“Upstairs. Here’s the stairway leading to the upstairs.”
“Four bedrooms?” She looks at me in confusion.
“Or three bedrooms and an art room for you to sketch in.”
“We need only two bedrooms.”
We’ve never talked seriously about this. How do I mention it now? “Maybe later on we’ll need a third bedroom.”
She doesn’t say anything. She stares at the blueprint. “Is the exterior of this house logs?”
“It’ll be a log cabin. Like the one in your picture you sketched.”
I see a tear slide down her cheek, before she quickly wipes it away. “Abel Lee?”
I walk closer to her, and hold her arms with both of my hands. “I’m here.”
She looks up and she looks sad. “Are you sure you want to marry me?”
Why is she asking me this? “I’m positive.”
“Are you sure you want to have kids with me? I’m a bit of a mess. I don’t have nothin’ to offer you. Are you sure you want to settle…?”
I interrupt. I place my finger under her chin to tilt her head. Her blue eyes meet my brown eyes. “I don’t want kids with anyone else. I want children only if I can have them with you. I like you messy.” I touch her hair that’s in a messy bun and bend down to kiss her soft lips. “And, you have so much to offer. It’s you, Savannah Mae, who’ll be settling for me.”
Savannah Mae
I stand on my tiptoes and kiss him. He scoops me up and I wrap my legs around his waist. “I love you.”
“Should I tell the contractor to go ahead with the house?”
I smile big. “Is this house for real?”
“It is. We can change whatever we want. Later on we’ll need to pick out the flooring, countertops, light fixtures, and appliances.”
“Will we have horses, cows, and chickens?”
“We will.” We walk around the property line following the creek upstream towards the back of the property. “Pops will probably insist on giving up one of his mules.”
“Will this be called the ‘Kennedy Mule Hill Farm 2’?” I giggle.
“I hope not.”
I wrap my arms around his waist as we continue to walk. “What will we do with my house?”
“You could give it back to Ethan, or you could give it to Samantha Marie. It’s totally up to you.”
“Ethan and I did buy it together when we got married. I watch him and ask, “You wouldn’t mind if I gave it back to him?”
He stops and looks down at me. “No, not at all. It might also be nice to keep the house for Sawyer Jackson. It is his family home.”
“Thank you.”
We get in the back of the property and I stop. I look around the property and I get an idea. “What if we got married here?” I don’t wait for him to answer. “We could have a gazebo here, with lights and white tulle. Chairs with white chair coverin’s, over there. It’ll be perfect for our weddin’. We can get married here, on our own property. How long will it take the house to get built?”
“Nine months, a year maybe. We’ll have to take winter into consideration.”
She looks at me and she looks sad. “I never asked you what you wanted. I’m sorry. Maybe you have a completely different idea.”
He cups my face in his large hands. “I think for us to marry on this property that is the foundation of our home, our new life together, is perfect. I can’t imagine a more perfect place to begin our life together.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Abel Lee
The week goes by pretty quickly. Sawyer Jackson loves school, there’s been no sign of the murderer or the stalker. Mack called and said he found out who was in the picture. The name didn’t ring a bell: Mike “Maddog” Mallone. He said he and Tony flew out to speak with “Maddog” and he doesn’t hold any grudges or a vendetta over the fight. So, we’re back to square one. I’ve planned a small birthday party for Savannah Mae with the help of Samantha Marie, and their mother, Marie. Her birthday is on Saturday so I reserved a private table at the Old Market House Inn in Zanesville. It’s the same restaurant where I proposed. I also asked for the same waitress, since she did an excellent job the last time.
I want to show Savannah Mae off for her birthday. I didn’t tell her where we were going, but I did tell her to dress up. Sawyer Jackson and I each wear a dark black suit with a crisp white shirt and a red tie. We’re dressed alike, just like in Savannah Mae’s drawings. I did peek to see what color of dress she was wearing, I wanted the three of us to match, so I bought us red ties.
