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"Eventually, yes," she sighed, about to move past him to the living room when he grabbed her and pulled her to him.
"I've missed you, Savannah." And with that his lips feather touched hers, just as her aunt called out to her from the other room.
Savannah moved away. Ben spoke to her aunt for a few minutes and left.
* * *
The following day Jimmy invited her on a picnic, but it rained and she couldn't go. She called him and canceled then joined her aunt in the living room.
"Your mother called earlier," she said.
Savannah's head came up and she looked at her aunt as though she had grown two heads. "My mother!"
"It sounded as though your friend, Janet has spread the word that you are madly in love with some yokel cowboy and she wants to get to the bottom of it."
Savannah groaned, "Oh no....so soon. How does everyone get news so fast?"
"Oh yes, and she'll be here tomorrow."
"She's coming here?" Savannah shrieked.
"Yes dear, they are both coming to pick up the car...and talk to you."
"Oh, Aunt Lucy, I've managed to screw everything up and I don't know how to right it all. If only Chad had confessed, all of this wouldn't be happening."
"Yes, you wouldn't have met and fell in love with Ben, nor dated Jimmy, nor visited me.” Lucy shook her head and grabbed Savannah's arm. "Everything isn't messed up. Why don't you simply tell your mother about Chad?"
"I promised Chad I wouldn't say anything until he did." Savannah sighed flopping into a recliner and leaning back. The only person in the whole world that Savannah had managed to tell the truth was her aunt. Weary from the lies and problems it had created, Savannah was at a loss as to what to do next.
"Well, I'm glad to know you are a woman of your word, but the truth has a way of coming out, sooner or later, my dear. But tell me, is Ben the yokel cowboy your mother spoke of?"
"I'm afraid so." Savannah cried out then glanced at her Aunt who was smiling.
"I thought so. Well, you did Ben a favor, I guess it's turn about fair play, isn't it?"
"Not exactly. Oh, Aunt Lucy....this is such a mess. I mean...I wanted Janet to tell everyone that I was in love with Ben, before I knew I was in love with Ben. But now, it's just so confusing."
Lucy went into the kitchen and came back in a few minutes with some tea. Savannah was near tears and trying to hold back.
"Drink your tea dear. This will all look better in the morning."
But it didn't. The morning brought new problems. Problems that materialized on her Aunt's front porch. Her parents had arrived!
They were all talking as Savannah came down the stairway, "Hello Mom, Dad."
A tall, man in his fifties came to stand beside her, Savannah looked up at him and tried to smile. How could she pretend happiness when it was so far from what she felt?
Her father had aged dramatically in the last few years, and telltale signs of his greying hair, and worried lines in his face made Savannah feel guilty for contributing to it. Yet his blue eyes twinkled when he saw her and she immediately felt better.
Her mother on the other hand swept gracefully across the porch, an air of sophistication and determination to her demeanor. A slim woman, in her fifties with golden hair, and very grey-green eyes. "Savannah, I was so happy when Lucy called me to tell me you were here, safe. Whatever possessed you to run from the church so? Oh no, don't tell me, Janet said you'd been infatuated with some yokel cowboy out here from that summer vacation you took all alone. Please tell me that it isn't true."
Aunt Lucy followed them and began taking control of the situation that Savannah had no idea how to handle.
"Let's go have some coffee and talk about this at the table..."
"That sounds divine dear, does your maid have any breakfast left over?"
"My maid?" Lucy queried. "I have no maid, Melanie; I only have a house-sitter when I'm not here."
