Return of the Runaway Bride

by Donna Fasano

  "Mom!" Jimmy came tromping into the kitchen, the screen door slamming behind him. "Amanda won't give me the shovel. She's diggin' up worms."

  Sheila's shoulders sagged and she shook her head. "My Amanda does love creepy crawlies. I'd better go out there before she digs a hole to China. Do you mind? I'll only be a minute."

  "Of course not," Savanna said.

  Sheila went out the back door, Jimmy close on her heels.

  Savanna laced her fingers around the cool glass and took in all the implications revealed in her conversation with Sheila. She shuffled the information around, assembling it in some sort of order.

  It was impossible to refute the fact that her actions of six years ago had affected Daniel. Her running away on their wedding day may not have been the sole reason for the change in his personality, but Savanna was certain that she'd pushed over the first domino of trouble in his life. All the other dominoes followed; his father's death, his sister's illness, his mother's relocation, the financial problems at the hospital. And they had simply smacked one against the other until Daniel had turned into "a regular grizzly bear" as Sheila had described him.

  What bothered Savanna the most was Sheila's last statement. The revelation that, in Sheila's opinion, Daniel didn't trust women. Savanna's act of fleeing Fulton had saved her from a life of wondering what she could achieve, a life of being weak and reliant and overprotected. But, in saving herself, had she irreversibly hurt the person whom she'd loved so dearly in her youth? Had she made Daniel so angry and bitter that he'd been unable to find happiness?

  The questions were daunting and weighed heavily on her shoulders. Somehow she had to make it up to him. And the first thing she needed to do was explain to him why she'd left Fulton.

  She rubbed her fingertips back and forth across her forehead. The first step would be to explain fully why she had run away on the day of their wedding. When he understood, he'd place the blame where it belonged and put the incident behind him. He'd be able to go on with his life. Then he'd be able to find happiness.

  But a small, dark question pierced through her good intentions. And what it asked was, will he listen?

  Chapter Three

  The next morning, Savanna looked up from her "things to do" list and saw little Amanda standing on the back doorstep, peering through the screen.

  "Hello," Savanna said, wondering if Sheila knew her errant daughter had wandered from her own backyard.

  "You got any wah-wee-pops?"

  Savanna smiled and opened the screen door to let the toddler inside.

  "I don't have any candy," Savanna said. She smoothed her hand over the little girl's head full of strawberry ringlet curls. "How about an apple?"

  "Okay." Amanda pulled out a chair and settled herself at the kitchen table.

  "Does your mommy know where you are?" Savanna asked.

  "My mommy knows everyfing," Amanda emphatically told her.

  Savanna took an apple out of the fruit bowl on the counter and handed it to Amanda. She turned toward the telephone to call the girl's mother, but Amanda's disappointed voice stopped her.

  "My mommy makes it better than this," the little girl stated.

  "She does?" Savanna hid a smile.

  Amanda nodded. "I want the red off."

  "Oh," Savanna said. "You want me to peel it for you?"

  Again Amanda nodded. "And I want it in pieces. Like Mommy makes."

  Savanna couldn't stifle her grin. "Okay. Peeled and in pieces." She took the apple and opened the cutlery drawer to look for a paring knife. "Coming right up. But then we need to call your mom. I don't want her to worry."

  Sheila's voice came drifting in with the late-morning breeze as she yelled her daughter's name.

  Going to the back door, Savanna stepped out and called, "Sheila, she's over here." When she saw that Sheila was coming across the yard, Savanna went back inside and finished chopping up the apple.

  She placed the bowl of apple in front of Amanda.

  Amanda's nose wrinkled as she gazed at the coarsely cut fruit. Savanna barely held her laughter in check when the little girl announced, "Mommy's apples look better."

  Finally Amanda heaved a resigned sigh, picked up a hunk of apple and took a dainty bite. She chewed a moment and looked up at Savanna.

  "Mommy's apples taste better too."

  "Amanda Thompson!" Sheila pulled open the screen door and stepped into the kitchen. "I heard that. You'll hurt Miss Savanna's feelings."

  "It's all right," Savanna assured her.

  Amanda turned wide, innocent eyes toward her mother. "But, Mommy, your apples do taste better."

