Midnight Secrets

chapter

THREE


Barely eight hours later, calling himself seven kinds of a fool, Zach stood on the front porch of the Wilde mansion. He had no good reason for being here and sure as hell didn’t belong here.

In his whole life, he’d never had anyone refer to him as a hero. He’d been sneered at, laughed at. Had people call him everything from bastard and sleaze to the town slut’s son. Had even seen people cross the street to avoid him. The very idea that even for a moment someone as pure and sweet as Savannah Wilde could consider him a hero amazed him. The temptation of experiencing that feeling again was hard to resist.

Of course, the moment Daniel Wilde, Savannah’s grandfather, saw him, he’d be told to leave. His stomach grumbled and he shrugged philosophically. If nothing else, maybe they’d give him a biscuit or something before they kicked him out.

That might be humiliating for some, but Zach had long ago gotten over being prideful. Taking care of his family for so many years had made pride a useless emotion and one he couldn’t afford. It’d been a while since he’d had to steal food or depend upon the kindness of others. Once he’d found a few folks willing to give him a chance to earn some money, he had stopped stealing. And though he could still go to the food pantries at some of the churches and get free groceries, he had stopped that, too. Food hadn’t been as plentiful once he had started paying for it, but it had tasted a damn sight better than stolen food or charity.

And now that Leonard had come into their lives, there was plenty of money for groceries, but Zach would never allow himself to forget the gnawing ache of hunger. He was still as frugal as ever, but instead of spending all of his earnings on the necessities, he saved as much as he could.

Braced for rejection, Zach pressed the doorbell and waited to be told to go home. Seconds later, Savannah opened the door, and her brilliant smile of welcome was like a blast of bright sunshine after a long, dark night. Her long, wavy hair was pulled back by some kind of barrette, and she was wearing a pale pink sleeveless dress covered in butterflies.

“You came!”

She seemed so pleased to see him, Zach took a step forward before he remembered he hadn’t been invited inside. Stopping abruptly, he cleared his throat and said, “I only came to make sure you were okay.”

Yeah, okay, that was lame. But he figured giving her an out would save both of them the embarrassment when Daniel Wilde ordered him to leave.

Instead of accepting his words, she grabbed his arm and pulled him inside. “Nonsense. Granddad’s so excited to meet you. Breakfast is ready. Hope you’re hungry.” She tugged on his arm again. “Come on.”

Zach barely heard the door close behind him as he gazed around in awe. Never in his life had he seen anything so grand or clean. The closest thing was when he was a kid, he’d gone on a school trip to tour the governor’s mansion in Montgomery. That had been larger, but this, in his opinion, was nicer.

The floor was polished mahogany, so shiny he could see his reflection. The walls, a light lemony color, were covered with framed art and all sorts of family photos. A giant curved staircase seemingly miles away from the entrance spiraled up to the second floor. A balcony overlooked the first floor. The mansion appeared big on the outside but he hadn’t imagined how immense it really was. Long past believing that anything could intimidate or impress him, Zach felt rooted to the floor and speechless. The gulf between his upbringing and Savannah Wilde’s was like night and day, beans and apple butter … heaven and hell.

“Come into the morning room. That’s where we have Saturday breakfast. Sammie and Bri are excited to meet you, too.”

Barely comprehending that his feet were moving, Zach followed slowly behind Savannah, more intimidated with each step he took. Every room they went through reinforced the fact that he didn’t belong here. He was about to come up with another excuse to leave when she led him to a large sunny room with a table laden with the best-smelling and most delicious-looking food he could ever imagine. What amazed him even more were the three smiling faces of the people surrounding the table.

Daniel Wilde came toward him, his hand outstretched. “Welcome, Zach. I can’t begin to tell you how grateful we are for what you did for Savannah last night.” Tears glistened in the older man’s blue eyes.

“I was glad to help out, sir.”

Mr. Wilde turned slightly and gestured behind him. “I’d like to introduce Samantha and Sabrina, Savannah’s sisters.”

Though Zach had never officially met either girl, he’d seen them around. He knew Savannah and her sisters were triplets, and though they looked almost identical, he thought Savannah was by far the most beautiful of the three.

“Come sit down,” Savannah urged.

Zach watched as she pulled a chair out for him at the head of the table. Feeling more uncomfortable and awkward than he’d ever felt in his life, Zach lumbered over to the chair and sat down. Then, realizing that everyone was still standing, he sprang to his feet again, his face and entire body heating up in embarrassment.

