Wild Bride (3 page)

“What did you do?” He took his friend’s arm.

“Shit.” Billy yanked his arm away.

“It was you, wasn’t it? You broke into the apartment and destroyed Holly’s stuff,” he asked.

“We didn’t break in. We still had the key you gave us. Besides, it was all Savannah’s idea. She’s the one that said you’d tossed her out and was shacking up with the book woman.” He had nodded towards Holly. It had hurt that Savannah had wanted Travis more than him. That knowledge alone had driven him to destroy most of Travis’ stuff.

“Why?” It was Holly that asked from just behind him. “Why did you trash it?”

“We thought Travis was staying there.” He frowned down at his fists and realized he hurt more about Savannah’s decision to pick Travis over him than he did about anything Travis had done.

“I heard. Why did you break in and ruin what you thought was your friend’s stuff?”

Billy shrugged his shoulders and looked down at his feet. “It seemed the thing to do after Travis started acting like we were scum.” He didn’t want to admit the truth.

“What?” Travis asked, stepping closer. “I never treated you like you were scum.”

“Sure you did. You wouldn’t hang out with us. And every time you saw us, you had this funny look on your face like you smelled something bad.”

“I didn’t mean to treat you bad. It’s hard for me.” He dropped his hands. “I don’t want to go back to being bad boy Travis Nolan.”

Billy laughed. “You’ll always be bad boy Travis Nolan. You’re the one that taught us how to shoot, how to smoke. You gave me my first beer.” He shook his head. “Hell, the whole town saw your ass when we streaked during the homecoming game our senior year.” Billy laughed, remembering.

Travis laughed and slapped his friend on the shoulder. “Good ol’ times.” Then he sobered. “But for me they have to be in the past. I don’t want to be the same kid I used to be.”

Billy looked down at his feet. The word kid rang over and over in his head. “Hell, I know I have to shape up.” He looked up at Travis and decided it was now or never. He had to tell someone. “I’ve got my own kid on the way in the next few weeks.”

“What?” Travis looked at him and smiled. “Well, hell. I didn’t know you’d shacked up with someone special.”

Billy looked down again. “I meant to tell you.” Then he glanced up and felt his fingers tingle as he said the next words. “Course she’s telling everyone in town the baby is yours.”

He watched as acknowledgment crossed Travis’ eyes, and then his friend gasped. “Savannah? Savannah’s baby?”

Billy smiled and nodded as he held his breath. “I know you two used to have a thing. But, well, after you left town, we sorta hooked up.”

Travis laughed. “Of course you did.”

Well, of course he’d gone and listened to his friend’s advice. The last few days he’d spent almost every night over at Travis’ house, hanging out with him, talking. It had surprised him how much Travis had gone through in the last few years since leaving Fairplay.

Because of his friend, he’d stopped drinking and had even started wearing a nicotine patch so he could stop smoking. It was making him a little jittery, but so far he was sticking it out.

Now he wished more than anything for a cigarette as he felt Savannah’s parents watching him.

“So, do you mind telling us what this is all about?” Savannah’s father asked, leaning forward in the chair.

“No, sir. I think it’s best to wait for Savannah.” He swallowed and wished she’d hurry up and get home. He knew that she had no idea he was coming out here tonight; it was one of the reasons he had come. If she’d known, she would have talked him out of it. She had a way of convincing him to do just what she wanted. Well, that was going to stop. The first step towards becoming a man was to own up to his mistakes.

He felt relief flood him when he finally heard the front door open. Then she walked in and he felt nervous all over again.

She was still as beautiful as ever. Even with the extra weight and the large belly protruding out in front of her. He didn’t know her exact due date, since she hadn’t shared that knowledge with him, but she was bound to be due any day now.

He stood up and walked towards her.

“Billy.” He could hear the stress in her voice and when he took her hand, she yanked it away. “What on earth are you doing here?” she whispered.

“I’m here to set things right.” He took her hand again and held it tight. Then he turned to her parents. “Mr. and Mrs. Douglas, I’ve tried to make things right with your daughter, but I’ve come over here tonight for one last chance. I’m the father of Savannah’s baby.” He watched Mr. Douglas’s eyes heat. He glanced over to Savannah’s mother and saw her eyes soften. “I’ve asked Savannah for her hand, but she’s denied me.” He glanced over at Savannah and saw her eyes heat and felt her hand jump in his. “Since she won’t have me, I have an alternative plan.”

Mr. Douglas stood, his fists by his side. “I’m listening.”

“John.” Mrs. Douglas stood and put her hand on her husband’s arm. “Why don’t we all sit down and listen to what William has to say.”

