Unplanned Love (Savage Love)

by Woody, Jodi

  When they all got to the airport in Texas, they had some time together before the first flight out. Deciding to go and grab a bite together they found a place that was closest to the gate that Sally would need, as she was the first flight out. Seanna and Alyssa wanted to pop into the gift store. Alyssa had asked her to help pick out a card for Daffyd and Samantha as a thank you for the holiday.

  The card was quickly forgotten as Alyssa spotted a tabloid paper right outside the store. On the front page was a picture of Daffyd and Samantha, under the gazebo on the island, saying their vows. The headlines splattered across the top were ‘Savage Gets Hitched’. She grabbed Seanna by the arm and pulled her to the paper. Seanna bought one and they quickly joined the others.

  Before she sat down at the table, she laid the paper out in front of her mom and Daffyd. It hadn’t taken her long to figure out that the pictures had been taken by Carrie. She sat down and held her head in her hands, trying not to cry. “I’m so sorry Daffyd. This is all my fault.”

  “It was in the gift store,” said Alyssa.

  “What is it?” asked Bryce. Daffyd raised the paper so they could all see the front page.

  “It was Carrie. That was the whole plan all along…somehow they found out who you were,” cried Seanna.

  “But you got the film and the sim card,” said Bryce.

  “Do you know if either of them had a laptop with them?” asked Leal.

  “Oh, I am so stupid! Yes, I saw a laptop on the desk in their room before the wedding,” said Seanna.

  “No wonder she didn’t mind turning over the film and the sim card. They had already downloaded the pictures,” said Daffyd. “They didn’t lose any time getting them published.”

  “Which probably means they had already had a buyer lined up,” Leal observed.

  “Daffyd, I’m so sorry…” sobbed Seanna. Her mother put her arms around her and looked at her husband questioningly.

  “Seanna, it was bound to happen sooner or later. I have been living with this type of thing for years. I’m just sorry that you had to suffer because of this young man’s choice to make an easy buck off of someone else’s private life,” said Daffyd.

  “No more hiding then?” asked Bryce.

  “Well, obviously they know I’m married. But I don’t think I want to reveal anything else yet. Eventually I wanted to go public with my new life, but I just don’t think I’m ready to be any kind of a spokes person for Christianity. It’s still pretty new. When we get home, I’ll see what we can do for damage control. Hopefully they don’t know where we live.”

  “I never mentioned who you were, how could they have known?” asked Seanna.

  “You’d be surprised how they can get their information. I’m sure they had some before he ever approached you in the café,” said Leal.

  “I’m going to look into it as soon as we get back. I want to know who that guy is,” said Daffyd.

  “We need to make sure that Seanna is safe,” demanded Bryce. “Man, now I wish I would have punched him back.”

  “Why don’t we all get some food in our stomachs and you can deal with all of this later. There isn’t anything you can do about it sitting here in the airport,” suggested Sally.

  “I’m not sure there is anything we can do about it any way, you know, spilt milk and all of that. But I do want to make sure that this guy stays out of our lives from here on out,” said Daffyd. “Seanna, don’t worry. It wasn’t your fault. Sally’s right, let’s all eat and spend our last few minutes together enjoying each other’s company.”

  “I don’t think I can eat…” said Seanna sadly.

  “Wow…” said Bryce with his eyebrows in his hairline.

  “What?” asked Alyssa.

  “If Sea, isn’t eating, this must be a bigger deal than we think!” he teased, not being able to handle seeing her so hurt. Seanna’s head shot up and saw he was teasing. She grabbed her straw and shot it across the table at him.

  “Ok…maybe I can eat a little,” she said opening her menu.

  “There’s my little sister,” said Bryce as Seanna peeked over her menu at him.

