Ghost Flowers

25. Savana's Father's Day - Pt. 1

Savana woke up and saw two missed calls and an unread text. They were all from Ezra. After seeing her call late last night, he was worried. She called him back and told him about her phone conversation with Landon.

"I'm surprised. I didn't think you guys were that close yet." Ezra said.

Savana felt she needed to explain more. "It's not like we're dating or anything. He's still a weirdo." She paused. "And I have this strange feeling that there's something he's not telling me. And Damon too. It's like they both don't want to talk about why Damon and Landon hate each other."

Ezra felt a little guilty for not telling her but decided they should tell her themselves. He didn't know all the details anyway, but he knew Landon wasn't a bad guy and made a mistake. He looked at his phone to see the time. "Well, stop being so nosey. I have to work. Talk to you later." He hung up. It caught Savana by surprise. Did she annoy him?

Savana didn't have anything planned for the day. Faye was working. Cully was visiting her family. Gavin wasn't coming home until later. "Screw it." She got up to get dressed. Soon she was in her car and texting someone.

It was only ten o'clock, and it was already hot and humid. Savana was happy with her decision to spend time at the lake. Even if she was alone, it was better than being alone at home. She thought she might see a few people in the park when she first arrived. All she noticed was the black truck parked at the end of the lot as before.

Savana hoped someone would show up. But he never responded to her text before she swam to the raft. Maybe he didn't want to see her after last night. Even Gavin seemed to spend more time with his girlfriend than his daughter. It was still weird to think about. She regretted getting on his case about trusting her to be home alone more.

The sun beamed down on the raft. It helped her relax enough to fall asleep. Later, Savana was startled awake by water dripping on her face.

"What the fuck?" She shot up and shielded her eyes from the bright sun.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

She squinted her eyes to see who it was. She blushed. Damon was so attractive in the sunlight with his wet, dark curly hair. "Oh, um, no, it's okay." Savana continued to look at him in embarrassment. "I must have dozed off."

"I saw your text an hour ago. I just finished at the gym, and a swim sounded nice. I see it was pretty relaxing for you too. I'm just glad you didn't sleepwalk off the raft." He laughed and sat down next to her.

Savana was still embarrassed about sleepwalking into his bedroom. Damon glanced at her and laughed harder at her expression. She yelled at him and hit his shoulder. "Shut up!"

"Ouch!" Damon rubbed his shoulder. "Sorry." There was silence. "So, what's up? I thought maybe Cully and Faye would have been here too."

"Oh, so you just came to see them." Savana joked, but part of her was disappointed to think it might have been true.

"No, I would have come if I knew it was just you." He smiled at her.

Savana's heart skipped a beat, and a feeling of warmth spread through her chest. She looked down at her legs. "They're both busy today. Same with Ezra and Landon." She paused. "So, about what happened at Cully's."

Damon leaned back on the raft. "You don't need to tell me if you don't want to."

Being interrupted irritated her. "No, it's not that." She glared at him. "It's just that you walked away from me before I could tell you anything."

"You seemed upset that I was there. I thought it was better to leave you alone." Damon explained.

Savana studied his face. The sunlight brought out his eyes' lighter color. They sparkled. "I thought you walked away because you were annoyed with me or something." She felt tears come out but tried to hold them back.