Savannah Mae’s gifts arrived, and I had Samantha Marie help me with them. I was fearful of the wrapping, but that turned out to be the easy part, since her sister wrapped them all. On Wednesday, I took Sawyer Jackson to the mall with me. We both needed to pick out the perfect gift for her. We decided on jewelry. “Nothing says love like diamonds.” Whoever came up with that advertising slogan for a jewelry store was a genius. Her parents took the gifts to the restaurant for us ahead of time.
Sawyer Jackson is calm, but I fidget as I wait for Savannah Mae. The house is small and you can hear every creak in the wooden floor. When I hear her heels tapping down the hall, Sawyer Jackson and I stand.
She rounds the corner wearing a red knee-length flowing dress and matching red heels. Her blonde hair is in big loose curls, and her red lipstick makes her white smile even brighter. I smile as soon as I see her.
“You look stunning.”
She blushes. “Thank you.”
“Yeah, Mommy, you look berry pretty.”
“Thank you, and look at you both. Very handsome, if I say so myself.”
“Thank you, Abel Lee wanted us to dress alike.”
I bend over slightly. “Shhh, you don’t have to tell her everything.”
“Sorry, I forgot,” he says too loudly for it to still be a secret.
“Shall we go?” I step forward and offer her my elbow.
“We shall,” she says as she graciously takes it.
We drive to the restaurant listening to Sawyer Jackson talk about school, while the music plays softly in the background. I hold her hand the entire way there. When we pull up at the restaurant, she says, “I love this place.”
I knew she did from the last time we ate here.
“Do they have chicken nuggets?” Sawyer Jackson asks excitedly.
“I’m sorry, they don’t, Buddy. I think we can get you a grilled cheese and French fries.”
“Yay, that’s my second favorite meal.”
I walk out and I help Sawyer Jackson out of the truck first. It’s times like this that I wish I had a car. The truck suits most of my needs, but it isn’t the best vehicle to take your girl out in. Sawyer Jackson stays by my side as I help Savannah Mae out of the truck. Her dress rises up as she slides out of the tall truck. I make a mental note to get a new car next week.
“Thank you,” she says as she adjusts her dress.
“My pleasure.”
“Did you enjoy that peep show?” she whispers.
On second thought, maybe I won’t get a new car. We both take Sawyer Jackson’s hand as we walk into the crowded restaurant. I hear murmurs as people whisper my name. Savannah Mae hears them, too, and says, “You really are a rock star.”
I don’t reply. I listen to the guys who are now talking about the bombshell I’m with. I puff my chest out further than needed and follow behind as we are led to our table. All eyes are on Savannah Mae. She looks stunning. Placing my hand on the small of her back, I want everyone to know that she is with me. I see our friends and family, and I also see a table set up with her cake, balloons, red roses, and gifts on it. I talked to the manager earlier this week when I made the reservations, and I’m glad to see he accommodated my needs.
We greet everyone as a family before we separate into different groups. Everyone fusses over Sawyer Jackson, and he likes the attention. Harley is passed around and he also likes the attention. Before Harley was born,
I was afraid that his Down syndrome features would be all I could focus on, but truthfully, I don’t even notice them. When I see him, I see a mixture of Levi and Mia. He’s a handsome, dark-haired, blue-eyed baby.
It’s my turn to hold him and he smiles. I can only think of how lucky my brother is. We sit down and place our drink orders. Two bottles of champagne are already on the table. The girls drink the champagne, Mia drinks water since she’s breastfeeding — drunk babies are funny only in the movies — and the guys order beer. Sawyer Jackson also tried to order a beer, but settled for a Sprite, instead.
The birthday dinner is a success. Savannah Mae is the life of the party. She talks about the wedding and the new house we’re having built. She smiles and laughs a lot and she looks happy. I hope I have something to do with her happiness. I know that I never want to be the reason for her sadness again.
When Harley cries, I kiss him and pass him across the table to Mia. She covers herself discretely as she nurses him. If I didn’t know what she was doing, I would think that she was just rocking him to sleep.
