by Joanna Sims
“How about this?” Lilly showed her the finished drawing. “When you walk, the dress will sing.”
“I love it.” She hugged Lilly. “It’s so special. Thank you.”
Lilly took her measurements and promised to get started on the dress right away. Before Savannah left the craft loft, Lilly selected a bangle she had recently designed and beaded.
“I saw you wearing this bracelet in a dream.” Bruce’s mother slipped the bangle onto her wrist. “Wear it day and night, and it will bring you much luck.”
Chapter Thirteen
“Here she is.” Tiffany walked out from the back of the jewelry store carrying a small black box.
The jeweler turned the box around, lifted the lid, and presented the custom diamond engagement ring to him. Inside of the box was a one-carat heart-shaped diamond, surrounded by a diamond halo and set in a delicately embellished white band. It was a Tiffany setting, with the diamond set high up off the band.
“It turned out even more antiquey and princessy than I thought it would.”
A small light on the ceiling of the box shone down on the ring, making the center diamond sparkle. For the second time he proposed to Savannah, this was the perfect ring.
“Perfect,” Bruce told the jewelry designer. “It’s amazing. She’s going to love it.”
“I know she will,” Tiffany agreed. “Do you know when you’re going to give it to her?”
“Tonight. We’re having dinner with her family, and I’m going to find the right time to give it to her.”
“Well—” the jeweler put the ring box into a small, fancy bag with rope handles and gold embossing on the front “—I’m glad that we could be a part of this. Bring her by so we can see how the ring looks on her finger.”
“I’ll do that.”
* * *
He wanted the moment to be perfect—Savannah deserved that. Bruce had to admit he wasn’t always as romantic as his wife merited, but he did try. All day, while he was out fixing fences and worming the cattle, his mind was on the incredible vow renewal ring he had bought for his wife. It was fancier than she typically liked to wear, a bit flashier than her usual taste. Until he saw her face, until he saw her eyes and her smile, he would be worried that Savannah wouldn’t love it as much as he did.
“So, tonight’s the night.” Colton had ridden up on one of his favorite quarter horses.
“Tonight is the night.” Bruce poured some water over his face to cool it off and wash the sweat out of his eyes.
Colton just couldn’t move on from the pain Savannah had caused him by leaving the ranch. He understood that; he loved his brother, but this wasn’t Colt’s decision. This was his decision. And when push came to shove, whether Colton had to fake it to make it or not, he expected his brother to respect his decision and respect his wife.
His younger brother shook his head. “I just don’t get what you’re doing here, brother. She left you. She walked. Shacked up with another dude. And now you guys are renewing your vows. You needed her when Sammy died.” Colt pointed away from his body. “What did she do? What did she do? She kicked dirt in your face, man. I don’t care if the whole family wants to act like everything is fine and dandy. That’s bull crap, and you damn well know it!”
Bruce let his brother say his piece. That was what brothers did. But when he was finished, he made his point clear.
“She’s my wife. I love her. I forgive her.” Bruce stabbed his pointer finger into the palm of his other hand. “And God willing, she’s forgiven me.
“Now...you can hate her guts. That’s your right. You will treat her with the respect she deserves as my wife, Colt. I don’t want to have a problem with you, but we will have a problem if you step out of line with Savannah.”
* * *
“Mom! Dad! We’re here!” Savannah was always happy to be spending time with her family.
Savannah scooped up the family cat and carried him into the kitchen where her mom was cooking up a storm.
“Hi, baby girl.” Carol’s plump cheeks were flushed from the heat of the stove. “Hi, Bruce.”
“Hey, Mom.” Bruce hugged his mother-in-law. From the very beginning to right now, Carol had been a big supporter of their marriage. He could always count on Carol to be in his corner.
“Smells delicious, Mom.” Savannah smooched the kitty on the face before putting him down on the ground gently. “Where’s Dad?”
“I sent him to the store with a list.”
“We could have stopped for you.” Savannah snatched a caramelized onion from the pan.
Carol wiped her hand on a dish towel, then hung it over the sink faucet. “I needed to give him a job. I don’t know what we’re going to do when he retires, Lord help us both. He hovers!”
“Mom.” Savannah frowned at her mom.
“I’m not saying that I don’t love your father,” Carol clarified. “I’m saying that a little space strengthens a marriage. Trust me. The two of you will see when you’ve been married as many decades as I have.”
“God willing.” Bruce snuck a couple of caramelized onions out of the same pan.
“All right...okay.” Savannah’s mother waved her hands in a shooing motion. “Now the two of you are hovering. Go find your sister.”
Savannah’s sister, Justine, was outside on the deck with her fiancé, high school coach Mike Miller. Savannah was very close to her sisters; they screamed like they hadn’t seen each other in years when they got together, and they hugged like they were never going to see each other again. Her strong family values, along with her intelligence that kept him on his toes, were some of the things that made Savannah such a rare find and such a perfect fit for him. He liked that his wife was smarter than he was; he liked the fact that Savannah challenged him to be a better man.
While Savannah and her sister caught up, Bruce excused himself back into the house.
