Chapter Ten

The road stretched out in an endless sea of green, rolling hills and vast flat land as far as the eye could see. The first several hours of the long journey from Georgia to Iowa were filled with a rush of adrenaline that Savannah attributed to nerves and an overabundance of caffeine. After that, it was just plain tedious.

She mentally berated herself for hopping into the car and hitting the open road on a whim. It wasn't as though she were heading any place where she would be welcomed. In fact, being received with open arms at the Willow Brook was the absolute last thing she was counting on.

Although she had received a couple of cards and letters over the years from Bayleigh, contact with Vern and Myra had ceased the moment she'd left the ranch. At the time, she had taken what could only be considered the coward's way out. She had left in the early, predawn hours of morning, for reasons she still didn't quite understand. Truth be told, she had never given much thought as to why she'd left the way she had. She only knew she'd felt safer that way.

As soon as she had become firmly established at Georgia's state university, she'd written to Bayleigh to let her know she was safe and sound. They had kept up a long-running, if minimal, relationship ever since. Vern and Myra were a different story, and Savannah suspected that would always be the case.

The road began to blur, and she blinked rapidly to clear her vision. Night had long since fallen, and body parts that she hadn't known existed were united in tormenting her every move. Yet she refused to pull over and find a place to bunk for the night. Not until she reached her destination, anyway. For one thing, she wasn't sure she could stand up. And the sooner she did what she had come to do, the sooner she would be free to get back to Cairn. She wouldn't be back home until sometime tomorrow night either way, but she was anxious to get this over with.

"Cairn." She tried the name out loud and decided it had a nice feel to it. It was a strong name, an exotic name. It fit the man to a T. And he fit her. He was hers, plain and simple. They didn't have a relationship—they were a unit. He was as much a part of her as breathing, Savannah realized, and she missed him terribly.

She was close. She knew the farm loomed up ahead, high on the hill. Willow Brook Road was named after the ranch that sat on the hundred-acre plot of land. Unfortunately, the road was also easy to miss, especially in pitch dark conditions. She had to circle around twice before spotting the tiny reflector at the edge of the mile-long drive that led to the main house.

Her hands shook when she knocked on the door, and under Myra's sharp scrutiny, she almost lost what little nerve she possessed.

"Savannah, is that you?"

"Good evening, Myra."

"Who's at the door?" Vern's intimidating baritone could be heard from deep within the house.

"It's Savannah!"

"Savannah?"

"That girl we took in."

"She's here?" He didn't sound overly joyous at the prospect.

"That's what I just said, isn't it?" Myra retorted coolly.

"Ah … may I come in? I won't keep you for very long."

"Suit yourself." The older woman shrugged but moved aside to let Savannah pass.

"Is there somewhere that we could talk? And perhaps sit for a moment? I've been driving all day and most of the night."

"Come into the parlor. We were just sitting down to coffee."

"Thank you. That sounds wonderful."

Savannah studied her surroundings as Myra led her into the larger of the two parlors on the main floor. It was a beast of a room, literally. The space served more to showcase Vern's many hunting trophies than to entertain. Savannah had always found the mounted wildlife unsettling.

As a young child, she had been terrified of this room. It had quickly become the family's usual gathering spot in the evenings. Time had not affected her aversion to it, she noted without humor. The creatures still looked sinister to her.

"What brings you out this way? You looking for work?" Vern quizzed her.

"No." Savannah wet her lips and faced Vern with her head held high for the first time in her life. "I am not looking for a job. I work as a logistics consultant now."

"Bayleigh said you had settled in Georgia."

"Yes, that's right."

"Are you pregnant?"

Savannah spun around to stare at Myra with open shock. "Why would you think I could be pregnant?"

"If you're not looking for work and you're not pregnant, then why did you drive all this way?" she countered.

"I'm starting to ask myself that same question," Savannah muttered.

"You snuck out of here in the middle of the night, girl. Myra and I thought it was ungrateful, after all we had done for you." Vern seemed to be waiting for a response, but Savannah would be damned if she would give them thanks. Her carefully planned speech was suddenly discarded. It didn't matter why they had been unable to love her.

It no longer seemed important to learn the reasoning behind her isolation from the rest of her "family," her schoolmates, her peers and neighbors. Cairn had been correct in his assessment of the Holbrooks—they were horrible.

"Savannah? Is there something you came here to tell us?" Vern wanted to know.

"You know what? No, there is not. Actually," she lied, "I'm passing through on business. I only came to say hello. I'm sorry that I can't stay."

For once in their lives, Vern and Myra Holbrook were speechless.

Savannah thought it was a very fetching look for the couple.

Myra recovered quickly. "I'll show you to the door."

"Thank you, but before I take my leave, there's something I need to ask you."

"Yes?"

"Whatever happened to the little boy you and Vern used to foster?"

"Little boy?"

"Aidan. You took him in shortly after I arrived. He was only here for a little while." Savannah frowned.

"We never had a boy here. You and Bayleigh were the only children in this house, and you were the only child Vern and I ever fostered, praise the Lord. You always were a strange one." Myra shut the door and turned off the front porch light, leaving Savannah standing in the dark. And suddenly, all the pieces clicked into place.

"Savannah." He called to her from the shadows at the end of the porch. Blue mist swirled around him in waves.

She met him halfway. "Hello … Aidan."

"You figured it out, then?"

"It wasn't that hard." She smiled. "The Holbrooks looked at me like I had grown a second head when I asked what happened to the little boy who had been here with me. I suspected even before, though. Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I would have, sooner or later. I was wondering when you would figure it out. Cairn is my middle name, in case you were wondering."

"You stayed with me, all those years ago. How?"

A smirk curved his lips. "I was what my mother always called an 'overly curious' child. I wandered away from home and found myself here, in your world, at Willow Brook. The first time I saw you, you were crying. I wanted to protect you."

"So you stayed with me for months?" Savannah brushed at a tear that escaped the corner of her eye. "Your parents must have been frantic."

"That's putting it mildly. My parents, and the council, were not amused. Not only did I run away, but I let you see me, stayed with you, without an invitation. I was banned from this place for ten years, that first time."

"You came back for me."

"I promised I would. I love you, Savannah." He shrugged, as though it were as simple as that. And maybe it was. "Are you ready to go home now?"

"Actually, I think I'm ready for a new adventure."

Aidan grinned. "What did you have in mind?"

"I want to see the place where you grew up."

"Then come here." He wrapped his arms around her.

Then the smiling couple on the porch disappeared, still wrapped up in one another. A shimmering blue mist lingered in their wake.

The End