Keep My Heart Warm

Chapter Sixteen

"So, my father will be out the whole day, he has some things to work on in town. He won't even have lunch with us. What do you think of making a picnic on the hill?" Savannah proposed to Romeo with a smile as they cleaned the horses' stables.

It was a sunny and extremely hot Wednesday morning. The next Sunday they would be performing Savannah's song in church, but Savannah wasn't too nervous or worried about that, since she was used to singing in front of the whole town and she knew how talented Romeo was. They would play and sing beautifully and everyone would love the new song. Everyone in town told Savannah she already had enough good songs to publish a record, but the girl knew things weren't that easy. It wasn't like she didn't trust her music, she liked what she wrote and knew many people liked listening to it; however, the music business was too competitive and manipulative, and Savannah didn't want to be owned by a record company who could tell her how and what to sing. On the other hand, publishing a record on her own was too much of an investment and doing so without a proper marketing team was practically suicidal.

"Sounds great, I'd love that!" Romeo replied with a grin, glad he could spend some alone time with Savannah. Well, they spent most of the time together, but it was working. It would be good to have a romantic date like a picnic on the hill they kissed for the first – and second – time, without having to pretend they weren't dating.

Savannah smiled back, happy to be able to have a moment like that with Romeo. She was starting to get more used to having a boyfriend, even though it was in secret. Romeo was a sweetheart, which she had never thought he would be. After all, Romeo came from the city, and Savannah knew things were different there. People in the city seemed to live in a hurry, to want to grow up way too early and live everything they had to live in their lives before it even reached half of it. For that reason, she thought she would feel pressured by Romeo, especially given he was way more experienced than her when it came to relationships. However, he didn't pressure her to do anything, he gave her space when she needed it and in all honestly acted like a silly young boy around her, which she adored. Savannah knew how seductive and distant Romeo could be, after all he was like that when they first met, and to see him act so cheerfully and silly around her made her feel special.

They finished their chores for the morning and headed back to the house to prepare everything for the picnic. Together they prepared some sandwiches, picked a bottle of juice, and added some cupcakes Savannah had made the last day. They fed Boy, who was always around for lunch time, and went to their bedrooms to get on their swimwear. When everything was ready, they left the house and got on the horses to ride to the hill.

"This is nice." Romeo said, stretching after he got off Jupiter as he admired the view. It felt good to lay under the shadow of a tree on such a hot day. Adding food and, more importantly, Savannah to the mix made it even better.

Savannah smiled and nodded as she laid a picnic towel on the grass and started taking the food out of the bag. Romeo took is shoes and socks off and took a seat under the shadow in front of Savannah.

"I can't believe this, is Romeo Russel barefoot?" Savannah teased, remembering how he thought it was weird for her to always walk around without shoes on her feet.

Romeo playfully rolled his eyes. "I guess it's contagious." He replied, even though it was true. Now that he had his feet on the grass, he realized it did feel kind of good. It made him feel more real, free and connected to nature. He now totally understood why Savannah did it so much, still he wouldn't be able to walk barefoot as much as she did. She basically only wore shoes to church, and country boots when she went to town or was working on the stables. For the rest of the day, she was barefoot. It was a characteristic of hers that used to annoy him but he now adored.