Catch a Shooting Star jd edit 03 12 2012 html (6 page)

She turned suddenly in her chair to face the maid and grabbed her thick, brown hands in hers as she declared, “Oh, Bessie, I don’t want to get married.  Robin’s Glen is all I know.  This Diego Fernandez will take me far away to his home in Mexico.  I may never be able to return.”

Bessie closed both hands about Savannah’s young face and scolded, “Hold still, Missy.”  She pinned a coal-black curl and stuck another pin between her teeth, talking all the while, “You will.  I’m sure that yore new husband wouldn’t keep you from yore chil’hood home.”

“He wouldn’t be that cruel,” Savannah stated as she narrowed her eyes at the woman in the shattered mirror who puffed air through her ample lips, sending the pin flying into the mirror.

“Ain’t no man that cruel,” Bessie declared, squaring her large shoulders behind Savannah.  “Besides, yore papa wouldn’t let you marry a man who would hurt his little Vanny”

Savannah pushed away the other woman’s hand that had concentrated on one curl much too long for her patience as she retorted, “Father doesn’t seem to be concerned with my wellbeing right now.  All he is worried about is losing his precious Robin’s Glen.”

“You don’ believe that, Missy,” Bessie admonished as she returned her fingers to that same curl.  “You mean more to him than anything.”

“Well, it doesn’t seem that way,” Savannah huffed as she folded her arms in front of her in childlike defiance.  “I knew I should have married James Linden two years ago when I had the chance.  But, he is so infantile!”

“Yep, you sho’ should have married that boy!” Bessie agreed, nodding her large head and patting the curl into place with a stubby finger.  “Now, Emma Sanders sho’ didn’t waste no time in grabbin’ him up when you turned him down.”

Savannah pursed her lips as she seethed through clenched teeth, “And he settled for the likes of her.  That shows just how desperate he was to get married.”

Bessie sighed and said with a fond smile at her charge, “They sho’ seem happy, though, with that little chil’ and another one on the way.”

“And they’ve only been married a year and a half.  It sounds to me like the cow was already milked before he bought it!” Savannah teased, hiding behind her fingers in mocked embarrassment.

“Missy!” Bessie scoffed as she turned away to hide the smirk on her own face.

“Well, it’s true.  Anyone, I don’t care how stupid they are, could figure out that Emma had been tossing in the hay long before the bed was made.”

Deciding that the conversation was becoming more objectionable, Bessie scolded, “Now, that’s enough of that, Missy!  Sounds like you’re a little jealous.”

“Jealous!” Savannah growled as she whirled around to face her accuser.  “Jealous?  Of that hussy?  Why, she’s no better than a street walker in New Orleans!  If you ask me, that first baby isn’t even James’.  Maybe not even the second.  Why, she’s probably got a whole string of bastards that nobody knows about.”

A resounding slap stung Savannah’s fair cheek as Bessie tried to curb the girl’s slanderous talk.  Immediately, Bessie apologized for her actions, but still clucked her tongue to warn the girl against continuing her insults.

Savannah’s hand went to her burning face and her eyes widened with surprise.  Bessie had not laid a hand on her since the time she went skinny dipping when she was ten years old.  But, this time, it hurt her pride more than her face.  Savannah knew that Bessie was aware that the blossoming girl had secretly loved James long ago, even though she swore she couldn’t stand the sight of him.  It hurt her to know that her Bessie would take the side of that money-hungry heifer.

Bessie’s large hands went up to cup the girl’s saddened face, then her ample arms surrounded Savannah, nestling the young woman’s head between her bulky breasts.  Her heart broke every time that girl’s mouth turned down in a pout of discontent.  She cooed consolingly as she patted the girl’s back, “I’m sorry, Missy.  I don’t like to hear you talk like that.  Ever since yore mamma died, I been raisin’ you ‘cuz yore papa was too upset to tend to you.  I thought I was raisin’ you right, but to hear you talk like a rantin’ rooster, I think I’ve done failed.”

