Clay had handed her another water bottle when she threw an empty into the bed of his truck, but her muscles ached and she just wanted to leave.
When she stopped walking, Clay put on the brakes and waited. Walking around the truck, she got in, defeated. “Take me to the Winston’s,” she said as she faced straight ahead and put on the seatbelt. The bastard did have the air on and Savannah turned the fans on her as he pulled away from where she had stopped.
“Why not let me take you home?”
“I don’t have one.”
* * * *
“You could if you wanted one,” Clay said hoping she’d worked out all the problems in her head. He could just kill his brother for even suggesting he only wanted Savannah for her land. The only land he ever cared about was the Long Ranch. With the toxins leaking over into that, why not create the stupid wind and solar farm there.
“I didn’t come here to get land or some inheritance. I guess you can’t understand that. All you see is money and yeah, I’d like more of it, but I never had it growing up and I’m still alive.”
“Are you? Alive that is? And it’s not about money. It’s about a home and something that’s yours.”
“Well, the Winston’s isn’t mine. Legally it is, but I don’t want something that came from a lie.”
“Never guessed you would,” Clay said as he threw the truck in park and opened the gate, so he could drive through.
Savannah kept her eyes directed out through the passenger window seeing the adobe style home where Miles, Monty and Melody lived with their parents. At least until Sunny marries Melody she assumed. “Sunny make money on the rodeo circuit?” she asked absently.
“Not really, enough to cover shitty motels along the way and put a bit aside. We’re selling him a plot of land at a discount, practically nothing really. He’s wanting to put a house on it for him and Melody.”
“They’re getting married then?”
“Yep.”
“Marrying for land. Seems the pattern around here.”
“Not really. Too many heirs for this generation to split between. I was hopin’ they’d move into town, so she was closer to the clinic where she works, but no such luck, she loves the ranch too much.”
“It makes no sense to me, this attachment to dirt.”
“You were getting attached to the Winston’s place. I could tell.”
She shrugged. “He did date my mom. Found pictures and everything from some picture booth.”
“Never thought otherwise. Connie wasn’t a stupid man, he’d have never thought you were his daughter if the dates didn’t line up.”
Savannah took the t-shirt off her head and her hair cascaded down over her shoulders.
Even with the long dark tresses covering her breasts, he could see enough that the three hours of her walking had made him sore in other ways.
She smoothed out the now wrinkled shirt and let her finger trace what was left of the printing. “My mom is going to be at the Winston’s, I need my stuff, but how can I face her? This was such a…” She turned and looked at Clay.
Instantly, he felt as if his gut had been punched again.
“Most girls choose a guy like their dad. I never knew mine, so I went and fell in love with my mother. A fucking liar.”
Clay slammed on the brakes and Savannah’s arms shot up as she braced against the dashboard.
“I didn’t lie to you. I didn’t use you. The only thing I did do was fall in love with you.”
“I don’t care what your brother says, I’m not keeping the ranch, so I have nothing to give you.”
“You have one thing, the thing I want more than a strip of land, so my brother’s dream of a fucking wind farm to save his marriage could come true. I want you Savannah. We can live in that shitty cabin until the day we die as long as you’re in the bed with me when I wake up and burning me eggs for breakfast. That’s what I want, that’s what’s real and it’s ripping me apart because I love my freedom almost as much as you do, but together we’re just as free. Better than free because we found an anchor, so no matter how far away we go, we can find our way home. And yes, you have a home if you want it. It’s by stream where if there are fish, they probably have three eyes and glow in the dark, but it’s getting better. And you have friends and family.”
“Like your brother who only saw me as a means to an end?”
“My brother, who’s so damn scared his wife is going to leave him that he’s becoming something he’s never been before. Tina is scared she’s going to have sick babies and her husband has lost his damn mind. I don’t want to be them. I want to be us. We challenge each other, but we talk.”
“I thought we talked,” she said as tears streamed down her face and she angrily put on her t-shirt. “I’d give that ranch to whoever wants it as long as they were real with me.”
“I don’t want it, Walt does. I want you.” Clay reached across the bench seat and undid Savannah’s seatbelt and dragged her across by his side. Tossing his sunglasses on the dashboard, he made sure he got to take in her face without distortion. If this was the last time he ever saw her, he wasn’t going to miss a detail. Against his better judgment, he captured her lips with his. Pain shot through his body and made every moment of tasting her even better.
She pulled away at first, then came to him with the same passion they always found together. Her hands trembled as they went around his ribs.
“I’m not hurt there,” he whispered against her lips. Half of his were numb from the pain and the half still alive needed more of her. Cupping her face in his hands, he brushed his lips against hers. “Savannah, you make me better,” he breathed the words out. “Don’t go.”
“This isn’t about you.” She pulled away. “I can get lost in Dallas and pretend none of this ever happened. No one will know or even wonder where I’ve been.”
“Because no one loves you there. Having someone new in your life each week is only a blessing if you’re collecting friends, not discarding and picking up another.”
“You don’t understand, you’ve lived here your whole life.”
