Breathe Again (26 page)

God, I missed him, and fuck, I’d been stubborn. I was taking out bitch-face Chelsea on him and he didn’t deserve that. I was a bitch and that’s all I could be called.

From: Savannah Rae

To: Tate Connors

Time: 11.00pm AEST

Subject: HI

Tate,

I know you will be sleeping but I needed to send you an email. I am so sorry that my frustration about the whole Chelsea situation got to me. It was stupid of me to let her barge in and take over our world again and for that I apologise. Tanzi told me the other night that she is starting to retract what she said. Does that mean the case will not move forward?

Today we got word that Mr. Davenport can finally leave the hospital. The doctors say that his recovery has shocked them because it’s been so quick. Three weeks is unheard of. I feel like he is finally back to his usual self and the fact that he called me a drama queen this morning and has been calling me stubborn all day tells me that. He will be released tomorrow and I am bringing him back to his apartment and we are now waiting for final confirmation that he can fly.

I am so ready to come home, Tate. I want to come home. I need to come home.

I miss you.

Savannah x

Pressing send, I sighed deeply, shoved my phone deep inside my bag, and turned my attention back to the television. My bag vibrated on my lap at an incoming text message. Pulling my phone back out of my bag, I saw Tate’s name flash on the screen. The five words on the screen made my heart ache and roar at the same time.

Come back to me Sav

Tate

Three months later

S
AVANNAH WANTED
to come home.

Every time I talked to her she would tell me that she was ready to come home, and every time I received an email she would make sure I knew. But still I was waiting on the other side of the world for them to come back to me.

Now, as I sat on the balcony as the sun set over the pacific at the start of our third month separated, I read her most recent text message over and over again, desperate for my mind to believe them. I was reading the words but they weren’t sinking in. I saw the words, but why did I feel like she would just be coming for a visit?

The false accusations from Chelsea had done a number on Sav and me, and the moment I had to cancel my trip and spend countless hours with my lawyer trying to end the nightmare of tornado Chelsea, something had shifted between us. Sav was frustrated, and I knew hearing that Chelsea had weaseled her way back into our lives had taken Sav back to a place I’d never wanted her to revisit.

Through the craziness, I did have something to celebrate though. Tomorrow we were celebrating Tanzi and Jack’s engagement party and today I had decided to man up and spend the day with Tanzi, helping her organize the last few things. I busied myself annoying Tanzi with requests of what I could do to help. Fuck, I even went with her to get her nails done. Whatever she needed I would give her. She worked me like a pack mule though, and Jack soon joined me on the balcony with a huff.

“Your sister is running me ragged.”

I raised my eyebrow in warning.

“Not like that, asshole. She is making me help choose what to wear tomorrow. Where the fuck is Savannah when you need her?” He laughed quickly before his face dropped. Sav and Max’s absence wasn’t just affecting me. I knew Jack missed his partner-in-crime, and Tanzi wasn’t her usual self without her self-proclaimed BFFL—best friend for life.

“So I got another text message from Sav this morning,” I admitted with a slight frown,

“And?” he asked excitedly.

“She told me she wants to come home but something feels different about this message.”

“What? When? And why the fuck would you have that look on your face?” Jack’s shocked expression narrowed in at me. I turned quickly, looked back towards the beach, and sighed deeply.

“I am trying really fucking hard not to feel anything about this until Max is standing in front of me. I can’t allow myself the risk of getting excited for something that probably won’t even happen.”

“You are such a fucking girl. Get excited, you asshole! Your girl wants to come home. Your little boy is coming home. Scream the shit out of this.”

“The longer she is away, the more I realize what this means. What’s to say that she won’t follow Mr. Davenport everywhere he goes? What’s to say that one day he will up and leave and she will follow?” I admitted, knowing full well that he wouldn’t let me off the hook if I didn’t start speaking. Seriously, we chatted like a couple of chicks most days.

“You and Sav need to talk about this. Only you two have the ability to want to be together or not. I know for a fact that she is still totally into the whole Tate and Sav thing. She loves you, man. Don’t fuck it up with your insecurities. Tell her how you feel. Tell her that you have this fear. You don’t want to lose that girl. You’d be fucking hell to live with if you did.”

I rubbed my hands over my face in frustration. These exact questions had been haunting me for the past month. I trusted Savannah wholeheartedly, but the fear that I would never truly have her became more apparent with every day that passed. Knowing that they would be back in Los Angeles excited me beyond belief, but it also frightened me.

“I can’t believe Tanzi said yes to your proposal. You are like some fucking wannabe Doctor Phil,” I taunted, popping the tops off two beers and thrusting one into his hand while his words swirled around my head.

“What can I say? I’m good in the sack, damn good to look at, and I know my way around words. I am fucking god’s gift to women.”

Looking at my best friend and now future brother-in-law, I rolled my eyes dramatically and called him a few choice names. But truth be told, I was as happy as a pig in shit that he’d finally proposed. It had been long overdue. Jack had been planning his proposal for months, right down to the intricate details to the point that Tanzi had thought he had been cheating on him because he was being so sketchy. I had been with him when he bought the perfect ring for Tanzi, I had been there when I heard the shriek of excitement when Tanzi said yes, and unfortunately I had been there when I walked in on them celebrating their engagement on the kitchen table.

