Huntington Family Series

by Rachel Ann Nunes

  “I’ll say.” Savvy chuckled softly. “She made a plan and traveled to find me. I don’t know if I would have had that much courage at her age.”

  Tyler’s smile vanished. “Is it courage or fear? We have to find out what’s going on.”

  “I know.” Savvy felt warm at his concern. He really seemed to care.

  Lexi’s door opened and she came out into the hall. With a smile at her, Tyler pushed off from the wall. “Well, I’d better get the rest of your things. Then I’ll check the animals, grab some stuff from my room, and head back to Kerrianne’s.”

  Lexi’s eyes lit up. “Can I see the animals?”

  “Sure, come on.”

  Savvy watched the two of them go, her eyes falling on Lexi’s calf where the long, ugly scar marred the otherwise smooth flesh. “Lexi,” she called.

  Lexi’s head turned back toward her. “Yes?”

  “How did you get that scar?” Savvy was almost afraid to ask but felt compelled.

  With her head still turned, Lexi looked down at her leg. Bending, she ran a finger over the puckered flesh. She met Savvy’s eyes. “My father made me . . .” She stopped, her shoulder twitching several times in rapid succession. “It was my fault.”

  “What do you mean?” Tyler asked. Savvy was glad he did. Her voice had suddenly deserted her.

  “Nothing. I just got hurt.” With that, Lexi turned and clumped past Tyler down the stairs.

  Tyler made a noise in his throat. Savvy knew that he wanted to run after Lexi and force her to tell him what happened. She herself wanted to do the same thing.

  And yet they couldn’t.

  Tyler met her eyes. “It’s way harder than I thought, this teenager thing. Man, I think you’re right. I made a big mistake with that article.”

  She gave him a sympathetic grin. He smiled back, causing her chest to tighten. I’m in trouble, she thought when he was gone. Her heart felt heavy. Her birth father was turning out to be worse than she’d ever expected, Lexi still wouldn’t confide in her, and Tyler was only a friend. At the moment all she wanted was her real father, the man who had raised her, to enfold her in his arms and tell her everything would be all right.

  Somehow things would have to work out with Lexi and Derek. But what could she do about Tyler? She could continue to bury herself in university life, teaching and earning her master’s. She could let herself become serious with Chris. But what if Tyler moved to California?

  Why, oh, why did that thought make her want to shout for joy?

  Think of Chris, she told herself. Solid, dependable, handsome Chris. He was the one she should be thinking about. If she gave him more encouragement, she knew their relationship would progress quickly.

  Shaking her head, Savvy went to make up her bed.

  * * *

  After finishing with the luggage, Tyler took Lexi to the especially ventilated room on the main floor where most of Mitch’s animals had their permanent residence. He was glad Lexi was so enthusiastic because Savvy certainly wasn’t fond of them–particularly of Lizzy Lizard. The first time she’d met his brother, Mitch, he’d had Lizzy in his pocket and somehow the creature had ended up tangled in Savvy’s long hair. Tyler had been on his mission then, but the event was part of family legend now, and with each telling the story grew. In some versions, the lizard bit Savvy, in others Savvy’s hair was chomped off. In another telling, Lizzy had made a mess that required special shampoo in order to remove the smell. This was Tyler’s favorite version. Savvy had once told him that his preference showed his internal age, which she figured to be about seven.

  Tyler showed Lexi how to feed the lizard, the frogs, and the fish. Then he let her hold a gerbil. “Saturday is cage-cleaning day,” he said. “But I missed it, so it’ll have to be done tomorrow.”

  “Eeeeww.” Lexi wrinkled her nose. “I don’t want to do that.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll be back in the morning. But I’d love some help.”

  “Only if I don’t have to touch their poop.”

  Tyler grinned. “You won’t, I promise.” He gave her the scout salute.

  “Do you watch Star Trek?” she asked, puzzled.

  “Yeah, all the time. Why?”

  “I knew it. That hand thing you were doing is from Star Trek, right?”

  Tyler groaned. “Uh, no. It’s from Boy Scouts. Wasn’t your brother a scout?”

  “I don’t know.” Lexi shrugged. Her face had suddenly closed down again, as though she were trying to shut out memories and emotions.