When everyone was finally seated, Zach fell back into his chair and stared at the overflowing platters on the table: eggs, both fried and scrambled, bacon, country ham, pancakes, biscuits, gravy—sawmill and redeye—grits, and hash browns. Two glass pitchers, one holding orange juice and the other milk, stood beside a carafe of steaming coffee. The room was silent, as if everyone was waiting for him to say something. Before he could come up with anything, a gigantic and eager rumble of his stomach broke the quiet.

“We really didn’t know what kind of food you liked, so we each made our specialty.” Savannah paused and then added, “I made the biscuits and both gravies.”

“It looks really good.”

As if his approval was what they had been waiting for, platters of food began to be passed. Zach took a modest amount from each one and soon had an overloaded plate. When the last platter was finally passed, Daniel Wilde said, “Let’s give thanks.”

Everyone at the table bowed their head. Nerves and his grumbling stomach kept him from hearing much of the prayer, but when his name was mentioned, Zach’s ears perked up. Savannah’s grandfather thanked God for Zach being there to save her and for coming to breakfast. Had anyone ever prayed for him before? He didn’t think so. It felt odd but he couldn’t say he hated the feeling.

After a chorus of “Amen,” Zach opened his eyes and watched as everyone began to eat. Deciding he’d been given the green light, he wasted no more time and dug into the best meal he’d had in his life.

Savannah had the hardest time concentrating on her own plate of food. She had never seen anyone eat the way Zach did. He attacked and demolished. Knowing that it would embarrass him if she stared, she forced herself to only glance at him every so often so it wouldn’t look so obvious.

She still couldn’t believe he’d actually come. Last night when she had issued the invitation, the expression in his eyes and his noncommittal reply made her almost positive he wouldn’t. Not that it had stopped her grandfather from insisting that they make a meal fit for a king. After she had told him what happened and what Zach did for her, he’d been ready to go over to Zach’s house and thank him in person. Knowing that Zach probably wouldn’t want that, she had persuaded him to wait till morning to see if he would show.

Once they’d heard the truth, her sisters had been just as eager to thank him. Sammie and Bri had arrived home last night with a completely different story of what had happened. Rumors had been running rampant that a drunken Zach Tanner had shown up at the prom and had beaten up two boys in the parking lot. There had been no mention of how Zach had rescued her or what Clark Dayton and his friends had tried to do.

Savannah had been appalled at how the low-life rednecks had twisted the truth, making Zach into a villain instead of the hero she knew him to be. Thank heavens her grandfather had been wise enough to realize something else. It hadn’t occurred to her that Zach could get into trouble. Why would it? He’d saved her life! Daniel Wilde was smart in the ways of how this town worked, so instead of going to Zach’s house to thank him, he had gotten into his car and made the short trip to the police station. And had arrived in the nick of time.

Granddad had said that Chief Mosby had been hell-bent on arresting Zach. It had taken over an hour to convince Mosby, plus a phone call to Savannah to corroborate the story, before he had agreed to not pursue the matter. Just the thought of what could have happened if her grandfather hadn’t intervened chilled Savannah to the bone.

Though she wished Clark Dayton and his drunken friends could be arrested, Savannah knew that wasn’t going to happen. There was no doubt in her mind what they had intended to do … when she closed her eyes, she could still see the evil intent on their faces. However, other than grabbing her arm once, they had never touched her. She could prove nothing.

“I heard rumors that you’re going into the army, son. Is that true?”

Savannah jerked her head around at her grandfather’s words. Zach was joining the army? Leaving town? When?

She watched as he swallowed a mouthful of food and then said, “Yes, sir, I leave for basic training in a couple of months.”

“Service to your country is a fine and noble endeavor. You’re a brave young man.”

His face flushing, Zach mumbled, “Thank you, sir” and dipped his head down to his food again.

Pushing aside that disturbing news for the time being, Savannah searched for a safe conversation topic that would put Zach at ease. The way he kept his head down and barely looked at anyone, it was obvious he was uncomfortable. Since she knew so little about him other than all the rumors she’d heard, it was hard to come up with something. However, she did know a little bit about his half brother, Josh.

“Your brother is a good football player.”

The statement came out of left field and was as lame a conversation starter as she’d ever given. Even her sisters were giving her wide-eyed stares as if she’d lost her mind. She knew almost nothing about football and had declared on more than one occasion that she would never understand why everyone in Alabama was so consumed with such a barbaric-looking sport. However, she did know that Josh was a football star in school, so she had taken a chance.

Expecting Zach to either ignore the comment or give her the same astonished look as her sisters, she was thrilled it had the opposite effect. That same smile she’d experienced only briefly last night brightened his too-solemn features. “He’s amazing. College recruiters are already talking about him. I’d love to see him get a football scholarship to Alabama.”