  "That's enough young lady," Sheila cut in, lifting her "mother finger" and shaking it at her daughter. "Did you say thank-you?"

  "Fank you," came Amanda's automatic response. She reached into the bowl and helped herself to another chunk of apple.

  "I was going to call to let you know she was here," Savanna told Sheila, "but Amanda had me busy taking the 'red' off."

  "Children." Sheila rolled her eyes heavenward. "What can I say?"

  "What I want to know is," Savanna said, "what do you do to an apple to make it taste better?"

  Sheila chuckled. "Who knows? Sprinkle it with motherly love, maybe?"

  Both women laughed.

  "Listen," Sheila said, "I'm taking the kids to the park. The Ladies' Auxiliary is hosting a flea market to benefit the hospital. Jim's already there helping to set everything up. Want to come along?"

  "I haven't been to a flea market in years. I'd love to go."

  "Good!" Sheila pressed her hands together. "And after we spend our money buying some things we don't need, we'll take the kids to the playground and we'll have lunch. I'll pack a picnic basket."

  "What can I bring?" Savanna asked.

  "A few of those apples would be nice," Sheila said.

  Amanda looked at the two women, a severe expression on her face and said, "Mommy bwing apples."

  Savanna laughed openly. "I know, Mommy's apples taste better."

  Sheila smoothed back Amanda's hair affectionately. "You little urchin," she said, and then she kissed her daughter on the forehead.

  "The park is this way," Jimmy Thompson informed Savanna.

  "Miss Savanna knows where the park is," Sheila told her son. "She grew up in Fulton."

  "You did?" Jimmy asked.

  "I sure did," Savanna said. She glanced back to check on Amanda who was sitting in the red wagon that Savanna was pulling behind her. "I climbed the trees, slid down the sliding boards, played on the teeter-totters..."

  "The what?" Jimmy interrupted.

  "You know, the seesaws."

  "They had seesaws way back in the olden days?"

  Sheila laughed. "Yes, son. We did. Gee, the way you talk, you'd think Miss Savanna and I are old ladies."

  "Oh, no, Mom, you're not old," he said gallantly. "Yet."

  "Intelligent young man you have there," Savanna said to Sheila in a lowered voice.

  The Fulton Municipal Park brought back a whirlwind of happy memories for Savanna. She'd spent many a sunny afternoon in this wooded area with her mother.

  "Hi, Miz Ida," Jimmy called out.

  Miz Ida patted the boy on the head. "Hi, Jimmy. How are you?"

  "I'm real good."

  "Sheila, Savanna," Ida greeted. Then she smiled down at Amanda. "And how's the day treating you, Miss Amanda?"

  "Got any wah-wee-pops?"

  Miz Ida hooted with laughter. "You are so cute." Then she fished around in her pocket. "Let me see what I have for these children," she said. She pulled out two lollypops and handed them to Sheila.

  "Wah-wee-pop!Wah-wee-pop!" Amanda chanted.

  "After lunch," Miz Ida said. "If you eat all your lunch, then you can have a sweet." Then Ida turned her attention to Savanna. "I thought I might see you today, so I brought something just for you."

  Handing Savanna a cinnamon jawbreaker, Ida warned, "But you must eat your lunch first."

 
"Yes, ma'am," Savanna dutifully replied and smiled her thanks. She tucked the candy away, looked at all the tables covered with secondhand goods for sale and then gazed at Miz Ida. "This is great. Did you have a hand in organizing this?"

  Ida nodded. "Me and the other Ladies of the Auxiliary felt we had to do something. I hate the thought of losing our hospital."

  "Things are that bad?" Savanna was shocked.

  "My Jim certainly thinks so," Sheila said quietly.

  "Folks are traveling to the bigger hospitals in Richmond," Ida said. "They just don't realize the jobs they're putting in jeopardy every time they spend money at another hospital to have a test, or have surgery.”

  "I've heard people from Fulton complain that our little hospital doesn't have the same modern equipment as the newer hospitals in Richmond." Sheila's face took on a thoroughly disgusted look. "Can't people figure out that if they don't spend their money here, Fulton General can't afford to buy new equipment? Or pay for more doctors? More nurses?"

