Unplanned Love (Savage Love)

by Woody, Jodi

  “It’s a date,” she laughed.

  Chapter 3

  Paradise

  When Bryce got to the Island he was greeted by white sandy beaches and beautiful crystal clear water. His Uncle Daffyd and Seanna’s mom, Samantha met him at the boat dock. Bryce couldn’t help thinking how much Daffyd had changed since this time last year. A year ago, Daffyd had looked like a concentration camp survivor. The cancer and subsequent treatment had left him hairless, emancipated and frail. Now he was the picture of health! His hair had come in darker after he lost his long blonde locks to chemo treatments, and now it had grown out to his shoulders. Thank you Lord, for healing him, Bryce thought.

  Samantha was an older image of Seanna. Both women were on the shorter side. Though not exactly petite, no anorexic thinness there, they portrayed healthiness. Samantha had shoulder length wavy brown hair and green eyes. She had lighter skin than her daughter and a smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks. Seanna was a tad taller than her mother and her hair darker and much curlier. Both were attractive women and Bryce thought Daffyd was a blessed man.

  After the enthusiastic greeting they ended up joining the others for lunch in the open dining area. Trisha stood on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek. Her husband Leal gave Bryce a bear hug that literally took his breath away. Leal’s Grandma Sally stayed in her chair motioning for Bryce to come and give her a hug. Sally was a tall African American woman who always managed to look regal and composed. The family had adopted her after spending a couple of weeks with her in Oregon while Daffyd was out of the country. Though she had reached her seventieth birthday, she was still healthy and got around like a much younger woman. Once they were all seated and their food ordered he realized that Seanna wasn’t the only one missing.

  “Where are Grandma and Grandpa?” he asked.

  “They had something come up unexpectedly. They should be here later this afternoon,” Daffyd answered.

  “It’s too bad Sea couldn’t come until Wednesday,” Bryce said as he took a big bite of his seafood wrap. “So what do you think of her boyfriend, Samantha?”

  “I guess I’ll know soon enough,” she answered.

  “You haven’t met him yet,” Bryce’s brows drew together as he chewed.

  “No, the last time I went to visit he was out of town,” Samantha replied.

  “Don’t worry, Seanna’s a smart girl. She wouldn’t date someone who didn’t treat her right,” offered Daffyd.

  “I am sure people thought that about me once too,” said Samantha.

  “You were much younger than Seanna, babe, and you raised her completely different than your parents raised you,” said Daffyd patting his future bride on the knee.

  “So…are you too tired to go snorkeling, Bryce?” Leal jumped in impatiently. “What?” he said looking sheepishly at his wife. Leal was a tall muscular man with skin the color of creamed coffee and short curly chocolate colored hair. His wife was just the opposite, small petite woman of Asian descent with jet black straight as a board, chin-length hair. They had worked for Daffyd for years and were two of Bryce’s favorite people.

  “I told you not to ambush him as soon as he got off the boat,” she answered sternly. Everyone laughed at the guilty look on Leal’s face.

  “I can’t help it, you made me promise to wait until Bryce got here before we went and it’s been almost twenty four hours!”

  “I’ve been looking forward to it! Let me get my swim trunks on,” Bryce said with a grin.

  “How about you two…going?” Trisha asked Daffyd and Samantha.

  “Can you guys take it easy on me?” asked Samantha.

  “It’s just floating around with your goggles on, you can keep up,” laughed Trisha. Samantha looked at Sally with her eyebrows raised.

  “Not gonna happen…” she deadpanned. “You all go on and I’ll take a little nap in that hammock in front of my cabana.”

  Forty-five minutes later, they all had on snorkel gear. Samantha had issues with her flippers at first, but was getting the hang of it finally. The water was so clear that they could see all the way to the bottom. They swam in a shallow lagoon and stayed close to one another, pointing out any interesting thing they found to one another. Bryce was amazed at all of the bright fish. There were dark blue fish the color of the midnight sky and bright fish with yellow fins and tails. Plants and sea creatures mimicked the colors of the beach cabanas. Some of the leaves were as big as his head and delicate as lace. I will have to take Seanna when she gets here. She’ll love the starfish.

