In fact, for the next three days they were almost sickening. I showed affection with Savanna no matter where we were, but Ty and Miranda couldn’t keep their hands off of each other. The only ones to appreciate their love more than them, was Miranda’s mother and of course Bella. My aunt Karen had struggled as a single mother and I think all she ever wanted was for her daughter to calm down and settle into a more structured lifestyle. I never thought it would be with Ty, but he was very devoted to those girls.
Three days before our wedding is when everything really went to shit. The newspaper had a featured spot about me marrying Savanna at the ranch. I’m pretty sure that is how word got out about it being in the barn.
Ty and Miranda were staying in the main house, in Miranda’s old room. Bella still had her own room there, so it was easier. We had all had a nice family dinner and sat around playing cards until around midnight. Savanna and I drove one of the golf carts back to our place and Conner and Aunt Karen did the same and headed to their place.
At three in the morning, we got the call from my mother. The phone ringing at that time of morning scares the bejesus out of anyone, because it is always an emergency. My mother’s voice was so panicked. “COLT GET UP HERE FAST,” she screamed into the phone.
I jumped out of bed and started throwing on a pair of jeans. Savanna sat up watching me. “What are you doing babe?”
“Somethin’s wrong. I gotta get to the main house.” I didn’t even stop to kiss Savanna as I flew out the door.
Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw when I walked out onto my front porch.
I could see the flames even from my house. Something was on fire and it was big. I no sooner jumped on the golf cart and immediately heard the fire horns. We lived about ten miles from town, but late at night you could hear those sirens if they sounded.
I had forgotten my cell phone to call Conner, but hoped my mother had already done so. As I got closer, I saw exactly what was on fire.
It was the barn.
Giant flames were coming out of the main barn doors. The old hayloft was fully engulfed. Ty was running around without a shirt, trying to get a hose close enough to slow it down at least. “We have to do something,” he yelled.
“There’s nothing we can do,” I said under my breath.
Being that the structure of the barn was made from wood, I knew there was little that we could do. I crouched down on the ground and threw my hands over my head. We had worked on that barn for months. For two years, it was all Savanna had talked about. At Ty and Miranda’s party, she had been so excited. I didn’t care about the money or even the barn; it was Savanna who my heart ached for.
She’d been through enough. This was going to send her over the edge.
Ty came and stood over me. He was breathing heavily from running around trying to do everything he could to save the barn. I saw headlights coming toward us from the back of the ranch and knew it was Conner. He left his lights on and jumped out of the truck. I could tell from the look on his face that he knew there was nothing that would be salvageable. He took off his hat and threw it on the ground, before kicking the tire to his truck.
All of our countless hours of working into the wee hours of the morning had nothing to show for now. Everything was gone. Ty put his hand on my shoulder and left it there while we both just watched the fire destroying my fiancée’s happiness.
Of course, it didn’t take long for Savanna to hop in my truck and come driving down that lane. I could see the flames against the windshield, but through the glass Savanna was breaking down, holding her hands over of her face. I got up and ran toward the truck, not knowing what I could say to make any of this better for her.
Chapter 2
Savanna
All of my life I had pictured my wedding as the happiest day of my life. Of course, I had changed the person I thought I would marry, but the dream remained the same. I was marrying Colt Mitchell and the anticipation alone was killing me.
After Ty and Miranda had finally settled down, the family went back to being normal, with the exception of them being married now. I have to admit, they both hurt me. Don’t get me wrong, I never wanted Ty back, but seeing him, so happy with someone else, someone that I was so close to, well it was like a punch in the gut. For years, I had been the best girlfriend possible, while he went behind my back cheating on me.
I loved Miranda, but as far as guys were concerned, she wasn’t much better. She lost her father when she was little and I think once she hit puberty she sought out attention from the opposite sex to fill the void. She ended up getting pregnant by a total loser, who threatened the life of her and their daughter. His threats sent her to live with Ty and the rest is history.