by Jill Sanders
Most of the men were hard workers, but a handful of them were just plain stupid. Actually, a few of them reminded him of himself just a few short months ago.
He missed his girls. Even though they would Skype every night, he missed holding his daughter, missed smelling her hair after bath time. She was growing so fast. In every picture Savannah sent, he could see the subtle changes in her face.
He’d cried after hanging up with them one night after Maggie had laughed and cooed for him. He desperately wished he’d been there in person to see it. Her little eyes lit up, and she was kicking her hands and feet now, making it look like she wanted him to hold her. Only three more months to go until he could go home and get on a more normal schedule.
A few days later, he received a call that sent shivers down his bones. He picked up the phone after being called to the main office.
“This is William Jackson.”
“Well, well. You’re a hard man to track down, William Jackson, Jr.” Just hearing the voice gave him chills.
“What do you want?” he asked, reaching over and shutting the office door so no one else would hear the conversation.
“Heard you made it to the big time. Hitching up with the Douglas girl.” His father chuckled and a million memories flooded his mind. None of them were pleasant.
“I’ll repeat my question. What do you want?”
“Money,” his father said, simply.
“You don’t need money in the slammer.” He almost hung up on him.
“I’m not in the slammer anymore.” His father chuckled. “Actually, I was thinking of heading back into Fairplay. Maybe see that cute grandchild of mine.”
“If you step foot in Fairplay…I’ll…”
“What?” his father broke in. “I’ve served my time. I’m out on good behavior.” He heard his father take a drink of something and knew without a doubt it was a shot of Jim Beam.
“How much?” he asked and closed his eyes. “How much do you want to stay away?”
“Ten thousand,” his father said quickly. “That should keep me busy for a while.” He chuckled again and Billy felt his skin crawl.
“Fine, tell me where.” He wrote down the information quickly as his father gave it to him. “I’ll wire it tomorrow.” He hung up before his father could make any more demands.
Sitting down behind his desk, he rubbed his forehead and felt a headache building behind his eyes.
Two months couldn’t go by quickly enough.
Savannah looked at herself in the mirror one last time. She couldn’t explain why she was nervous, but she was. She must have changed outfits a half dozen times. She’d changed Maggie just as many times, but for different reasons. Maggie had wet the first one, and had thrown up a little on the second dress she’d picked.
Now, she leaned forward and applied just a little clear lip gloss to her lips and smiled. “There. Perfect.”
She’d changed so much in the last few months. Living alone with just Maggie as company had made her look inward. She hadn’t liked the person she’d become and just like dropping a few pounds, she’d decided to drop a few tendencies she had. And she owed it all to Maggie.
She looked down at the little girl, who smiled and tried to grab the fuzzy frogs that hung over her head in her carrier. “Shall we go get your daddy?”
Maggie squealed at the word “daddy,” like she always did. Savannah laughed and picked up the carrier. Maggie was getting so heavy, it took both of her arms to hold her and the carrier now. She set the carrier in the stroller, grabbed her purse, and locked up the house.
“Morning, Savannah,” she heard before she reached the end of her walk. “How’s Maggie today?” Mrs. Cole rushed over from her yard as fast as her eighty-year-old legs could carry her and started cooing at Maggie. “She sure is growing so fast. I do believe she’s grown another inch since I saw her yesterday.”
Savannah laughed. “Mrs. Cole, I think it’s time you had your eyesight checked.” They laughed.
“Going to get Billy from the bus station today?”
Savannah nodded.
“Well, won’t it be wonderful to have your daddy back in town,” Mrs. Cole said to Maggie. “Well, you two better get going. I thought I saw the bus pass by a few minutes ago.”
Savannah looked down the street with worry. “Thanks. See you later.” She pushed the stroller quickly down the sidewalk and hoped that she hadn’t left Billy waiting too long.
Halfway down the next block, she spotted him walking towards them. He looked a little thinner and a little taller, if that was possible.
“Billy,” she called out, and he lifted his eyes from the ground to them. Then he was smiling and running towards them.
He jogged a little and met him in the middle.
“Hey.” He smiled at her and dropped his bags.
All of a sudden, a bout of awkwardness rushed over her. She didn’t know if she should hug him or not. He made the decision for her and pulled her into his arms and kissed her right there on the street. She felt her heart jump and her pulse skip. Then he released her and knelt down to pull Maggie from her stroller.
She used that time to get her breathing back under control. She had never reacted to him like this before. For that matter, she’d never reacted to anyone like that before.
“I can’t believe how big she is.” He tried to hold Maggie like he’d done when she was a baby, but Maggie was having none of it and kept trying to sit up in his arms.
Savannah chuckled. “She likes to be held like this.” She walked over and helped him turn her around. “There, now she can see you.”
Maggie’s little hands came up and rested on his chin as he smiled down at her. He laughed when she reached up and put his chin in her mouth.
“Sorry,” Savannah laughed. “The doctor says she’s teething.”
“What?” He chuckled and looked up at her. “So soon?”
“She is just over six months old.” She smiled and waved at someone who honked as they drove by.
