Unplanned Love (Savage Love) (11 page)

     “Since some of you will be departing in the morning, Samantha and I would just like to thank you all for making this a special occasion. I never would have dreamed that I would be married to such a wonderful woman, who loves God and still can stand to put up with me. And I never would
have imagined myself returning to God and His love, being gathered together with people who genuinely care about me and who choose to call themselves my friends and family…so thank you,” said Daffyd as he raised his glass of wine. Everyone clapped and cheered.

     “Now it’s my turn,” said Samantha as she stood up next to her husband. “I too wouldn’t have imagined my life to be what it is today. As you all know I had only recently lost my husband when we came into Daffyd’s life. My marriage, to a good man, was comfortable at best, and
though I am thankful for all that Richard did for Seanna and me, I am so grateful that God saw fit to give me a second chance at life. The love that Daffyd and I have for one another has already been through many trials. We aren’t promised an easy life, but we know that God gives us people like all of you, that stay beside us during the good and the bad. I too, want to say from the bottom of my heart, thank you!”

     “Can I add to that?” asked Bryce standing up from his chair. “I just want to say that though it was all made ‘official’ here on this beautiful island, to me
, you and Seanna became a part of our family when your car broke down that fateful summer day. I love you both. Samantha, you are a second mom to me, Seanna, you are the little sister I never had, and always wanted. I want to thank God for bringing you both into our lives.”

     Seanna smiled up at him, eyes filled with love, and a sadness that Bryce didn’t understand.
Maybe she is missing her Dad, or thinking of Kevin,
he thought. But Seanna was thinking of the irony of finally having the big brother she had always wanted, only to fall in love with him and mess it all up.
I’m the little sister he always wanted. I need to remember that and do the best I can to accept it for what it is.
Knowing that everyone would expect her to share as well, she wiped the tears from her eyes and stood.

     “I love you all so much…” she managed to get out. “Daffyd you have made my mom happier than I have ever seen her,
and possibly the most freaked out as well,” she laughed. “Bryce, I can’t begin to say how much I have appreciated you being there for me…as a big brother. But I have to also say that my family is bigger than I had ever thought possible. I now have grandparents, Lucille, Bryson and Sally. I have a crazy aunt and uncle, you know who you are!” she said looking at Leal and Trisha. “And now we’ve added Alyssa, who I can’t wait to have at our house over the summer. This has been one of the happiest times of my life and though I also have experience one of the hardest things too, I had all of you here to help me through it. Thanks and I love you.”

     By the time she was finished tears were rolling down Seanna’s cheeks. Bryce had to go over and hug her. She hugged him back and knew that no matter what she would try to tough it out and
spend as much time with him as possible this summer.

     “Love you, Sis,” Bryce whispered into her hair.

    
“Love you too,” she whispered back.

     The last few remaining days on the island ended up going by so fast that Bryce and Seanna didn’t have a minute alone together. Most of the time Alyssa, Trisha and Leal hung out with them or the two girls were together. They all tried to give Daffyd and Samantha some space. Even though they joked about it being a family honeymoon, they didn’t want to encroach upon their special time together. Seanna had spent so much time in the sun, despite plenty of sun screen, that her skin was burnt. Bryce and Alyssa, on the other hand were a nice golden brown, and constantly teased her about her peeling nose.

     So on the day that they all had to leave the island, everyone was a little sad. They knew once they got back to the States, that they would all have to go their separate ways, Leal, Trisha, Samantha and Daffyd would all be going to Montana,
Seanna to Wisconsin, Bryce to California, Bryce’s grandparents and Alyssa would be going to Nevada, and Sally would be going home to Oregon. Plans were made for the summer. It was agreed that Bryce would bring Alyssa with him after his visit with Bryson and Lucille the first couple of weeks of his vacation. They had the manager take a group picture of them on the dock before they all got on the boats to take them to the main land.

     When they all got to the airport in Texas, they had some time together before the first flight out. Deciding to go and grab a bite together they found a place that was closest to the gate that Sally would need, as she was the first flight out. Seanna and Alyssa wanted to pop into the gift store. Alyssa had asked her to help pick out a card for Daffyd and Samantha as a thank you for the holiday.

    
The card was quickly forgotten as Alyssa spotted a tabloid paper right outside the store. On the front page was a picture of Daffyd and Samantha, under the gazebo on the island, saying their vows. The headlines splattered across the top were ‘Savage Gets Hitched’. She grabbed Seanna by the arm and pulled her to the paper. Seanna bought one and they quickly joined the others.

     Before she sat down at the table, she laid the paper out in front of her mom and Daffyd. It hadn’t taken her long to figure out that the pictures had been taken by Carrie. She sat down and held her head in her hands, trying not to cry. “I’m so sorry Daffyd. This is
all my fault.”

     “It was in the gift store,” said Alyssa.

     “What is it?” asked Bryce. Daffyd raised the paper so they could all see the front page.

     “It was Carrie. That was the whole plan all along…somehow they found out who you were,” cried Seanna.

     “But you got the film and the sim card,” said Bryce.

     “Do you know if either of them
had a laptop with them?” asked Leal.

     “Oh, I am so stupid! Yes, I saw a laptop on the desk in their room before the wedding,” said Seanna.

     “No wonder she didn’t mind turning over the film and the sim card. They had already downloaded the pictures,” said Daffyd. “They didn’t lose any time getting them published.”

     “Which probably means they had already had a buyer lined up,” Leal observed.

     “Daffyd, I’m so sorry…” sobbed Seanna. Her mother put her arms around her and looked at her husband questioningly.

