Return of the Runaway Bride (14 page)

"I was only trying to tell you..." He faltered. "I felt...rejected. The humiliation..." He shook his head. "I had never experienced anything like it before. It was... difficult for me. So difficult, in fact, that I never stopped to think what you may have been going through."

He ran an agitated hand over his lower jaw before he continued. "Anyway, I want you to know that I'm
.. .letting
all that go. I may not agree with the way you did things back then, but I do understand your reasons for leaving. And this—" he pointed toward the box she held to her chest "—is my way—" he gazed deeply into her eyes "—of forgiving you."

Savanna looked down at the small box in her hand.

"Go ahead," he said, "open it."

She lifted the lid and her throat immediately constricted with emotion, hot and thick. Unable to speak, she could only look with tear-blurred eyes at the tiny pearl buttons nestled inside. The tiny pearl buttons from her wedding dress.

Chapter Six

"Thanks for coming to pick me up."
Miz
Ida said, closing the car door behind her. "Of course I'm perfectly capable of walking to the hospital, but it's nice to give these weary bones a rest."

"Weary bones," Savanna commented wryly. "You have more energy than I do. Anyway, there was no reason for you to walk when I was driving right by your place on my way to the board meeting."

"I'm glad you decided to come," Ida told her. "We could use some fresh ideas."

Savanna smiled in the fading light of the summer evening. "Well, I'm sure full of ideas and I'm happy to help the hospital."

"I have the figures from the flea market," Ida said. "I'll be presenting them tonight. The Ladies didn't raise much money, but every little bit helps."

"The Ladies' Auxiliary organized a nice little gathering." Savanna glanced over and saw
Miz
Ida's
humble shrug, but the woman was clearly proud of her efforts.

"I heard you had lunch with Daniel that day."

The statement came out of the blue, like a grenade lobbed into a crowd of innocent by-standers. Ida relished the surprise
attack, that
was certain. Savanna had to scramble to gather her wits.

"Um-hmm," she said.

"I also heard..."

Savanna's stomach tensed at Ida's probing tone.

"
That things
didn't end on a very good note between the two of you."

Feeling the need to stop the gossip about
herself
and Daniel from traveling any further along the grapevine, Savanna said, "Ida, Daniel and I did have words, I guess you could say. But I want to assure you, I've seen him since then and we've worked everything out. Things are fine between us.
Just fine."

"Well, that's good,"
Miz
Ida commented.

"In fact," Savanna continued, "I've seen him several times this week. He smiled. He waved. He even stopped and talked to me in a most friendly fashion when we happened to meet in the post office." She couldn't help overdoing it. She felt a desperate need to look out for her reputation.
And Daniel's.
Savanna raised a cocked eyebrow at
Miz
Ida. "I'm surprised you hadn't heard about that."

"Now don't go
gettin
' all bent out of shape," Ida said. "I only brought it up because Daniel is the attorney for the hospital. He's on the board, so he'll be at the meeting tonight. He'll get to vote on any ideas you bring up. And I'd rather not see you go into the meeting with one strike against you."

"I know that Daniel's on the board," she said. "And that shouldn't be a problem." Her tone was a little vague. She wasn't really worried that she'd be
working with Daniel on this fund-raising effort. She
was
concerned to learn that stories were being passed around about the two of them. She was sure Daniel wouldn't like it, either.

As Savanna pulled her car into a parking space in front of the hospital, she caught sight of Daniel walking toward the main entrance.

"I also wanted to know,"
Miz
Ida started tentatively, "whether you were in a position to—"

"Just a minute."
Savanna leaned toward her open window. "There's Daniel now."

This was a great opportunity to show Ida the friendly relationship she and Daniel shared. It just may put an end to all the talk. Honking the horn, Savanna waved furiously.

"Hello, Daniel," she called.

He lifted his hand in greeting, offered them a smile, and then disappeared into the building.

There, Savanna thought
,
if that doesn't show Ida nothing would.

Savanna opened her car door. "Let's get in there,
Miz
Ida. We don't want to be late."

She chose to ignore Ida's frustrated grumble. Savanna felt the woman would just have to deal with her disappointment regarding the rumors of trouble.

"I can't wait to present my ideas to the board," Savanna said as she pushed the button in the elevator that would take them to the third floor. "Does everyone know I'm coming to give some input?"

Miz
Ida hesitated before replying, "Most of them do."

Savanna felt a tingle of suspicion creep along her skin at the sound of Ida's guilty tone. "Most?" she asked.

"Well," Ida began, "I couldn't...I didn't know if... I wanted to wait and see..."

Squaring her shoulders and narrowing her eyes, Savanna turned to face Ida and said, "You didn't tell Daniel."

