Runaway Bride (21 page)

And he hung up.

Ben sat staring at the phone for a long
time. Never in his life had he dreamed this kind of situation. But
now his concern was for Savannah. Poor, sweet, unsuspecting
Savannah had gotten herself into a situation that demanded she do
something. Thank God she had the sense to run away from
it.

Deep down he had known there had to be
a reasonable explanation for her doing such a thing. It almost made
him feel guilty for calling Chad. But he was relieved to know the
truth.

Now he was faced with his own feelings
for her and what he aimed to do about them.

* * *

The next morning, it was overcast. The
weather man predicted heavy storms for the area. Ben grimaced.
Checking the sky, he noted the black clouds accumulating and
decided to put his rain slicker in his car.

Then he saw a car coming down the
gravel road, toward his house. He watched, it wasn't familiar. It
looked like a rental.

When a man and a woman got out and
began walking towards him he stood very still and waited. Being a
Sheriff had taught him to be cautious of anyone. The man looked
determined, and in control, the woman looked angry. They were both
dressed well, too well. They weren't from around here he sized them
up quickly.

Savannah got out of the backseat. She
was wearing a beautiful spring dress that flowed as she walked. Her
hair fell about her shoulders and that streak caught his eye again.
Funny how something so small could catch a man's eye. She was so
lovely, he couldn't help just standing there admiring
her.

"Are you Ben Hogg?" the man was asking
as he approached him.

"That's right," Ben answered, his eyes
still on Savannah, his hand extending for a shake.

"We're Savannah's parents," the woman
said staunchly as she eyed him closely.

"Yes, I'm John, and this is my wife,
Melanie."

"Oh, so you are here to pick up the
car," Ben concluded giving them his attention now that Savannah had
joined them.

"And Savannah, of course," the woman
informed him.

"You're leaving?" Ben cast a quick
glance in her direction.

"Yes...." Savannah didn't look happy
though. She looked miserable. Almost as miserable as he had been
for the past few days.

"Well, why don't you all come in, have
a glass of tea before you head out," Ben encouraged. "I'll need you
to sign a receipt that you picked the car up, anyway."

"Alright, we'll take care of that
now."

"I think we should just go, John,"
Melanie ground out.

"No, I think I'd like to get to know
Mr. Hogg here a little better, after all, if it hadn't been for
him, we wouldn't know where Savannah had gotten to. We have a lot
to thank him for. Why, without your call, we might have had a
search party out looking for her."

"I'm not about to thank him...." his
wife huffed as she followed them into the house.

Ben ignored the lady, after all, she
was emotional and emotional women didn't always make sense. "That's
exactly why I contacted you," Ben assured him.

Savannah was standing in back of them
now and slowly entered the house.

Ben played host to them, offering them
fresh iced tea and then as they all sat in the living room, he eyed
them carefully, while watching Savannah out of the corner of his
eye.

"I'm just glad everything turned out
all right," Ben said.

"I wouldn't say it turned out alright
at all..." Melanie firmed her lips as she looked at Ben with
daggers in her eyes.

"Is there something wrong?" Ben asked
innocently.

"Are you, or are you not the man
responsible for ruining my daughter's wedding?" she blurted
out.

"Ruining....her...wedding?" Ben's faced
screwed up and he stared at Mrs. Kingsley from across the room. "I
don't believe I follow you."

Savannah stood up, "Mother,
please..."

"Of course you are, she's in love with
you..."

"She is...?" Ben's eyes suddenly pinned
Savannah to the wall. "You are?"

Savannah couldn't take it any longer.
She didn't know what to say, how to correct it all. Too many lies,
so many wrongs.

She ran....

* * *

"Now see what's you've done,
Melanie...." John was saying as he ran to the door to watch his
daughter getting in his car once more and tearing off down the
highway. The rain had started and it was lightning.

"I want to know what you are going to
do about this, young man." Melanie was in his face now but Ben
wasn't concentrating on her. He was worried about what Savannah
might do.

"Well, right now, I'll put out a APB on
your daughter and find out where she's headed. Then I'll bring her
back here."

"I'm not talking about that, I want to
know who and what you are about. How long have you known my
daughter? Exactly what are your intentions?"

"Mrs. Kingsley, I have to admit I've
been concerned about Savannah too. Nothing she did made any sense
to me. But after a phone conversation last night I understand a lot
more than I did. And I think there is something you should both
know."

Ben told them about his conversation
with Chad on the phone and Melanie sat stone still, "I can't
believe it."

"It came directly from him. I wouldn't
and couldn't invent such a story. I don't even know the man,
personally." Ben said as he told Chad's story to them.

"But, why...why couldn't she tell me?"
Melanie objected. "I'm her mother, for goodness sakes."

"She didn't know till her wedding day.
And I suspect Savannah wasn't that upset finding out he was gay, as
admitting she was that naive and didn't know. Her ego had been
damaged. She didn't know what to do or where to turn. I myself
wouldn't have known, if I hadn't taken it upon myself to find out.
I'm a lawman, and I guess a little too snoopy for
words."

"She wasn't in love with Chad; she was
in love with getting married. She so admired her sisters for making
good families, that's all Savannah ever wanted." Mrs. Kingsley
related, as though talking to herself.

