Right Where We Belong (Silver Springs #4)(42)

“Branson, what is it, honey?” she asked, pulling him into a hug. “I hope you’re not crying over a few wet blankets.”

“I am,” he said, his voice muffled against the nightgown she’d quickly pulled on. “I’m too old to pee the bed. But I don’t know how to stop.”

“You’re just sleeping too deeply to get up and go to the bathroom.” She hoped, by not making a big deal over it, she’d be able to help him through this rocky period. She’d been trying to take it in stride. Everything she’d read online suggested she not shame him, not turn it into a huge issue. “It could happen to anyone.”

He pulled back. “Then why doesn’t it happen to you or Alia?”

“It could, in the future,” she told him.

“But I never used to do it!”

Not until his father had been arrested...

Savanna took his hands. “Sometimes things happen in life that make us feel bad. And even though we may tell ourselves we’re okay, our bodies can show that we’re upset.”

“You’re saying it’s because of Daddy.”

“That’s what I think. Don’t you?”

He didn’t answer.

“When your father did...what he did, he hurt us all,” she continued. “This is how your body is responding. I understand that wetting the bed is upsetting and embarrassing for you, but you won’t do it forever. You’ll stop when you feel safe and loved again. And you will feel safe and loved again. I’m right here, aren’t I? I’m not going anywhere. I’ll continue to take care of you as I always have.”

With a sniff, he threw his arms around her waist and clung tightly.

She held him for several minutes, trying to comfort him by rubbing his back. Then she ruffled his hair. “Come on. Let’s get your bed made. I’ll lie down with you for a while, and we can talk about whatever you’d like. It’s too early to get up.”

He wiped his face. “Okay.”

Savanna shook her head as she remade the bed. Lately it seemed as if she was always feeling some strong emotion. In the past twenty-four hours, she’d been angry, aroused, excited, happy, confused and in tears herself. “We’re going to be okay,” she told Branson as he crawled under the covers with her.

Once they were both comfortable and settled, she asked him what he wanted his room to look like. Then they talked about the new house, what needed to be done and how it had once belonged to someone in her family who’d died, which made it special. He said he loved the creek and all the space he had to play here in Silver Springs but was afraid to start at a new school.

Savanna reminded him that wouldn’t happen until fall and that he’d be feeling much better about everything by then. She was going to help them finish up their current year herself. Fortunately, they’d always done well in their studies, were both at the top of the class. Even though she wasn’t experienced with homeschooling, she didn’t think having her take over for such a short period would hurt them in any way.

Branson drifted off to sleep just as the full brightness of the sun started to slant through the window. Savanna knew Alia would be up soon. Then Branson probably wouldn’t be able to sleep any longer, either. But if she was quiet, Savanna thought she might have a few minutes of solitude to reflect on what had transpired last night. She’d felt so connected to Gavin. As a matter of fact, she’d felt closer to him than she had Gordon, at least for the past several years.

After slipping out of Branson’s room, she made herself some coffee, pulled on a sweater to protect against the early-morning chill and carried her cup outside. She needed to buy some chairs for the porch, she decided. Right away. She could tell this was going to be one of her favorite places at the new house.

The sounds of birds chirping and squirrels scrabbling among the trees seemed to come from all around as she leaned on the banister. Cradling her cup in both hands, she stared toward the copse of trees that hid Gavin’s house from her view. Had he left for work?

She felt bad for keeping him up so late, and yet it made her smile to remember how readily he’d shrugged off her concern when she mentioned it to him. “This is worth it,” he’d said as she bit his neck and then his chest and helped herself to what she found much lower.

Her cell phone rang. She’d brought it with her so that she could call the contractor Gavin had recommended for the bridge. But she wasn’t expecting anyone to call her, so she cringed as she pulled it from her pocket. She assumed it would be Dorothy again—or Gordon, since it was an hour later in Utah—but caller ID indicated it was someone from the Nephi Police Department.

Savanna wasn’t sure that was much better. She cast another longing glance toward Gavin’s house but knew even if he was home there’d be nothing he could do to relieve the anxiety knotting her stomach right now.

Knowing she had to face whatever it was, or she’d only get another call later, she hit Talk. “Hello?”

“Savanna, it’s Detective Sullivan.”

She managed to avoid an impolite groan. “What can I do for you, Detective?”

“I’m standing outside your place, but...it doesn’t look like you live here anymore.”

“If you’re outside the Nephi house, I don’t.”

“You moved?”