Wild Bride Read Free Page B

eighteen.
    She sighed and wished more than anything that she lived in a city instead of a small town that had nothing better to do than gossip about her life.
    She jumped when she heard a knock on her window. Looking out, she saw Sheriff Miller standing next to her Jeep on the curb. Rolling down the window, she smiled at him.
    “Everything okay, Savannah?” He leaned on her door and watched her carefully.
    “Yeah, just resting my eyes for a moment.” She smiled and put her hand over his.
    “We’re all worried about you, you know.”
     
    “Yeah.” She frowned a little and looked down at their hands. Stephen Miller was the only man in town besides her father that she could trust. “I’m okay, really.”
    “If you ever need anything…” He nodded to her growing belly and trailed off.
    She placed a hand over her belly and nodded. “We’ll be okay. I promise.”
    He smiled and then tipped his hat. “Well, you keep us posted. I know you and Jamella have had words in the past, but she’s really concerned for you as well.”
    She didn’t doubt him. She had never really gotten along with the large black woman who ran Mama’s diner (but seemed to think she ran the tiny town), but she respected her. You’d have to be stupid not to. After all, the woman weighed more than most people in town and knew everyone else’s business. With that much power, people tended to steer clear of her bad side.
    “Thanks.”
    “Well, night.” He tipped his hat again.
    “Night.” She reached over and started the Jeep’s engine.
    As she drove through town, she thought about her options.
    She could move to Tyler and have the baby there. She could get an apartment and live comfortably enough. If anyone asked, she could tell them that the daddy had died overseas in the military or some other fancy tale that would explain the lack of a man in her life. She frowned at that thought.
    Or she could give the baby up for adoption. She shivered and closed her mind to that. Her parents wouldn’t like that either. Her mother was acting so excited about the possibility of having the baby around. She’d even gone to her last two doctor appointments with her.
    Or she could have the baby and hold her head up high and raise it alone. After all, it was the twenty-first century. Women did it all the time.
    She smiled. That was the plan she was most sure about. She had her parents to help out. How bad could it be raising a child alone? She could just imagine it. Her mother would take care of the baby when she wanted to go out with friends. Her dad would spoil the baby and throw big parties for it. She laughed remembering how her father had spoiled her and imagined he’d do the same for her baby.
    She stopped smiling when she drove up to the house and saw Billy’s truck parked out front, right by her parents’ vehicles.
     

     
    Billy sat on the Douglas’s sofa feeling very uncomfortable. He’d taken Travis’s advice to come over, but the second he’d stepped inside their door, he’d wished he hadn’t.
    Travis had been his best friend since grade school and he’d always looked up to him. But at this moment, he wished he was punching the man in his face rather than sitting on an uncomfortable sofa as two of the wealthiest people in town stared him down.
    He knew what they saw. He was in his late twenties. Thanks to the fight he’d gotten in with Travis the other night, he was sporting a black eye and fat lip. But, he had to admit, getting punched had knocked some sense into him.
    He’d been acting like a child ever since Savannah had said all those things to him a few months ago. He’d been very hurt that she’d shunned him.
    He couldn’t blame her. His family members weren’t exactly known for their good citizenship. After all, his father was serving time in prison for killing a man. Billy’s mind flashed to the scene just a few nights ago when he’d shown up drunk at Travis’ door.
     
    “I don’t need your help. I don’t need