"Well...you see...
I
..."
Miz
Ida stammered. "It's not that I wasn't going to tell him at all. I simply didn't have the opportunity to do it."

"Right," Savanna said wryly. "
Miz
Ida, you not having the opportunity to relay some tidbit of information to someone is about as believable as the Statue of Liberty walking down Main Street."

Ida looked truly chagrined.

"He'll find out soon enough," Ida said. "Besides, if the two of you are on such friendly terms, then he won't mind in the least."

Savanna nodded her head with assurance. "He won't mind in the least."

Walking into the meeting room, she was surprised by how many people were in attendance.
Miz
Ida confirmed that many people of the community were concerned about the hospital and would be affected if the private establishment failed.

Several minutes were spent as Savanna greeted those citizens of Fulton she knew and was introduced to some she didn't. When Jim Thompson called the meeting to order, Savanna took a seat among the nonvoting attendants while Ida sat at her designated place at the long table in the front of the room.

The board discussed several different topics pertaining to the hospital and its employees' welfare. Savanna's attention slipped as her eyes were drawn to Daniel. He looked preoccupied, as though be
might he upset by something. Maybe he'd had a rough day.

Savanna thought back to last weekend when they had had their talk. She'd been speechless when she'd opened the small box and seen that he'd kept the pearl buttons that she'd ripped from her wedding dress. As Daniel had explained how very hard it had been for him to face everyone that day, her heart had ached with empathy. He had gone on to describe the hellish few days he'd spent in Fulton until he'd finally had all he could take and decided to return to school early.

She had let him talk Sunday afternoon. Let him get it all out of his system. By the time she'd left Daniel's house, she felt they had come to a new understanding of each other. She was happy about that.

What she wasn't happy about, though, was the way Daniel kept coming to the forefront of her mind. Ever since their talk, she'd been bombarded with thoughts of him. Memories, old and new, continually flitted through her brain with no provocation whatsoever. And at night she was plagued by dreams, misty, erotic images that floated just out of her grasp with the dawning of the sun.

Savanna found herself looking for Daniel on her excursions into town, watching for him to drive by her house, hoping with each ring of the telephone that she would hear his voice on the other end of the line. She knew her behavior was ridiculous; he'd given no indication that he planned to see her or even contact her. But she watched and waited nonetheless.

It was becoming a problem. A problem she really didn't need. She knew she would…

"I'd like to present Ms. Savanna Langford."

The tail end of Ida Watson's introduction snapped Savanna to attention. She blinked and sat up straight.

"Come on up here, Savanna,"
Miz
Ida called.

Picking up her briefcase, Savanna went to the front of the room. She placed her notebook on the table and took a seat.

"Everyone remembers Savanna, I'm sure," Ida commented. "I told you
all that
she offered to come and volunteer some of her time and expertise."

A muffled sigh erupted, and Savanna's eyes darted to Daniel's end of the table. Ida pointedly ignored the sound and continued talking.

"As you all know, Savanna is a professional fundraiser," Ida said, "and she's going to give us some ideas on how we can raise some money for the hospital."

Jim Thompson smiled a hearty welcome. "We're glad to have your help. Tell us what you have in mind."

After opening her notebook and scanning the page of notes she'd written, Savanna looked along the line of board members seated at the table.

"First," she said, "I'd like to let you know how pleased I am to be able to give something back to Fulton General. My father was given such expert care here when he fell off that ladder and broke his arm. And my mother wrote and told me how she wouldn't trust anyone but the doctors here to help her get her ulcer under control."

Savanna paused a moment. "The people at this hospital have taken care of the most important people in my life. Not only
that, but the people who work here truly care
about their patients. The nurse who cared for my father came to visit him at home after he
was discharged. The ivy plant she brought him is still growing in the yard.''

Her lips curled in a smile as she concluded, "I just want to let all of you know that I sincerely want to help Fulton General stay in business."

Her speech was met with enthusiasm and appreciation. Smoothing her hand over her notes, she cleared her throat and said, "Now let's get down to business. I've come up with several ideas that I think will work. The first is a carnival." Savanna looked at the faces of the board members. "I've worked with two carnival owners in the past. Both offer something for people of all ages. There are
kiddie
rides for the younger children, faster rides for teens and everyone loves the games of skill and chance."

A murmur of approval rose from the people sitting behind her. The board members looked open to the idea.
All but one.
She couldn't stop to wonder why Daniel was so grim-faced.

"We pay the carnival owner a flat fee," she continued with her explanation, "and we raise the price of the rides to make a profit. And believe me, the profit is more than you might imagine. The last carnival I planned—

"It won't work." Daniel's voice was flat, emotionless.

She turned her head and their gazes collided.

"Why do you say that?" she asked.