That was the longest speech she’d ever heard from him. Eager to seize on what appeared to be a topic of interest for him, she asked, “Did you play football in school, too?”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she wanted to withdraw the question. Of course he hadn’t played sports in school. If her brain had been working at all, she would have remembered that.

His smile dimmed only slightly as he answered, “Nah, I was never any good at it.”

Most likely it wasn’t his lack of skills that had kept him from playing, but the responsibilities he’d taken on after school. She had heard that he’d had several part-time jobs while he had been in school. While other kids got to participate in extracurricular activities, he was working to help support his family. For the first time ever, Savannah was embarrassed by her family’s wealth. Her studies and the occasional chores at home were the only real responsibilities she’d ever had. She’d certainly never had to do anything to support her family.

Other than the clink of silverware, there was silence in the room again. Savannah took a bite of something from her plate and then shot her grandfather a pleading look.

With an imperceptible nod, her grandfather said, “You’re a Bama fan, Zach?”

“Yes, sir.” He grinned and added, “Roll Tide all the way.”

“I really thought they’d pull off another national championship last season.”

Savannah listened as her grandfather and Zach talked easily about players and statistics as if they’d known each other for years. Even Sammie and Bri piped in with their own observations and opinions. Savannah felt ignorant, a feeling she hated. She who buried her face in a book sometimes from morning till night knew nothing about the one subject Zach seemed the most interested in. As a bookworm who read anything and everything she could get her hands on, that was unsettling. Oh, she knew there were touchdowns, fumbles, and tackles, but was totally in the dark on the rules and procedures of the game.

Vowing to remedy her lack of knowledge, she listened intently as the discussion went from last season’s schedule to the upcoming games this fall. And while she learned, she watched Zach. No longer ill at ease, he was leaning back into his chair, lively interest on his face.

So engrossed in watching him, she was startled when he stood and said, “Well, thank you for a delicious breakfast, but I have an appointment to get to.”

Savannah jumped to her feet, almost toppling over the chair behind her. “I’ll walk you out.”

She was aware of three sets of eyes staring at them as they walked out of the morning room. She couldn’t have made it more obvious that she was awestruck and enthralled with their guest. But her sisters and grandfather knew her better than anyone. Hopefully her fascination wasn’t as apparent to Zach as it was to her family.

They reached the front door and Zach turned to face her, that solemn, sincere expression back on his face. “Watch out for Dayton. He’ll be pissed … I mean angry about what happened and might try to take it out on you.”

“I will. You be careful, too.”

He shrugged and opened the door. “Always am.”

“Want to come back for supper tonight?” She winced, fearing he would see straight through that invitation. He did, but not the way she’d feared.

“You don’t owe me anything, Savannah. Okay?”

She inhaled a shallow breath to steady her courage and answered with the truth, “Yes, I do, but that’s not why I asked you to supper.” Swallowing hard, she took the biggest chance of her life. “I’d like to see you again.”

His expression softened. “Why?”

Because I’ve had a crush on you from the moment I saw you. Because I find you fascinating. Because I’ve never felt like this about anyone before.

She couldn’t say any of those things, so she shrugged and gave him a bland but truthful answer. “I’d like to get to know you better.”

Eyes the color of a stormy winter’s sky stared hard as if trying to see beneath her words to an ulterior motive. She understood that he probably didn’t trust a lot of people. That was something they had in common. Savannah withstood his scrutiny and waited.

“I can’t come to supper tonight.”

Though she wasn’t surprised at his refusal, disappointment swamped her. Before she could come up with a brave smile and another innocuous reply, he stunned her with an invitation of his own. “I’m working a concert in Mobile tonight. It’s just a setup and teardown of equipment for a rock band called Stand and Deliver. They’re pretty good. If you’d like to come.”

“I’d love to.” She didn’t even worry about sounding too eager. This moment was too monumental to hide her excitement.

“I’ll pick you up at five o’clock.”

She barely nodded before he turned away and jogged to his car. Savannah stayed at the door long after his car disappeared from sight. Maybe it was her imagination or wishful thinking, but she could swear she saw a flash of attraction in his eyes. Could it be possible?

Closing the door, she turned and leaned against it. Zach had asked her out … he must find her somewhat appealing. Then the thought hit her. She had a date to go to a concert—something she’d never done before.

This called for major assistance from two people who were in the know. Samantha knew fashion. Sabrina loved rock music. She took off at a run toward the morning room. “Sammie! Bri! I need your help.”