Right Where We Belong (Silver Springs #4)(45)

Heather smiled but didn’t seem completely believing of the compliment. “You’re new in town, then? Where are you from?”

“Utah.”

“And you’re living in the old ranch house across the creek, the one that’s been abandoned for so long?”

“Yeah. Scary prospect, right? But the house used to belong to my great-grandmother, so I can’t wait to put it right.”

“That’s cool. Should be a fun project.”

“An expensive one,” she said with a rueful smile.

Heather hiked her purse up higher on her shoulder. “You aren’t tackling that alone, are you? I mean, you came here with someone—a significant other?”

“No. It’s just me and my two kids. They’re at the house watching a Disney movie right now.”

The smile disappeared from her face. “So...you’re divorced?”

She’d known she would face this question, but she refused to volunteer too much information. “Essentially.”

“All the single men in town will be excited to hear that.”

“Oh, I’m not looking to meet anyone.”

“Until you do, right?” She laughed again, but Savanna didn’t get the impression she honestly found what she’d just said funny.

*

What constituted attraction? Gavin wondered as he sat at his desk after school let out. Heather was a nice person. He knew her well, knew she’d do her best to make him a good wife. And she loved him. She’d made that clear. So why couldn’t he return her feelings? Why was he so much more interested in Savanna, a woman he’d only recently met and barely knew?

Had to be that Savanna was new in town, different, and if that was it, what he felt probably wouldn’t last once the newness wore off. That was why he couldn’t let his preoccupation with his new neighbor affect his long-term life plan. He’d never fallen head over heels in love or he probably would’ve found it much more difficult to remain friends with the women he dated. If he wasn’t hurt, upset or jealous, why would he refuse to remain in contact?

Sure, there were a few who no longer stayed in touch with him—once they started dating someone else or got married usually—but he’d always been willing to settle for friendship if they were. That meant, even if Savanna was willing to move forward with a relationship, the same cycle of initial excitement fading to something that wasn’t very intense at all would most likely happen with her, too. He had to be careful not to neglect Heather and his duty to his child, if it was his child, by reaching for something that wasn’t real, anyway.

Light streamed in from outside as Jared Hawthorne poked his head into the room. “Hey, dude! What are you doing here?” he asked the moment he spotted Gavin. “Aren’t you coming today?”

Usually, Gavin went over to the basketball courts after school and played a game or two with the students. He liked having fun with the boys, if he had time, and since the number of kids who waited at the outdoor courts grew from the beginning of the year to the end, he knew it was something a lot of them looked forward to each day. But, as Gavin had told those who’d already stopped by looking for him, he was too tired to run that hard this afternoon. He hadn’t even fixed the lawn mower after driving to Santa Barbara to get the part. Although he’d handled some paperwork and stopped a leak under the sink in one of the bathrooms, he’d mostly been sitting and stewing—and yawning, since he’d gotten so little sleep. “Can’t make it today, bud.”

Jared’s face fell. “What? Why?”

“Was up late last night.”

“Doing what?”

Gavin bit back a smile. “Just some stuff I had to take care of. You guys go ahead without me.”

He scowled. “But it’s no fun if you’re not there.”

Gavin hated to disappoint them, but he knew he wouldn’t last ten minutes. His heart simply wasn’t committed to basketball today. “I’ll try to make it tomorrow.”

“O-kay,” he said, drawing out the word in obvious disappointment.

As soon as the door shut, and Gavin was once again alone, he told himself to make the call he’d been dreading since Saturday. That Heather had stopped by New Horizons indicated she was getting impatient. And he couldn’t blame her. It wasn’t nice of him to keep stringing her along.

With a sigh for his reluctance, he steered his mind away from Savanna, since thinking about her made him not want to make this call, to Scott, since thinking about him did. Even before this happened with Heather, Gavin hadn’t particularly liked Scott. And since he didn’t feel Scott would be a good stepfather, he essentially had no choice.

Besides, what was the big deal? He and Heather had reconciled before. Why not give it another try? He couldn’t hold back because of Savanna. She’d made it clear that she had a lot of healing to do, wasn’t a viable option. Besides, he planned on leaving Silver Springs if his mother ever married Cal Buchanon, the rancher she’d been dating for quite some time. Once that happened, Gavin could move on knowing she was happy and well taken care of, wouldn’t have to stay and look out for her as he felt obligated to do now. If he could make it work with Heather, he’d take her and their baby and move to Nashville. She’d talked about that before, insisted he’d make it huge in the music industry if only he gave it a concerted effort, so he knew she’d be happy with that decision.