“She’s happy again, Bruce,” his mother-in-law said plainly. “I haven’t seen her smile like that in a very long time.”
“When she’s happy, I’m happy.”
“That’s the way family works,” Carol acknowledged. “If your spouse is happy, if your kids are happy, you’re happy.”
“I wanted to show you the ring,” Bruce said in a lowered voice.
Carol’s face lit up with excitement. She clapped her hands together. Bruce had worn his shirt untucked so Savannah wouldn’t spot the shape of the box bulging in his front pocket; he tugged the box out of his pocket and then lifted the lid for Carol to see.
“Oh! Oh!” Savannah’s mother’s eyes teared up. “Oh, Bruce. It’s the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen. It truly is.”
“Do you think Savannah will love it?”
Carol had her hands on her cheeks. “She’s going to feel like the most loved woman in all of Montana.”
Bruce hid the ring on the top shelf of one of Carol’s kitchen cabinets; the cabinet wasn’t often used, so there wasn’t a risk of Savannah accidentally finding it.
“You’ll give it to her after dessert?” his mother-in-law asked.
“I think so,” he told her. “Joy has an early evening class, and I want to make sure we can get her on video chat so she can be a part of it, too.”
Carol stopped talking and just started hugging him.
“We are so blessed to have you, Bruce.” She used the dish towel to dry her eyes. “Thank you for never giving up on our Savannah.”
* * *
It was a festive dinner—everyone was in a good mood, even Savannah’s father, who had been slow to accept Bruce back into the fold. A gift of fresh steaks for the grill, straight from Sugar Creek stock, went a long way to ease the relationship with his father-in-law. John cooked the steaks on the grill, taking orders from the family and drinking beer.
T
hey sat down at the picnic table on the deck that they used all summer long in good weather. The center of the table was teeming with bowls filled with potato salad, macaroni salad, hot rolls, green beans, collard greens and mashed potatoes. Carol really knew how to throw together a feast for a family gathering, and Bruce had sincerely missed her cooking during the separation.
“Make sure you save room for dessert,” Carol warned the family. “I didn’t sweat in that kitchen all day to have my dessert go to waste.”
“It’s store-bought,” John teased his wife.
“Hush your mouth.” Carol lifted her chin in feigned outrage. “I would never...”
Everyone chipped in clearing the table, stacking dishes in the warm soapy water in the large farm sink; Justine put the coffee on while Carol took the store-bought desserts out of their boxes and put them on serving plates. After the table was cleared and reset for dessert, and the coffee had been brewed, the family converged once again at the picnic table. By now, the sun had set, and a sliver of moon was seemingly floating overhead, a small, yellow slice in a vast, blue-black Montana sky.
“You tell Jock that he can send over steaks anytime.” John had a bit of a slur to his voice. “I missed those steaks while the two of you were separated.”
“Dad...” Savannah objected. “That’s not even halfway nice.”
“It’s honest,” Bruce said.
“Not polite,” Justine added to the discussion. “But honest. Dad, I think that’s gonna have to be in the running for your tombstone.”
John frowned playfully at his daughters, then to his wife, he said, “You raised a couple of smart-asses, Carol.”
Even though they were all stuffed from the meal, every single one of them found something from the pastry assortment to eat for dessert. Savannah finished her chocolate minipastry, wiped her mouth, then tapped her glass with her knife.
“I have a couple of announcements.”
Once she had the family’s attention, his wife said, “I quit my job.”
The joviality seemed to be sucked right out of the air; John’s frown was back, and Carol appeared to be both confused, as if she had heard her daughter wrong, and speechless. His father-in-law immediately turned his attention to him—before they were married, he had wanted Savannah to be a stay-at-home wife and mother, while he provided for the family. Yes, it was an old-fashioned model of marriage—a model that he immediately kicked to the curb when Savannah made it clear she wasn’t going to play June Cleaver to his Ward Cleaver.
“This wasn’t Bruce’s decision.” His wife was quick to dispel that notion.
“Did you suggest it?” John demanded, that familiar scowl back on his fleshy face. Savannah’s father wanted all of his girls to use their brains and stay in school until they received a terminal degree in their field. He didn’t care if they gave him grandchildren; he cared that they made something of themselves and stood on their own without the help of a man.
“No,” Bruce replied, firmly but still respectfully. He had no intention of starting another cold war with Savannah’s father.
“This is—” Savannah gestured to her chest “—my choice.”
“You love your job!” her sister interjected. “What about your kids?”
“I’m not the only good teacher. They’ll get along just fine without me. My heart wants something else now. I want to do something in Sammy’s memory.”
“Savannah has been exploring the idea of starting a foundation in Sammy’s name.”
“Well—I love that idea,” Carol conceded.
“Which brings me to my second announcement.”
“How many more of these do you have?” John asked in a caustic tone.
Carol, as she always did, tried to smooth things over between her girls and their father. It was, as far as Bruce could tell, a constant chore.
Undaunted, Savannah smiled, showing her dimples. “A couple more.”
His wife reached for his hand, and with a glimmer in her pretty hazel eyes, Savannah announced that they were going to try to get pregnant.