His eyes were on her and she saw him smiling at her.
“What?” she asked, feeling self-conscious.
“Look at you.” His eyes ran over her and he frowned a little.
“What?” She frowned back and looked down at herself. “Did Maggie mess up this shirt as well?”
He shook his head and held Maggie tighter. “No, you look good.” His voice softened and lowered, causing her face to flush as she smiled.
“We have a surprise for you.” She smiled. “But we’ll have to drop off your bags first.” She nodded to the discarded duffel bags that lay on the sidewalk.
He nodded and bent down to pick up the bigger of the bags. “Toss that one on her stroller will you? I want to carry my girl for a while.” He smiled and kissed Maggie’s cheek.
Savannah picked up his bag and set it on the stroller and then walked beside him as he started back down the street.
“How was the trip back?” she asked, not sure what to talk to him about. Why was she feeling nervous? After all, it was just Billy. She’d known him her whole life. They’d slept together, made a baby together, and lived together. Why was she feeling nervous around him, like she didn’t know him?
“It was okay. The bus had a flat tire just outside of Dallas.” He shook his head and placed another kiss on Maggie’s cheek, causing their daughter to squeal with glee.
“I hope you don’t mind, but the sheriff stopped by one day and suggested I have the house painted, so I hired Corey to put a fresh coat on the place.” She nodded to the house.
Corey, Billy’s friend, had done a fantastic job, and he’d put a fresh coat of paint on the inside, as well.
“The place looks good. Corey texted me and filled me in.” He smiled. “Who would have known he’d have the talent and patience to do that.” He laughed.
She used her key and opened the front door. “He also did some work inside.” She stepped in and set the stroller in its corner. “I hope you don’t mind, but I
moved a few things around.” She nodded to the room.
He smiled. “Savvy, I told you, you can do whatever you want with the place.” He set his bag down.
“Good, because I was reading this book about parenting, and well, Maggie needed her own room,” she blurted out.
He turned to her, his dark eyebrows going up slowly. “Oh?” His smile spread a little.
She ignored his smile and walked past him. “Yes, well, I think you’ll like it. Maggie loves it,” she said nervously as she opened their daughter’s room.
He stepped in with Maggie on his hip and smiled. “Frogs?” He laughed.
“Yes, well, it seems your daughter has a thing for the Princess and the Frog.” She frowned a little.
“She does, does she?” He laughed.
She’d hated doing it, but painting her daughter’s room a light shade of green seemed to make Maggie happy. Every time she would hold up the pink swatch of paint in front of her daughter’s face, she would reach for the green instead. When Savannah would hold up a picture of Cinderella, Savannah’s favorite character, Maggie would cry and reach for the Princess and the Frog one instead.
There were two large wall stickers of frogs on the wall next to her crib and a frog mobile that hung over her daughter and played sweet chimes as she slept.
“I like it.” He smiled. “If it makes my girls happy.” He walked over and sat Maggie down on the floor and then sat next to her and handed her a stuffed frog. “I can’t believe how big she is.” He looked up at Savannah and smiled. “And how little you are.” His eyes raked over her and she felt a wave of heat flood her entire body. “You look good.” He stood up and started walking towards her. “Real good.”
His hands grabbed her hips and pulled her closer to him. It had been so long since someone had touched her. Too long. She couldn’t stop herself from melting into his arms.
He smiled down at her and she realized he did look taller. Her neck craned as she looked up at him. Then he dipped his head and his lips touched hers lightly.
The kiss was different than the one he’d given to her on the street. It was different than any kiss he’d given her before.
They were adults. Her mind zeroed in on the thought. Everything else they’d done prior to this, they’d done as children. For the first time in her life, she felt like a real woman. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she pulled him closer, feeling her body heat next to his.
Then her cell phone rang and she jerked back. “Oh,” she said, looking down at the screen. “I almost forgot.” She pushed her hair away from her eyes. “We’re going to be late for your surprise.” She smiled and walked over to pick up Maggie.
He groaned. “Can’t you just give me my surprise here?” he asked, reaching for her. She laughed and pulled away.
Billy tried to keep his mind on anything other than how sexy Savannah looked walking next to him. Even as he held his daughter in his arms, his eyes kept rushing back to her body. She was wearing tight black leggings with a long flowing gray shirt. She had on sexy gray ankle boots, which made her legs look even longer than he remembered. He felt a bead of sweat drip down between his shoulder blades. He doubted it had anything to do with the almost ninety-degree weather they were having.
He kept wondering what she was wearing underneath, but then his mind would snap to the fact that they were walking down the street in the middle of town.
“Here we are.” She smiled and nodded towards the coffee shop. Holly’s sat right on the corner across from Mama’s diner, the only place in town to get a good meal. He hadn’t been in Holly’s since they’d remodeled a few months back, but he’d heard that the place was a huge success. He’s also heard that Travis and Holly were now engaged.
“What are we doing here?” He reached out and took her hand in his to stop her.
She looked up at him and smiled. “You’ll see.”
