Page 123 (1/2)

"Yeah, yeah" Dropping his chin, he moved woodenly down the steps and headed toward the barn With every crunching step of his bootheel in the dirt, he winced His es?times Savannah had looked at him with mistrust or not looked at him at all; times she'd almost come toward him and then stopped, her eyes ith fear; times he'd wanted to reach out to her and been too damned afraid of his own darkness to even

try

Please God, don't let me screw up

Savannah paced back and forth, her s on the hard-packed dirt floor Her stomach felt like a butterfly nest, all fluttery and full She let out her breath in an anxious sigh Calm down, Savannah It ain't?isn't? that hard Ma'II be fine

Tiny teeth nipped at her self-confidence Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all She was gonna make a fool of herself at the dance for sure

"Savannah?"

She froze at the sound of her daddy's voice, then spun around He was standing in the doorway, a broad-

283

shouldered shadow against the ht behind him A few stars twinkled in the sky beyond There was only the barest light from the moon behind him, and yet even in the semidarkness, he was so handsome, he took her breath away

"There's a ruirl can't dance"

Yearning wrenched through Savannah Tears lurched into her throat and stung her eyes Her erously But she did her level best not to cry

She wanted to say sorown-up, but all of a sudden she felt like a little kid, scared and lonely She'd wanted hi, had waited and ached and prayed for it But now that it was here, he was here, she didn't knohat to do Her knees felt like unset pudding

She didn'ttoo fast and her throat as dry as toast, staring at her daddy She was scared to death she'd burst into tears and he'd run away again Standing still, she tried desperately to be a perfect little lady so he'd be proud of her

"Come here, Vannah"

Vannah The nickname almost did her in She squeezed her eyes shut Don't be a crybaby Don't do soain