  Chapter 12

  Give Me a Break

  As soon as Daffyd got back to Montana, he contacted a private detective to fish out all the information he could on Kevin and Carrie. Then after much soul searching, he also got in touch with his old manager, Barry, and his most recent band members. He explained all that had happened with the cancer, his abduction and his marriage. For the most part, they were all understanding, and forgiving, even if they didn’t understand his conversion. Then he sat down with Samantha and Pastor Bill to formulate a plan for his future.

  At Berkley, Bryce was having a hard time getting back into his school work after their vacation in Belize. He was constantly worried about Seanna and wondering how she was faring. Though he still called her, her frequent business kept their conversations short and he could tell things were different. After the first month, he made it a point of just calling once a week. Seanna had only called him twice and both times said she was on her way to class and was just checking up on her big brother. Every conversation just drove him deeper into despair about how much things had changed between them. Lord, I’d be content to just have my little sister back, he prayed over and over, knowing full well that was not what he wanted at all. He wanted Seanna to love him the way he loved her.

  Seanna on the other hand went back to school with a vengeance. After the first couple of days she stopped looking over her shoulder. Neither Kevin, nor Carrie was seen around the campus or at the café where she worked. Picking up extra hours there, and throwing herself headlong into her classes, Seanna didn’t give herself time to even think about Bryce. Occasionally she would get so lonely for him, that she would call. But as soon as she heard his voice, her heart felt like it was breaking and she’d make some excuse to hang up. Not wanting to give up all relations with him, she pushed the whole little sister angle. Whenever she thought of summer break, she was torn between anticipation of seeing him, and dread of the exact same thing.

  Alyssa, oblivious to all the issues between her new friends, called them both frequently. She was looking forward to spending the summer with them all in Montana. Her last call to Seanna, she had shared some of the plans that her and Bryce had made for the few weeks they would be spending together in Arizona with Bryson and Lucille. Seanna tried her best to stuff the feelings of jealousy and to be a friend to Alyssa. She did love her, and knew that she was a great person. She’ll make a good wife to Bryce some day, she repeatedly told herself, trying to prepare herself for the summer of having them both in the same house.

  Seanna had almost forgotten about Kevin and the fact that Daffyd’s face had been all over the tabloids for the past month, when she got a call from Daffyd. “Hey, Daffyd. How’s mom?”

  “She’s wonderful. We both are and we’re looking forward to having our kids home for the summer,” he said. “I know usually your mom is the one who calls, but I heard back from the detective and thought you should hear what he found out.”

  “…ok…I guess…” she answered with a sigh.

  “If you’d rather not, Seanna…” said Daffyd.

  “No, I need to, it’s just that I kind of forgot about him, and I hate to think about it all again. I know that sounds terrible after all he did to you, and I know you can’t forget about it with all the hype and publicity,” she explained.

  “It’s all going to turn out for the best, Seanna. Though I wasn’t too thrilled about it all, it made me think about how I have handled my whole privacy thing. I called Barry and the guys and came clean with them about the cancer and about my accepting Jesus into my heart. Now your Mom and I are working things out so that I can use my talent and my voice for His glory instead of my own.”

  “Daffyd, that’s great! Now I can handle hearing what you found out about that jerk.”

  “First of all, he isn’t a student, and neither is she. He’s a car salesman and she is a da
ncer at a club. Apparently, they overheard you on the phone with Bryce one day last spring and heard you talking about me. They found out who you were and kept tabs on you until you left for summer break. When school started they found out were you worked and started dropping by occasionally. By that time they had the whole plan hatched. Kevin was supposed to get close to you so that he could find out where I was. Carrie really did take photography classes at some point and does a little free lancing here and there. They must have thought they had hit the jackpot when you invited him to come to the wedding.”

  “I should have known better. I’m not exactly a guy magnet. Is there anything you can do, press charges or anything?” she asked.

  “Nope, we invited him. They were clear that she was going to be taking pictures and even though we asked for the film and the sim card, we never specified that they couldn’t keep or download any copies. But he is in jail.”

  “What?” she said puzzled.