  “You miss your brother, don’t you?” Tyler silently prided himself on the observation. Maybe he could get some information from her that would help them locate her family.

  She nodded slowly. “I do miss him. He’s the best brother in the world.” Her chin lifted. “And you know what? He would never marry a twit like that girl who was here. Are you really going to marry her?”

  Tyler blinked. Okay, so much for getting information from her. “Well, actually, no.”

  “You’re not?”

  “No. But she’s not a twit. She’s a very nice person. A good person.”

  Lexi rolled her eyes. “Then why aren’t you marrying her?”

  “Things change, that’s all.”

  “I wish things would never change.” Her expression now appeared old to Tyler–as if she were thirty instead of thirteen.

  He put a hand on her shoulder. “I know it’s sometimes hard, Lexi, when things change, but if they didn’t, we might get a little bored, don’t you think?”

  It was the wrong thing to say. She jerked away from him. “No! I’d never be bored. Never! I don’t care what you say. You don’t know anything!” She shoved the gerbil at him and ran from the room.

  Tyler blinked in amazement, his jaw dropping. For a long moment he stared at the empty doorway. Yep, this parenting thing was much harder than it looked. Lucky for him–and probably for her–he wasn’t Lexi’s parent.

  * * *

  Savvy searched out Tyler in the animal room. “What happened?” She thumbed toward the ceiling. “Lexi ran past me in a huff. She was crying.”

  He shook his head, looking bewildered. “I’m not sure. She said something about how she wished things could always stay the same, and I told her it would get boring, and she freaked out.”

  “Oh, Tyler,” Savvy said with a sigh. “You know she lost her mother in that plane accident. That was a pretty terrible change for her.”

  He groaned. “I’d better tell her I’m sorry.”

  They went upstairs, but Lexi was in her room with the door shut and the light out. “Lexi?” Savvy asked.

  No answer.

  Savvy opened the door enough for them to see Lexi in bed with the covers over her head. “Go away,” Lexi muttered. “I want to sleep.”

  “Hey, Lexi, I’m sorry,” Tyler said. “I didn’t mean to make you sad.”

  Lexi didn’t reply.

  Savvy pulled Tyler back and shut the door. “We’d better leave her alone. I’m sure she’ll feel better tomorrow.”

  Tyler nodded, but he looked miserable. “I’m sorry, Savvy.”

  “It’s been a long day for all of us. Just go to Kerrianne’s and rest, okay?”

  “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “What about your girlfriend? Maybe you shouldn’t upset her any more. In a few days, things should be resolved with Lexi, or I might be able to convince her to go to my parents’. We won’t have to stay here long.”

  Tyler took her face between his hands. His fingers felt firm against her skin, and his touch made her heart race. She told herself to pull away, but her traitorous body didn’t obey. His eyes dug into hers. “LaNae and I broke up, Savvy. She’s dating another guy. There’s no reason you shouldn’t stay here for as long as you need.”

  That was the last thing she wanted to hear. No LaNae meant the same old routine with Tyler. It meant spending time with him, falling for him again–only to have him pull away. No way, she thought. I’m not going back there.
“But,” she began, searching for the right words to tell him.

  He shook his head, stopping her words as surely as if he had put a finger on her lips. His hands still cupped her cheeks gently. He was close, too close for Savvy’s comfort. “It’s okay,” he said. Lowering his head, he kissed her lips, ever so briefly, and yet Savvy’s heart thundered in her ears.

  Tyler dropped his hand from her face. “I’ll lock the door on my way out.” He wouldn’t meet her gaze.

  “But,” she began again. The word barely escaped her mouth, yet without enough force to be heard. A sense of urgency filled her. She had to tell him not to come over–that her heart wasn’t strong enough yet. Of course, she couldn’t say it like that, and no other words would come. She kept feeling his lips against hers, as soft as a whisper.

  “Good-bye.” With a wave, Tyler disappeared down the stairs.

  She sat down on the stairs. Never in all their time together had Tyler kissed her lips. When they’d dated those six months, he’d come close, kissing her cheek or her hand but never her lips. Even with all his girlfriends, she knew he wasn’t a man who kissed anyone lightly. What did it mean?