     “Seanna, it was bound to happen sooner or later. I have been living with this type of thing for years. I’m just sorry that you had to suffer because of this young man’s choice to make an easy buck off of someone else’s private life,” said Daffyd.

     “No more hiding then?” asked Bryce.

     “Well, obviously they know I’m married. But I don’t think I want to reveal anything else yet. Eventually I wanted to go public with my new life,
but I just don’t think I’m ready to be any kind of a spokes person for Christianity. It’s still pretty new. When we get home, I’ll see what we can do for damage control. Hopefully they don’t know where we live.”

     “I never mentioned who you were, how could they have known?” asked Seanna.

     “You’d be surprised how they can get their information. I’m sure they had some before he ever approached you in the café,” said Leal.

     “I’m going to look into it as soon as we get back. I want to know who that guy is,” said Daffyd.

     “We need to make sure that Seanna is safe,” demanded Bryce. “Man,
now
I wish I would have punched him back.”

     “Why don’t we all get some food in our stomachs and you can deal with all of this later. There isn’t anything you can do about it sitting here in the airport,” suggested Sally.

     “I’m not sure there is anything we can do about it any way, you know, spilt milk and all of that. But I do want to make sure that this guy stays out of our lives from here on out,” said Daffyd. “Seanna, don’t worry. It wasn’t your fault. Sally’s right, let’s all eat and spend our last few minutes together enjoying each other’s company.”

     “I don’t think I can eat…” said Seanna sadly.

     “Wow…” said Bryce with his eyebrows in his hairline.

     “What?” asked
Alyssa.

     “If Sea, isn’t eating, this must be a bigger deal than we think!” he teased, not being able to handle seeing her so hurt. Seanna’s head shot up and saw he was teasing. She grabbed her straw and shot it across the table at him.

     “Ok…maybe I can eat a little,” she said opening her menu.

     “There’s my little sister,” said Bryce as Seanna peeked over her menu at him.

Chapter 12

Give Me
a Break

     As soon as Daffyd got back to Montana, he contacted a private detective to fish out all the information he could on Kevin and Carrie. Then after much soul searching, he also got in touch with his old manage
r, Barry, and his most recent band members. He explained all that had happened with the cancer, his abduction and his marriage. For the most part, they were all understanding, and forgiving, even if they didn’t understand his conversion. Then he sat down with Samantha and Pastor Bill to formulate a plan for his future.

     At Berkley, Bryce was having a hard time getting back into his school work after their vacation in Belize. He was constantly worried about Seanna and wondering how she was faring. Though he still called her, her frequent business kept their conversations short and he could tell things were different. After the first month, he made it a point of just calling once a week. Seanna had only called him twice and both times said she was on her way to class and was just checking up on her big brother. Every conversation just drove him deeper into despair about how much things had changed between them.
Lord, I’d be content to just have my little sister back,
he prayed over and over, knowing full well that was not what he wanted at all. He wanted Seanna to love him the way he loved her.

     Seanna on the other hand went back to school with a vengeance. After the first couple of days she stopped looking over her shoulder. Neither Kevin, nor Carrie was seen around the campus or at the café where she worked. Picking up extra hours there, and throwing herself headlong into her classes, Seanna didn’t give herself time to even think about Bryce. Occasionally she would get so lonely for him, that she would call. But as soon as she heard his voice, her heart felt like it was breaking and she’d make some excuse to hang up. Not wanting to give up all relations with him, she pushed the whole little sister angle. Whenever she thought of summer break, she was torn between anticipation of seeing him, and dread of the exact same thing.

     Alyssa, oblivious to all the issues between her new friends, called them both frequently. She was looking forward to spending the summer with them all in Montana. Her last call to Seanna, she had shared some of the plans that her and Bryce had made for the few weeks they would be spending together in Arizona with Bryson and Lucille. Seanna tried her best to stuff the feelings of jealousy and to be a friend to Alyssa. She did love her, and knew that she was a great person.
She’ll make a good wife to Bryce some day,
she repeatedly told herself, trying to prepare herself for the summer of having them both in the same house.

     Seanna had almost forgotten about Kevin and the fact that Daffyd’s face had been all over the tabloids for the past month, when she got a call from Daffyd.
“Hey, Daffyd. How’s mom?”

     “She’s wonderful. We both are and we’re looking forward to having our
kids home for the summer,” he said. “I know usually your mom is the one who calls, but I heard back from the detective and thought you should hear what he found out.”

     “…ok…I guess…” she answered with a sigh.

     “If you’d rather not, Seanna…” said Daffyd.

     “No, I need to, it’s just that I kind of forgot about him, and I hate to think about it all again. I know that sounds terrible after all he did to you, and I know you can’t forget about it with all the hype and publicity,” she explained.

     “It’s all going to turn out for the best, Seanna. Though I wasn’t too thrilled about it all, it made me think about how I have handled my whole privacy thing. I called Barry and the guys and came clean with them about the cancer and about my accepting Jesus into my heart. Now your Mom and I are working things out so that I can use my talent and my voice for His glory instead of my own.”

     “Daffyd, that’s great!
Now
I can handle hearing what you found out about that jerk.”

     “First of all, he isn’t a student, and neither is she. He’s a car salesman and she is a dancer at a club. Apparently, they overheard you on the phone with Bryce one day last spring and heard you talking about me. They found out who you were and kept tabs on you until you left for summer
break. When school started they found out were you worked and started dropping by occasionally. By that time they had the whole plan hatched. Kevin was supposed to get close to you so that he could find out where I was. Carrie really did take photography classes at some point and does a little free lancing here and there. They must have thought they had hit the jackpot when you invited him to come to the wedding.”