Daddy Wanted

“Savvy, you can’t keep me from seeing her.”

“I am still angry,” she finally said, wanting to hit him for the way he had hurt Willow back then. She lifted her arm to do just that, but then dropped it to her side. What good would it do?

“I need to talk to her. I need to apologize,” he said thickly, as though either of those things could actually happen.

Savvy gawked at him. “You’re too late. It’s too late to apologize. Willow—” She couldn’t hold back the truth. “Willow’s dead, Brodie.” His eyes widened, the blow of the news evident, but Savvy had neither the time nor the inclination to explain. “And I’ve got to go take care of her kids.” She twisted away, hurriedly climbed into her truck and slammed the door. Then she drove away without looking in the rearview mirror.

Mandy’s voice echoed through the line of the phone Savvy had tossed on the seat. “Savvy?” she asked. “Savvy, can you hear me?”

She had obviously touched the speaker button at some point. Reaching for the phone, she nearly sped through the stop sign at Maple and Main before slamming on the brakes. They squealed in protest, and the phone slid toward the passenger door.

Mandy yelled, “What happened?”

Savvy held her foot firmly on the brake while she retrieved the phone. Then she answered, “It’s okay, Mandy. I’m on my way.”

“I figured that part out,” she said. “That was Brodie, wasn’t it? Is he okay? And are you?”

“No,” she said honestly. “And no.”

“I know that was hard, talking to him and telling him about Willow, but please take a moment to calm down. Don’t speed when you drive out here. I’ll get the kids when they get off the bus and wait for you to get home. Take your time. Everything is fine.”

“Okay,” Savvy said, disconnecting and tossing the phone back on the seat. But she didn’t agree. She had three kids to raise. She had to fight the school to keep them from holding Dylan back. And she had to get over the knowledge that she wasn’t the only wild child who had returned home.

Chapter Two

Brodie hit the brakes to keep from plowing into the back of Savvy’s truck when she screeched to a stop at the intersection of Main and Maple. His mind reeled. He needed a moment to sort through the tornado of information he’d received, but he didn’t have time to stop and process. He had to follow her, couldn’t let her get away without telling him what had happened to Willow.

Willow. Dead.

After all this time, he was finally going to make things right, and she was dead?

God, why? And how?

That letter had been mailed less than a month ago. A month ago, she was alive. A month ago, he could have talked to her, helped her son the way she’d asked and apologized for treating her so badly.

Now that chance was gone.

He set his jaw and accelerated as Savvy continued out of town. She’d said she had to take care of Willow’s kids. Brodie had known Willow had a son from that letter. How many more children did she have? Had she been married? And if she was, where was her husband?

And why was Savvy taking care of them now?

So many questions. And unfortunately, Savvy, who could undoubtedly provide answers, didn’t want anything to do with him.

Brodie had been prepared to see Willow, but he hadn’t anticipated running into Savvy.

Savvy, still as stunning as ever, even in ratty blue jeans, an old T-shirt and a baseball cap. She’d been pretty in school, but she was downright gorgeous now. Hard to believe this was his old friend. One of the two females he’d opened up to in high school. In spite of the string of girls he’d had physical relationships with back then, Willow and Savvy were the only two that he’d truly known. They’d been so close.

And he’d blown it.

Today, Savvy’s dark eyes said it all. She hadn’t forgiven him for what he’d done to Willow. And Brodie didn’t blame her. He’d never said he was sorry. He’d never asked for forgiveness. He’d planned to do both today, but now that would never be possible.

God, please, help me out here.

He’d only recently found a relationship with God, but he’d been talking to Him continually ever since he thought he might lose his daughter.

“I didn’t get the chance to ask for Willow’s forgiveness, but let Savvy forgive me, Lord. I know You sent me here for a reason, and if that’s it, help me figure out how to make that happen.”

* * *

Savvy couldn’t stop thinking of Brodie as she drove her old truck down the once-familiar dirt road between Claremont and Stockville toward Willow’s trailer. Gripping the steering wheel tighter, she forced herself to remember that day when Willow finally told her what Brodie had done. If she and Brodie were still friends, he could help her now. Comfort her in her loss. Tell her what to do about her new role as guardian of Willow’s children.