  "This measly little effort won't bring in much money," Miz Ida commented.

  "But it'll shed a little light on the problem. At least the Ladies are doing something," Sheila complimented Ida. "As opposed to sitting on their backsides doing nothing."

  Savanna scanned the tables of used clothing, books, puzzles, lamps and a thousand other household articles instantly positive that the items wouldn't convert into the kind of cash the hospital must need, not if the institution was on the verge of closing.

  What Fulton General Hospital needed was a fund-raising idea that would earn a huge amount of money. A fund-raising idea that a professional such as herself might be able to organize.

  "You know," she said to the two women, "I just might be able to help. I wouldn't mind giving you a few ideas. I do this kind of thing all the time."

  “Why, of course you could!'' Miz Ida was quick to grasp the offer. "You come to Tuesday night's meeting at the hospital."

  "Meeting?" Savanna's brows lifted in question.

  Sheila nodded. "The hospital board meets every Tuesday evening. The main topic lately has been our pitiful lack of funds."

  "You're on the board, Miz Ida?" Savanna asked.

  "Have been for some time now," she said. Lowering her voice conspiratorially, Ida added, "Between seeing customers at the store, my doin's with the Ladies and my time spent tending to hospital affairs, I have no trouble keeping up on the whole town's comings and goings."

  Savanna had to laugh. Miz Ida hadn't changed a bit.

  "Speaking of the store, I need to run," Miz Ida said. "Got to keep those young fellas I hired on their toes."

  "I was going to invite you to share our picnic." Sheila's disappointment was genuine.

  "Thank you kindly. But I only stopped by long enough to see that there were plenty of tables. Your wonderful husband had them set up before I arrived." She chuckled to herself and leaned toward them, whispering, "I also came to make sure that Loraine wasn't in charge of the money. That woman is lovable, but—" she tapped her temple with her index finger "—the gray matter's fading, if you know what I mean."

  Sheila did her best to ignore this all-too-true statement concerning the aging town librarian and asked, "By the way, where is Jim?"

  "Last I saw of him," Miz Ida said, "he was over by the bake table."

  Groaning, Sheila searched the crowd for her husband. "He's going to go off his diet. I should have come earlier with his lunch."

  "Well, you all have a nice day. I'm off." Ida waved to the little ones before traipsing off toward the parking lot.

  Sheila looked at Savanna. "Let's go find Jim," she said. She picked up the lunch basket and called to her son to follow. "Do you really think you could do something to help us keep the hospital going?" Sheila asked Savanna.

  Savanna checked to see if Amanda was sitting before she tugged on the wagon. "I think so. What we need is something big, something really grand."

  "Savanna." Sheila smiled fondly. "You said we."

  Hitching one shoulder, Savanna said, "Well, I was born in Fulton General. Had my tonsils taken out there. A doctor in the emergency room put three stitches in my chin when I fell in the school yard." Savanna pushed her bangs back from her forehead. "That hospital employs a lot of people. I'd hate to see them out of work. Fulton General did a lot for the community when I was growing up. I'm sure it still has a lot to offer. And just because I moved away, doesn't mean I don't care."

  "Okay, okay." Sheila laughed. "There's no need to become defensive. I wasn't giving you a hard time. I was grateful that you included yourself with the rest of us who want to do something."

  "I do want to help." Savanna's voice sounded far off to her own ears, so preoccupied was she with all the possibilities that floated in her head. If she did this job right, she could really help this small community. She'd feel terrific if she could give something back to Fulton, the town that had given her such wonderful childhood memories.

  Let's see, she thought, a carnival might work. With clowns and games and kiddie rides. Or a…

  "Savanna?"

  Sheila's sharp jab in the ribs brought Savanna to instant attention.

  "Hmm…" The sound snagged in Savanna's throat when she looked up and saw Daniel standing in front of her. She stopped short and little Amanda nearly tumbled out of the wagon.

  While Sheila shushed her affronted daughter, Savanna was left pinned by Daniel's dark gaze.

  "Hello, Savanna."

  Why did the sound of his voice do such crazy things to her insides?

  "Hi," she said.