  Time went too fast while they explored their underwater paradise. All too soon Daffyd was standing in shallower water and removing his gear. “Mom and Dad will be here soon. We better get back.”

  “Wow…that was so…cool. Thanks for talking me into it, Trisha,” gushed Samantha. “Seanna will go crazy over all the fish.”

  “That’s what I was just thinking,” laughed Bryce.

  “Where did all the time go?” said Leal shaking the water out of his curly hair.

  “I’m starved! Let’s go get Bryson and Lucille settled and get some food,” said Trisha.

  “Are you missing your kitchen yet?” joked Daffyd.

  “Um…no!” she laughed.

  Now that Bryce wasn’t being rushed to get into the water, he took the time to check out his cabana. His happened to be bright orange with a veranda across the front. There were two dark blue wooden deck chairs and a hammock handing on one end. Every cabana was facing east so that the sunset could be enjoyed every morning. Bryce had the whole place to himself. There was a king size bed, a nice bathroom and a couch and a table. Before he jumped in the shower to wash off the saltwater, he grabbed his phone and sent a quick text to Seanna. “You’re gonna love the snorkeling! Hurry up and get here!”

  When Bryce, Daffyd and Samantha went to meet the boat bringing the next two wedding guests, they were surprised to see three people step up to the dock. Bryce was a little confused knowing that his Uncle had booked the whole Island so that they would have the whole place to themselves. While staff grabbed bags and set them up on the wooden boards, Lucille reached and grabbed the arm of the third person and pulled her along. The stranger was thin and shorter than his grandmother. Blonde hair cut so that it landed right at her chin and big sunglasses covering her eyes. She pulled loose from Lucille’s grasp so that they could all exchange hugs, while she stood a few paces behind them all.

  “Come over here Ally. I want you to meet our family. This is my son, Daffyd and his beautiful bride, Samantha. This handsome young man is my only grandchild, Bryce. Everyone this is Alyssa,” introduced Lucille. Lucille Sayvage was a woman who looked like a grandma. She was plump and had white hair and a ready smile. A little shorter than her husband she was still taller than Seanna and Samantha. Bryson too had a full head of white hair. He looked like an older healthier Daffyd.

  Bryce took Alyssa’s hand and said, “Nice to meet you.”

  “Thanks for having me,” she said to them all in general.

  “Well, let’s show you all to your cabanas. Mom and Dad you two will be close to the dining facility in the royal blue cabana. Alyssa you’ll be sharing with Seanna, Samantha’s daughter. She won’t be coming until Wednesday. You two will be in the hot pink one,” he said with a chuckle.

  “She won’t mind sharing?” asked the girl.

  “No, she’s pretty used to having a roommate. It’s her second year of college,” said Bryce. “That’s why she couldn’t come right away, classes to finish.”

  When they all met in the enclosed dining area for dinner more introductions were made. Everyone welcomed their new guest and tried to make her feel comfortable. She sat between Lucille and Grandma Sally, right across from Bryce. When she finally looked up from her menu to order Bryce was amazed at how blue her eyes were, after spending all day in water the same color. She was a very pretty, in a lost little girl way. Those blue eyes were wide and round, her bottom lip a little fuller than her to
p and she had lashes long enough to sweep her cheeks when she blinked. Most of the meal was spent with the family joking in their usual way and she listened with a small smile on her face. Bryce figured out before desert came that this had to be one of his Grandma’s ‘broken souls’.

  The next day Bryce woke up early to catch the sunset from his veranda. His family had agreed to meet under the gazebo on the end of the two hundred foot pier for a Sunday morning service at nine. Neither one of the pastors would be getting in until Friday morning so Bryson and Lucille wanted to lead an informal praise service. Pastor Shane from the girl’s Church in Wisconsin and Pastor Bill from Montana were bringing their wives and would both be performing the wedding ceremony. Kate and her husband Jack would also be arriving on Friday. The six of them would only be staying over the weekend, while the rest of the wedding party had until Saturday the following week.

