Chapter 13

Savannah hurried out of the room, hearing Micah close behind her. Tisha and Connie stood there, and they bristled with dark emotion.

“We’re here because you called us and told us to get up here as fast as possible.”

Savannah blinked. “I did?”

“Yes,” Tisha replied, her hazel eyes intent. “We raced up here together because we knew you needed us.”

“I just didn’t think you needed us in more than one way,” Connie said as she twirled the pencil in her hair.

“I don’t understand.” Savannah hadn’t a clue what they were implying.

“Oh, don’t give me that. What is Micah doing here in the first place?”

“Micah is here because I asked him to come.”

Savannah gave a dry cough. Bad enough the nurse had heard everything she and Micah had said to each other. Worse for her friends, who loved her dearly, should be witness to the same event as well.

She glanced back at Micah. His eyes were wary but he gave a single nod.

Savannah took in a deep breath. Might as well get it over with. “Micah did ask me a question. He asked me to marry him.”

“What the—!” Tisha exclaimed. Her mouth dropped.

“Savvy, you can’t be serious.” Connie took a step toward her. “Say it isn’t so.”

“It’s so,” Savannah told them.

Micah’s large hand rested on the cap of her shoulder and she felt the tension, which had slowly risen, recede. Everything was going to be okay.

“And I bet you said yes to him, didn’t you? How could you do something as stupid and asinine as that?” Tisha’s dreadlocks swished emphatically with each word.

“Yeah. Have you forgotten what he did to Nascha?” Connie glared.

“I believe I told you once before to leave that subject alone,” Micah interjected. “You don’t know the full story nor its nuances, so I suggest you drop it.”

“Do I look like a kid to you?” Tisha snarled. “I don’t know what kind of voodoo you put on Savvy but I refuse to let her make the biggest mistake of her life!”

“Yeah,” Connie added. “What kind of friends would we be if we didn’t say anything?”

Savannah willed her friends to not say anything else. But before she could open her mouth, Tisha added, “She gained twenty pounds and stuffed her face with sweets. She stopped modeling. But the really bad stuff happened when Nascha died.”

“You weren’t there when Savannah nearly had a breakdown,” Connie pushed.

“Breakdown? What are you talking about?” Micah had come from behind her and stood next to her. “What breakdown?”

“Tish, Connie—” Savannah tried to intervene. Why bring up things that were better left unsaid?

But were they better left unsaid? a small voice asked. Shouldn’t Micah know?

“It was bad enough when you left, but when Nascha died, you weren’t there, Micah. Savannah had lost it. One of her dearest friends had died and you weren’t there. She begged you to come and you didn’t come.”

“I had no reason to come to the funeral of the woman who lied on me.” Micah seethed. Fury emanated from every line of his body. “Wild horses couldn’t have dragged me there.”

“Nascha didn’t lie, Micah. But the woman who was your former fiancé should have been important enough for you to skip out on your pride and go to her.” Tisha’s hand fisted. “Savannah wrote that letter because she was trying to reach out to you. She didn’t want to text you or give you a call. You would have ignored her. But when she wrote the letter, she needed you there.”

“Did you know how long she waited at the grave site? She waited for hours, Micah. Hours. The grave diggers had already placed her friend’s body in the ground and had left. Still she stayed, hoping you would show up. And you didn’t.” Connie pointed a finger. “When we came to her house, she was sitting in the middle of the floor, holding a picture of you two and just staring at it. All around her, she’d ripped up her wedding dress into confetti.”

Why had they brought up that awful time? She could barely recall the day after she came home. She remembered picking up her wedding dress, but things were vague then. The guilt that somehow, by the very fact she’d met Micah, she caused the events that led to Nascha’s demise. She’d thought by not marrying him, she’d done enough to absolve herself, but the cold gravestone had shown she hadn’t done nearly enough.

Nor had the love she felt for Micah left like she thought it would.

“Savannah, is this true?”

She didn’t answer him. “Look, girls. I know you both are looking out for me, but I know what I’m doing.”

“Do you? Why would you want to be with him when he refused to admit his incompetence?”

“Look, Tisha and Connie.” Micah wrapped an arm around her shoulders. It seemed heavier to her for some reason. “I am not the reason Nascha committed suicide, do you understand? Now, it’s late, and we all need to get back to our beds.”

“Oh no,” Tisha wagged her finger like a teacher to a small child. “Savannah has to accept the truth.”

The former joy which had encapsulated them before they walked out of Liliana’s room dissipated like fog in the sunshine. What Connie and Tisha said was true. Despite everything both she and Micah longed for, besides the love they had for each other, Micah was the cause behind Nascha’s death.

How could she forget that?

“Look, Savannah now knows I’m innocent. We’re going to be married and that’s it. There’s simply nothing you can do about it. I’m not going to let anyone break us up again.”

“There certainly is something we can do. We’re going to talk some sense into her,” Connie answered back. Their voices faded. Nascha’s face appeared in front of her like a specter. The ugly disfigurement of her lips ballooned to where she could see every twisted detail. “How can you marry a man who can do this to me?” Those were the words Nascha had used over and over again at one point or another.

“Savvy, will you tell them you do believe me so we can drop this and go home?”

Home. Home to her dead sister and brother-in-law’s house. Home to the memory of being left alone at the grave. Those amber eyes narrowed. “Savannah, just tell them.”

She couldn’t say the words. She believed he was guilty as sin.

A pleat crinkled the center of Micah’s forehead. His features had lost the soft edges of his hopes and dreams which had been evident when they knelt side by side in Liliana’s room. The prayer he offered to God and its calming surety had vanished. Now the planes of his face tautened.

“You still think I’m guilty?”

Savannah gulped. Why did Tisha and Connie have to show up? Why did she call them when she’d already spoken to Micah? Was it because some part of her wanted them to say these words? To bring up the past so she wouldn’t be swayed by him?

“Yes, Micah. I do.”

His arm fell away as he stumbled back like an invisible fist had launched itself at his chest.

“You can’t be serious.” Micah’s voice rose with incredulity. “After all we said to each other, you still believe that woman’s lies?”

A voice screamed inside her head. You’re about to cut the thread of destiny. You’re going to give up your chance at happiness.

“I—I—”

“I don’t believe it. You can’t do this to me.”

“What was she supposed to do?” Connie snorted. “Act as if none of this had happened?”

Micah backed away from her like she had a contagious disease.

Savannah felt something die inside. For those moments in Liliana’s room, she thought it was possible to get rid of the past and move forward to a new tomorrow. A new tomorrow with them as husband and wife, caring for their niece. Had she been kidding herself? Obviously there was a bad joke being played here. She couldn’t trust Micah to admit the truth of his wrongdoing. There was no way he would. He hadn’t in three years and wouldn’t now.

Something in Micah’s gaze seemed broken. His eyes carried a depth of sadness she almost responded to. Was she killing him softly?

Mentally, she shook the thought away.

“Savvy, you have to believe me. Please, believe me,” Micah pleaded with her.

Pride gone, once more. Shouldn’t that mean something? Nascha’s face appeared once again. “You can’t marry him, Savannah. Not after this.”

Savannah squared her shoulders and held his gaze. “There’s nothing you can say that would change my mind.”

Oh dear God, please let this be a nightmare. At least if this is a nightmare, I can wake up from it.

Micah’s plea went unheeded. Savannah stood still there with her clear, two-tone gaze and reinforced the words of her belief of his guilt. Micah took a step back. His legs almost collapsed from the crushing, invisible weight that threatened to send him to the ground to wallow in a black, bottomless pit.