Page 62 of All I Need (Hearts of the South)
She wanted to scan the crowded sanctuary to see if someone else was waiting, but she refused, instead keeping her gaze on the tableau before her—Hamilton in Amy’s arms, Rob’s hand at the small of Amy’s back, Reverend Camp’s familiar gnarled fingers sprinkling water across Hamilton’s tiny head.
He’d said he’d be there for her, and she believed. She didn’t have to look.
Afterward, she didn’t see him in the crowd, but with multiple infant baptisms on that Sunday, families and vehicles spilled outside the parking lot and onto the side streets. She’d simply missed him.
Her parents’ home was soon nearly as packed. Friends and relatives pulled her attention from looking for the face she most wanted to see. Once more, she smoothed over her own uneasiness. He’d said he be there, and she believed.
Their cousin Jen, a photographer by profession, gathered Amy, their mother, and their grandmother under the weeping willow for a multigenerational photo.
“Wait.” Amy shifted a sleeping Hamilton, clad in the same white gown in which she and Savannah had been baptized, in her hold. “Savannah, I want you with us.”
She laughed and crossed her arms. “I think that kind of messes with the idea of the photo.”
Amy tucked a loose strand of hair behind one ear and fixed her with a look. “Come on. I’m not doing this without you.”
Acquiescing was easier than arguing. She stood to Amy’s left, next to their grandmother, completely messing up the numbers. “Amy, this is ridiculous.”
“Savannah, hush and smile.” Grandmother gently pinched her waist. “If you need a reason to smile, look over there at those four young men in well-cut suits.”
Jen laughed, camera in one hand, the other curved over her very pregnant belly. “Gran.”
“I’m older, dear, not blind or dead. Any woman can appreciate a man who makes a suit look good.”
Savannah ignored the banter, finally able to breathe again. Making a trim, basic black suit look better than good, Emmett stood on the far side of the expansive yard with Clark, Troy Lee, and Rob. Hands in his pockets, he was the only one of the four not laughing, but a slight smile played about his mouth. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so glad to see someone. Nerves, a blend of anticipation and remembered desire, trembled in her abdomen.
Jen clicked off a rapid series of shots, camera whirring, and Savannah frowned at her. With a helpless shrug, Jen waved a hand in the air. “I couldn’t resist. You had the most sublime look on your face just then.”
“I love it.” Amy grinned at her, almost vibrating with excitement, and Savannah found herself the center of affectionately curious attention from her female relatives.
“Amy, please.” She fiddled with one pearl stud, a nervous gesture she would never have succumbed to during her pageant days.
“I’m assuming one of them is the young man who had you in such a tizzy the last time you were here,” her grandmother said dryly. “Which one is he, Amy?”
Savannah didn’t even bother not to roll her eyes. Let Jen take a photo of that.
“The black suit.”
Grandmother smiled. “Oh, my.”
Her mother wrapped an arm around Savannah’s waist. “I’m glad he came with you, darling.”
“Me too.” Not that he’d actually come with her, but still…he was here. As she watched, Rob gestured in their direction, waved toward the house, and detached himself from the group to speak to an approaching college friend. The other three walked to the front door, a cheerful conversation passing between Clark and Troy Lee before they disappeared in the house.
Disappointment blended with an odd foreboding. He hadn’t even looked at her.
She smiled through a myriad of family photos, then went in search of him. She found him on the back patio, he and Clark engaged in a casual conversation with her father. Her stomach plunged.
“…work with Rob, sir.” Emmett glanced down as she stopped at his side. “Savannah and I live in the same apartment complex as well.”
“What’s your role with the department?”
“Currently, I serve as administrative support to the chief investigator.”
Her father nodded. “Paperwork, then.”
“Yes, sir. Lots of paperwork.”
Savannah bristled at the reduction of what she knew he actually did to mere pushing of paper.
