Runaway Bride (9 page)

Mrs. Johnson was busy hanging the wash
out back, and Little Bit greeted him the moment he got out of the
Jeep. Ben bent down and played with his dog for several minutes,
then threw his ball and watched as Little Bit ran to catch it. He
was nearly on the porch when the dog brought it dangling from his
mouth. "Good boy," he smiled and scratched him behind the
ears.

Savannah was nowhere to be
found.

That is until he heard a loud shrieking
sound. Always on the alert, Ben wasted no time in following the
sound. He rounded the house just in time to see Savannah flailing
her arms in the air wildly.

"Oh no...Oh my God!" she shrieked even
louder, hopping about as though the devil himself were after her.
The expensive camera equipment fell to the dust and she groaned.
Ben couldn't begin to imagine what was going on at first, until he
heard the sound of bees.

Without hesitating, he hauled her up
and into his arms and into the house. She was light as a feather,
but not at all happy to be manhandled.

"What are you doing?" she protested
hotly as he set her down in the kitchen.

"Getting you out of another scrape, it
would seem," Ben replied holding her arm and examining it closely.
"You've been stung."

"I know that, why do you think I was
hollering, Sheriff," she nearly yelled at him and jerked her arm
free. "I'll be alright in a few minutes."

Ben shook his head, and began looking
at her from head to toe. "Are you allergic to insect bites,
too?"

Savannah shrugged. "I don't know, I've
never been stung before."

He nodded as though he knew another
catastrophe had befallen her. "Well, I hate to be the one to tell
you, but you're breaking out in welts all over your face and arms.
We'd better call Dr. Peters."

Savannah examined herself in the hall
mirror and moaned aloud, "Oh no, not this ..."

Ben nodded and went to the kitchen
sink. He came back to her and applied some kind of paste to her
sting, then blotted her welts.

"Why don't you go lie down, I'll get
the doctor out here to look at you."

Savannah shook her head. "If my car is
ready, I'm leaving. I'm not so sure about this town of yours
Sheriff. It doesn't seem all that peaceful to me."

"You're in no shape to drive now." He
instructed as though he knew best. "Besides, I'm still checking
your information out. And there's still a little matter of a
license."

Mrs. Johnson came in and saw the welts
immediately. "Oh my, you should lie down, dear."

"But ..."

Seeing Ben's adamant expression, she
didn't argue. She let Mrs. Johnson take care of her, waiting on her
like a baby.

Ben called the doctor and went to look
in on her again.

"The doc will be right out." he
informed her.

Savannah was lying on the bed again,
and when he came to sit on the side beside her, she nearly jumped
up.

"I'm terribly sorry about this,
Sheriff." Savannah began then realizing what he said stopped.
"Right out? Are you kidding? Your doctor makes house
calls?"

"Only to the very young and old, but if
it's an emergency, Doc Peters will show up, for sure."

"I can't believe it. House calls. Oh, I
must look awful. I feel it. I'm so sorry, Sheriff."

"It's Ben, remember? And it can't be
helped. Are you in any pain?" His concern was genuine. He inspected
her welts.

"No, not really, I just itch like
crazy." She began to scratch, and he gently reached to take her
nails away from the lumps forming on her arms.

"I'll get the calamine
lotion."

"Oh please, don't bother."

"No bother at all,
Savannah."

He went into the hall and came back
with a pink bottle and some cotton balls. He began dabbing pink
blotches all over her face and arms.

"Have you ever broken out like this
before?" he asked.

"No," she muttered
miserably.

She turned away, and he knew that tears
were only a few seconds away. Unable to cope with that, he pulled
her chin around and stared into her eyes. "Hey, it's not all that
bad. We've got a good doctor and he'll fix you up real
quick."

"What did you put on me, in the
kitchen?"

"Soda, to take the sting out of
it."

She smiled a little. "It
worked."

"Good." He smiled back and that's when
their eyes met. Ben bent his head, his eyes still on hers, and
their lips were mere inches away when Mrs. Johnson came into the
room with a cool wet washcloth for her. Ben jumped up as though
he'd been caught doing something horrible.

"This should help the welts some. Oh, I
declare, looks like Ben's already found the lotion." she said and
after glancing at him, she left again, as quickly as she had
entered.

Ben paced, wondering why he had this
uncontrollable urge to hold her. He had to detach himself from this
little gal. She wasn't as helpless as he feared, and she wasn't
going to be hanging around here long. But instead he moved away and
walked towards the door.

"We'll have you fixed up in no time. I
called a tow truck for your car and talked to the garage mechanic.
He said he'll have to special order the part for the radiator. He
doesn't get many BMWS out here."

"How long will it take?" she shrieked
as though that thought wasn't supposed to happen.

"He said he'd get right on it, but it
might take a few days to get the part, but he'd try to put a rush
on it for you." Ben replied. "Why, are you in a hurry?"

He had read her every thought. Why not,
they were both keenly aware of the attraction. He had a feeling she
had felt this strange electricity between them too, and she wanted
no part of it from the way she acted. That was good, wasn't it?
Then why did he feel just the least bit disappointed that she
didn't want any part of him. He'd never experienced anything like
the feelings this woman stirred and if he was wise he'd run,
because she was trouble, with a capital T.

If he knew what was good for him, he'd
want her out of here too. But oddly enough, he would like for her
to stay long enough to explore why. And besides, he told himself,
he
was
investigating that car,
and her identification.

"I guess I should be thanking you, for
putting up with me, but really, I hate being a bother to
people."