  A single tear rolled down Savvy’s cheek. She wouldn’t let it mean anything. She couldn’t.

  Or could she?

  Wiping away the tear with the back of her hand, Savvy stood and backtracked the few steps to Lexi’s door and opened it quietly. She could hear soft sobs coming from the bed.

  “Lexi?”

  The sobs stopped, but as Savvy’s eyes adjusted to the gloom, she could see that the bed covers were still shaking. What should I do? she wondered. If it were one of her sisters, Camille or Rosalie, the choice would be easy.

  So what’s the difference? she asked herself. She’s my sister all the same.

  “He’s gone,” she said.

  No reply.

  Walking to the bed, Savvy sat down and pulled back the blanket to expose Lexi’s face. Lexi stiffened but didn’t resist as Savvy lay next to her and put an arm over her consolingly.

  “It’s okay,” she whispered. “I’m here. Your sister is here.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  The sound of the doorbell sliced through Savvy’s dream. She blinked open her eyes, feeling disoriented. Where am I? She was lying on the floor, her head on a pillow and a bedspread over her. She was still wearing her skirt from the previous night. Three of the walls around her were painted a light green with a dark green trim, and the farthest wall was papered with a scene from what looked like the Amazon jungle. Furnishings in the room included a small oak dresser, a bookshelf, a miniature table and chairs, and a toy chest.

  Memories of the night before flooded her memory. This was EmJay’s room, now being used by Lexi, and Savvy vaguely remembered moving to the floor when her sister had stopping crying and fallen asleep. Stretching, Savvy looked toward the single bed where Lexi was snoring softly. She looked younger than thirteen, despite the many earrings in her exposed ear. One hand rested on her check; the other had disappeared under her pillow. There were no signs of last night’s tears.

  Yawning, Savvy picked herself up stiffly from the floor and stumbled down the stairs. Someone was knocking on the door now. Could it be Tyler? She knew he wasn’t likely to enter the house with his key if he thought they might be sleeping. Savvy’s lips tingled where he had kissed her the night before, and she had to force down a wave of tenderness. She combed a hand twice through her hair before reminding herself that she didn’t care to impress him.

  “Hi, Savvy.” A grinning Amanda Huntington Simmons stood on the porch, a small boy in her arms and two other children at her side.

  “Amanda!” Savvy launched herself at her friend, hugging her around the bulk of the toddler. “And there’s little Blakey. Oh, he’s grown so much! Come to me, Blakey?” The toddler hid his face in his mother’s shoulder. Savvy grinned. “Well, that’s okay. I have these two to play with.” She hunched down to greet Kevin and Mara.

  “Can we go see the animals?” Kevin asked after greeting her.

  Savvy looked at Amanda. “I don’t know–can they?”

  “Yes,” she said with a nod. “Kevin knows what they can and cannot touch.” With happy shouts the children ran down the hall. Little Blakey struggled from his mother’s arms and went after them.

  Savvy hugged Amanda again. “It’s so good to see you!”

  “I would have come over last night, but I was so sick I couldn’t drag myself out to the car.”

  “I heard about your new baby. Congratulations!”

  Amanda’s green eyes sparkled, reminding Savvy acutely of Tyler. “We’re terribly excited, especially Mara. She wants a sister.”

  “Of course she does.” Savvy reached past Amanda and shut the door. “How did you know I was here?”

  “I talked to Kerrianne and Tyler this morning and decided to drive out.” She laughed and Savvy felt warmth spread through her.

  “I’ve missed you so much,” Savvy said.

  “We’ve missed you.” Amanda made a face. “And not just for us. Tyler’s been different since you left. It’s not that we didn’t like LaNae, but we think you and Tyler–”

  Savvy shook her head. “Don’t go there. Tyler and I are friends. I did meet a guy, though, in California. I’m thinking I’d like to see where that relationship takes me.”

  “Really? What’s he like?” Amanda grabbed her hands and pulled her two steps into the living room so they could sit on the old couch.

  “Nice, smart, tall. Handsome, too. And he loves astronomy.” She didn’t add that with Chris she felt small and protected. She never worried if he thought she was too fat.

