Runaway Bride (16 page)

"Of course not. Just keep your head
about you. I know how these western romances go. A cowboy can sure
pour it on, when they want to. Just because you didn't make the
mistake of marrying Chad, doesn't mean you won't fall for another
line. You are so vulnerable right now, Savannah, be
careful."

"Oh, so now you're an expert on
cowboys?" Savannah laughed. "So now you want me to be careful,
huh?"

"No, I’m just an expert on men, silly."
Janet laughed.

Savannah smiled, "What do you mean,
make the mistake of marrying Chad? Did you know it would be a
mistake?"

"Honey, I think every girl in town knew
but you!" Janet asked innocently. "He was seeing someone else,
wasn't he?"

"Yes, but...how did you know?"
Savannah's eyes rounded on her. Did she already know Chad was gay?
Surely not!

Janet stood up, a frown playing on her
beautiful face, "There are classic signs when men aren't being
entirely honest."

"But Janet...why didn't you tell
me?
"

"I wanted to several times, hon, but I
figured it was more his place, than mine. Besides, we all figured
he'd slip up and you'd catch him. You did catch him, didn't
you?"

"Oh well, yes, I sure did."

"You sure took your time. So when did
you finally catch him?"

"The day of the wedding."

"No...tell me it isn't so. That's
cruel."

"I'm not kidding. It was the day of the
wedding. But it's just not something you go around talking about. I
thought Chad was just about the sweetest gentleman I'd ever known.
I never dreamed...." Savannah plopped onto the bed with a heavy
sigh.

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry. I should have
told you. Long ago. So...so his parents know?"

"Oh no, he couldn't tell them. I
wouldn't have known either, if I hadn't caught him in the Rose
Garden."

"Who was it?" Janet nearly screamed.
Savannah nearly laughed at the absurdity of it all.

But the truth had a way of leaking into
the conversation. "I promised not to tell," she admitted as her
shoulders slumped.

"But I'm your best friend." Janet's
face turned red, and then she touched her arm. "Oh honey. I can
guess...it was Carol Stewart, I'll bet."

So Janet didn't know Chad was gay,
Savannah sighed to herself. No one knew.

"This is one secret I'm keeping to
myself. I might have been naive, stupid even, but I'm not about to
blurt this one out."

"Well, it doesn't matter," Janet
announced, "You weren't really in love with
him
either."

"How could you know I didn't love him?
I didn't know myself till recently."

"Yeah...you were smitten by that
gorgeous Sheriff. Doesn't that tell you something? I mean, you
can't fall out of love with one man, and into with another that
quickly. Unless you are the most fickle person in the world. And I
know you too well, you aren't."

"Oh now Janet, I'm not sure how I feel
about the Sheriff, really." Savannah cried, afraid her little lie
was escalating into a full blown problem.

"Well, if Chad cheated on you, you have
every right to do what you want. So go after that
Sheriff."

"There's a problem."

"What?"

"He's marriage shy." Savannah was
hesitant to admit it to her friend, but perhaps it would a welcome
albatross, later. "I believe his words were, he didn't want a
woman, rope and hog tying him."

Janet shook her head, "Oh you can't go
by that. They are all marriage shy, at first. But once they are
smitten, what can they do?"

"Janet, you are incurable. But don't
get your hopes up about this cowboy. I'm not kidding, he is
marriage shy. Very much so. Maybe it has something to do with his
being a Sheriff. Maybe he's had a bad love affair, who knows. And
you know me, I want marriage more than anything."

Janet refused to be discouraged for
her, "Maybe he just hasn't bumped into the right woman,
yet!"

"It's way too soon to worry about how
serious the Sheriff might be." Savannah scoffed and put the dress
on, smoothing it as she looked at herself in the mirror.

"That dress looks better on you, than
it does on me." Janet chuckled.

"I'm glad you are here, Janet. I need
you right now. Especially since my aunt isn't home." Savannah
hugged her friend to her.

"Do you know when she's coming
home?"

"Tomorrow, according to
Ben..."

"That soon, huh? Well, I'll finish out
the week here, since I took my vacation now, and I'll be leaving
too. Besides, I've got to give this Leroy a chance at me. Say, his
name is Ben...I like that name." Janet sighed and then
giggled.

"Yeah, but his last name isn't very
appealing…"

"What's his last name?"

"Hogg."

"You are kidding!"

"No, it's Hogg!" Savannah cried with
laughter and laid against the bed for a moment. "He comes from a
long line of lawmen. I saw the pictures on his wall at his office.
Looks like he's about fourth generation lawman."

"Well, with a man like that, who cares
what his last name is." Janet chuckled, getting her clothes ready
and turning toward the bathroom. She turned to look at Savannah
over her shoulder, "So where is Mr. Handsome taking you for
supper?"

"I don't know. I'm to meet him in
town."

Janet whirled about, "I really don't
like that kind of thing, Savannah," she cried aloud as her face
screwed up into a immediate frown. "I mean he should pick you
up."

"He would, but sometimes his work keeps
him later and he can't." Savannah defended realizing her friend had
her best interest at heart.

* * *

A couple of days later, Savannah was at
her aunt's house. Aunt Lucy seemed very glad to put her up for a
while. She offered her one of the nicest rooms in the huge two
story old farmhouse, and after Savannah had unpacked they had a
long talk.

Aunt Lucy was a mixture of her mother
and her uncle. She was eccentric, she loved the unusual and she
lived life to the fullest. Even though her blonde hair had faded
into gray a long time ago, her green eyes twinkled with mischief
and merriment every time she spoke. Savannah warmed to her
quickly.

