Tears filled Savanna’s eyes and she swiped at them angrily. She’d never been a crier. But this past week her tears had never been far from the surface.
“I just—don’t know what to do, Jenny. The office is like a deep freeze. We don’t say anything to each other unless we have to. And all because…”
“Because of what?” Jenny prompted.
Savanna sniffed and looked over at her friend. “I won’t agree to marry him.”
In a flash Jenny was out of her chair and sitting beside Savanna.
“Are you telling me the man has proposed to you?” she asked incredulously.
Her face glum, Savanna nodded. “I had to tell him no. And he doesn’t understand why.”
“Well, frankly, neither can I,” Jenny said after a moment.
Puzzled, Savanna stared at her. “You think I should have said yes? You, of all people! Man hater Jenny thinks I should get married?”
Laughing, Jenny nodded. “I don’t hate men. Especially one that sounds as sexy as your Joe McCann.”
“Joe is sexy,” Savanna reluctantly agreed, “but that doesn’t mean I should marry him.”
“No. You should marry him because you love him.” She carefully studied Savanna’s face. “Do you love him? I mean the real kind of love that keeps people together until they’re old and gray?”
Savanna desperately raked her fingers through her hair. “I’ve asked myself that over and over for the past two weeks,” she said, her voice full of anguish.
“And?” Jenny prompted.
Savanna shook her head helplessly and swallowed at the achy knot collecting in her throat. She couldn’t lie to Jenny anymore than she could keep lying to herself. “I do love him. I do wish I could be with him until we’re both old and gray.”
“Then what’s the problem? Why don’t you accept his proposal?”
Savanna groaned. “Jenny, you know my track record with men. If I agreed to marry Joe, I’d be worried every minute about what was going to happen. Would a lightning bolt come out of the blue and strike him? Or maybe some sultry redhead like you would come along and take him away!”
Jenny shook her head with disbelief. “That’s crazy and you know it. Besides, third time is always charmed.”
“Jenny, when Terry died I decided that I had to direct my life toward other things. For years now I’ve concentrated on getting a degree and making a career for myself. I never—” tears filled her eyes and Savanna blinked furiously in an attempt to ward them off “—I didn’t mean to fall in love.”
“But you have,” Jenny said softly. “And why waste your chance for happiness by worrying over things that might never happen?”
Savanna wearily leaned her head back against the cushions. “Maybe nothing bad would happen. But that’s not all there is to it. His job is so—well, Joe is a workaholic.”
“Aren’t a lot of us these days,” Jenny said dryly.
“Yes, but Joe hates what he’s doing. He’s unhappy doing it. How could I ever expect our marriage to survive in that sort of climate?”
“Well, I can certainly tell you one thing—you don’t look like a bundle of joy now. Hadn’t you rather be unhappy with him than miserable without him?”
Savanna was mulling that over when the doorbell rang. Jenny got to her feet.
“I’ll answer it, honey. You just stay there and think about what I said.”
Moments later Megan followed the tall redhead into the room. Shocked and pleased to see Joe’s daughter, Savanna jumped to her feet. “Megan, what are you doing here?”
An anxious look on her face, she said, “I took a taxi, Savanna. Please don’t tell Daddy. He thinks I’m at the library.”
“Is something wrong?”
Behind them, Jenny cleared her throat. “I’ll be in the kitchen making lemonade, Savanna.”
Savanna nodded at the older woman, then led Megan over to the couch.
“Now tell me what’s happened,” she said once they were seated.
Megan’s gaze fell to her lap. “Well, I didn’t know why you weren’t coming over anymore. So I asked Daddy and he said you had a fight because he asked you to marry him. Is that true?”
“That’s pretty much what happened, Megan.” She reached over and clasped the young girl’s hand. “But I hadn’t forgotten you.”
Relief flooded the teenager’s face. “I’m glad. I thought maybe you wouldn’t marry Daddy because of me.”
Savanna thought her heart was going to break. “Oh, no, honey. Why would you think that?”
Megan dropped her chin and shrugged one shoulder. “I thought you might just want kids of your own and I’d be in the way.”
Savanna reached over and placed her palm against Megan’s cheek. “You thought all wrong. I’d be very proud to be your stepmother.”
Megan looked at her hopefully. “Then why won’t you marry Daddy? He says it’s because you’re afraid to.”
Savanna closed her eyes as a quiet sort of relief settled over her. “I believe your daddy is right. I am very afraid.”
“Gee, Savanna, you shouldn’t be afraid of Daddy,” Megan exclaimed with a shake of her curly head. “I was before I came to live with him. I thought he’d be grouchy and hateful and that it would be horrible to stay in the same house with him all the time. But do you know what?”
Savanna looked down at Megan’s blue eyes that were so much like Joe’s. “What?” she asked softly.
“I’m not afraid at all anymore. I’m glad I live with Daddy now. Because he was all alone and lonely before I came. And he loves me. He loves you, too, Savanna.”
Savanna’s eyes filled with tears and she hugged Megan fiercely to her breast. “I know, Megan.”
And for the first time Savanna really did know and understand what Joe’s love meant to her.
The next morning Savanna dressed in a full-skirted sundress done in tiny beige and white stripes with white high heels, then carefully made up her face. She wanted to look her very best when she told Joe she wanted to marry him.
He was on the telephone when she walked into the office. After giving her a cursory glance, he turned his attention back to the report on his desk.