  Jim Thompson called out a greeting to his family as he joined the small group. Savanna turned and saw the man ruffling his son's hair. He nodded a shy greeting at Savanna.

  "Nice to see you again, Savanna," he said. "Sheila told me you were back in town."

  "It's nice to be back."

  He shook Daniel's hand. "Thanks for helping with the tables."

  "No problem," Daniel told him.

  Jim offered his wife a gentle smile. "You brought lunch. That's good because I'm starved." He directed his gaze at Daniel. "You worked hard this morning. How about a sandwich?"

  "Oh, we shouldn't do that to Sheila," Daniel protested. "She didn't plan on feeding a crowd."

  "My wife," Jim butted in, "always expects the unexpected." He grinned and pulled Sheila to him. "And she always packs enough for an army. Why do you think I look like this?"

  Sheila hugged Jim. "Oh, yes," she agreed, "there's always plenty of food." She turned adoring eyes on her husband and gave his paunch an affectionate pat. "But if you blame this on me..."

  "Come here, you." Jim's sultry tone was for Sheila's ears only.

  Savanna discreetly turned her head as Jim nuzzled his wife's neck. She watched as Daniel also redirected his gaze. There seemed to be nowhere else for them to look but at each other.

  Heat rose to her cheeks. She couldn't fathom why a simple, completely natural kiss between Sheila and Jim would make her so uncomfortable, but she was certain that it had something to do with the fact that she and Daniel used to engage in the same affectionately expressive behavior.

  "Do you mind?"

  Daniel had stepped closer to her, and his question took her completely off guard. Did she mind what? she wondered. That Jim was kissing his wife? That Daniel used to do the same to her?

  Her blank expression must have explained her confusion for he added, "My having lunch with you and the Thompsons."

  Her face flamed even hotter. "Of course not," she said, her voice clipped and unnatural.

  "Let's go find a nice shade tree," Jim said, taking the basket from Sheila.

  The men were several steps ahead of the women, and Sheila took the opportunity to quietly ask Savanna, "Do you mind if Daniel has lunch with us?"

  "Of course not." Again, Savanna heard the short, sharp words come out of her mouth. "Really," she added, hoping she'd softened her tone enough to hide the anxiety that roiled in the pit of her stomach.

>   What was there to be nervous about? she silently chided herself. Sheila and Jim were with her. And Jimmy and Amanda would demand much of the focus. Really, there was nothing be anxious about. So why did she feel like a teenager with a bad case of first-date jitters?

  ~ ~ ~

  They walked across an open field to the picnic area, and Daniel took the children to the playground while Sheila, Jim and Savanna set out lunch. They spread the blanket on the grass beneath the leafy branches of a stately oak tree.

  Savanna straightened one corner of the blanket and her gaze was pulled to where Daniel played with Sheila's children. He swung Amanda high in the air and she squealed with glee. Then he chased Jimmy around the sliding board. And when it was Jimmy's turn to chase, Daniel slowed his pace until the little boy caught him.

  "Lunch!" Sheila called.

  Daniel lifted Amanda into his arms for one last flight into the air before he herded both children across the grassy expanse toward the picnic area. A tender smile curled the corners of Savanna's mouth when she saw him chase one wandering child, then the other.

  "He's very good with the kids," Savanna remarked to Sheila.

  "He is," Sheila said. Her smile quickly turned to a frown as Jimmy ran up behind his sister and pushed her hard.

  Amanda tumbled off her feet and her sharp cry sent all the adults rushing to help. Daniel picked her up, and by the time Jim, Sheila and Savanna reached them, he'd brushed the grass from Amanda's hands and knees.

  "Oh, baby," Sheila cooed as she took her daughter from Daniel. The toddler buried her face in the crook of her mother' s neck.

  "James Allen Thompson!" The stern voice of Jimmy's father made the boy's bottom lip quiver. "You are in serious trouble."

  "It was an accident, Dad," It was clear Jimmy didn't expect anyone to believe the blatant fib.

  "That was no accident," Sheila said.

  "But I didn't mean it."

  "Not one more word, young man," Jim interrupted his son. "You'll spend the afternoon in your bedroom for this."