Unplanned Love (Savage Love) Read online

  Secret Love

  By Jodi Woody

  Copyright © by Jodi Woody

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. Please do not participate in or encourage the piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, as a gift, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One-Brotherly Love

  Chapter Two-Prince Charming

  Chapter Three-Paradise

  Chapter Four-The Frog Prince

  Chapter Five-Togetherness

  Chapter Six-A Snake in the Grass

  Chapter Seven-The Surprise

  Chapter Eight-True Love?

  Chapter Nine-The Reckoning

  Chapter Ten-Family

  Chapter Eleven-Goodbyes

  Chapter Twelve-Give Me a Break

  Chapter Thirteen-There’s No Place Like Home

  Chapter Fourteen-Summer Fun

  Chapter Fifteen-Moving On

  Chapter Sixteen-Immeasurable Error

  Chapter Seventeen-The Day After

  Chapter Eighteen-The Balm of Forgiveness

  Chapter Nineteen-Repairing the Breach

  Chapter Twenty-At Last

  Epilogue

  Song 4:9-12 You have ravished my heart, My sister, my spouse; You have Ravished my heart with one look of your eyes, with one link of your necklace. How fair is your love, my sister, my spouse! How much better than wine is your love, and the scent of your perfumes than all spices! Your lips, O my spouse, drip as the honeycomb; honey and milk are under your tongue; and the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon. A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. NKJV

  Chapter 1

  Brotherly Love

  “So you met your Prince Charming?” Bryce asked Seanna over his cell.

  “It’s too soon to tell if he’s a prince, but he is quite charming,” said Seanna.

  “How am I supposed to be the stereotypical big brother if you’re so far away that I can’t check him out? You know…ask him what his intentions are and intimidate him as much as possible.”

  “You’ll get to do the big brother thing at the wedding. Mom already said I could bring him and Daffyd said he can stay with us. It’s not like we don’t have enough room, we have a whole island! When are you gonna get there?” asked Seanna.

  “Well…the wedding is the 16th, so I’ll probably roll in on the Saturday before. Daffyd will be a wreck and will need a calming influence,” answered Bryce.

  “That’s what he has Trisha for,” laughed Seanna. “I couldn’t get that much time off from class. So we’ll be coming in Wednesday night.”

  “Well at least we’ll be somewhere warm. I just figured they’d get married in either Montana or Wisconsin. A private island in Belize is a much better choice. Just think we get the whole island to ourselves for two weeks.”

  “Well Mom does love the ocean. You should bring someone too. What about that girl you told me about a couple of weeks ago?” Seanna asked.

  “She was a little too high maintenance for me. Most of the girls I go to school with are way too uptight,” he explained.

  “What about the Church you go to there? No nice girls?”

  “Yeah, a few. Most of them are already spoken for, and the rest have good reasons why they aren’t,” he laughed.

  “You make it sound like you’re God’s gift to women. You’re just too picky,” said Seanna.

  “You bet I am! I’m in no hurry. So…I’m looking for that perfect one. You want Prince Charming and I want Cinderella,” he joked.

  “Ok, so what are you looking for?” she asked.

  “Someone who knows who she is, but not full of herself, doesn’t trowel on the makeup, but not a vegan hippy chic…I want someone who cares about others, loves God, loves her family, but not so much that she doesn’t want to hang out with mine. Definitely a virgin! She better be comfortable outdoors and know how to balance her checkbook…” he started.

  “So according to you…I’m the perfect woman!” Seanna interrupted with a snort. “So all I have to do is find someone just like me!”

  “Well, maybe not so sassy,” laughed Bryce. “But she better not look like you!”

  “What! Are you saying I’m ugly?” she asked in shock.

  “Oh come on…you’re hot and you know it. But think about it Sea, if I had someone who acted like you and looked like you…well that would just be weird!” he replied.

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” she giggled.

  “I think I can manage finding my own Cinderella. You just make sure that your Prince Charming isn’t really some slimy toad,” he insisted.

  “Very funny. Hey, I gotta go! You’ve distracted me and now I’m gonna be late for class. See ya Big Brother.”

  “Yep, soon, Little Sis.”