“Yes I have. And when I went away what kept me from feeling lost in a new place was knowing I could come back here any time I needed to. You can lie to me all you want Savannah, just don’t lie to yourself. It felt good having a home and that ranch was one part of the whole.”
“You used me.”
“How often did I ask about the ranch? And never did I suggest you sell it and move on. All I ever wanted was for you to stay, but if you can’t see it then I’ve failed, not you.” Clay threw the truck in drive and the two of them traveled in silence until they arrived at the Winston Ranch.
A car with Texas plates was parked by the house and Savannah’s jaw clenched.
“You have to make your own choices in life,” Clay said with his eyes trained ahead. “I just wish your choices didn’t kill me.”
Chapter Eleven
Savannah watched as Clay drove away and for the first time in her life, she questioned her gut. Normally, running felt good. Leaving a situation before it became toxic made sense. But just like that damn gas company, she let too much of this town seep into her and the damage was done.
A heaviness settled into Savannah’s chest and if she were older, she would think she was having a heart attack. Instead, she knew regret and wondered if it could be reversed, or if it just festered until she became jaded.
Stepping on the porch, she wanted to yell at her mother, ask her why she would lie like that but when she opened the door and saw her sitting on the beat up yellow couch with her midnight colored hair and olive skin, all she could do was fall into her arms and cry.
“My baby,” her mother soothed as Teddy rubbed Savannah’s back. “I heard, I’m so sorry I truly thought Conrad was your father. I did. That must have been why you were so little as a newborn. Those doctors switched up the dates.”
“Stay as long as you like,” Teddy added as Savannah became sandwiched between the
m. “Connie wanted you to have this place. No matter what Patty does, it’s yours.”
“I don’t want the ranch,” Savannah sobbed and pulled away, wiping tears from her eyes but it didn’t help the situation. Instead of calming her, it just set off another round of hard cries. Her body lurched and she felt like she was going to puke. Acid burned up her throat and the only way to stop her head from feeling like a bobber on the ocean was to put her head between her knees. “I never did. Jesus, can’t you people understand it was never about the ranch?”
“Katia explained to us why she told Connie you were his.” Dorothy’s voice came from the distance.
She was back and even though it shouldn’t have, it made Savannah feel better knowing she was around. Part of her identified with her and Savannah secretly thought her runner gene came from Dorothy.
“She’s bad at math?” Savannah offered as a solution as Dorothy came to her with tissues in hand.
“Even if Connie hadn’t been your father biologically, he was willing to take on the role,” her mother recounted. “When he saw your picture he said you looked like his mother did when she was young.”
“I wish,” Dorothy laughed.
Her mother continued, “We had been talking on the computer for the last few months. I never knew he set up a trust. You know me…I’m not one to jump into a relationship. I go slow until it stops,” her mother patted Savannah’s hand. “When Connie stopped messaging me, I figured it was because I’d been so hesitant. Until you told me he’d been killed…” Her mother snapped up a few tissues herself. “I should’ve come here sooner, but with work and all. I’m not like you honey, I can’t just take off and not come back.”
“You did it all the time when I was growing up.”
“Well, I finally grew up. Hitting forty will do that to you.” Her mother gazed at Dorothy and Teddy. “I’m so sorry for your loss and the trouble Savannah has caused.”
“She was no trouble at all. We were happy to welcome her in our family.”
“Connie spoke so highly of you two,” her mother said. “All of the family. I think he would be ashamed of how Patty is acting.”
The snap of a screen door made all the women jump.
“My nose has been itchin’ like a son-of-a-bitch, and it tells me I’m the topic of conversation,” Patty said as he strode in giving Savannah a death stare that had Teddy wrapping her arm around Savannah’s shoulders. “Her huh?” he scoffed. “Shoulda known.”
“It was me,” Katia said as she stood. “And you should be ashamed of yourself. Connie gave my daughter this ranch and it wasn’t your place to question that.”
“Her paternity?” He laughed. “Move on to the next man, because the Winstons aren’t falling for your lies.”
“I never lied to Connie,” her mother stated. “I didn’t. I told him about Savannah and he drew his own conclusion.”
“You said you barely spoke to him. How can I believe anything you say?” Savannah asked as she stood. “I have no family now. Not even you.” She stormed to the bedroom and slammed the door.
As she packed her bags, Dorothy knocked on the door. “Savannah darling,” she said as she entered. “I know right now, your world is a bit upside down.”
“No,” Savannah said as she dug under the bed to make sure she hadn’t lost a shoe. “When some ass hat of a lawyer told me he found my father, a man I had little to no interest in ever meeting.” With a thud, Savannah tossed the set of hooker heels she’d worn the first day at the Hard Root on the bed. There was a part of her that wanted to toss them in the trash, because they reminded her of what could have been. “Need some dress shoes?” she offered Dorothy.
“I may be a bit wild, but that’s too much even for me. How do you walk in those things?”
“Dorothy, why are you here?”
“Because I never took to this place, not once in all my years here. It made me hate my husband and that made me hate myself, because I allowed myself to be trapped. You’re a big city girl in need of some small town healing and you found it. Now, I don’t know what went on between your mama and my son.” She walked over to the dresser and plucked the picture from the mirror. “But I do know what my son wrote in his own hand.”