As he looked down at her face, he realized how much she’d changed. She’d lost all the weight she’d gained when she was pregnant. Actually, it looked like she’d gone even farther down in size and he frowned a little at seeing just how skinny she really was.
She’d cut her hair a little shorter than the last time he’d seen her, and she’d colored it a little darker. He liked the style and the color more than her former bleach blonde locks. The style made her look more mature, more feminine.
“Savvy,” he whispered, “I’d rather take you back…” He pulled her close and right there in the middle of downtown Fairplay, kissed her for the whole town to see. He pulled away and chuckled when Maggie’s little hands reached up between them.
Smiling, he looked down at Savannah and noticed that her blue eyes were cloudy and unfocused, which made him smile even more.
“Come on, let’s get the surprise over with so I can take my two ladies back home.” She blinked a few times and then turned and started walking towards Holly’s.
When he stepped in the front door of the newly remodeled place, he was surprised to see how well the place had turned out. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought he’d just stepped into a coffeehouse in downtown New York.
There were a few customers sitting around the front tables drinking coffee and enjoying baked goods.
“Here,” she said and tugged him towards the far corner, near the fireplace. He noticed a group of people including Travis and Holly and a few other people he knew. When they approached, Travis stood and shook his hand.
“Good to have you back.” He patted him on the arm and then Corey shook his hand, followed by a few of his other close friends. Maggie was taken from his arms and a beer was shoved in his hands.
When he finally sat down next to Savannah, he set his beer down untouched and reached for his daughter again.
“Thanks.” He smiled over at her.
She tilted her head and looked at him in question. “For what?”
He chuckled. “For this. It’s good to see everyone again.” He nodded to the group of people who were easily the loudest group in the place.
She frowned a little. “Don’t thank me. I mentioned that you were coming home the other day when we were here for play time and the next thing I know, Holly had put it all together,” she whispered as she leaned closer to him. He got a quick whiff of her scent and instantly the desire for her was back full force.
“Do you think they’d mind if we left now?” He smiled and brushed a strand of her hair away from her face. He hadn’t expected to see her frown and bite her bottom lip.
“Billy,” she started to say, but was interrupted by Travis.
“So, tell us all about your job.” Travis leaned closer to them. “We heard you had a bunch of protesters up there at one point.”
Billy sighed and leaned away from Savannah. “Yeah, it’s funny, the news said they were peaceful, but shooting a few dozen holes in our generators and destroying a few thousand dollars of equipment doesn’t seem peaceful to me.”
Everyone listened as he talked about the last six months. Then he turned the tables and smiled at Travis.
“Heard you popped the big question.” He nodded towards Holly.
Travis laughed. “Yeah, we figure we’ll get married this fall when her mother we’ll be in town.”
Billy shook his head. “Dropping like flies around here.”
Travis laughed. “Everyone except Corey there.” He nodded to their friend who was busy flirting with April behind the bar.
“Corey?” Billy smiled at his friend. “Corey is a habitual flirt. It’ll take a miracle to get him to settle down. He smiled bigger when his friend started walking back to the table. “Besides,” he said a little louder, “who would want someone so ugly.”
Corey laughed. “You shouldn’t talk about yourself like that. Besides, everyone knows you’ve already gotten yourself a woman.” Then he laughed. “Well, two of them now.” He nodded to the sleeping baby that Holly was holding.
His smile wavered a little as he looked over at Savannah, who was lo
oking like she’d rather be anywhere but sitting in this room full of old friends.
Chapter Seven
Savannah tried not to let her nerves show. Everyone was too busy chatting and joking with each other to pay her any real attention.
In the last six months, she’d done a lot of thinking and soul searching. She’d enjoyed the time she spent with Tracy and Carmen, even though she still didn’t consider them close friends. She thought that their friendships were not only helping her, but them as well.
But at this point in her life, all she knew for a fact was that no one was going to come between her and Maggie.
As she watched Billy with his friends, she wondered how she’d gotten into this whole mess in the first place. Sure, Billy was a good friend. Actually, he was one of the only guys in town she had always deemed just a friend.
He’d been there during her long on-again, off-again relationship with Travis. She glanced over at Travis now and saw him reach under the table and take Holly’s hand in his own. She had to admit, the pair looked good together, like they were really in love. It was strange. She would have never pegged Holly as Travis’ type. But she’d gotten to know and understand Holly over the last few months and could see why the two of them were good for one another.
She supposed Billy wasn’t really her type ether, yet they had ended up sleeping together. She glanced next to her and tried to hide the fact that she was studying him. But it wasn’t as if they were together, together. She had to admit, he had always been very sexy.
He had a nice side profile. His nose was straight and he had a strong looking chin. But what really set him aside were his dark eyes and jet-black hair. She knew it was rich and thick under her fingers, and she had loved running her hands through it.
Shaking her head, she blinked and tried to focus on the conversations around her. Maggie had fallen asleep in Holly’s arms and she desperately wished for the shield of her daughter in her lap.
Then Billy reached over and took her hand and she forgot about everything else. His hands were warm and strong. There were a few rough spots along his palm, but she didn’t mind.