Chapter 16

Savannah sat in the chair next to Liliana’s bed, reading a story. The little girl gained more mobility and strength each day. Savannah couldn’t be happier about it. Dr. Yamaguchi watched over her like a mother hen.

“Oh! Pig! Oink! Oink!” Liliana squealed with delight.

“That’s right, ladybug. That’s the sound a pig makes.”

“Oink! Oink!” The child snorted and her laughter filled the room like a blessing.

Savannah turned the page. “The dog says—”

“Woof! Woof!” Liliana ended for her. They both giggled at the antics.

Just then, Savannah felt a tug in her heart. One she hadn’t felt in over a month. Thirty-seven days to be exact. Micah was here.

She kept on with the story, glad she was so familiar with it that Liliana didn’t notice her distraction. The tug in her heart grew tighter. It meant he was coming closer.

A hot rush washed over her. What should she do? Should she acknowledge him with a cool smile and a carefree attitude? Or should she throw herself into his arms and beg him never to leave again?

“And the cat says—”

“Uncle!” Liliana screamed.

Savannah didn’t try to correct her. Slowly, she closed the book and then faced the door.

Micah stood there, his amber eyes fixed on her with an unreadable expression. Then he settled his gaze on the little girl in the bed. “Hello there, ladybug.”

Liliana’s honey eyes seemed to rival the sun itself. “Uncle!”

“Are you feeling better?”

He walked over to the girl and got down on his knees on the other side of the bed. They talked back and forth for a few minutes. Savannah used the conversation to drink in the sight of him. He looked good enough to eat and she was in a devouring mood.

But still, why had he given her that expression, as though he were trying to keep her from seeing too deeply? Was he trying to tell her that his presence held no significant value? Maybe he wasn’t here to see her, but to check up on Liliana as any old friend. After all, Donald had come by a couple of times to check on her. So had Tish, Connie, and a few members of the church.

Her business associates had sent condolences and gifts for Liliana, content to give her time and space so she could reorganize her schedule to care for her niece.

Micah’s being here could mean that he was coming only in the capacity of a concerned friend.

But Savannah was in a place where she could admit to herself she didn’t want him as just a concerned friend. She wanted him as her husband. The man whose children she longed to bear and the one she wanted to grow old with. Her mistakes of the past had been massive ones. She had refused to believe his side of the story. She had judged him guilty. That kind of attitude wouldn’t hold sway in a court of law.

During the last week, she searched for old videos of Micah on the Internet. She cried several times as she watched the man she loved get ridiculed, scorned, mocked, and hated by the world. It had seemed no one was on his side. His stony face as he stood before reporters tore at her heart. How alone he must have felt when she wasn’t there by his side. It hurt to see just how badly he’d been treated by the vicious animal of public scrutiny.

She also looked at videos of Nascha during the same time. Though her lips had been horribly disfigured, Savannah noticed a certain gleam in her friend’s eye she couldn’t get past. It was there when she cried on TV or when she looked at the camera. Despite her garbled words through her inflamed lips, that strange look of satisfaction remained.

“How are you, Savannah?”

From the look he gave her, she must have been staring. She blushed. “I’m fine, Micah. It’s good to see you. How have things been for you?”

“They’ve been okay. I had some free time and I wanted to come and see how this little ladybug was doing.”

“As you can see, she’s doing better. Dr. Yamaguchi talked with a specialist about a skin graft for her leg, but that won’t be for a few weeks. Other than that, Liliana’s getting better all the time.”

“Guess who’s here?”

Savanna whirled around to see Joslyn and Cameron in the doorway. “Hi, there! I didn’t know you were coming today.” “We were coming to meet your folks for a bite to eat, and stopped to say hello.”

“Mom, Dad. Can you stay with Liliana for a bit? I need to talk to Savannah.”

Cameron walked over to the bed and tweaked the child’s nose, which made her giggle. “Of course. Haven’t seen this little lady in some time.”

“Ya’ll go ahead and talk.” Joslyn shooed them out the door. “She’ll be here when ya’ll get back.”

Before Savannah knew it, they were walking down the hall. Micah asked, “Can we go into the chapel? We can talk there.”

“Sure.” She wiped her palms on her pants.

When they were sitting on the seats in the chapel, Savannah took in the quiet atmosphere. The cross before them glowed from the candles set before it. The Virgin and child posed serene and calm in one corner, while a giant Bible lay on a stand in the center. There was no place she’d rather be than in this moment before God. If they were ever going to move forward to tomorrow, this was going to be the place to do it.

“Savvy—”

“There’s something I want to say first before you start, Micah,” she interrupted, and then took a deep breath. “I want to say that I’m sorry.”

“Huh?” His amber eyes looked at her in surprise.

“I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry for not trusting you and not believing you. I’m sorry for not being there for you at the roughest time in your life. I wish I could go back and change everything but I can’t. All I can do is say I’m sorry. It’s not enough to make up for the pain but I truly hope it’s a beginning.”

“I don’t know what to say—”

“Let me finish before I lose my nerve, Micah.” She swallowed a lump in her throat and then glanced toward the cross. “I watched those videos online. When the reporters, and media personalities, and everyone one else tried to destroy you. I saw your face and the way you were barely holding on to anything. It was an awful time for you, wasn’t it?”

A hard turn of his mouth was his answer.

“When I saw them, I started crying. Here they were, maligning your character, and you couldn’t do a thing about it. You just had to take it.”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“It wasn’t until I saw Nascha’s face during the same time, I started to realize something. She seemed ... satisfied. Greedy almost. No matter how hard I tried to turn those thoughts off, I couldn’t. That’s when I started to doubt what she said about your being the one who caused the damage to her.”