Runaway Bride (14 page)

They walked for what seemed like an
hour to Savannah and finally he halted in front of a ranch
house.

It was dark, and looked vacant. Was
anyone home? Would they help them if they were?

"Where is everyone?" She asked as she
glanced about the place.

"It's been abandoned a long time. But
we should be able to get in and have some shelter till I can get
some help out here."

The door was locked, so he had to bust
it open with a hard shove of the shoulder. He let her through and
then tried the lights. They didn't work. He grumbled.

"Maybe they have some candles around
somewhere?"

"No one's lived here in five years, I
doubt there's any emergency supplies. But we shouldn't be here that
long. I've used this place many times when the old bridges wash
out."

"The bridge washes out?" she
repeated.

"Nothing to worry about. It doesn't
last long, a day or two at most." He explained.

Through the darkness, she couldn't read
his expression, but his voice held some strange sort of tension
that rattled her nerves, as well.

The room seemed empty, from the
glimpses she got as the lightening split through the small
house.

The Sheriff moved and made loud noises,
but she couldn't tell what he was doing till the lightening flashed
again. Then she saw the small fireplace and he was lighting
it.

“How did you light it?” she asked. “I
mean you said no one has lived here for a while.”

”They left a lot of old newspapers, I
guess from packing up and I busted an old three legged chair they
had left behind. The fire won’t last long, but we shouldn’t be here
that long.”

She shivered a little and hugged
herself.

When the fire blazed she came forward
and warmed herself. Not that it was cold, but being wet made her
very uncomfortable.

She saw the frustration and anger on
his face and wished she could erase all the bad impressions she'd
made.

"I'm sorry for this," she began as she
sat on the floor near the hearth. Her clothes were plastered to
her, her hair dripping wet. She tried to dry it a little with her
hands.

"Yeah, me too," he nodded and took his
hat off.

He ruffled his hair with his big hands
and she imagined what it might be like to run her fingers through
it. She liked a man with nice hair. She ignored that urge. The less
she had to do with the Sheriff the better right now. He was
probably blaming her for all of this and she didn't need any more
reprimands.

When the room grew too silent he looked
at her and suddenly smiled, "I guess you can laugh about it
now."

She smiled, glad that he didn't hold a
grudge.

Silently she knew she should be
thanking him for coming along and saving her like he did, but she
knew he wouldn't appreciate a thank you.

"So, how do you like the dude ranch?"
He asked stoking the fire with scraps of wood he had scrambled from
somewhere in the house.

"I'm enjoying it."

"And where were you tonight?" His eyes
met hers for only a moment.

"I went to a movie." She felt
uncomfortable talking about her evening, when she was supposed to
be with him, according to her lies.

"By yourself?"

He wasn't going to let this pass. He
wanted to know everything. She supposed his job made him
inquisitive about everything. But just once, she wished he'd drop
it.

She nodded.

"All those drug store cowboys out there
and not one offered to take you?"

Drug store cowboys? Is that how he saw
them? He seemed so judgmental of people and she wanted to argue the
point with him, but this was not the time nor the place. But who
did he think he was?

"I didn't go there for dates, Sheriff.
Actually, I'm doing a layout for a magazine, and enjoying it no
end. So how did you happen by... way out here?"

"Way out here, it's still my
jurisdiction. Actually, I went to look for you, I got a call from
your aunt, she wanted to know if I'd meet her at the airport when
she arrives, as Helen's son, the woman she went to Europe with
won't be available. I told her about you. She's excited about you
being here and wanted me to tell you to hang on, she'd be home by
first part of next week."

"Great. I didn't realize you knew her
that well."

"Lucy's lived here all her life, she
knows everyone. Out here, as you call it, everyone depends on their
friends to help them."

"That's nice," Savannah
sighed.

He let out a long breath and sighed,
"I'm sorry. About the drug store cowboy thing. And I suppose I
shouldn't call them that, some of them are actual ranch hands, but
most are there for show."

"Really?"

"I'm a Sheriff Savannah, and it's my
job to know what people do."

She leaned her wet head against the
fireplace and sighed too. She wasn't going to fight with him
tonight.

She looked down at herself and laughed,
"I feel like a drowned rat."

"Yeah, well, we'll have you safely home
in no time," he said and cleared his throat and moved
away.

She just wanted to get away from here,
where things were simple again. This escape was turning into
nothing short of a disaster. The lies she had told niggled. But
knowing Janet as she did, she knew she would find this little
disaster very interesting, too.

She pulled her legs behind her and
squeezed the water from her skirt as she sat by the fire. He was
standing at the window staring out. Probably wishing his deputy
would hurry and get there.

She tried to sit still and not say a
word, maybe even go to sleep, but none of those things worked. Not
with Mr. Gorgeous in arm's length from her.

Finally, she went to the window too to
stare out in hopes someone would come and rescue her from this
misery. A misery she couldn't define.

"So when are you going home?" He
finally asked, not bothering to look at her. She figured he wasn't
really interested, just indulging in general
conversation.

"I don't know. I haven't seen my aunt
yet. Besides, I was thinking about going to work." She said
quietly.

Now he looked, "Doing what,
photographing animals?"

She stared into the firelight,
wondering why all of a sudden her plans were changing so much and
she didn't seem able to control anything anymore. "I was thinking
about trying to make a living with my photography, yes."

"Photography?" he raised an eyebrow in
surprise. "Do you think you can honestly make a living at it? That
isn't an easy task, unless of course you have some
connections."