  “My guy also found out that he had been embezzling money from the car lot where he worked. All it took was a little sit-down with the owner, and because we had the proof he needed, he called the authorities. That’s how he got Kevin to confess about the way he stalked you, he pretended to be there to help him get out of his other charges. So I guess he’s pretty much out of the picture, and unless you are going to start club hopping at topless dancer joints, you shouldn’t run in to his cousin,” he ended with a laugh.

  “Well, he got what he deserved in the end, and things are better for you, so now I’m going to try and put this behind me,” said Seanna with a confidence that she didn’t feel.

  “There’s my girl! Your mom has been worried about you. You don’t call as much as you usually do, and Bryce says he doesn’t hear from you as often any more either,” Daffyd said with concern.

  “I took extra hours at the café and I’m just trying to get my last quarter grades up,” she justified.

  “Seanna, if you need money, you don’t have to take on extra hours at work. You know that I have more than I could ever spend and you’re family to me.”

  “I know, it’s not that. One of the other waitresses just had a baby and I’m covering some of her hours until she can come back to work,” she explained. That isn’t a total lie; I am covering her hours, all of them.

  “So you’re ok then?” he asked relieved.

  “Super, getting all ‘A’s and tucking the extra cash away in my savings account,” she said with pride.

  “You’ll have to give Bryce a call then and get him going. He said he got bad grades on his last two papers,” said Daffyd.

  “Will do. That’s odd, he usually gets better grades than me,” she mused.

  “I think he just needs a break,” suggested Daffyd.

  “Me too,” sighed Seanna.

  “Summer will be here before you know it. You’ll be here a couple of weeks before Bryce, so it’ll give us some time just us. Well, just you and me, your mom and Trisha and Leal,” he chuckled.

  “Do you ever get tired of having so many people around?” she teased.

  “Not when they all are so special to me,” he answered.

  “Seriously though, you and mom should take a trip just the two of you this summer, while we’re all there to help out,” suggested Seanna.

  “You know…that’s not a bad idea. Maybe I’ll surprise your mom and take her somewhere special. Keep that our little secret, ok?” he asked.

  “Sure. You know she always wanted to go to Ireland, just saying.”

  “Hmmm, and I have wanted to go to Wales, I think I’m gonna do some internet surfing. Well, Seanna, we both love you and remember if you need anything, just use that credit card. Don’t work yourself too hard.”

  “Ok, I’ll try not to. I love you. Give mom a kiss and a hug and tell her I’ll call her this weekend for sure,” she promised.

  Chapter 13

  There’s No Place Like Home

  Seanna was relieved to finally be at Mountain Home, especially since Bryce and Alyssa hadn’t arrived yet. After all of her hard work the last quarter of school, she was exhausted. She did have a 4.0 grade point average to show for it as well as a couple of hundred dollars in the bank. Now, the only thing she was going to work on was a tan and maybe a good book. Between her mom and Daffyd, there were two libraries to choose from! She had decided to just let things play themselves out once Bryce and Alyssa arrived and not to stress about how she might feel, or how things might go.

  Her first morning home, she awoke to the smell of Trisha’s homemade muffins. Throwing on some short and a tank top, she hurried downstairs to get some while they were still warm. It’s good to be home, she thought as she saw her loved ones gathered at the table. She hadn’t realized how much she missed being here with them all, and now she couldn’t help thinking that it just wasn’t complete without Bryce.

  “Good morning. We let you sleep, seeing how tired you were when you got off of the plane,” said Samantha.

  “Good morning. I slept like a baby. My bed here is the most comfortable bed I ever had. But when I smelled those muffins, I just couldn’t lay there any longer,” she replied while she grabbed a plate and sat down.

  “You better have two,” said Trisha. “You look like you’ve lost weight since spring break.”

  “Maybe a couple of pounds, I haven’t been pigging out as much as usual,” explained Seanna.

  “Having a healthy appetite is not pigging out,” said Daffyd.

  “You’re not on some fad diet are you?” asked Samantha with a mother’s concern.