Savanna tried not to let his cool greeting bother her. She couldn’t blame him. She’d gone a little crazy since the night he’d proposed to her. She could only hope he’d understand and forgive her.
While he continued his conversation, Savanna made coffee, then went to her desk to organize the payroll she’d be working on today. Halfway through the stack of time cards, the telephone rang.
Joe was staring at her when she finally hung up the receiver.
“Who was that? You look like you’ve been talking to a ghost.”
Savanna slowly rose to her feet. “That…was Edie. She said to tell you that she and the new baby are doing great and she’ll be able to come back to work next week.”
Rising from his desk, he went over to the coffee machine and turned his back to her. “Well, I’m sure you were happy to hear that. Now you can leave and not be bothered with me or McCann Drilling anymore.”
His cold words were more than Savanna’s fragile emotions could take. With a little sob she whirled around, covered her face with her hands and prayed she wouldn’t cry in front of him. But her prayer went unanswered as hot tears oozed between her fingers and rolled down her cheeks.
“Savanna?”
She couldn’t answer and then his voice came from a few inches behind her.
“Are you crying?” he asked with disbelief.
She shook her head and his hands came down on her shoulders. Slowly he turned her around to him.
“You are crying! Why?” he asked gently.
Savanna sniffed and wiped at her cheeks. “I—wanted to look beautiful for you and now I’ve ruined my face. And—it doesn’t matter, anyway. Because you don’t even care anymore. And Edie is coming back to take my place.”
A comical frown puckered his face. “What? Savanna, you’re not making
a lick of sense.”
She sucked in a deep breath and wiped at another fresh spurt of tears. “I came to work this morning planning to tell you that I…wanted to marry you. But now since Edie—”
Before she could finish, Joe had snatched her up by both shoulders. “You’re going to marry me?” he asked, a look of sheer incredulous joy on his face.
Hope rose in her heart as she looked at him. “If you still want me.”
“Want you? Dear God, Savanna, do you know how miserable I’ve been the past few days?”
She shook her head, then groaned with regret. “I’ve been so crazy, Joe. I knew I loved you. But then when you said you wanted us to get married, I was suddenly terrified. If Megan hadn’t come to see me last night—”
“Megan went to see you?”
Savanna nodded, then grabbed hold of both his hands. “Don’t be angry at her, Joe. She woke me up, made me see I was behaving just like my mother had. Mom wanted more babies, but she wanted everything to be perfect, all conditions to be right before she jumped in and committed herself. In the end she lost her chance. I don’t intend to do that with you, Joe. I don’t care if you ever work as a geologist again. I don’t care how many wells you drill or don’t drill, or even if you have to file bankruptcy on this place. If I make you happy…”
His hands circled her waist and drew her up against him. “You do, my darlin’. Happier than I’ve ever been in my life.”
She smiled up at him through her tears. “Then that’s all that matters to me.”
Joe’s hand awkwardly wiped the tearstains from her cheeks. “I’ve been doing some thinking, too, Savanna. After Mac was hurt I kept reliving the scene over and over. And I kept comparing it to when my father collapsed.”
“Oh, Joe,” she pleaded. “Don’t torment yourself with all that.”
Joe shook his head. “It’s all right, Savanna. Because, like you, I can see a lot of things clearly now. When my father was dying he didn’t talk of my mother and how she was the light of his life. He didn’t even talk to me as a son. His concern wasn’t for his wife or child. It was for the company. Finding gas and oil meant more to him than we ever did. And I don’t ever want to be like that, Savanna. I’m finally proud to say I’m not the man Joseph McCann was.”
Tears of joy slipped from her brown eyes. “I’m proud, too.”
“There’s something else,” he said, a smile suddenly creasing his face. “Yesterday I talked to an old friend in Texas about running the business side of McCann’s. If he agrees, and I’m certain he will, I’m going back to my exploration work and handing the head reins over to him.”
Savanna couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Joe, you don’t have to do this for me.”
“I’m doing it for myself, Savanna,” he assured her. Leaning his forehead against hers, he whispered, “Now dry those tears, darlin’. I want to see you smile, hear you laugh. It’s what I love most about you.”
She smiled then, and joy like a light from heaven radiated across her face. “I’m never going to be afraid of loving you, Joe.”
For a reply he went over to the door and locked it. Savanna watched, her heart pounding with love and anticipation as he walked back to her and began to unbutton the front of her dress.
“Joe!” Laughing, she caught his fingers in hers. “It’s only nine in the morning. Some of the hands are going to be coming after you!”
Giving her a sly wink he went over to his desk and punched a mike button on the two-way radio system. “Dolores, tell the men to take the rest of the day off. With pay. And you, too. Go home and celebrate—your boss is getting married!”
“You don’t look like the same man who nearly fired me for being late,” she teased when he returned to her.
Joe pulled her into his arms and planted a kiss just below her ear. “I’ve had lots of lessons since then, Savanna.” He lifted his head and his blue eyes glinted sexily back at her. “Speaking of lessons, now that I’ve learned how to be a daddy to a teenager, what do you say I try my hand with a baby of our own? Or do you think I’m ready for that much of a challenge?”
Sweet, wondrous joy poured into Savanna’s heart, filled it until she thought she would burst with happiness.
“I think you’ll be a natural,” she said. Then, tugging his head down to hers, she gave him a kiss to seal the deal.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-3766-1
DADDY LESSONS
Copyright © 1995 by Stella Bagwell
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Daddy Lessons Page 16