It was one of the first times anyone had ever called him by his full name, and he respected Savannah’s mother even more for giving him the chance.

Savannah’s father nodded and relaxed his fists as he sat back down.

“Daddy,” Savannah started to say, but she stopped when her father shook his head no.

“We’ll listen to what William has to say. After all, you’ve made it very clear that you’re not in your right mind at the moment.” Her father frowned and motioned for them to sit back down.

He tugged on Savannah’s hand until she followed him to the sofa where he helped her sit down.

She was a lot larger than he’d thought and when he sat next to her, he felt concerned that she was uncomfortable. She glared at him and he realized then that she wanted to kill him. He almost chuckled.

“I know Savannah has made up her mind not to marry me.” He frowned and looked at their joined hands. “But I’d like to keep that option open. I’ve just secured a new job. I’ll be working the pipeline that’s coming through the county this next year.” He smiled. “They’ve hired me on as manager.”

“Oh, William, that’s wonderful news,” Mrs. Douglas said, squeezing her husband’s arm and smiling at him.

“Of course it will mean a lot of travel for me. I’ll be going back and forth from here to the coast for the next few years.” He frowned and looked towards Savannah. He couldn’t really read what was on her face, but he had never really been able to tell what she was thinking. “I’d like to be a part of the child’s life, of Savannah’s life, if she’ll have me.”

Everyone waited and looked at Savannah.

“I can’t make any promises,” she said, coolly.

“Fair enough.” He nodded, expecting it. “I’d like to at least be part of the baby’s life. A child should know their father.”

He waited and when Savannah nodded, he felt like he’d won the battle.

“Good, then here’s what I propose.” He turned to her parents. “I’ve purchased a new house.” He smiled. “Sheriff Miller sold me his old place on Magnolia. I’d like Savannah to move in with me.”

He heard Savannah gasp, and he glanced at her but didn’t give her time to respond.

“We’d live together until I head out, then she and the baby can have the house to themselves until I return home, which will be in about six months.” He hated to be away for that long, but he knew it would be necessary for Savannah and the baby’s future. “After that, I’ll be on an odd schedule. I’ll be working offshore for two weeks straight, then home for another two.”

“You’ll be working on the oil rigs in the gulf?” Mr. Douglas asked.

He nodded. “After we finish laying the initial pipes.” He turned to Savannah again. “Will you move in with me?”

She shook her head, no, just as her father said, “Yes.”

“No, I won’t.” She turned to her father.

“Savannah.” He stood and looked down at her. “I know it is your mother’s and my fault that you’ve found yourself in your position.”

Savannah laughed. “Really, father, you had nothing to do with it,” she said, sarcastically.

“I mean,” he continued, “that you find yourself in your twenties, no job, no real education, pregnant, and unwed.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “We spoiled you. We had our reasons.” Mrs. Douglas stood and put her hand on her husband’s arm and nodded. “But it ends now. You’re old enough to make your own choices, but that doesn’t stop us from helping you make them.”

“What are you saying?” Savannah tried to get off the sofa; Billy reached down and helped her stand. She tried to swipe his hands away, but when she almost fell back, she dug her fingers into his arms and relied on him to stand up.

“Are you kicking me out?” Her voice rose.

Her father looked down at her and nodded. “In a manner of speaking, yes. Your mother and I have discussed it for some time now. We think that it’s time you started living your own life. And since you’ve made your choice”—he nodded towards Billy—“you need to strike out on your own and make something of it. Did you think your mother and I would just raise your baby for you?”

Savannah took a step back and almost fell backwards onto the sofa. Billy wrapped his arms around her to steady her. Her stomach bumped into him and, for a moment, he enjoyed the feeling of his child next to him. It was the most humbling experience he’d ever had and at that moment, he knew he’d made the right decision. Even if it meant that Savannah would hate him for the rest of his life.

S
he watched Billy bring in the last of her bags and felt like throwing something. How could her parents do this to her? Why would they?

She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She’d argued with her father and mother until she felt faint. They wouldn’t budge on their decision. Her mother had gone with her upstairs to pack her things in her bags that very evening.

Now, just a few hours after she’d driven up to her house, she was sitting in Billy’s new house, on his new sofa, and thinking of a million ways to kill the father of her child.

He set the bag down just inside the front door and walked over and sat next to her. “Do you know what it is?” He nodded towards her belly, looking like he wanted to reach out and touch it. She shook her head.

“I asked not to know.” She put her hands over her large belly and hated the emotions she saw in his eyes.

“Why?” He reached his hand out and laid it over her large stomach.

