Right Where We Belong (Silver Springs #4)
Brenda Novak
Dear Reader,
Many of my Silver Springs books are based on men who faced extreme difficulty while growing up and were sent to a boys ranch called New Horizons for reformation. Aiyana Turner, who started New Horizons, has dedicated her life to making the ranch’s students whole, and the love she offers has succeeded in many instances.
This story is about Gavin, one of the boys she adopted when he was first sent to her. Gavin’s unique in that he’s been able to overcome his tragic childhood better than the others in the Turner family. Not only is he functional, his unique background has made him sensitive to the needs of those around him. He knows how to help and is willing to do so. That makes him a special hero, which is lucky for the heroine of this story. Savanna Gray is in a world of hurt, and Gavin’s just the man to make life a little easier.
I’ve often been curious about those women who—to their utter shock—find out that their husband is a rapist or a murderer. All the press is dedicated to the crime and the perpetrator. We never get to hear how their families quietly picked up the pieces and moved on—if they were able to do that. This is a romance but also a story about overcoming such a terrible blow.
I spend a lot of time on Facebook interacting with my readers. If you’re on Facebook, too, definitely like my page at www.Facebook.com/brendanovakauthor. Also join my online book group. It consists of 8,000 of the most fabulous bookworms, and we have so many fun things going on (group T-shirts, personalized and autographed bookmarks, monthly “professional reader boxes,” a birthday program, an annual “in person” event, a commemorative pin for anyone who’s read more than fifty Novak novels, and more)! You can find the link to join and learn all about it on my website at www.brendanovak.com.
Here’s hoping you love Gavin and Savanna’s story...
Brenda Novak
To Debra Watson Duncan,
a member of my online book group
and one of my favorite readers. Thanks for
all the love and support you give me, Debra!
1
“You knew! You had to have known!”
The vitriol in those words caused the hair on the back of Savanna Gray’s neck to stand on end. She was just trying to pick up a gallon of milk at the supermarket with her kids, had never dreamed she might be accosted—although since her husband’s arrest, it felt like everyone in town was staring daggers at her. The crimes Gordon committed had shaken the small, insular town of Nephi, Utah, to the core.
“Don’t you dare run off!” someone said behind her. “I know you heard me.”
Savanna froze. She had been about to flee. Her emotions were so raw she could barely make herself leave the house these days. She wished she could hole away with the curtains drawn and never face her neighbors again. But she had two children who were depending on her, and she was all they had left. Those children now looked up at her expectantly, and her son, Branson, who was eight, said, “Mommy, I think that lady’s talking to you.”
Gripping her shopping cart that much tighter, Savanna swung it around. She was determined to do a better job of defending herself against this type of thing than she’d done in the past. But then she recognized Meredith Caine.
A videotape of Meredith—clothes torn, mascara smeared and lip bleeding while her sister, who was with her now, tried to comfort her—had played on the news several times while police searched for the man who’d attacked her as she carried a load of laundry down to the basement of her apartment building. That man was Savanna’s husband. Since his arrest, Savanna’s house had been egged—twice. Someone had driven onto her lawn and peeled out, leaving deep ruts. And someone else had thrown a bottle at her parked car that’d broken all over the driveway. But she’d never been directly confronted by one of Gordon’s victims, only their friends or family or others in the community who were outraged by the assaults.
Facing Meredith wasn’t easy. Savanna wished she could melt into the floor and disappear—do anything to avoid this encounter. Meredith didn’t understand. Savanna had watched her on TV with the same compassion and fear all the other women in the area felt. She’d had no idea she was living with the culprit, sleeping with him—and enabling him to operate without suspicion because of the illusion she helped create that he was a good family man. She’d thought he was a good family man, or she wouldn’t have married him!
“Meredith, don’t do this. Let’s go.” Her sister tried to drag her off, but Meredith remained rooted to the spot, eyes shining with outrage.
“Where were you, huh?” she cried. “How could you have missed that your husband was out stalking women at night?”
Gordon had been a mining equipment field service technician for the last seven years of their nine-year marriage, which meant he drove long distances to reach various mines and worked irregular hours. Savanna had believed he was on the road or repairing equipment, like he said. She’d had no idea he was out prowling around. Despite what Meredith and everyone else seemed to believe—that simply by virtue of being close to him she should’ve been able to spot such a large defect in his character—he’d never done anything to give himself away.
“I thought... I thought he was doing his job,” she said.