"I asked Savannah what had happened.
She was reluctant to tell me anything. As a Sheriff I had to know
something though. She had no ID. So I kept at her. She never told
me he was gay. She said she had caught him with
someone."

"Good Lord," John touched his head,
"She caught them....?"

"That's what she said...I don't know
much more than you about it, because she hasn't confessed anything
to me. I took it upon myself to find out. I'm sorry I intruded, but
then again, I'm not. Now I understand why she did so many
things."

"That still doesn't explain your
relationship with my daughter."

Ben nodded again, and glanced out the
door. Where had she gone. Did he have time to catch her?

Ben looked her father in the eye,
"Alright, I think you deserve to know, I love her. Does that
explain anything? I had no right to fall in love with her, knowing
she had run from a planned wedding. But with Savannah, how could
you help it? Now I'm sorry, but I've got to go after her. Excuse
me..."

* * *

Savannah couldn't see the highway for
the tears in her eyes. She'd never been so embarrassed in her life,
except maybe when she caught Chad and Douglas together. Everything
seemed to come crashing down on her now.

It wasn't that she couldn't accept his
life; it was that she couldn't accept hers. Her plans for marriage
and family had become an obsession.

Stupid, that's what she was. Now
everyone knew what a fool she had been. For almost marrying Chad,
for falling in love with Ben...oh her life was a total mess. Even
her work as a photographer didn't cheer her. Why should it, she
reasoned, her father's disapproval made her sick. Why couldn't she
ever do anything right?

Thunder sounded above her, but she
wasn't frightened. She was too humiliated to be anything but
miserable.

The rain began slowly at first, in big
heavy drops, but before long it began to pour. She didn't know
where she was going, didn't care.

She also hadn't paid the least bit of
attention to the gas tank or she would have known she was about to
run out. When the engine started sputtering, she glanced at the
dash and saw another big blunder. She'd passed high waters, paying
little attention, she'd flooded the engine out.

She pulled to the side of the road,
beat the steering wheel several times, then dropped her head and
bawled.

She was berating herself when a knock
on her window startled her.

Slowly her head came up and she knew
who she would see, it was him...Ben!

She didn't wipe away the tears, nor
roll the window down, she just sat there.

He opened the door, and scooted her
over.

"I might have known," he
bellowed.

"Don't you dare say a word to me," she
shouted.

"You don't even know where you are at,
do you?" He asked, his voice lowering some.

"No, and I don't care."

"No, well, you're not more than a
hundred yards from the same place you had trouble
before."

"So what?" she cried, her tears still
streaming down her face. "So what, how did you find me?"

"I put an APB out on you as soon as you
took off. My office rang me a minute later said they spotted the
car, headed west."

"So," he glanced out the window, "That
gully you just passed is washed out. We're stuck again."

"Stuck....but...." she glanced about
her.

She hadn't noticed the water covering
the road, she hadn't noticed anything since she left Ben's house.
She just wanted to die...alone.

"Leave it to you!" he
muttered.

He got out of the car, and came back
with a rain slicker, "Here, put this on, and let's go."

"Where are we going?"

"To the Dugan place, there's flash
flood warning out for this part of the road. Didn't you notice you
were in the lowlands. You must have crossed a foot of water back
there, didn't you realize it?"

"No, I wasn't paying attention, I
guess."

"I guess." He pulled her by the arm to
his car, then drove to the ranch house again.

"Why did you bring me here?" she asked
as they scrambled into the house, anticipation mingling with
dread.

"To get you in out of the storm." His
voice deepened, sending awareness rippling through her as vibrant
as the newborn storm raging just outside the door.

"I needed to be alone, to get away..."
she spoke softly, like a whisper, as though talking to
herself.

"I know...I–think I understand a lot of
things now," he said, as he went to the fireplace and began
building a fire, just as he had so many nights ago.

She watched in the darkness, seeing
only flashes of him, wishing the site of him didn't warm her
so.

"You can't understand, there are so
many things," she began only to break off in a hoarse whisper
again.

He stirred the ashes, bent to light the
fire with an old newspaper he found in the dark corner of the
house. As he stirred he spoke softly. "Savannah, we need to
talk..."

She turned away from him unable to
steady her drumming heart. Just being in the same room with Ben
made her weak kneed. She didn't want to be weak kneed right now.
She wanted to tell him everything.

"You asked me once, why I went into
that saloon, and acted the way I did..." she began.

"I think I know now..."

"You can't," she turned to face him
through the darkness, searching for his face, unable to see
him.

"Then...tell me," he wasn't far away,
but he wasn't coming any closer either, and she so needed him to.
Wanted him to.

"I don't know where to begin," she
sighed, letting herself lean into the wall. "There's things you
don't know, can't know...."

"About Chad?" he questioned.

"And me..."

"Go on," he urged gently.

"The reason I ran out on him, I can't
tell you. I promised not to tell you or anyone else," she breathed
heavily, feeling the peace and the calm of his voice surround her.
"I may be a liar, but I do keep my promises."

"Savannah...I know about Chad." he said
coming to stand beside her. She couldn't see him, only the white's
of his eyes, but his voice cajoled, while his words frightened her
into a stillness.

"You can't...possibly."

"I talked to Chad the other night on
the phone," he explained, as his hands came to hold her by the
arms, at arm's length.

"You–you called him?" she barely
breathed the words.