She pushed up from the sofa and he put his hand on her waist to help her stand. She pushed it away when she finally stood. “My choice. Now, where is my room?” She turned to him and glared at him.

He chuckled. “Our room is just down there.” He nodded towards the small hallway. It was so narrow, she doubted she would be able to walk down it with the extra weight she’d gained in the last few weeks. But since she didn’t want to show any weakness, she bent down and picked up the lighter of the two bags and started walking towards the backroom. Billy ripped the bag from her hands halfway across the room.

“That’s too heavy for you.” He frowned. “You shouldn’t be lifting it.” He bent and picked up the other bag easily. She watched the muscles in his arms strain and wanted to reach out to play her fingers over them, but held herself still instead.

“I can take care of myself.” She crossed her arms over her chest and watched his eyes focus on her large bosom. It had been the bane of her existence. She knew there were rumors going around that she’d had several enhancements, but the truth was, she was just very large. Even more so since the pregnancy. Actually, before finding out she was pregnant, she’d been looking into getting a reduction. Her back hurt her some days, so much so that she’d taken to seeing a chiropractor and a physical therapist twice a week. Her parents had even bought her an orthopedic mattress to help out. She doubted that Billy had something like that in what would no doubt be a very small bedroom, and she desperately wished to be back home.

“I’ve never doubted it,” Billy said smiling. He carried the two bags past her and easily walked down the narrow hallway, leaving her in the small living room alone.

She frowned at the place. It was too small. What did he expect her to do in such a small place? She looked around.

She wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but she’d always liked the small, green, classically styled house that the sheriff had always lived in. She’d just never imagined that it was this small on the inside.

Maybe she was just being mean. After all, every place looked small compared to her family home. She frowned. Even the large house that the West sisters had grown up in paled in comparison to her home.

But when she followed Billy down the hallway and walked into the small bedroom, she felt like fainting. She was going to live here. With him. For who knew how long.

Billy stood next to a queen-sized bed, her two bags at his feet, as he smiled over at her.

“Well.” He smiled. “What do you think?”

“I think I’m going to kill you,” she growled out. “Why did you do that?” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“What?” He looked at her with his big brown eyes.

“You know what. I was doing fine all by myself. Why did you have to go to my parents?” She leaned back against the wall, not wanting him to see that her back was hurting her, not to mention that her feet were so swollen they felt on the verge of bursting from her shoes.

“Come on, Savvy.” He smiled over at her, charm seeping from every pore of his body.

He knew she hated it when he called her that. No one else had the guts to use it.

She felt like throwing something at him. She wrapped her fingers around a small clock that sat on the dresser next to her and tossed it at his head.

It hit the wall just above his head, and he laughed and ducked the next item she threw at him.

Then he was rushing towards her, wrapping her in his arms. For just a moment, she enjoyed the feeling of being held. Then she pushed him away and hit him on the chest. Feeling her hand bounce off his rock hard muscles, she hated him even more.

“Leave me alone,” she screamed and pushed him away.

“Oh, come on.” He pulled back and placed a hand over her stomach, causing her to hold very still. “I just want to do what’s right.” He frowned at her then smiled when he felt her stomach kick him back.

“See, even the baby hates you.” She tried to push his hands away from her stomach, but he easily pushed her hands aside and placed his other hand over her stomach. His dark eyes went wide as their child kicked even more.

“Amazing.” He looked up at her. “Does it hurt you?” he asked, stepping closer to her.

Her mouth had gone dry. How had she never realized how handsome he was before? She blinked a few times and shook her head no.

“Have you thought about names?” He smiled again when the child inside her tried to punch its way out of her skin. She groaned a little when she felt pressure on her bladder. Again, she shook her head, but this time she was lying.

“I…” She blinked a few times. “I need to go to the restroom.” She turned and started walking towards an open door, praying that it was a bathroom.

When she stepped inside a nice-sized master bathroom, she sighed and shut the door behind her. She hadn’t realized she was crying until the tears rolled down her neck.

She could hear him banging around in the next room, and when she opened her eyes, she looked at her reflection in the large mirror and frowned.

She was huge and fat. Why would Billy be treating her like he was? She no longer felt attractive.

Her face was far too fat now. Even her hands and feet were so swollen that she hadn’t been able to wear jewelry or pretty shoes for months. She frowned down at the pair of flats she’d been wearing for the last few weeks. They were the only shoes she had that she could slip on and that didn’t require her to bend down to tie them.

Walking closer to the mirror, she ran her hands over her stomach and felt the kid kick again. Rushing to the toilet, she emptied the bladder that he or she had been pushing up against. When she walked over and washed her hands, she couldn’t stop the tears from coming.