That announcement had the desired impact—Carol and Justine left their seats to give Savannah a hug. A baby was always good for changing a sour mood sweet.
“I’m no longer taking birth control, so...” Savannah caught his eye. “I could be pregnant before our vow renewal.”
The rest of the conversation surrounded the plans for the vow renewal, including the date, which elicited a divided response from the family, as well as the venue. After the conversation lagged, the family cleared the table for the final time that night, and everyone seemed to need a break. John went out to his garage with Justine’s boyfriend while Justine and Savannah went for a stroll around the neighborhood to walk off some of the calories they had consumed. Bruce helped Carol in the kitchen, rinsing off the dishes and loading them into the dishwasher.
“It’s going to take at least two loads,” Bruce told his mother-in-law, who was wiping down the kitchen countertops.
“At least,” she agreed.
Bruce opened the kitchen cabinet and retrieved the diamond ring. “I think the family has had too much excitement for one night.”
“Oh...” she said, disappointed. “I wanted to see her face when she opened the box.”
He understood, and he sympathized, but John was pissed off about Savannah quitting her job, and the last thing he wanted was his father-in-law’s sourpuss face ruining his proposal. No. He would give Savannah her ring in private; maybe it would be all the more special for it.
* * *
“Look at my belly.” Savannah was lying flat on her back, surround by canine friends, her shirt lifted up to just below her breasts, her jeans unbuttoned and unzipped. Her stomach was distended, as if she were a couple of months pregnant.
“Total food baby.”
Bruce lay down on the bed on his stomach and kissed her belly. “You look beautiful to me.”
“I suppose that’s all that really matters.” She brushed his hair off his forehead with her fingers. “You seriously need a haircut, cowboy.”
Bruce captured her hand and brought it to his lips. “Come outside with me for a minute.”
“I could stand another walk.” Savannah sat up with an uncomfortable groan, then swung her legs off the side of the bed.
Holding Bruce’s hand, she followed behind him as they walked out onto the deck. He put his arm around her, and they ambled down the stairs and into their backyard.
“I can’t remember a night lovelier than tonight.” She marveled at the majesty of the dark Montana sky.
Bruce turned her in his arms, took her face in his hands and kissed her—so softly, so lovingly, that it made her want to cry with joy.
His eyes roamed her face, the way Bruce Brand had always looked at her, as if she were the most beautiful woman in the world, even though all evidence said that she wasn’t. She believed that look in his eyes; she trusted the love she saw in those bright, Brand blue eyes.
“I have never seen a woman lovelier than you,” he said and then kissed her again. “I can’t believe that I’ve been given this second chance with you, my love. I have no idea what I did to deserve you...”
Before she could respond, before she could tell him that she was just as lucky to have this second chance with him as he was with her, Bruce did the unexpected and bent down on one knee. There beneath the starless, expansive cobalt-blue sky, her husband, a man she loved to the moon and back, held up a box he had pulled out of his front pocket.
“Savannah Georgia Brand...” Bruce flipped the top of the box open; a strategically placed tiny white light in the box shone down on the stunning heart-shaped diamond solitaire, letting the jewel show off its facets with sparkles of red and purple and blue.
“Will you marry me? Again?”
Fo
r a moment, she couldn’t speak for the emotion. She didn’t wipe away her tears of happiness when she nodded her head quickly, and said, “Yes. Of course. Yes!”
Bruce stood up, took the ring out of the box, and slipped the twinkling diamond engagement ring on the finger of her left hand.
“Oh, Bruce...” Savannah stared at the diamond on her finger. “It’s the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen in my whole entire life.”
“You like it?”
“Are you kidding?” Her voice rose an octave and cracked. “I love it!”
“It’s a little more...flashy than what you wear... I was worried I’d gotten it wrong.”
“No. You didn’t.” Savannah couldn’t take her eyes off her new ring. “It’s everything I didn’t even know I wanted.”
With a squeal of sheer joy, she threw her arms around Bruce’s neck and kissed him hard on the mouth. Her husband lifted her up with one arm, kissed her again and swung her around in a circle.
“We’re engaged!” Savannah laughed, her stomach demanding that she stop spinning.
“Married.” Bruce let her slide down his body until her feet were firmly back on the ground. “And engaged.”
That night, their lovemaking began in the shower and finished in the bed. Now that she had stopped taking her birth control and had begun taking prenatal vitamins, they both wanted to make love as much, and as often, as possible.
“I can’t remember when I was pregnant with Sammy,” Savannah said quietly, her body curled into Bruce’s body, wearing nothing but her new diamond ring. “So when I get pregnant again, it will feel like the first time.”
Bruce ran his hand up and down her shoulder. “Does that upset you? That it will feel like the first time, I mean?”
She nodded before her words followed. “Yes. I’m sure it will. What was I like when I was pregnant with Sammy?”
Bruce laughed lightly, his eyes closed. “You were really grouchy. I mean really grouchy. But so frickin’ cute. You didn’t have to buy maternity clothes until the very end of your pregnancy, and that really ticked you off.”