Vegas With Dad's Best Friend

Savannah

Several times I almost want to run away again and wait for them to argue this out. Sometimes it feels like there’s no point in me being in the room. My feelings don’t appear to matter. Dad is only concerned about Jonas and how serious he might or might not be.

But when Jonas turns to me with a gleam in his eye, I can’t help but feel a flash of excitement. Something is about to happen – I can feel it. He’s prepared something, whatever it is that he was hinting he wanted to show us.

“How are you going to do that?” Dad sneers on the video screen. “You’ve lived your whole life as a bachelor. You live in a hotel in Las Vegas, for god’s sake. One week of living with Savannah and you’ll be sick of it and wanting your freedom back.”

“Well, she’s already been here almost that long, so I don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” Jonas says, and I’m gratified to see dad’s eyes almost pop out of his head at that revelation. “Besides, that bachelor lifestyle is a thing of the past. I’m ready to settle down. So ready, in fact, that I have my assistant looking into family homes that I can purchase.”

“What does that prove?” Greg asks. “You’re moving into a permanent home in Vegas. Well done. It’s only taken you, what, seven years?”

“Not here in Vegas,” Jonas says, making me look at him in shock, my eyes popping open wide. “Out there near where you live in Texas.”

“What?” I breathe, stunned beyond measure.

“That’s right,” he says. He reaches under a cushion on the couch and draws out a folder, pulling out printouts of big ranch homes and estates. “I want Savannah to be comfortable, and if that means being near her family, I’m not going to object. I’m willing to give up this city, and my business – all of it – if it means I get to be with her.”

“Wait a second,” Greg says, his expression troubled now. He looks like he just can’t understand any of this. “You’re…. you’re saying you would move out here to Texas again?”

“I would.” I give him an even look, waiting for it to sink in.

“But…” I can see him almost convinced now, but then he shakes his head. “Well, I’m sure that’s no skin off your nose. You’ll only be moving back to a place where you already know you have friends.”

“Actually, you’re the only one I’ve kept in touch with all of these years,” I say. “The others won’t be as happy to see me, I’m sure. But it’s going to be a big deal to move. I’ll have to give up my business here entirely, sell off all my assets and start again. I’m confident I can find another way to be just as successful, but it will take time and effort. I’m giving up everything I’ve worked for, over my whole life.”

“You can’t do that,” Savannah gasps.

“Here’s the thing,” I say, reaching for her hand. “I don’t mind. I don’t mind a single bit, so long as it means we get to be together. I’m not going to give up on you, Savannah, not for anything. And your happiness is my priority now.”

She looks down at the pages on the table, and I can see she’s thinking about something. But that can wait until later – all of the discussion about where we’ll live and when and how. It’s the determination to actually live together in the first place that matters right now.

“Is that it, then?” Greg says. His words sound acerbic, but his tone is already weary. I almost have him. He’s only still putting up objections because he feels like he has to because he feels like he can’t just back down. “That’s the big thing you wanted to show us?”

I can only smile. He’s set me up perfectly, giving me just the link I needed to segue right into the next thing I have planned.

“No,” I say. “That wasn’t it. Actually, I have something else to show you both – something which I hope will show you once and for all just how real all of this is to me.”

I reach into my pocket and find the object safely hidden there, wrapping my fingers around it.

I’m not going to let this opportunity pass. I love Savannah, and I know she’s the one for me. The only one I want. The thought of her leaving me – or worse, her being with someone else – fills me with an intense feeling that I can’t even describe. All I know is that it would be the worst thing in the world that could ever happen.

And I’m not going to let it.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Savannah

I turn to Jonas, not sure what to expect. Where is he going with this, next?