  “No,” laughed Seanna, “I’m good. Look two muffins and about a pound of real butter.”

  “You just look so tired and skinny,” Samantha replied.

  “Well, I’m not waiting tables or doing school work for the whole summer, so I will get lots of rest. Now that I am here with Trisha’s good cooking, and I am not eating café food or school cafeteria food, I’m sure I’ll gain a few pounds. So stop worrying, Mom.”

  “Ok, I’ll stop worrying,” Samantha said with a pat on Seanna’s hand.

  “Ha!” snorted Daffyd.

  “I am getting better,” said Samantha looking at her husband for confirmation.

  “You are,” he smiled. “We are all still working on something, aren’t we?”

  “Not me,” teased Leal, “I’m pretty much perfect.”

  That made Seanna choke on her muffin, and her Mom smacked her on the back as they all laughed. “Wow, way to be humble, Honey,” said Trisha.

  “It’s good to be home,” said Seanna shaking her head.

  Bryce and Alyssa were enjoying their time together in Arizona. Though they spent a lot of time with Bryce’s grandparents, they still had time for Alyssa to show him the area. His grandparents had only been there for a few years since they had retired, and usually Bryce just hung out with them. So they spent one day rock hunting in the hills and Bryce was thrilled at all of the specimens he found. He wanted to take them all to Montana to show the rest of the family. Alyssa convinced him to leave half of them behind knowing how much it would cost to ship them, or to take them on the plane. Most evenings they stayed up later than the older couple and talked until the wee hours of the night. That’s what they were doing the night before they were catching the plane.

  Alyssa was sitting in a wicker chair on the front porch, and Bryce was leaning against the railing facing her. She had been sharing her whole story of what had happened between her and Jeffry, having only shared small bits and pieces before.

  “So, do you still love him?” asked Bryce.

  “Sometimes I think I still do,” she sighed. “But I’m trying to move past it all.”

  “And how does one do that, exactly?” he asked, thinking of his one-sided feelings for Seanna.

  “I wish I knew,” she laughed. “It would be great if there was just some formula or plan to heal a broken heart, but unfortunately there isn’t. I know that God says that he ‘binds up the broken hearted’, but I gue
ss it must be a process. It doesn’t hurt as much as it used too. In fact it doesn’t hurt much at all, since I got saved. But when I think of what could have been…or what a great guy he is…I guess I still get sad and sentimental. So…yeah, maybe I do still love him.”

  “I always thought that love was supposed to be something that just came naturally, or at least was supposed to bring happiness and contentment.”

  “I guess that’s the way it’s supposed to be, but most of the time we screw it up,” answered Alyssa.

  “Sometimes we love someone who doesn’t love us back,” Bryce replied sadly, turning to look out at the night sky.

  “Are you speaking from experience?” asked Alyssa quietly.

  “Yeah, I am,” said Bryce. Alyssa stood and walked over to stand beside Bryce.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” she inquired.

  “Not especially. It’s still pretty painful.”

  “My heart is mending, yours will too,” she said lying her hand on his back.

  “I seem to get caught up in this pity party and can’t get out of it. My grades were awful for the last quarter. I couldn’t seem to concentrate and I would find myself daydreaming about what I could have done, or what I should have done different,” he shared.

  “Have you talked to anyone about it, it does help to share. What about Seanna, you two are pretty close,” she suggested.

  “She has a lot on her plate right now. We haven’t talked as much since the wedding. She seems a little distant. It would be nice to have someone just call me back to the real world when I start getting depressed,” he said.

  “Well, I can do that. If you spend so much time in your emotions and feelings, it’s like we are building a concrete barrier around our heart. I guess it’s a defense mechanism. If you ever feel like sharing, I’m a pretty good listener. In the mean time, when it looks like your getting too introspective, I’ll just say, ‘how’s your heart’. That will be your reminder to allow yourself to be open to the future and stop dwelling on the past,” she said.