  Bryce shoved his cell back into his pocket and laughed. Seanna was something else. It was hard to believe that they had only known each other less than two years. Seanna and her Mother, Samantha, had been on their way home to Wisconsin from a funeral in Washington, when their car broke down. Bryce’s Uncle had been on his way home from chemotherapy, in mountains of Montana, with his driver Leal and they had ended up bringing the stranded motorists home with them until the car could be fixed. Due to some creative planning by Bryce’s Uncle Daffyd, the girls had stayed the summer and became part of the family. Together they had all went through some hard times, including almost losing Daffyd to cancer, and a kidnapping.

  Now they were a few weeks away from the big day. Daffyd had proposed to Samantha on Christmas morning and they were getting married the week of Valentines on a private Island in the Caribbean. Bryce and Seanna had hit it off right away. Not in any romantic kind of way, but to each other, they were the siblings they had always wanted. Both of them grew up as single children. Seanna was an only child and was raised first by her unwed mother and then by her step Dad, Richard. Bryce had been adopted by Daffyd’s brother Gareth and his wife Rebecca when he was in grade school. When they had been killed in a plane crash Daffyd had become his guardian.

  The worst part about that was that Daffyd was also ‘Savage’. A self absorbed rock star that had major issues with anxiety. Things went from bad to worse when he was diagnosed with cancer and became a recluse. But that fated summer everything changed when Samantha and Seanna came into their lives. Bryce had someone to confide in with Seanna. They had spent every holiday and summer break together since. Seanna was attending the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, while Bryce was finishing up his third year of law at the University of California at Berkley. Though they were on separate sides of the country, they still managed to stay in constant touch through their cell phones and computers.

  Bryce couldn’t help thinking about the conversation they had just had. Seanna was right though, he really did want someone like her. She was the first girl ever, who hadn’t tried to flirt and impress him. Actually, she was the first ever to not be impressed by him. By the time he was in high school, he already had an incessant pack of girls that followed him around giggling and flipping their hair. When he became the star quarterback and also class president his sophomore year, things only got worse. He tried dating but ended
up disappointed every time. At the advice of his parents, he started telling everyone that he was just too busy for a girlfriend, which was totally true. He had decided to go to law school, so he needed to invest all of his time in his studies and sports to get a good scholarship.

  Bryce’s parents were missionaries so money for college just couldn’t come from home. His grandparents were living on a fixed income but had managed to save around five thousand dollars to go toward his future. Though his Uncle Daffyd had offered to pay his way, Bryce had refused. He just couldn’t take money that had been earned by glorifying the cliché of sex, drugs and rock-n-roll. It didn’t matter that his Uncle Daffyd didn’t live that life himself. He still promoted it all…and had gotten filthy rich, literally. It had been a bone of contention between them until just recently.

  So all during high school, Bryce never seriously dated. He did go to a few Proms’ with sisters of his friends, usually the ones who hadn’t been asked by anyone else. He always made sure they understood ahead of time that it was strictly as friends. Once he even took a girl that was stuck in a wheelchair due to a car wreck. Even though her condition was due to her own stupidity, by driving drunk, he still couldn’t help feeling sorry for her. He took her to her senior Prom when he was a junior and made sure that he talked to her about a lifestyle change. The fact that she continued drinking for the rest of the time he knew her didn’t stop him from trying.

  After Bryce’s parents were killed, his senior year, Bryce stayed with his grandparents until he graduated from high school with honors. When he got accepted into Berkley with a full scholarship he couldn’t help being a little suspicious. Sure enough, with a little digging, he found out that his uncle was behind it all. After much soul searching and some good advice from his grandparents, he decided to allow Daffyd to help. He started spending holidays split between his grandparents and Daffyd, the only family he had left. When Daffyd got sick, Bryce started staying most of the summer with him and got to Montana every chance that he could.

  All that time was well spent. Between Daffyd’s assistant Trisha and her husband Leal, and then Seanna and Samantha’s influence, Daffyd had finally surrendered his life to God. Now they all felt like one big happy family. Their family unit included his Grandmother Lucille and his Grandfather Bryson, as well as Leal’s Grandma Sally. Now they were all making plans to spend a couple of weeks on a private island to celebrate the union. It felt like this would make it all official, they would be a real family. Bryce knew it was silly thinking that a wedding would make it more concrete, but he was happy about the way things had turned out.

  And now Seanna is bringing someone new into the mix, he thought. Not sure how I feel about that one. He better be something special…otherwise I may have to pull the big brother stunt for real. She’s too special to end up with some jerk.

