Right Where We Belong (Silver Springs #4)(76)

Savanna smiled as she gazed at herself in the mirror.

“Is it pretty, Mommy?” Alia wanted to know. She and Branson waited just outside the fitting room.

Savanna wasn’t sure she’d ever looked better. The suit was sexy without being overly revealing, and it suited her coloring and figure better than the black ever could. Best of all, it was half price.

“I think I’ll take it,” she said.

*

Gavin had never been in a worse mood. Somehow, against all odds, given what’d happened to him as a child, he’d managed to find peace in his life. He’d managed to hang on to that peace, for the most part, even after Heather had told him she was pregnant. There had certainly been a few bright spots, but those were due to Savanna. The more the news settled in, the more he had to face all the ways it would change his life, the more tense and irritable he became.

Thank God Heather was out of town for the weekend, he told himself as he drove to Bar None, the little honky-tonk in Soledad where he’d be playing tonight. Having her around all the time was part of the reason he was so wound up. The pressure to feel something he didn’t and to deny other feelings he did have made it so he could hardly look at her, which only caused her to become more determined and clingy.

What Scott had come to tell him at New Horizons troubled Gavin, too—definitely contributed to his sour mood. He’d be lying if he pretended it didn’t. Part of him wanted to disregard Scott’s accusations, to give Heather the benefit of the doubt. He felt he owed her that much, simply by virtue of the months they’d been together over the previous three years. The other part of him was tempted to believe Scott because then he’d at least have some justification to walk away, to handle the situation the same way Scott was—with the promise of a child support check if the paternity test was positive.

But what about the baby? If it was his, he wanted to be a good father and sending a check every month wasn’t enough. Heck, even if the baby wasn’t his, it was a baby and would have all the same wants and needs he’d had when he’d been so painfully rejected. He should step up regardless.

“Shit.” No matter how hard or how long he thought about the situation, there didn’t seem to be a way out. He couldn’t put his desires first, not if he wanted to feel good about himself. And yet he was having a difficult time simply hanging out with Heather, couldn’t avoid feeling a bit of resentment, even though that didn’t seem fair if the pregnancy was an accident. He should be glad she wanted him. Otherwise, he could be put in the position of having to plead with her just to let him spend time with his child. He didn’t care what the court set up. Without her cooperation, it would be a nightmare.

Then there was Savanna. She needed someone in her life right now, too; she was going through so much. He wanted to be there for her. But just the amount of time he spent thinking about her made him feel disloyal to Heather.

He was glad when he finally arrived in Soledad. The long car drive had given him entirely too much time to focus on his problems. He was looking forward to performing, to giving everything he had to the crowd and not feeling anything except the music. But when he approached the door, he found a sign posted that indicated the place was closed. There was no explanation, but it looked official, so he wondered if they’d lost their liquor license or something. And why hadn’t anyone called him?

Shaking his head, Gavin pulled out his cell phone to find the email of the person who’d booked the job through his website. There was a phone number in that message for a Paul Timpson, but “Paul” didn’t answer when Gavin tried him. He sent the guy a text, asking what was going on and received a brief explanation that they were having “management” problems between two partners.

Thanks for letting me drive four hours for nothing, he wrote back, and received an apology—something about how stressful and sudden everything had been. Gavin had received a fifty-percent deposit upon booking but should’ve received the other half of his money tonight, after the performance.

The guy promised he’d pay it, since it was his fault Gavin hadn’t been notified, but Gavin knew chances were slim that money would ever come in.

Shoving his phone back into his pocket, he returned to his rental car and headed home.

*

Detective Sullivan called not long after eight that evening to tell Savanna she was scheduled for a Tuesday afternoon flight from Los Angeles. The male inmates of Juab County Jail could receive visitors only on Wednesdays. If she didn’t get there this Wednesday, she’d have to wait until next week, which Sullivan didn’t want to do. He told her a licensed caregiver would arrive Tuesday morning so she could spend some time with the woman and make sure she felt comfortable leaving her kids. After that, she’d fly out of LA and into Salt Lake on a direct flight, pick up a rental car and drive to Nephi. He’d meet her at the Safari Motel on Main Street, where she’d be staying, for a little coaching, and then she’d visit Gordon the following morning.

Sullivan had thought of everything, had made it as easy as possible, but the knowledge that she’d be returning to a place that held such a terrible stigma for her—and knowing that she’d have to face Gordon—made her anxious. She’d spent her entire married life making excuses for her husband’s behavior (blaming it all on his past as he did) and trying to placate him and avoid arousing his temper. Now she’d not only have to face him, she’d have to confront him. Taking him on over the phone was one thing. She’d been so upset since she’d begun to believe he was guilty that she’d let loose a time or two. But those emotional eruptions had been natural outcroppings of her hurt and anger. They’d been real. Railing at him in person, trying to get him upset enough to incriminate himself in a case for which he hadn’t even been charged, would be a different story.