"No bother, just rest." he said as he
rushed towards the door. He had to get out of here, put some
distance between him and temptation.

* * *

Savannah sighed heavily as she leaned
back against the pillows. She should be marching out the door about
now and leaving this little paradise behind, but for the life of
her she didn't feel like moving. The welts were still appearing all
over her and she felt like one giant fever blister.

She wanted to cry, wanted to run,
wanted to hide. And she wanted that Sheriff to kiss her too. In all
her life she had never been so brazen. But the Sheriff was
definitely woman shy. She had to get that through her head, and
fast. He wasn't interested, and she shouldn't be. Hadn't Chad been
a big enough experience for her? How could she be this attracted to
a man, after such a thing happening to her own wedding? It made no
sense, no sense at all.

The doctor came and administered a
shot, then told her to rest till tomorrow. He didn't want her
operating any machinery for at least a day and he'd have a look at
her before she left town.

Savannah bit her lower lip when she saw
the dismay on the Sheriff's face. He wasn't pleased with being
stuck with her either.

Mrs. Johnson waited on her, informing
her that the Sheriff would return soon, as soon as he took care of
some trivial problems. Little things, like... someone had broken a
glass in the school building, someone had a complaint about a car
being parked in the wrong place half the day.

It was after sun down before the
Sheriff came back and she'd been sleeping. When she woke, she found
him sitting beside her looking at her with the biggest frown she'd
ever seen.

"Oh I'm sorry; I didn't hear you come
in." She said sitting up in the bed, trying to act alert and well,
yet failing miserably.

"Mrs. Johnson said that shot knocked
you out. You've been sleeping most of the day. I was beginning to
worry."

"Great, I probably won't sleep a wink
tonight." She grumbled. "I should be out of here by now. Any word
on my car?"

"Um...yes, as a matter of fact, I
wanted to talk to you about that."

Savannah watched him closely, a shadow
of doubt on her face. "Oh?"

"You want to tell me about it, or must
I?" He firmed his lips and glanced at her.

The blood left her face, her eyes
clouded with tears, and she knew she was pouring it on a little too
thick. He handed her a tissue and waited. He wasn't impressed.
She'd have to level with him, if she wanted his help.

"It belongs to my parents. When I left
the church, I had to have a car. I was at the wedding, my car was
at home. I'd ridden there with my parents to the church. Chad lives
across the street from the church. The man I was going to marry.
Well, I couldn't take someone else's car, could I? I took theirs.
Have they filed a complaint?"

"'Fraid so. I'll have to check it out,
you know. I'm still waiting on proper id, too. Would you like me to
send a message to your parents? At least let them know you are
alright?"

"You don't believe me?" she gasped. A
message to her parents? No, she wasn't ready for that.

Seeing the alarm in her face, he felt
guilty as hell for checking her out, but knew he had to do it.
"Sure...I believe you. It's a formality Savannah...besides, who
could make up such a story? Now about that message? No matter how
bad the problem is, you should at least let them know you are
okay."

She stared at him. "Oh... I suppose you
could tell them I'm fine, and will be in touch soon."

"Alright. That's better. We'll talk
about this when you're feeling better." He grinned. But she was
still frowning.

He started to leave but paused in the
doorway. "Why did you run out on the fella?"

"It's a long story."

He nodded and smiled again. "I'm sure
it is. Indulge me."

"You wouldn't be
interested."

"Okay, we'll drop it for now. Have you
made any calls yet?" He asked.

"No, I'll need to reach my aunt, and my
girlfriend, the one that's meeting me at the Dude Ranch. But it's
long distance unless you have a cell phone."

"Your aunt isn't home, as I said, and
what's this about a Dude Ranch?"

"Oh, I guess I didn't tell you. Since
I've been stranded and your housekeep told me all about the Dude
Ranch not far from here, I called for a reservation. For me and my
friend."

He still wasn't following her train of
thought. "A Dude Ranch? And exactly what are you going to do at
this…Dude Ranch?"

"Take pictures. It's
perfect."

"You're going to take pictures at a
Dude Ranch?" he queried.

"Yes, isn't that exciting?" When he
didn't respond, she explained. "Well, I borrowed your phone and
called the editor of one of the magazines I've worked for. They
sounded excited."

"And just what are you going to
photograph?"

"Animals, nature."

"Oh!" he nodded now, understanding.
"There's a cell phone in my bedroom, on the night stand, but I
guess you've already found that. You make your calls, while I see
what Mrs. Johnson left us for supper." He smiled at her.

It was the first sign all day that he
wasn't upset with her. She felt pleased and more than a little
pulled to that smile.

"Thanks," she called after him. "You've
been very kind."

He smiled again and left.

Savannah sighed heavily, knowing she
was going to miss him the minute she left his beautiful home, but
that it was inevitable too. She was stuck here for a night or two,
but then it would be over and she'd be gone. That thought left a
very dull feeling in her heart. Why couldn't she stay in Junction?
What was to stop her?

Good sense. No use pursuing a man who
had absolutely no intention of getting married, and said so. But
why? Why did he feel that way? Had he been through some painful
experience, or was he just a male chauvinist?

Darn it, she didn't need to stay here.
She was too attracted to Ben Hogg.

And turnabout was fair play, he didn't
trust her any more than she trusted him.

She had just finished talking with
Janet on the phone when the Sheriff came in with a tray full of
food. He set it in front of her, and then returned to the
kitchen.

When he joined her a few minutes later,
he had his own tray and sat in the chair by the bed.