Free Wild Bride by Jill Sanders Page A

back…” He pulled her close and right there in the middle of downtown Fairplay, kissed her for the whole town to see. He pulled away and chuckled when Maggie’s little hands reached up between them.
    Smiling, he looked down at Savannah and noticed that her blue eyes were cloudy and unfocused, which made him smile even more.
    “Come on, let’s get the surprise over with so I can take my two ladies back home.” She blinked a few times and then turned and started walking towards Holly’s.
    When he stepped in the front door of the newly remodeled place, he was surprised to see how well the place had turned out. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought he’d just stepped into a coffeehouse in downtown New York.
    There were a few customers sitting around the front tables drinking coffee and enjoying baked goods.
    “Here,” she said and tugged him towards the far corner, near the fireplace. He noticed a group of people including Travis and Holly and a few other people he knew. When they approached, Travis stood and shook his hand.
    “Good to have you back.” He patted him on the arm and then Corey shook his hand, followed by a few of his other close friends. Maggie was taken from his arms and a beer was shoved in his hands.
    When he finally sat down next to Savannah, he set his beer down untouched and reached for his daughter again.
    “Thanks.” He smiled over at her.
    She tilted her head and looked at him in question. “For what?”
    He chuckled. “For this. It’s good to see everyone again.” He nodded to the group of people who were easily the loudest group in the place.
    She frowned a little. “Don’t thank me. I mentioned that you were coming home the other day when we were here for play time and the next thing I know, Holly had put it all together,” she whispered as she leaned closer to him. He got a quick whiff of her scent and instantly the desire for her was back full force.
    “Do you think they’d mind if we left now?” He smiled and brushed a strand of her hair away from her face. He hadn’t expected to see her frown and bite her bottom lip.
    “Billy,” she started to say, but was interrupted by Travis.
    “So, tell us all about your job.” Travis leaned closer to them. “We heard you had a bunch of protesters up there at one point.”
    Billy sighed and leaned away from Savannah. “Yeah, it’s funny, the news said they were peaceful, but shooting a few dozen holes in our generators and destroying a few thousand dollars of equipment doesn’t seem peaceful to me.”
    Everyone listened as he talked about the last six months. Then he turned the tables and smiled at Travis.
    “Heard you popped the big question.” He nodded towards Holly.
    Travis laughed. “Yeah, we figure we’ll get married this fall when her mother we’ll be in town.”
    Billy shook his head. “Dropping like flies around here.”
    Travis laughed. “Everyone except Corey there.” He nodded to their friend who was busy flirting with April behind the bar.
    “Corey?” Billy smiled at his friend. “Corey is a habitual flirt. It’ll take a miracle to get him to settle down. He smiled bigger when his friend started walking back to the table. “Besides,” he said a little louder, “who would want someone so ugly.”
    Corey laughed. “You shouldn’t talk about yourself like that. Besides, everyone knows you’ve already gotten yourself a woman.” Then he laughed. “Well, two of them now.” He nodded to the sleeping baby that Holly was holding.
    His smile wavered a little as he looked over at Savannah, who was looking like she’d rather be anywhere but sitting in this room full of old friends.

Chapter Seven
    S avannah tried not to let her nerves show. Everyone was too busy chatting and joking with each other to pay her any real attention.
    In the last six months, she’d done a lot of thinking and soul searching. She’d enjoyed the time she spent with Tracy and Carmen, even though she still didn’t