Dorothy flipped the picture over and sat on the bed.
Savannah stayed on the floor but she knew what it said. Every day, she looked at the back.
“My son loved your mama, maybe if I wouldn’t of left, he would have been there and he would have been your daddy. Either way, it sounds like he wanted to be there for you and your mama.” Dorothy set the picture down on the bed. “Every move we make has ripples. You comin’ here let all of us put Connie to rest. Even with his killer still looming in the world, it was as if we got to say goodbye.”
“Well, I’m glad my coming here wasn’t all bad.”
“It wasn’t bad in the least. Savannah, when I thought back on you being here, you never once acted as if Connie was your daddy. You were looking for answers and there is nothing bad about that.” Dorothy took the heels and tucked them into Savannah’s duffle bag before zipping it shut. Walking around the room, she seemed to be saying a prayer to her son, though Savannah had no idea what it was about. Then she stood before Savannah and offered her hands.
Savannah accepted and rose to stand eye to eye with the blue eyed woman who had accepted her as family without reservation.
“Well, I see you’re intent on leaving, so you best give me a hug.”
The warmth of her arms ate at Savannah as she wondered if she could ever be close to someone like this again.
* * * *
A few vehicles were still at Clay’s cabin when he returned. Didn’t make any sense he’d been gone for close to four hours.
His father was sitting on the porch sipping from a bottle of water as the sun set in the distance. “I was worried I’d have to call old Sherriff Rust out to find your body,” he said as he approached.
Clay wasn’t in the mood for a discussion as he pushed through the screen door.
“Then again, he might not come, considering how your cousins are acting.”
“Kin folk,” Monty said as he tipped his hat. He was sitting on the couch with his legs stretched out on the coffee table.
Miles was flipping through a magazine as he sat in the chair.
“Well, where’s the rest of you?” Clay asked and as if on cue, the toilet flushed. “Sunny or Walt?”
“Walt and Patty went to hash out some deal,” Miles said with a sharp snap of paper as the page turned. “It’s funny how he doesn’t even seem to care that Melody almost died a month ago and the fucker’s probably less than fifty miles across the boarder.”
“He’s got his own issues,” Clay said as he found the bottles of medicine. Reading the labels, his eyes went out of focus and he had to brace himself against the wall. “How do you know where Julio is?”
“Rust told the Winstons,” Sunny answered as he came out of the bathroom. “We overheard Patty telling Walt.”
“We got coordinates, rage and enough muscle to handle this fucker,” Monty growled.
“When we leaving?” Clay asked while dry swallowing a few pills. Being numb could only help the situation. If he thought about the fact his family would most likely be crossing the border illegally to kill Julio, it might make him rethink the situation.
“Told you he’d be with us,” Monty cheered. “That’s right, it’s time mother fuckers…we’re going to do this shit right here. Clay already busted him up once before, let’s finish it.”
“I hate to be the voice of reason,” Miles interjected only to get a groan from Monty who threw his hands up in the air. “Why aren’t we just dragging his ass, slightly bruised and bleeding and dropping him at old Rust’s door?”
“Because they won’t kill him in New Mexico,” Sunny answered. “Any man that does what he did to Melody, ain’t a man. We might just leave a little bit of him in Mexico, if you know what I mean boys.”
Clay just b
ecame a bit foggy. Not to worry, he would sleep on the ride, then be ready to fight in the morning.
“Hell yeah, that’s what I’m talking about!” Monty clapped.
Clay just tried to keep his focus forward, hoping to see something he recognized.
“And what are you going to tell Sherriff Rust when he asks where the guy’s cock and balls are?” Miles wondered.
“They got snagged on a briar or something,” Sunny reasoned then slapped Clay on his back. “Ain’t that right there Clayton?”
“Sounds reasonable to me,” Clay replied as he could already taste the blood of the man who brought Savannah into his life. If Julio had never killed Connie, none of this would’ve ever happened. He wouldn’t be beat, Hope’s crazy ass would still be stalking him and discussing a marriage that would never be, if he had to remain celibate his whole life. Most of all, Savannah Georgio wouldn’t have wandered in lost at the Hard Root, looking for the man who called himself her father.
Maybe her mother had the same power over men Savannah did. Connie wasn’t known to go out and whoop it up, even when he was younger. Clay had never seen him as a person who did anything but ranch and get one beer now and then. Right now, a woman could walk past him naked and Clay didn’t think he would look up. Fucking Savannah.
“Clay, man, you okay?” Sunny asked. “I know it seems impossible but you look a bit pale.”
“The white woman has infected him,” Monty cried and ran around the room. “She’s sucked his soul out people, and left us a Clayton Long shell!” When he got to Clay, he grabbed onto Clay’s biceps and shook him back and forth. “Is it like Men in Black. Is this a Clay suit?”
Sunny knocked Monty upside his head to stop him from clowning around.
“What the hell man?” he whined and rubbed the back of his head.
The Last to Know Page 13