But they weren’t friends, not anymore. And Savvy had never felt the pain of that loss more than now.

What was she supposed to do with a teenager and six-year-old twins? She’d always adored Willow’s kids, when they visited sporadically to take advantage of her proximity to the beach. But raising them? Savvy knew nothing about bringing up children, and she sure couldn’t pull from her own childhood to know what to do. Her own mom had abandoned ship as soon as Savvy was born. What if Savvy inherited her motherly instincts?

Checking the mirror as she started up Willow’s driveway, she saw that Brodie hadn’t given up on his pursuit. Not that she had expected him to. Brodie Evans never backed down from a challenge.

As if knowing Savvy was near, Mandy walked around the side of Willow’s ancient trailer. She had her brown hair pulled back in a low ponytail and wore a black sleeveless sweater, jeans and boots. Savvy thought of the clothes she’d brought from Florida. Not one sweater in the lot. She was as prepared for north Alabama weather as she was to take care of Dylan, Rose and Daisy.

Or as she was to take on the all-encompassing male bearing down on her truck.

“God, help me,” she muttered, parking next to Willow’s old baby-blue minivan and, frankly, feeling a bit surprised that she’d asked Him for help. She hadn’t had anything to do with God since she’d left this town; why would He help her now?

He’d certainly never done anything to support her before.

Mandy neared the truck and gave Savvy a soft smile as she climbed out. Savvy hadn’t been overly close to Mandy when they were in school, but she was the kind of girl everyone knew and liked. And Mandy hadn’t dated anyone in high school, so Savvy had never gone after her boyfriend and attempted to break up their relationship.

The way she had for most every other girl at Claremont High.

She’d earned her reputation, that was for sure. And from the looks she received at the square today, the town hadn’t forgotten. But thankfully, Mandy didn’t let that stop her from offering friendship. Then again, her husband was the youth minister at the church, so maybe offering friendship to the wild child was a requirement.

In any case, Mandy and Willow had apparently become close, and Savvy was glad for that. Willow, like Savvy, didn’t have many friends.

“Rose and Daisy are playing on the swing set with Kaden out back. I heard your truck,” Mandy said, explaining why she’d walked to the front of the trailer and left the kids. Her son, Kaden, had been with her last night, too. He was eight, only two years older than the twins, but Rose and Daisy obviously looked up to the boy. Kaden had brought several books and read them stories before bed. It would have been nice if Dylan had wanted to read to his sisters, but he’d been in his room and had only come out to eat and shower.

“I appreciate you watching them until I could get here.”

The slamming of another door and then heavy footsteps behind her indicated Brodie had also exited his truck and now stood close enough that Savvy could feel solid, masculine warmth against her side.

“Brodie,” Mandy said, directing her voice to that very spot and affirming Savvy’s suspicion that he stood near, close enough to sense, and close enough to touch.

Savvy stuffed her hands in her pockets to keep from even accidentally touching the man who’d shattered her friend’s heart.

“I tried to reach you last week to tell you about Willow,” Mandy continued. “I called your office at the college, but I didn’t get an answer, and I didn’t feel it was the kind of message I should leave on your machine.”

* * *

Brodie had undoubtedly been at the hospital in Knoxville when Mandy had called. “I appreciate you trying,” he said, still shocked by the news of Willow’s death.

“I remember how close the three of you were,” Mandy remarked. “Y’all were practically inseparable when we were all in school.”

Savvy coughed, and Brodie suspected it was fake, a way to get Mandy to stop talking so she could change the subject. They might have been apart for a decade and a half, but he still remembered Savvy’s tactics. “You mentioned the girls are out back,” she said, proving him right. “Where’s Dylan? Is he inside?”

Mandy shook her head. “He’s gone for a walk.”

“By himself?”

Mandy smiled. “He’s thirteen,” she said simply.

“Right. Of course he can take a walk by himself. I’m going to have to remember that he’s a teenager now.”

Brodie thought about what she had ahead of her, raising a teenage boy. Adolescence. Hormones. Anger. Girls. She wouldn’t like dealing with that last one, but even though it’d been twenty years, Brodie remembered what it felt like to be thirteen.

“Dylan had been having a difficult time before his mom died,” Mandy explained. “Willow asked if Daniel could help him, since he’s the youth minister at the church.”