After dinner, we sing happy birthday to Savannah Mae and she makes a wish and blows out the candles. All 25 of them. I would give anything to know what she wished for, then I would do everything I could to make her wish come true. But knowing Savannah Mae, she probably wished for world peace.
Momma and Marie cut the cake as Savannah Mae starts to open her gifts. Samantha Marie is at her side keeping track of everything and separating the trash into a different pile. Savannah Mae gets clothes, a pair of shoes, and perfume. There’s even a few gifts for Sawyer Jackson and Harley on the table. I didn’t think to get the kids a gift. However, Momma and Samantha Marie did. There’s so much to learn to this parenting thing.
Samantha Marie picks up a gift and lays it back down. “This one says to open last.” I look around the table to see who it’s from. I can’t tell.
“Here, open this one.” Samantha Marie hands a gift to her.
Savannah Mae reads the card and it’s from Sawyer Jackson. He sits up straight with a smile on his face as he patiently waits for her to open it. She unwraps the paper and opens the black velvet box. She’s smiling before she see the necklace. I let Sawyer Jackson choose his own gift, but it had to be under a certain dollar amount. She gasps when she sees it. I lean over and whisper, “Go on up there with your mom.” He does.
She removed the sterling silver and single solitaire diamond necklace from the case. She hugs him and sets him on her lap.
“Thank you, Mommy loves it so much.”
I watch as she puts the necklace on herself. It looks beautiful on her. She mouths to me, “Thank you.” I only wink. The next gift she opens is from me. It’s one of the twelve identical gifts, and I’m worried about this one. I wish she had opened the smaller gift first. I scoot out my chair slightly as she tears open the wrapping paper. I bought her twelve double matted whitewashed picture frames. Then I went through her sketches with Samantha Marie and we chose twelve of her best drawings. I thought they were all good, but Samantha Marie knew the ones that Savannah Mae would like the best.
“Abel Lee?”
“Ma’am?” I wanna laugh, but I don’t. I still don’t know how she feels about this.
“We wanna see,” Mia says.
Savannah Mae holds the frame close to her. She laughs and her smile lights up the room. “I don’t want anyone to see it.”
“It can’t be that bad,” Levi says.
“Okay, but no laughin’.”
“Boy Scouts’ honor,” Pops chuckles.
Savannah Mae looks at me and says, “Abel Lee, I’m gonna get you for this.”
I only wink. She holds the first picture and slowly turns it around for everyone to see. It’s a sketch she made of a waterfall. The room oohs and ahhs over the picture. I’m happy to see so many people are impressed with her talent.
“Open the others,” I yell over the chatter.
She takes a deep breath as she unwraps the other eleven pictures. I watch closely as she studies the pictures and passes them around for everyone to get a better view. One is a sketch of Sawyer Jackson, another is of Sawyer Jackson as a newborn baby. Others are of scenic views, log cabins, and her parents, and one is of Samantha Marie in her graduation cap and gown.
“There’s one more gift from me.” I stand and button my jacket as I join her and Sawyer Jackson at the head of the table.
“This is the gift that I bought from my heart.”
I hand her the gift and bend down to kiss her. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she whispers.
She unwraps the jewelry box and opens it carefully. She gasps when she see it. “Abel Lee, this is gorgeous.”
I remove the diamond and sterling silver infinity bracelet and place it on her small wrist. “This is to remind you that you are my forever.”
She hugs me and kisses me deeply and intimately. The room hoots and hollers and Samantha Marie laughs and says, “Break it up, there’s still one more gift.”
I break away slowly, wishing that we were alone.
“Thank you, but I don’t need to be reminded.”
“Here, open your last gift.”
I watch as she takes the small gift. I look around the room and I think that she received a gift from everyone here. She opens the card and it says, “Just one more surprise.” It is written in a fancy computer font. She flips the card over and it’s not signed. I get an unsettling feeling. Savannah Mae is still smiling. I look at Pops and Levi; they are excitedly watching Savannah Mae.
She carefully opens the beautifully red foil wrapped box. She removes the lid and I can’t see what’s inside the box. She smiles as she unfolds the single piece of paper. Her smile fades and her hands begin to shake.