How had she let her life take such a drastic turn? She leaned her head against the cool mirror and thought back to that night almost eight months ago and wondered why she was always a sucker for a sexy man in tight jeans.

Billy finished unpacking Savannah’s bags and cleaning up the glass from the three items she’d thrown at his head. He couldn’t help but laugh at her weak attempt. He was just grateful that she’d been too exhausted to do any real damage.

He’d seen all her energy drain from her after she’d come back downstairs with her mother trailing behind her with the two large bags.

Her father had promised to deliver some more items by the end of the week, but he didn’t know where he was going to put it all.

The small house had come furnished, so he hadn’t had to purchase a lot of stuff, but so far, he liked everything that was in it and planned on keeping it. At this point, though, he was willing to let her redecorate as she wanted.

He knocked on the bathroom door when it grew too quiet in the next room. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“I…I’m going to take a bath. Would you bring my small bag to the door?” she called back.

He walked over and grabbed the small bag that contained all her makeup and bottles.

“I’ve got it,” he called out. When she opened the door a small crack, he pushed it until she stood back and glared at him.

“Are you all right?” He set the bag down on the countertop and looked at her. He could tell she’d been crying and instantly felt bad.

He took a few steps towards her, and she shook her head and put her hands on his chest. “Don’t,” she said, looking down at her hands. “I just want to be left alone.” Then she looked up at him and he saw the steel return to her eyes. “Just because I’m here, doesn’t mean I want to be, or that we’re going to be some sort of a couple.”

He took a step back and nodded. He’d expected this from her. “I know.”

She nodded. “Good. Then you won’t have any problems sleeping on the couch.” Her chin came up.

He smiled. “There’s a guest room.”

“Good.” She nodded. “Then you’ll forgive me for turning in. I’m quite tired.” She walked over to the bedroom door and waited until he stepped out.

He stopped just shy of the door and put a hand on the door to stop her from closing it in his face. “Just because you’ve made up your mind to hate me, doesn’t mean I’ll give up trying.” He reached over and brushed a finger down her cheek and watched her eyes go soft for a split second. “Goodnight, Savvy.” He smiled and stepped through the door.

He chuckled when she slammed it in his face.

As he walked into the living room, he couldn’t help but smile when he realized his plan was working.

He sat down on the sofa and crossed his arms over his chest. He’d been hurt when she’d shunned him. After all, he’d had a secret thing for Savannah for as long as he could remember. But the friend code had forced him to keep it hidden for years. Savannah and Travis had been an on-again, off-again thing for years. Even when Travis had been engaged to Alexis West, he’d kept his distance from Savannah.

Closing his eyes, he remembered the first night he’d really felt something for her. It was so long ago, yet the memory was still fresh. So was the hurt that had come when she’d gotten in her car with Travis that night instead of him.

She’d walked into the room looking like a woman, not a sixteen-year-old, like so many other girls around him had. She’d held her head up high and had demanded the attention of everyone in the room and his teenage heart had skipped. She still made it skip when she looked a certain way.

Her outer beauty was definitely something to behold, but it was her inner glow and strength that he’d always admired most. Her words had hurt so much that night when she’d turned him down that he’d turned back to his old ways. There was a little of his father in him after all.

He’d tried for so many years to deny the fact that he was like his father, but the more he embraced his rough edges, the better off he was. He’d been on a slow path to destruction before that night Travis had knocked some sense into him. It was funny; Travis had always been the instigator, but now he was the one who was most in control of his life.

Shaking his head, he chuckled. If anyone had said that would be the case in high school, they would have beaten them up. Propping his feet on the coffee table, he drifted off, remembering the good old times they used to have.

When he woke, it was to a finger in his chest.

“Are you okay?” Savannah said over him.

His eyes opened and blinked a few times. For a moment, he couldn’t remember where he was.

“Sure,” he said after using his hands to wipe his face from the sweat that had built up during the night.

“You were screaming.” She frowned down at him.

“No, I wasn’t.” He frowned and sat up as she sat next to him. She was wearing a large t-shirt and sweatpants that were a few sizes too big for her.

“Yes you were.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

He closed his eyes and nodded. Of course he had been screaming. “Sorry,” he grunted out. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You didn’t,” she said, causing his eyes to open and zero back on her. She shrugged her shoulders. “The kid plays havoc with my bladder. I’m up at least four times a night.”

He looked down at her large stomach and nodded.

“Why aren’t you sleeping in the guest room?”

“I guess I fell asleep out here.” He dropped his feet to the ground and ran his sweaty hands over his jeans.

“Well,” she said, looking at him and tilting her head.