to do with one thing, and one thing only. Sex. Daniel regretted having slept with her. And he was expressing that by attacking her.

  Savanna felt her back teeth clench. Maybe she'd been a bit pushy that night. But she refused to accept all the blame. He was a big boy. He could have stopped everything with a simple no.

  Time and again she'd made allowances for him at these meetings because she knew he distrusted her, she knew he expected her to run off and leave Fulton before the fund-raising dinner plans were complete. She'd even sympathized with him, knowing what she'd done to him six years ago. She'd hoped to make him realize, by her hard work and dedication, that she could be trusted. But it was so obvious to her that he would never learn to trust her. No matter how much time and effort, planning and devotion she gave to the people of Fulton, Daniel would never see she was worthy of his confidence. The realization knifed through her, slashing to the very depth of her soul. Hurting her as much, if not more, than knowing he regretted having sex with her.

  She sat in that room filled with people she'd worked with, people she'd come to know again, people she'd come to love, and she clearly understood she had two choices. She could give in to the pain she felt, give in to the tears of frustration and insult that threatened to spill. Or she could stoke up a blazing ire and send it coursing through every muscle in her body.

  It took a nanosecond for anger to win.

  Swallowing the lump that had risen in her throat, she fixed Daniel with a burning glare. "Well, Mr. Walsh," she addressed him, her voice ominously low. "To tell you the truth, I haven't decided what I'm going to do with the trip yet. I may use it as a door prize, or I may auction off this amazing tropical excursion to the highest bidder. Let's not forget that making money for the hospital is our goal here. Right?"

  She stood, the chair tottering on its two back legs for a split second before coming to rest on all fours again. Resentment burned in her like a white-hot incandescent flame.

  "Everyone in this room knows how you detested the idea of my helping out in these fund-raising projects," she said. "Everyone has heard you question me at every turn. Everyone knows you expect me to run away." She put ugly emphasis on the two words "Everyone knows exactly what you think of me."

  Her jaw tightened as fury blazed through every pore of her body, singed every cell. Planting her splayed hands on the table, she leaned her weight on them and hurled her hostility at the man who denied her the one simple thing that had come to mean nearly everything to her. His trust.

  "I don't know why you're so concerned, anyway," she replied in a shaky, barely controlled voice. "What with that prestigious partnership offer you're considering with that mega-money law firm in Richmond, why, you're the one who won't be here for the dinner. Not me. You're the one who's running out on everyone. Not me!"

  The room was utterly silent. It seemed that no one even breathed as they waited to hear Daniel's response.

  Animosity flickered in his harsh gaze. He stood with slow deliberateness. His spine was straight, his shoulders high and square, as he quietly said, "With Savanna Langford back in Fulton, who could blame m
e for hightailing it out of town?"

  He couldn't have stunned her more had he physically smacked her.

  Then he walked out of the conference room.

  "Oh, Savanna."

  Miz Ida's disapproving voice pierced through the thick fog that enveloped Savanna's brain.

  "I didn't know Daniel was thinking of leaving us," someone whispered.

  "What law firm was she talking about?"

  "I did hear something about that."

  "Will somebody please tell me what's going on?"

  Everyone talked at once and the meeting fell into complete and utter chaos.

  Savanna's knees gave way and she sank back into her chair. The anger drained from her as though someone pulled the plug out of a water-filled tub.

  The rumor had been that he was thinking of leaving town because of her, but she hadn't wanted to believe it. But now she knew it was true. She'd heard him say it. He was leaving because of her. Because of her.

  She felt hollow and empty. Her throat burned with the acid left behind by the hurtful words she'd flung at him.

  If Daniel moves away, Ida's words echoed through Savanna's mind, the people of Fulton will be losing someone special.

  Fulton will be losing someone special.

  Someone special.

  Dear Lord, what had she done? She couldn't let this happen. This was all her fault. She'd slid her satin-clad butt on his lap. She'd told him to shut up and kiss her. She'd practically demanded that he make love to her. What kind of way was that to garner the man's trust?

  She had to fix this. She had to find him. Had to talk to him. And make him change his mind.

  Savanna murmured a vague apology to everyone murmuring around the conference table and then headed out of the room, without thought for her purse, briefcase or notes.

  "Savanna, wait," Jim Thompson called.

  But she was out the door, her feet fairly flying down the tiled hallway. She slid half a foot as she made the first sharp turn that would take her to the hospital's main entrance. As she turned the next corner, she collided with a white-uniformed orderly.