  Amanda grinned. “That’s all well and good. But does he make your heart race? Do your knees feel weak? Do you think about him all the time?”

  Savvy swallowed hard. She’d felt the reactions Amanda described, though not in relation to Chris. Forcing a cheery laugh, she said, “Well, I haven’t known him long, but I am always eager to see him. And”–she leaned forward conspiratorially–“he drives a blue convertible.”

  “Cool!” Amanda slung an arm around her shoulder and squeezed. “But don’t forget the heart-racing stuff. That’s important.”

  Before Amanda could question her further, Savvy stood. “You need to meet Lexi. I’m sure you’ve heard about her.”

  Amanda also came to her feet. “It’s so amazing to get a new sister like that. I’m glad Tyler went down to help you out. I heard you went with him to Paula’s.” Her smile abruptly vanished.

  “Uh-oh. Did something happen?”

  “She called me Monday night. Said she was coming to visit soon and that she wanted to see the children more. She wanted to discuss sharing custody.” Amanda stopped talking and held her hand tightly to her chest. “I tried to call Tyler right away when she called, but he didn’t answer his phone. Just my luck. The one time I really need to talk to him, and it’s the first time he ever loses his phone.”

  Savvy felt numb at Amanda’s news. Paula was the children’s mother, of course, but she wasn’t a fit mother. Not yet. The pain in Amanda’s eyes cut Savvy to the core of her being. “I’m so sorry, Amanda. I don’t know what to say.”

  “I know Tyler tried his best, but . . .” Amanda took a deep breath, letting her hand drop. “Blake and I should have approached her ourselves. We shouldn’t have been so afraid. Not that I blame Tyler, of course. I shouldn’t have put him in that position.”

  “I know it doesn’t help for me to say this,” Savvy said, “but I’d do anything to help you. I saw Paula, and she’s not ready to take care of those kids. I’m not sure she’ll ever be ready.”

  Amanda heaved a sigh. “We’ve made an appointment with our lawyer for tomorrow morning, and we’re praying about what to do. If Paula’s serious, if she’s really changed, then maybe she should be in their lives–even if it’s only for supervised visits.”

  Savvy didn’t know what to say to that. If she were in Amanda’s place, she certainly wouldn�
��t be so magnanimous. Maybe that’s what love means, she thought. Being willing to face the future with an open mind. To forgive the past. But she didn’t want to examine that last thought too closely. Her feelings for Tyler were still very much alive–but she wasn’t falling into that trap again.

  “Come on,” she said, touching Amanda’s arm. “Let’s go meet Lexi. Be aware, she’s had a different upraising from ours.”

  Amanda grinned. “I heard about the belly shirts. Better not let her wear one of those to church.”

  “Oh, that reminds me. She doesn’t even have a skirt for church. Anything of mine’ll be too big. Before I go shopping, I’d better see if Rosalie has anything nice that she’s outgrown.” Making a mental note to ask her mother later, Savvy led Amanda first to check on the children and then up the stairs to the new addition.

  Savvy peeked into Lexi’s room. She was awake now, though still lying down. “Good morning, sleepyhead,” she said.

  Lexi smiled and stretched her arms above her head. “Hi.”

  “There’s someone here I’d like you to meet.” Savvy glanced toward Amanda, who was in the hall out of Lexi’s view. “She’s my very best friend. Do you mind if we come in?”

  Lexi shook her head, pushing herself into a seated position.

  Savvy went to stand next to the bed. “This is Amanda.”

  “Hi, Lexi,” Amanda said. “Nice to meet you.”

  “You, too.” Lexi stared up at her. “Hey, you’re Tyler’s sister. You have the same green eyes.”

  “Yep. Guilty as charged.”

  Lexi nodded. “You must be the lady with the two kids whose mother is in California. She was really weird. I don’t think you should let them go see her alone.”

  Amanda tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace to Savvy. “She’ll work things out,” Savvy said smoothly. “Just like we will with your dad.”

  Lexi’s brow furrowed. Savvy wondered if she remembered that she’d promised to tell the whereabouts of her father today. Lexi’s next words showed she did. “But we barely got here. Can’t I wait until tonight before I tell you where he is? Please? Pretty please with sugar on top? Tonight will still be Wednesday.”