“Think about what I said. Don’t screw this up. She is coming back for you, Tate. No one else. Listen to her. Let her explain. Don’t fuck up the best thing in your life.” Jack patted my shoulder as he stood from his chair before disappearing into the house and leaving me to my own devices.

Being on my own was dangerous, this was the time where my brain would decide to be an evil bastard and play mind games with me. I knew Sav was in Australia for Mr. Davenport and I understood her reasoning for going in the beginning, but I also knew that he was out of the hospital and had been on the mend for a month now. She could have been home a month ago. This separation almost destroyed me daily, but in the back of my head was the little voice telling me that one day, maybe one day, they would come back.

Taking my phone out of my pocket, I flipped it over in my hand. I needed to speak with her. I was at the stage now that I needed to give her an ultimatum. I opened up a new text message and began typing.

We need to talk when you wake up.

For the next eight hours, I checked my phone religiously, yet there was still no response from Sav.

Climbing into bed that night, I tossed and turned. I thought of worst-case scenarios. I spent the better part of the night scrolling through every photo on my phone and watching every video of Max Sav had sent while they had been away. Finally, as the orange haze of sunrise floated through my windows, reality hit me.

I still hadn’t received a response from Sav.

Savannah

T
ODAY WAS
the day that had been twisting and turning my insides since I realized Max and I were going back to the United States. After three exhausting and life-changing months, we were heading home. I never in my wildest dreams ever thought that I wouldn’t class Australia as home, but all I knew now was that home was wherever the man with the deadly blue eyes was, and that was now Los Angeles.

Sitting in my business-class seat with Max at one side and Mr. Davenport on the other, everything suddenly came full circle. The last time I had been sitting on a plane beside Mr. Davenport, he had been warning me with stern eyes to stop sleeping around when we got to Los Angeles. Thank fuck I hadn’t listened to him. If I had, I might not have fallen to the effects of Tate Connors and I might not have had my gorgeous baby boy, who was now chattering away to the air hostess.

I looked at Mr. Davenport and smiled with a heavy heart. Seeing him at his weakest and bouncing between life and death had instilled something in me that had been dormant for years. I had to live. I needed to finally break down the tight walls that kept me from moving on fully to the best chapters of my life.

“Are you feeling okay about this?” Mr. Davenport questioned from the seat beside me, looking up from the emergency landing pamphlet he had been handed.

“I am nervous as f-u-c-k,” I spelled out. Mr. Davenport laughed and shook his head at me.
Some things never change.

“What are you nervous about?” he continued with a raised eyebrow. I looked at him with wide eyes.

“Is this a trick question?”

“Gramps, draw with me,” Max’s soft voice interrupted.

When I looked down at my son, my smile took over my face and Mr. Davenport’s crazy question dissipated. Max was everything I could have asked for and more.

“Are you coming to the p-a-r-t-y with us?” I asked softly, knowing the word ‘party’ would set Max off like a firecracker. We were arriving in Los Angeles the day of Tanzi and Jack’s engagement party, and our arrival was planned all around that. I couldn’t miss my two best friends’ special day.

Mr. Davenport’s eyes left the page he was coloring and found mine. “I have been invited but I am not sure if I will go.”

“Please come with us. We need you there.” I shot him a pleading look.

“Everything is going to be fine, Sav. It’s time I gave you back to the one guy who seems to be able to put up with you.” He smiled lovingly at me before turning back to Max and leaving me with way too much time to think as we soared through the air at 30,000 feet. What the hell kind of world was I going to step into when we arrived?

T
HE SUN
was shining brightly in California. The trip from the airport was full of Max asking questions and laughing at the driver’s accent. I watched him closely. He was so much like Tate that it was crazy. There was absolutely no doubt who his father was. They shared the same eyes, the wild chocolate brown hair, and the cheekiness that I loved so much.

The cab came to a halt in front of a house I didn’t know. I had simply been given an address when I received the invitation via email, the engagement party was happening at a beach house in Santa Monica. The driver was chatting to Mr. Davenport, but all I could concentrate on was the thumping of my heart and the increasing sweat forming in my palms.
Just breathe, Savannah. Just breathe.

“You ready for this?”

“No,” I admitted with a shake of my head.

Following Mr. Davenport out of the cab, I couldn’t stop my hands from shaking. What the hell was wrong with me? He grabbed my free hand as if he thought I’d flee, and to be honest, the thought had crossed my mind. We slowly walked up the paved drive with Max in my arms as I felt the anxiety fill to full capacity.

“Mummy, a puppy!” Max shrieked excitedly. He wriggled his way to freedom and ran up the long drive and through the double wooden gates before I had a chance to grab him.

“Max Davenport Connors, come back here!” I demanded, rushing after him, leaving Mr. Davenport chuckling at the scene unfolding in front of him. “This is not funny!” I shot over my shoulder, firing him an amused look. Fuck, my son was fast. I hurried following close on his heels and halted as soon as I stepped through the gates.