Right Where We Belong (Silver Springs #4)(89)

Why won’t you pick up? You’re not fooling me. You have that phone in your hand 24/7.

With a sigh, Heather forced herself to call back. Vickie would only be more difficult to deal with if she put it off. She shouldn’t have told her parents about the baby, but she’d been trying to put as much pressure on Gavin as she could, and she thought making the announcement official would finally convince him to get serious about their future together.

“Sorry, Mom,” she said when Vickie answered. “I was in the bathroom.”

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine,” she lied. “Just tired. Had a hard day at school.”

“What was hard about school?”

Showing up was hard, especially when she wanted to be anywhere else. “Teaching isn’t as easy as it seems.”

Ignoring that, her mother launched into what she considered important these days. “Have you talked to Gavin?”

Heather winced. “Not today. Why?”

“Why do you think? We’re wondering when we should schedule the wedding. We need to pick a date before you start to show, and the church is getting booked up.”

“I realize that you’re feeling some pressure.” What did she think Heather was feeling? “But we’re...we’re thinking of getting married after the baby’s born.”

“What?” her mother squawked. “Why?”

“Gavin says there’s no reason to rush and...I agree.” She hated that she’d said the last two words so softly, but she’d always found it difficult to stand up to the gale-force wind that was her mother’s will.

“What are you talking about? There’s every reason to rush. Do you want your child to be born a bastard? Doesn’t Gavin care whether his child carries his name?”

She’d thought he did. But he’d broken things off instead of setting a date. “He’s not particularly religious, Mom.”

“But you are, and so are we. He should have some respect for our beliefs.”

She was far less religious than her mother believed. She just couldn’t admit that, either. “Mom, please. Don’t start. My life is difficult enough right now. We have to give him some time to adjust. I was with Scott the past two months. Gavin’s the type that...that’s responsible and kind, but he needs...he needs to come to terms with the sudden change and the shock.”

There was a slight pause. Then she said, with more suspicion than Heather cared to hear, “Are you sure it isn’t Scott’s baby?”

The tears that’d been burning behind Heather’s eyes for most of the day welled up. It could be Gavin’s child. She’d gone off birth control a week before they broke up. But she couldn’t admit that. It was, however, part of the reason she’d freaked out when his ex-girlfriend came to town and wanted to spend some time with him. She’d felt she might already be pregnant and they should be beyond that. “We’d better hope not,” she said simply.

“What does that mean?” her mother demanded.

“It’s over between Scott and me. When...when I went back to Gavin, that was it.”

“Gavin’s the one you love, anyway. You’ve chased him for years. And you said he was going to marry you. That’s true, isn’t it?”

“Of course,” she said. But he hadn’t called her since he told her he wanted to see someone else. And he didn’t call her for the rest of the week. By the time the weekend came and she had to check his website to see where he’d be performing instead of hearing it from him, she knew she had to do something—or she’d lose him for good.

*

Gavin had enjoyed the week. Every day when he came home from work, he joined Savanna, Branson and Alia for dinner, but he didn’t spend the night. Savanna didn’t want to make her children feel as though their father had already been replaced, and since Heather was pregnant, possibly with his child, Gavin felt he had to be more restrained and cautious than they’d been with such a whirlwind start. As difficult as it was, not sleeping with Savanna gave him the chance to be sure he was interested in her for the right reasons, that he wasn’t simply avoiding the situation with Heather. So they’d eat and play games with the kids while Branson and Alia were awake, and then they’d stay up talking until Gavin could finally convince himself to head home and go to bed—alone.

The crazy thing was, he looked forward to seeing Savanna each day like he’d never looked forward to seeing anyone else. Going without sex didn’t change anything, except make him want it that much more. He wasn’t sure how much longer they’d be able to hold out, but abstaining felt decent, right, considering the circumstances, so they were trying. In any case, they had plenty to distract them, since they also spent a great deal of time after the kids went to bed brainstorming her upcoming trip to Nephi.

Twice Gavin stood over Savanna’s shoulder, providing input and advice as she wrote Gordon. She also added a hundred dollars to Gordon’s “books” so he could buy more products at the commissary. Even if he didn’t need anything, he could trade items for better shoes, a newer jumpsuit, physical protection or other favors, which would make his stay in jail more comfortable. Those with money fared much better on the inside than those without.

Gavin could tell Savanna hated pretending she had any interest in her former partner. She couldn’t help wondering if she was sacrificing her integrity by deceiving him. At times, Gavin felt the same reluctance she did. But Allison March, the detective from the Emma Ventnor investigation, had reached out to encourage them. March said that not only was Gordon working nearby the day Emma went missing, he had no verifiable alibi—wasn’t at the mine—when it happened. He claimed he was getting lunch but couldn’t remember where he ate, and she hadn’t been able to find video footage of him or his vehicle at any of the fast-food restaurants or gas stations in the area.