“You didn’t fail, Bessie,” Savannah reassured her maid as she rubbed the older woman’s shoulder affectionately.  “I promise to watch what I say from now on.  No more talk about what could have been and missed opportunities…”

Without warning, Travis’ face flashed into her mind.  The memory of his touch sent shivers down her spine and she crossed her arms in front of her to ward off the warmth that soon took over.  What could have been was so far away from her, she knew and there was no need to reminisce at this time, so she shook herself free of the image and the oncoming feelings of grief at not accepting his unspoken invitation to let him protect her from all that would harm her. 

She looked at Bessie and promised, “From now on, I’ll be a perfect lady.”

Bessie smiled in pride as the girl twirled around and then curtseyed before her in nothing but her under things, saying, “You’ll be no lady dressed like that.  Let’s get you dressed so’s you can make yore papa proud.”

Bessie’s brown eyes sparkled as she reached for the dark green silk gown that she had laid carefully across the four-poster bed when she had entered the room.  She held the dress above Savannah’s head and then let it drop over the girl’s shoulders.  She guided it over the silk chemise and the tightly corseted waist, over the full, rounded hips and down the slender legs to fall across the dainty bare feet.  Then, she smoothed the soft fabric until it clung endearingly to the curve of the girl’s exquisitely endowed body.  She plucked at the lace that discretely covered the swell of her breasts as it trailed the low-cut neckline, making it stand at attention in an effort to hide what nature gave her and what any natural man craved to catch a glimpse of.

Standing back to survey her artwork, Bessie smiled at her expertise in making a beautiful girl transform into a voluptuous woman without even trying.  Granted, she knew that Savannah’s body was not a blank canvas and that very little effort need be put forth in order to make her look as stunningly as she always did when she was dressed in her finest.  True, the girl would rather don her drab riding habit and stomp around in her riding boots than flaunt her beauty in fine gowns and dainty shoes.  But, when she agreed to wear those lavish clothes, she radiated a beauty that nothing could compare to.

“Now, don’t you just look handsome,” Bessie cried as she stepped toward Savannah to replace a wayward curl.  “That nice Mister Don will surely fall in love with you if he hasn’t already.”

“Mr. Fernandez,” Savannah corrected as she swept the woman’s dark hand away in sudden anger.  “And I’d rather not try to impress him.”

She tore at the gown and it ripped under the pressure of her temper tantrum.  Pulling at the silk bodice, she shed the beautiful dress and threw it onto the bed.  With determination, and ignoring the rebukes from Bessie, she picked up the muddy riding habit from the floor and began to thrust it on.

“There is nothing I’d rather wear to a horse auction than this!” Savannah seethed as she tugged on the mud-covered boots and stomped toward the door.

With all the fury that she could muster, she clamored down the ornate staircase and down the hall toward the dining room.  She stopped just long enough to take in a breath and renew her annoyance at having to display herself for the highest bidder who waited with her father in the cavernous dining room beyond.

“Well, my Vanny,” Father started with a pleasant voice as his daughter entered the room, her head held high and her shoulders thrust back in defiance.

“Father, dear,” Savannah said with more affection than she felt for him at the moment.  “You know I don’t like for you to call me that.”

Benjamin Star allowed her to kiss his upturned cheek before he patted the hand on his shoulder and answered, “I know, Kitten.  But, it’s what I’ve always called you.  It’s hard to think of you as a grown woman with grown-up ideas.”

Savannah removed her hand from his grasp and whirled around to face the guest at the other end of the table as she added without acknowledging her father’s apology, “Grown up enough to make my own decisions.”

Benjamin nodded slowly in agreement, but interjected, “Decisions that would affect more than just your own life.”

“Yes, but ones that could be detrimental to my own life,” she retorted, staring boldly at Diego’s indifferent expression.

“You are just frightened by the uncertainty of a new life beyond Robin’s Glen,” Father rejected her tone as childish and selfish.

“Robin’s Glen is all I know, Father,” she argued, still ignoring Diego’s blank stare.