"Well, I'm just glad you found out
about your young man before you married him. It's unfortunate but
these days things are so different." Aunt Lucy said, pouring them
both a cup of hot tea.

Savannah didn't want to dwell on Chad
and the wedding though, so she changed the subject. "Do you go to
Europe often?"

"Land sakes no, child. A church friend
of mine, in Junction wanted to go, since her husband died and I
offered to go with her. We had a good time, considering she spent
most of the trip talking about her Howard as though he was right
there with us. Frankly, it gave me the willies. But we enjoyed
Italy so much, and the food was outrageously wonderful. I'd like to
go again, but with the right company." She winked.

Savannah smiled, wondering what it
might be like to be married to someone she loved so much she
couldn't let go of him even after death.

"So...are your folks okay with you
being here?" Aunt Lucy asked, sipping her tea and eyeing her over
the rim of the cup.

"They don't know..." Savannah
hesitated. "I mean, they aren't sure exactly where I
am."

"Oh...well, my goodness. It wouldn't do
for them to find out, just yet as they haven't spoken to me in
years!"

"I know, that's why I'm here. I mean, I
figured this was the best place to be, and the safest."

Aunt Lucy hung her head, a sad
expression crossing her aging but beautiful face. "I see. You know
this all started a long time ago. It was a silly argument we had
years ago, about Mama's funeral that caused the rift between me and
your mother. I miss her so. Your mother that is. What did it really
matter, Mom was dead, but we continued to fight over it till we
weren't speaking at all to each other. I've regretted it many
times."

"Oh I'm sorry. I didn't know, really.
Mom never talks about it. It never dawned on me how you might feel
about me being here. It's just that, well, when I ran, the only
person I thought of was you. I remembered how kind you had been to
me as a little girl, and I thought maybe this would be a place they
would never dream of looking for me."

"That's true." Aunt Lucy's head came up
and a twinkle in her eye told Savannah they were comrade in arms at
this moment.

"I can leave if I'm a bother to you,"
she began until her aunt shook her head. "I hadn't even thought you
might not want me here."

"Nonsense, I'm glad you are here. It's
very lonely living in this old house, it's so big, and so empty. I
never had children of my own, you know."

"Why not?"

"I never could have children. My Henry
and I tried so hard to have children. But it just wasn't meant to
be. I think part of the problem was that I grew so attached to
everyone else's children. In fact, I wanted you to stay with me
that summer you last visited, but your mother was adamant. Your
mother never understood me very well."

"I'm sorry you've been so alone.
Maybe...I can make it up to you, Aunt Lucy. Whatever happened to
Uncle Henry?"

"He died about eight years ago, not
long after your last visit, in fact. Had a heart attack one day out
in the fields. We were married forty-three years, come September.
Anyway, I'm old enough now to know I can't hold you here. So you
are welcome as long as you want to stay."

"Thanks, you might regret that
invitation." Savannah laughed.

"So, what are your plans? Or do you
have any yet?"

"I'm not sure. I want to photograph
wild life, for one thing, and the Dude Ranch I'd been staying at
provided a wealth of that for me. I thought I'd try to land a
magazine layout with the pictures I've taken. Would you like to see
them?"

"Of course I would, I love animals.
Come sit beside me and show me what you have."

They spent well into the night, looking
at the photographs and Savannah thought how wonderful it was to
have someone appreciate her work. And someone she could confide in,
too.

Chapter Eight

Two weeks passed and Savannah had
enjoyed being with her aunt. Lucy had taught her many things, and
Savannah was a fast pupil. She learned to clean a house, cook a
meal, and relax. And out of it all, relaxing was the hardest. It
seemed odd that she had so much in common with someone she barely
knew. But what Ben had said stayed with her, "it isn't how long,
but how well you know someone." They spent a lot of time
together.

Then one afternoon Ben stopped
by.

"Good evening ladies." He began, eyeing
Savannah.

Savannah tried to control that melting
feeling she got when she looked at Ben, but it just didn't work. He
was the only man in her life that made her feel this physical
reaction, with just a look.

"Well now, what brings you all the way
out here, Ben?" Aunt Lucy chuckled.

"Thought I'd check on you Lucy and see
how you've been. Enjoy your vacation?"

"As a matter of fact I did, but I'm
even happier being back home. Savannah is just what I
needed."

Ben nodded with a smile, "That's good.
How long is she staying?"

Savannah put her hands on her hips and
firmed her lips, "I'm not in the other room, you can ask me
yourself, Ben Hogg."

He smiled, "Okay, how long you planning
on staying?"

"A while, yet. Why?"

"Would you walk with me, Savannah, I've
got something I need to ask."

Savannah was surprised but nodded, her
aunt smiling at the two of them.

Ben walked faster than she did and she
found it hard to keep up. She poked her hands in the pockets of her
overalls and practically ran to keep up with Ben. She didn't know
where they were walking, but Ben seemed familiar with the property.
Exasperated that he wouldn't slow down, Savannah finally shouted at
him, "What is it?"

He stopped and slowly turned around.
"You remember that kid that came in the Sheriff's office when you
first came? When I…locked you up?"

"I remember."

"Well....her mother got
married."

"So, what has that got to do with me?"
Had he married the woman? But why bother telling her? Why bother
coming all the way out here, a good twenty miles to tell her
something like this? She was nothing to him, still the thought of
Ben being suddenly married made her almost ill.

Ben stopped and looked at her again, "I
thought you being around, and the fact that I wasn't seeing her
every Saturday night might scare her off. Make her think twice
about asking me to supper. I mean, the woman just wants a built in
father, that's all."