  Deciding to take a swim since he was up so early, Bryce grabbed a towel and his bible and headed to the beach next to the pier. He was surprised to find Alyssa already sitting half way up the wooden planks, dangling her feet into the water. After she gave a half hearted wave he changed his swimming plans and walked over to where she was. She had on the big sunglasses again and had her short hair pulled into a paintbrush low on her neck. The simple sundress she had on showed the straps to a swimsuit underneath.

  “Hey,” Bryce said as he sat down next to her.

  “Good morning,” she said looking over at him through the dark shades.

  “You’re up early,” Bryce stated the obvious.

  “I don’t sleep real well, especially in a strange place,” she replied. “Why are you up so early?”

  “Two reasons, I wanted to catch the sunset that everyone keeps going on about and I don’t want to waste a minute of my vacation.”

  “But, don’t you live in California?” she asked.

  “I go to school there, but usually I spend my spring break in Montana with Daffyd. It’s a far cry from a tropical island,” he grinned. “Are you in school?”

  “No…not right at the moment,” she answered vaguely.

  Bryce could see her tense up. “I was thinking of taking a swim. Care to join me?”

  She smiled up at him, “Actually that was my intention but kind of chickened out. I didn’t want to go in there by myself.”

  “Well then let’s go!” Bryce stood up and reached down for her hand. She allowed him to help her up.

  “Last one in is a rotten egg!” he yelled as he cannon balled into the water.

  Alyssa got caught up in his excitement pulled off her sundress and glasses and jumped in a few seconds after him. When her head broke the surface she was regretting her rash decision until she noticed that Bryce was standing with his head out of the water a few feet away.

  “Glad I didn’t dive…” she grinned up at him.

  “I think a broken neck would have put a damper on the wedding.” Bryce joked. “Sorry I should have paid closer attention to how shallow the water is.”

  “So since I’m the ‘rotten egg’ then I guess I should get a chance to redeem myself.”

  “What did you have in mind?” he asked.

  “A race to the end of the pier and I get to say ‘go’.”

  “Ok, a race it is…whenever you’re ready.”

  “Ready…set…go!” as she said the last word, Alyssa shot off like a rocket. Bryce did his best to keep up, but he had never seen anyone swim so fast.

  Alyssa got to the end of the pier first and pulled herself up. By the time Bryce got there and hoisted himself up, he was out of breath for more than one reason. As he shook the water out of his hair and eyes he saw her smiling down at him with those blue eyes and a big satisfied smile on her face.

  “So…let me guess. You were on the swim team in high school,” he said shaking his head. “When you said you chickened out, I assumed you didn’t know how to swim well.”

  “I’ve never swam in the ocean before and wasn’t really sure what kind of creatures to expect. But I can swim. I took first in state two years in a row,” she said proudly.

  “And you didn’t get a scholarship to college?” he asked amazed.

  “Actually…I did,” she said quietly looking off towards the horizon.

  “Look, I didn’t mean to pry…” Bryce said raising his eyes as well.

  “I screwed it up,” she said with regret.

  “The scholarship?” he asked softly.

  “Pretty much my whole life,” she said quietly.

  “But you’re trying to fix that, right?”

  “How did you know?” she said looking at him out of the corner of her eye. “Did your grandma already tell you?”

  “Nope, but she loves helping people and is always trying to fix the ones she says are ‘broken’,” he answered keeping his eyes on the horizon.

  “I guess that’s what I am…broken.”

  “Well, unless your name is Humpty Dumpty, it’s not a permanent circumstance,” he said looking right at her with a smile.

  “You don’t even know what I did,” she said with her eyebrows pulling in.

  “Doesn’t matter. Trust me. I’ve seen my share of ‘broken’ and in every case if the person doesn’t want to stay that way…well…they can be fixed,” he continued to look at her.