“Help him how?” Savvy asked.

“Tutoring him in school, primarily,” Mandy said. “And also being there as a male figure in his life. He hasn’t had anyone but Willow, since she didn’t have a relationship with her parents anymore. No dad, no granddad in the picture. Kind of tough for a teenage boy.”

Brodie cleared his throat. “She asked about me tutoring him, too,” he said, pulling Willow’s letter from his pocket. This time, he noticed Savvy staring at his address in Willow’s swirling handwriting. “That’s why I wanted to find her today, to let her know I wanted to help her son.”

“You said you wanted to apologize,” Savvy reminded him.

“I wanted to do that, too,” he said, flexing his jaw.

Most people, particularly his athletes, were intimidated by his size, or his deep voice, or maybe even the way he looked at them.

But Savvy clearly wasn’t intimidated. She was irritated. And Brodie suspected he knew why. She didn’t like having him here, standing beside her, reminding her of the relationship that they’d once had and the way it had ended.

Because of him.

But Brodie had made a promise to God and to himself that he’d help Willow’s son, and he wasn’t going to break that promise. “I’m guessing Daniel is your husband,” he said, refusing to look at Savvy and focusing totally on Mandy. “Is he going to tutor Dylan?”

“He told Willow he could help out, but he wasn’t available as often as she wanted because of his obligations at the church,” Mandy explained. “She wanted someone daily, or at least every other day. Willow had been trying to help Dylan and the girls herself, but she’d recently realized that they still weren’t progressing quickly enough and that she needed help.”

Brodie remembered Willow struggling in school. It hadn’t come easy for her. Apparently, it didn’t come easy for her children, either.

“Do you know of anyone who tutors daily around here?” Savvy asked her friend.

Mandy shook her head. “No.” Then she looked to Brodie. “You said she contacted you about helping Dylan?”

“She wrote to me. I tried to call her and let her know I could tutor him, but I couldn’t reach her. So I decided to come find her and let her know that I wanted to help.” This time, before Savvy could prompt him, he added, “And I needed to apologize for treating her badly the last time I saw her.”

He didn’t miss the slight grunt from Savvy at his answer.

“Do you want me to ask around and see if I can find any tutors that could work with Dylan daily?” Mandy asked, looking at Savvy, but then adding to Brodie, “Or did you still want to work with him?”

“Yes, please ask,” Savvy said, at the same moment that Brodie answered, “I want to work with him.”

Mandy’s eyebrows lifted. “Maybe y’all should talk about it and decide what you’re going to do and then let me know.”

“Would you check around, just in case that’s what I decide?” Savvy asked. “I was called in to meet with the principal today, and if Dylan doesn’t pass the standardized tests next month, they’re going to hold him back.”

* * *

Savvy could only imagine how much worse Dylan’s anger would be, how much further he would withdraw from the world, if he were removed from his friends.

She’d sure been angry.

Mandy shifted from one foot to the other. “He’s gone through so much, maybe it would be good to hold him back a year.”

“It wouldn’t,” Savvy said. “I know from experience.”

Realization dawned on the young woman’s features. “Oh, Savvy, I’m sorry. I knew that, but I forgot.”

“It wasn’t your fault. But that was sixth grade for me, so I was retained in elementary school when all of my friends moved to junior high. Dylan is in the eighth grade, so he’d be held back when all of his friends move to high school. Probably an even bigger deal than what happened to me.” She shook her head. “I can’t let them do that to him—I won’t—so I’ve got to make sure he passes those tests.”

Mandy wrapped both arms around Savvy so quickly that she nearly knocked her off balance. “I’m glad the kids have you here. Willow obviously knew that you’d take good care of them.” She squeezed firmly. “Daniel and I will pray for you and for Dylan’s situation at school, and we’ll try to find someone who tutors daily. Everything is going to work out,” she said, holding on tight enough that Savvy’s eyes watered.

Or that was what Savvy told herself. She wasn’t crying because she missed Willow, or because she was now responsible for three young lives, or because she was back in the town that she’d told herself she hated. Besides, it wasn’t the town that’d done her wrong, necessarily. But the church. And the man she’d met there who crushed her heart.

