Right Where We Belong (Silver Springs #4)(96)

*

The following morning, Aiyana felt like she was walking on air as she made herself some breakfast and sat down to call Eli. “Hey, I know you hear from me enough during the week,” she said as she stirred a splash of cream into her coffee. “So I try not to bother you too much on the weekend. But I wanted to tell you something.”

“Cora and I don’t mind hearing from you whenever. You know that. But what’s going on?”

The bougainvillea blooming on the trellis beyond the window caught her eye. She stared out at it while she talked. “I think you were right about Savanna.”

“In what way?”

“She might be the one thing that could save Gavin from making a drastic mistake.”

“You mean marrying a woman he doesn’t love.”

She set her spoon on her saucer. “Exactly.”

“Why do you say that? Has something changed? Is he seeing her?”

“He must be. Last night, I babysat so that he could take her to his performance in Santa Barbara.”

“How nice of you.”

“I enjoyed it. But this is the thing—they got back very late, long after the bar had to have closed, so I’m guessing they made good use of the time.”

Eli chuckled. “Another good sign.”

She added sugar to her coffee. “So I’m relieved on two counts.”

“You were afraid he wouldn’t be happy with Heather. I know that was number one. What’s the other thing?”

“I thought I might be the type of jealous mother where no woman is good enough.”

“I remember. But you’re in the clear?”

She considered how sweet, calm and grateful Savanna was. “Completely. I’m excited about this girl.”

“You don’t know her all that well...”

“I don’t, but Gavin’s happier when she’s around. That’s all I needed, the sense that he’s following his heart.”

“There’s still the situation with Heather. If she’s carrying Gavin’s baby, you’re going to want to be a big part of the child’s life, and having him get with Savanna won’t make that any easier.”

“I’ll do everything I can to love and support any child he has—except encourage him to marry a woman he doesn’t love. He and Heather tried to make it work several times. To me, that’s enough.”

“I agree with you. That’s why I wanted to put him and Savanna together to see what would happen. But don’t get your hopes up too high. There’s no guarantee he’ll wind up with her long-term.”

“I’m not so sure about that.” She smiled before taking a sip of her coffee. “I feel like this is the one.”

“What makes you say that?”

There was a satisfying click as she set her cup on its saucer. “There’s just something different about the way he looks at her.”

“If he marries Savanna and Heather has his child, you could get three grandchildren almost at once.”

Aiyana lifted her cup again. She could think of worse things. “I’ll take as many grandkids as I can get.”

*

Gavin spent the weekend with Savanna, working on her house. The dry rot was more extensive than he’d first realized, but he enjoyed tearing off the old, ruined boards and replacing them. Savanna was always around to offer something to eat, put on some music or hand him a hammer, and the kids loved to help. Especially Branson. He followed Gavin almost everywhere. Even if Gavin climbed a ladder, Branson would stand at the base for however long, playing with the tools in Gavin’s toolbox. He seemed so happy that it took Gavin by surprise when, finished affixing a new piece of trim to an exterior window, he happened to look down and saw Branson staring off toward the barn with a melancholy expression on his face.

“Somethin’ wrong?” Gavin asked.

Once Branson realized Gavin was paying attention, his expression cleared. “No.”

Gavin tossed his hammer into his toolbox. “You looked sad there for a minute.”

Branson shaded his eyes as he looked up. “Do you know my dad?”

Gavin glanced around to see if Savanna was nearby. If Branson was going to talk about Gordon, he preferred Savanna guide the conversation, but she’d already taken Alia in the house to start dinner. “No, I’ve never met him. Why?”

“He doesn’t like tattoos.”

“He’s mentioned that?”

“Yeah.”

“He must not have any, then.”

“He doesn’t. He doesn’t like boys to have long hair, either.”

“Did he tell you why?”

“He said boys who want to look like girls are stupid.”

“What do you think?”

“I don’t think you can tell if they’re stupid just from their hair.”

Gavin laughed. “I’d have to agree with you there. Hair is a personal preference, right? People should be able to wear their hair however they want. As far as I’m concerned, tattoos are the same. They might tell you a little about what someone likes, but they don’t tell you whether they’re smart or dumb—or good or bad, for that matter.”

“Yeah. I think that, too,” he said. “I’m going to get a tattoo when I turn eighteen.”