  Alyssa took her eyes off the view and looked Bryce square in the face. “Thanks,” she shyly replied.

  “Now I better go and get my Bible because here comes our ‘Church’.” Bryce said as he jumped to his feet.

  Afterwards Samantha and Daffyd were still lounging under the shade of the gazebo. The little service had been short and sweet but definitely filled with the presence of God. Both of them were content to just sit together comfortably and talk about their upcoming wedding ceremony. Both of them were looking forward to Seanna’s arrival on the Island.

  “It will be nice to finally meet her boyfriend,” Samantha said.

  “Do you think she’s pretty serious about him?” asked Daffyd.

  “I’m not sure. She’s never really had a boyfriend before, so this is all new territory for me,” she replied. “I had kind of hoped that she and Bryce would become an item.”

  “That would have complicated things way more than they already were,” Daffyd said shaking his head.

  “True,” chuckled Samantha. “What do you think of Alyssa?”

  “I think, like most of the people that my Mother decides to help, that she is hurting. But hanging out with our kids will certainly help.”

  “We do have a couple of good kids, don’t we,” she smiled, squeezing his hand.

  “I can’t take any credit for Bryce. He could probably take credit for raising me right the last few years…” said Daffyd smiling back at the love of his life.

  “Remind me to thank him later,” she said as she leaned in and kissed him.

  Chapter 4

  The Frog Prince

  Seanna was shoving the rest of her clothes into her suitcase when there was a knock on her dorm room door. She quickly zipped up the bulging bag.

  “Kevin, what are you doing here,” she asked, her brows pulling in.

  “I skipped my last class to see if you needed any help packing,” he answered with a lopsided smile.

  “Well, I’m all packed, and you know how I feel about you being here in my room,” she answered a little irritated.

  “Good, then let’s go and grab something to eat. I skipped lunch to pack and now I’m starved.”

  “Ok…I’ll meet you downstairs. I don’t want to go out in my pajama pants and a sweatshirt.”

  “You look beautiful, as always,” he answered. And he always looks hot! I can’t let him hang out here in my room, or I might not be able to control myself.

  “Thanks, now shoo!” she laughed as she pushed him out the door.

  She changed into some jeans and a sweater, pulled her hair out of the scrunchy on top of her head, and shook out her shoulder length hair. I guess sometimes having curly hair
wasn’t such a pain, she thought. She quickly brushed some mascara on her long lashes and hit her cheeks with a little blush. That is as good as it’s gonna get, she told her reflection in the mirror.

  Kevin was on his cell when she hopped into the car, but he quickly hung up as she buckled in. He leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek.

  “Where to?” he asked.

  “Um…Chinese?” she suggested.

  “Isn’t that what we had last time?”

  “Ok…burgers?” she tried again.

  “Please Sea, no fast food.”

  “Ok… why don’t you pick…and we talked about that.”

  “What about me calling you ‘Sea’?” he asked innocently.

  “That’s what my brother calls me…”she explained again.

  “He’s not your brother, Seanna.”

  “Whatever, Kevin. Look, you were the one who was hungry. Pick a place to eat. I don’t want to fight.”

  “Who’s fighting? Let’s go to Fast Eddie’s,” he said pulling into traffic.

  “You know I don’t like going there. It’s so loud and there are too many drunk college kids,” she stated.

  “All part of the college experience, and now who wants to fight?” he asked.

  “Fast Eddie’s it is then,” said Seanna trying to sound cheery.

  She had to admit, Fast Eddie’s did make the best pizza in town. Three slices later she had to sit back and call it quits. The crowd wasn’t as bad as she had expected it to be. Granted they were a little early for the party crowd. A few booths away four girls were laughing and squealing trying to gather as much attention as they could. Seanna couldn’t help but think about Bryce’s description of his perfect girl. They sure wouldn’t cut it.

  “So, are you full?” he asked.

  “I couldn’t eat another bite. Thanks, Kevin.”

  “You want to take the leftovers?” he asked with eyebrows raised.

  “No, I’m good,” she replied patting her stomach.