Mandy finally released her and brushed her own tears away. “Okay, then... Kaden and I need to get back home. I left Daniel watching baby Mia, and he’s great with her, but he isn’t all that keen on changing diapers.”

“I’ll stay out with the girls and let them play a little longer.” Savvy glanced toward the wooded areas surrounding the trailer. “But how do I find Dylan?”

“He should come back on his own,” Mandy said, a slight frown pulling at her lip. “I think he needs some help with his grief. He hasn’t said a lot about the accident at Jasper Falls, but I know it was hard for him to leave her to go get help.”

“Willow died at Jasper Falls?” Brodie’s brusque voice hinted that he felt the same way Savvy did about the last place their friend had been alive. The three of them had loved Jasper Falls. It’d been their safe haven when the world gave them grief, and the thought that Willow had died there didn’t coincide with the blissful memories.

A pang of guilt stabbed Savvy. She’d merely blurted out that their friend had died without giving him any information. “Willow fell while hiking,” she said. “Dylan was with her, and he went for help, but she didn’t make it.” That was all she knew, and it was enough.

His eyes filled with agony. “I can’t believe...” He didn’t finish the sentence.

“Should I go look for him?” Savvy asked Mandy.

“We’ve got another hour until dark. He’ll come back,” she said. “He’s been doing this since the funeral. I think it’s his way of coping. Maybe he’s praying.”

Savvy nodded, uncertain about whether it was smart to let an upset teenager roam the woods, but also uncertain about whether she knew what was smart or what wasn’t regarding kids.

Before Mandy could go get them, Kaden rounded the corner of the trailer with Rose and Daisy at his heels.

“Who’s that?” he asked, tilting his head toward Brodie.

“I’m Brodie Evans,” he answered, offering Kaden a smile in spite of the fact that he still looked distraught over Willow. His dimples dipped with the action, and Savvy was reminded of the effect of a Brodie Evans smile.

She didn’t want to be affected.

“You play baseball?” Kaden asked, pointing at his Stockville jacket, and then, after reading the embroidered name on the chest, he continued, “You’re a coach? Seriously?”

“I am,” Brodie said.

“I play baseball. I’ll play coach pitch this year. Next year, I’ll be in kid pitch league.”

“That’s great,” Brodie said. “Maybe I can come see you play sometime, and then maybe you can come see my team play sometime at Stockville College.”

“Cool!” Kaden said, then looked at Mandy. “Mom, I’m getting hungry, and they’re hungry, too.” The twins walked behind him wearing the identifying shirts Savvy had dressed them in this morning. Rose’s pink T-shirt had a bright yellow R in the top left, and Daisy’s yellow T-shirt had a pink D. Savvy needed the helpful identifiers, since she couldn’t tell the two apart.

“Aunt Thavvy,” Rose said, her missing front two teeth causing a precious lisp that made her seem even younger than six. Or maybe the girls seemed younger—smaller—because they’d lost their mama five days ago.

Savvy dropped to eye level with the girls. “Hey, Rose,” she said as Rose moved into the crook of her right arm. “Hey there, Daisy,” she said as Daisy found the left side.

Daisy hugged Savvy like Rose, but then pulled away, her green eyes blinking her eagerness to speak. “Aunt Savvy?” She had yet to lose those two teeth, which was good, since it provided another means for Savvy to tell them apart without asking.

“Yes, Daisy?”

“Mommy can’t make us pancakes, or take us to church, or anything, since she’s with Jesus now.” Her small hand gripped the back of Savvy’s shirt as she spoke, holding on as if she was afraid Savvy would slip away, too.

Savvy’s stomach knotted. How could she give them everything they needed? She’d never been a mommy and didn’t know all that much about it. But the girls were hurting, and Willow had apparently thought Savvy was the best person to take care of her kids in case something happened.

Willow, are you sure?

“Can you make pancaketh?” Rose asked.

“Yes,” she answered. “I can make pancakes.”

You’re going to do fine, Mandy mouthed, and Savvy prayed that she was right.

After Mandy and Kaden left, Savvy turned to Brodie. “You should probably go, too.”

“I want to meet Dylan,” he said. “And I do want to help him, to tutor him the way Willow wanted.”