"Yes, well, I have such an opportunity
at the Dude ranch to make good. I'm sure if my photos are original
enough, they'd let me do a layout for them. And then I'd get some
work. It's very important; it's all I have to look forward to,
right now."

He listened quietly, studying her face
for some sign. What, she didn't know.

"Why would a rich little gal like you
want to mess with a job for, anyway?" He asked
seriously.

"Just because I don't have a career, so
to speak doesn't mean I can't do anything, Sheriff." she said
listening to her plan that was quickly developing into a future for
her. "I'll have you know I have a lot of talent, I just can't make
a living at most of it."

"You're probably right about that, but
you'd probably have to travel the world if you really wanted to
make a living at photography. It can be a tough life, dangerous
even."

She glanced at him, and out of her own
musings. Her smile faded, "Maybe, or maybe I'd just do rural work,
of the west. Of your little town. I like it here. It's not Dallas
or Houston, but it's quaint, and quiet and has such character.
"

"You live in a small town, away from
all the modern conveniences."

"Oh please, you do have running water
out here I take it. You know what a cell phone is, so I suppose you
have satellite TV. I think I could survive in the roughs,
Sheriff."

"Is this part of your escape
plan?"

"Escape plan. I don't have a plan.
That's the problem. It was just a passing thought. Forget I
mentioned it." She moved back to the fire.

"What are you really running from
Savannah?" his voice became rough and hard. "Did this guy get rough
with you, cheat on you, or what?"

"It doesn't matter."

"What was that all about in the bar,
the other day? I'm a pretty good judge of character and I don't
think that was part of your nature. What were you trying to pull?
The guy must have done something pretty bad. Because I suspect you
were getting even."

Savannah was tired of the lies, tired of the
questions. "It's a long, boring story."

"Indulge me."

She studied him for a second, and then
looking away from him she began her story. The truth. "I don't know
if I can tell you, or anyone, just yet."

He exhaled as though relieved. "It's
really none of my business, but I was simply trying to understand
why you acted that way in the saloon. It doesn't seem like your
nature."

Savannah took a deep breath, "I can't
explain it to...a man. I mean...I guess you could say it was an ego
thing. I'd lost confidence in myself as a woman."

"Now why would a pretty little gal like
you lose confidence?"

"It's personal."

"I can guess, you caught the guy
cheating on you?"

She sighed heavily, turned her face
from him, "Yes, that's it..."

He was silent for a moment, obviously
not prepared for that one.

"I'm sorry." He stared down into her
face. "I've sort been blaming you, for the break up."

"I noticed." she stopped unable to
finish.

"Sorry." Ben bellowed.

He was feeling sorry for her. It seemed
almost funny.

"Well, no one knew. And it was
so...humiliating. I felt cheated somehow. How could I tell anyone?
He couldn't. How could I?"

That much wasn't a lie; Chad had
cheated on her, just not with a woman.

"I can buy that. That is a tough one,"
He studied her through the darkness for a long moment. "But you
very nearly started some big trouble in that saloon the other day.
Maybe you need lessons in flirting."

"I guess I can't even do that
right..."

"Oh I'd say you did it pretty right,
alright. You just didn't know when to apply the brakes, so to
speak."

She nearly laughed, but then it wasn't
that funny. If he knew how terribly naive she had been, he'd laugh
himself silly. And her ego would go down another notch.

"A friend of mine came out to the dude
ranch. We'd planned on meeting up, as I called her from your place.
But then things got complicated again, Ben....I told her....well, I
told her...."

"What'd you tell her?"

She moved away now. Far away, back to
the fireplace and safety, she thought.

"I told her you were crazy about me and
we were dating." She coughed, hoping he didn't pay attention to her
statement.

"You told her
what
?" he was beside her in an
instant.

She backed against the fireplace, "It
seemed the only way to shut her up. I love Janet like a sister, but
sometimes ..."

When he made a strange face at her, she
continued. "I couldn't tell her the truth about Chad."

"So," he bent over her, pinning her.
"I'm crazy about you, am I I'm dating you, am I? And you just got
dumped by your boyfriend? That doesn't even add up."

"It did to Janet. She knows me too
well. I had to lie, don't you see?" she shrank and felt near tears,
but was determined not to cry in front of him.

A flash of lightening lit his face
momentarily and she stared up at him. "Oh Ben, I'm sorry. I'm so
sorry. I really didn't think it would do any harm."

"I can't believe she would believe it.
I mean, you did just run from a wedding, didn't you?"

"Yes, of course I
did...but..."

A long finger reached out to curl a
wisp of hair behind her ear, as he continued to lean over her, "And
just how is this little romance supposed to end?"

She gulped, "Well naturally, I'll have
to go back home, or get a job."

He nodded and backed off. She sighed
her relief.

"And if I play along with this little
romance, will it keep you out of trouble and mischief till
you
do
go back home or find a
job....or some kind of life again?" His back was to her, and she
felt he might even co-operate with her on this.

"Yes," she jumped up and went to stand
in front of him. "Yes, I promise. You don't have to do a thing.
I'll handle it. I've already figured it out. Really. It won't even
involve you personally; she'll just think it will. We'll meet at
the movies, or the restaurant only we won't and no one will be the
wiser. Since I'm staying at the ranch, it will be hard for her to
check up on me. And my little lie won't have hurt anyone, you
see."