“What is it?”
Her face turns pale, and a tear slide down her cheek.
I stand and ask again, “Savannah Mae, what is it?”
She places a shaky hand on her quivering lips before she drops the paper and runs out of the room.
I watch as she runs out of view. This can’t be happening again. I hear people standing and some are running after Savannah Mae. I focus on that stupid piece of paper. It’s lying face down on the carpeted floor. I bend over to retrieve it and stand as I flip it over. It’s a picture of my ex-girlfriend, Maria. She’s beaten and battered. It was taken right after the incident between her and me. She’s in the hospital, but she hasn’t been treated for her injuries yet. She looks just as bad as I remember. In the writing that is all too familiar from the notes Savannah Mae and I have received, it says this:
Savannah Mae,
Just so there’s no confusion, your boyfriend did this to my sister, and I won’t stop until I do this to you!
Not a Friend
Chapter Twelve (Country Love)
Abel Lee
I look at her sister, Samantha Marie, who is standing there in shock, and say, “Go and find your sister, and don’t let her leave!” I watch as she rushes out of the room.
Next, I look at Pops, who is standing next to me reading the note.
Pops says, “I’ll go and find the owner of the restaurant.” He quickly walks out of the room.
“If this prick is still in this restaurant, I want to find him!” I say loud enough for him to hear. I scan the entire restaurant and the entrance for Maria’s brother or sister. I’m disappointed and pissed off when I don’t see either of them. I know that both of Maria’s siblings were pissed after the incident; her sister even showed up in Vegas at a press conference I was at to promote my next fight.
The waitress walks up and innocently asks, “Is everything all right?”
“Where did this come from?” I hold up the red foil gift wrap and box.
“That gentleman gave it to me to give to the birthday girl. He said she was his friend and he wanted to surprise her.”
“What gentleman?” I follow her eyes to an empty two-top table.
“He’s gone. He was
sitting over there just a few minutes ago.”
“Do you remember what he looked like?”
“Um, yes. I think so. He has…”
“Dark, wavy hair; stands about six feet tall?”
“Yes, that’s right. Is everything okay?” she stutters.
“No, no, it’s not. It’s far from being all right.” The description fits Maria’s brother. Pops walks into the room with the owner of the restaurant. Right now in this moment, I wish I had told Pops about Maria. How am I going to explain this to him… to everyone? I run my hands through my hair and pull at the roots. This is a mess.
“I’ll be right back. I have to find Savannah Mae.”
“Abel, the girls are with her. Just give them a minute.”
I only nod. How can this perfect evening end like this? Why didn’t I just tell her about Maria? Because she would never have understood. She wouldn’t have been so forgiving. It’s by the grace of God that Maria forgave me. I look around the room at the stunned faces watching me. The girls who didn’t run out of the room with Savannah Mae are standing around in shock or fear, maybe both. Not only did I not tell Savannah Mae about Maria, but now I have to tell everyone in the room. Although I never told Pops or Momma what happened, I did tell Levi. I had to. I had to tell someone what I did. I was a grown man in college, but knowing what I did to Maria was too much to deal with. It did help to tell someone and although Levi didn’t understand, he did listen.
The restaurant owner says after looking around the room, “Abel, your dad told me a little about what’s going on. I’m truly sorry that this has happened to your fiancée. Believe me when I say that when your waitress, Theresa, took the gift from him, she had no idea what was in the package.”
“This isn’t her fault.” I look around the room at all of the stunned faces. Mia, Sawyer Jackson. Sawyer Jackson? Shit! “I have to find Savannah Mae.”
I turn to leave the room and Savannah Mae is slowly walking towards me. She’s with Momma, Samantha Marie, and her mother. Her eyes are red, and her pale face is blotchy. She walks towards me with her arms crossed over her chest. My heart falls to the pit of my stomach because I’m the reason for this. I’m the reason for her looking this way. All I wanted to do was to bring joy and love into her life, and I’ve brought sadness and pain. This is all my fault.
Rose Farm Trilogy Boxset Page 35