Savvy figured as much, and those last four words—the way Willow wanted—were the ones that made her say, “You can meet him and see if he wants you to help him. But if he says no, then that’s it. You’ll go, and we’ll get someone else to help—” She tried to sound authoritative, but her voice broke when a loud boom of thunder belted overhead.

“We’ll see,” Brodie answered, and then peered up at the charcoal clouds swiftly moving above the trees. “Storm is coming.”

Rose and Daisy had already darted up the steps toward the trailer. “Hurry!” Daisy called. “We need to go in!”

“But whereth Dylan?” Rose asked.

“Go on inside,” Savvy said, shivering as lightning sliced the sky. “Dylan will be here soon.”

The girls disappeared into the trailer, and Savvy peered toward the woods, then yelped at a loud blast of thunder.

“Still scared of storms?” Brodie asked, the rumble of his voice resonating close to her left ear.

She nodded, too spooked to even attempt to lie. “But I’m also worried about Dylan.” She looked at him, then back at the trailer. “I can’t leave the girls, but...”

“I’ll go find him,” he said, before she’d even bolstered the courage to ask him for help. “You take care of the twins. I’ll bring him back safely.”

Lightning once again split the sky in two, and this time, it hit something with a deafening crack.

Savvy’s hand flew to her throat as the rain began to fall.

“I’m pretty sure that hit a tree,” he said. “Go back inside and get out of the storm. I’ll find him. Don’t worry.”

But Savvy was worried. Because Dylan was lost, and because Willow had written to a guy she said she’d hate forever, and now Savvy relied on that very same guy...to find Willow’s son.

Chapter Three

“Dylan! Dylan, can you hear me?” Brodie was glad he’d had the wherewithal to grab his jacket and flashlight out of his truck before heading into the woods. It’d gotten dark much quicker than he had anticipated, and the drizzling rain combined with the unseasonal wind chilled him to the bone. He hoped the boy had already made it home, but in case he hadn’t, Brodie would keep looking.

When he was a teenager, he’d been familiar with this section of the woods that led to Lookout Mountain; however, he’d always entered from the Claremont side, near Landon Cutter’s place. Coming in from the Stockville end was different. The trails weren’t as wide and hadn’t been cleared out. You could ride horses through the trails on the Cutters’ property, and he’d often done that with his friends back in high school. Sometimes Landon and John Cutter would come along. Sometimes Georgiana Sanders did, as well. But always Savvy and Willow.

They’d been the three “wild ones” of Claremont High back in the day. Always together, always defending each other to the end.

Willow, the one whose family expected perfection and who couldn’t find her way out of her big brother’s shadow. It hadn’t surprised Brodie when Savvy said her son’s name was Dylan. Naturally, Willow would continue idolizing her brother through her son. By the time Brodie, the army brat, had moved to Claremont in the ninth grade, he’d lived in more cities than he could count, thanks to his father’s military career. But he’d found his comfort zone—and his baseball talent—in this town. Savvy, the self-professed black sheep of the Bowers family, abandoned by her mother as an infant and then raised by grandparents who loved her unconditionally but had no luck controlling her free spirit.

So much had changed since then, yet a lot had remained the same. Savvy. Just thinking of her now brought back so many feelings, so many untapped emotions. Her long, straight blond hair from high school had been cut into one of those modern styles that stopped just below the chin. She looked older, but not in a bad way. More mature. And those eyes were as dark as he remembered, except he’d never seen her give him the look of venom he’d received today. She hadn’t denied that Willow had told her what happened way back when. Brodie suspected fiery Savvy would have a harder time forgiving him than Willow.

If either of them forgave him. Now he’d never know if Willow did, but he still had a chance with Savvy...after he found Willow’s son.

A clump of wet pine sent him skidding toward a thick tree trunk, and he grabbed a nearby branch to keep from sliding down the mountain’s incline. It’d be easy to slip and fall on the loose leaves and straw covering the ground, and he prayed Dylan hadn’t done just that. Or worse, slid off one of the ledges that surrounded the summit.

God, please let him be safe, he prayed. And then, thinking about what would come later, he added, And if it be Your will, let Savvy forgive me.

He wiped thick, gummy sap from the tree against the front of his jeans and continued to plunge through the thick forest. “Dylan!” he called again, yelling the name every ten feet or so in case he’d gotten nearer to the boy. “Can you hear me?”