“But it is for our home that you must do this,” Benjamin pleaded before she left his side in a huff and pulled angrily at her chair.

As she fell into the finely carved chair, she reached for the linen napkin and placed it daintily in her lap as if it would protect her finest garments instead of the atrocious attire that she was wearing.  Then, turning back to Diego, she said in her most accommodating voice, “I’m sure that Mister Fernandez will take wonderful care of my home while he is in Mexico.  Tell me, Mr. Fernandez, how do you plan to mind Robin’s Glen from so far away?”

Not unnerved by her accusations, Don Diego gently touched the corner of his napkin to his lips before he answered in a smooth tone of voice, “I assure you, Miss Star, may I call you Savannah?  After all, we are engaged to be married.”

Without waiting for her approval, he continued, “I assure you, Savannah, I have every intention of doing with your beloved home what is most appropriate for the occasion.”

“And what is ‘most appropriate’?” Savannah asked, her hands shaking in anger as she clenched the napkin in her lap.

The Mexican don took in a long and contemplating breath before he honored her with his answer, “Of, course, there have been many bills that I have had to take over in order for your father to keep Robin’s Glen in the splendor that it has enjoyed.”

He looked from Savannah to Benjamin, who squirmed in his chair in embarrassment at the concept of being obligated to another man.  With calculated malice, he continued, still staring at the old and broken man, “Don’t you remember our conversation last night, my dear Savannah? That your father has mortgaged your plantation to me in order to finance the many debts that he had accumulated over the years and our engagement is part of that agreement.”

Savannah narrowed her eyes at the one eyebrow that rose over the Mexican’s callous eyes.  Her indignation growing with his every word, she growled, “I do remember our conversation and the agreement between the two of you.  I am not the ignorant child that you think I am.”

She kept her eyes trained on Diego as she continued with seething revelation,   “It wouldn’t surprise me that a man such as you would take advantage of an ailing old man in order to placate his need to feel more masculine than he is.”

She could see the anger cross the Mexican’s face and her heart jumped with delight at getting the best of him.  But, her joy was overtaken by sudden fear when Diego slammed his fist upon the table, causing the glassware to topple and teeter with the vibrations of the varnished wood.

“If it had not been for me, your precious plantation would be in the hands of strangers right now,” he growled, daring her to argue with him.  Then, in a calm and gentle voice, he continued as if his outburst had never occurred, “And, as I have promised your father, I will keep it in your name as long as you are married to me.”

Savannah ignored the smile that Diego had plastered upon his otherwise uncaring face.  Quelling her growing temper, she smoothed her napkin in her lap and cleared her throat, saying quietly, “And I do appreciate that.  As long as you keep your promise, I will agree to marry you so that Father will always have his home.”

“As long as he lives,” Diego agreed, still smiling, but now, addressing the old man.  “He will have a home.”

Satisfied that an agreement had been established, Savannah finally took up her fork and began to eat.  She said nothing else to Diego or her father for the duration of the meal, only answering in short sentences or merely a curt word when they asked her a question or when they included her in the conversation.

And that same manner was one that she adopted for the next two days, her resentment at the situation giving her plenty of ammunition for her attitude.  The household gave her room to vent, even Diego left her to her indulgence, for he knew that as soon as she was married to him and they were away from the watchful eyes of her father and her servants, he would teach that little filly how to behave.  He kept to his rooms, taking his meals there and only seeing her in passing, his smile ever-present on his shrewd face.

And his smile grew even wider when he and Savannah were summoned to the bedside of Benjamin Star.  The Mexican don had hoped that the old man would not last long and that the marriage to the heir to the plantation would be quickly eminent and, as he walked purposefully toward the door of the dying man’s room, he stopped just outside to contemplate his future.

There, beyond that door, he thought, is the only thing keeping him from owning the plantation and making a huge profit from what it contained.  When the old man dies, he no longer needs to keep his promise to provide a home for him.  And, Benjamin Star will no longer have a hold on his daughter and Diego will be free to do with her as he felt necessary to secure all that she would inherit.