  Chapter 2

  Prince Charming

  Seanna checked her phone for messages as soon as she got out of her last class for the day. She had had a hard time concentrating all afternoon when Kevin hadn’t met her for lunch like as promised. After the second phone call and a text message she started to get worried. If she had a car she’d drive by his apartment and see if he was home. Not wanting to pay huge parking fees for having a car on campus, she had decided to just use public transit while at school. Times like these made her wish she’d taken Daffyd up on his offer of a small economical car. She hated taking advantage of his kindness though. Now there were still zero messages.

  Kevin hadn’t introduced her to any of his friends, so there wasn’t any one she could call. She had always thought that was a little odd. But then her only friend that Kevin had met was her roommate. Usually they hung out just the two of them when they had the chance to hang out at all. Their class schedules were quite different. Some of Kevin’s classes were at night and Seanna had a part time job waiting tables at a local twenty four hour café. Though she only worked about sixteen hours a week, with both of their classes it didn’t leave much time to spend together.

  It was pretty much a miracle that they had even met. Kevin doesn’t like the food that they serve where she worked, but happened to be there one day with his cousin eating lunch. Seanna had stopped in to get her check and decided to grab lunch while she was there, saving a few bucks with her employee discount. She couldn’t help but notice the hot guy in the booth in front of her. He had dark hair that hung past his dark brown eyes. His lips were a little full and his lashes quite long, giving him a ‘pretty boy’ look. Sitting across from him was a curvy blonde, definitely a salon color, nothing natural about it, dressed in the kind of clothes that Seanna could never afford.

  They were in a deep conversation and never even noticed her. Not that people ever really did. She just wasn’t one of those people that everyone noticed when you walked into a place. About halfway through her burger and fries her phone rang. Normally she didn’t like to talk while in a public place, but it was Bryce. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she still panicked when he called. A leftover reflex from when his uncle Daffyd had been so sick. So she always took his calls, no matter what. Of course it wasn’t an emergency, unless you considered to tell or not to tell a future girlfriend that your uncle was a rock star and emergency. Seanna had cautioned him about sharing too much too soon, reminding Bryce how Daffyd felt about his privacy.

  By the time her phone conversation was over, the blonde had left and Mr. Hotty was sitting alone in the booth staring right at her. She quickly looked away and pretended that she didn’t notice. A few minutes later she was relieved to see that he got up to go and pay his bill. She couldn’t help wondering what he had been staring at. Had she spilt ketchup on her shirt? She did a quick glance down and when she looked up, he was sliding into the seat across from her. His smile showed all of his perfect white teeth.

  “Excuse me…are you Sarah, John Carpenter’s little sister?” he asked.

  Seanna swallowed her last big bite and quickly wiped her mouth on her napkin. “No, sorry don’t know a John Carpenter,” she answered with her cheeks flushing.

  “Wow, you look just like her. Granted I did only meet her once and I had had a few drinks, but if I remember right, you two could be twins,” he replied looking her full in the face.

  “No cousins and definitely no twins,” Seanna said with a shrug.

  “Then it was probably very inappropriate for me to have just paid for your lunch.”

  “That’s ok, I work here. I’ll get your money back,” offered Seanna.

  “No wonder it was so cheap. I thought maybe you were on one of those starvation diets,” he laughed.

  “Nope, not me. I don’t know what that word even means,” she said gesturing to what was left of her double cheeseburger and large fry.

  That made him chuckle and he put his elbows on the table and leaned towards her. “I’m Kevin Spade.”

  “Seanna Shepperd.”

  He mentioned that the girl he had been with was his cousin and that normally he wouldn’t have chosen to eat there. Seanna felt a little thrilled that he said it as if he was happy that he had come that day. They ended up talking for about an hour and he asked her for her phone number when he walked her to her car. When he hadn’t called the next day she tried to put in all out of her mind, but she couldn’t help thinking about his dreamy eyes and that smile.

  It was almost a week later that she had a message from a number she didn’t recognize after work one day. Her heart skipped a beat as she speed dialed her voice mail. Then it almost stopped when the voice at the other end said “Hi Seanna, its Kevin. Do you remember me?” Like she could forget! They met that night for coffee and cheesecake at a quite little coffee shop a few blocks away from campus. This time they talked for hours, Kevin asking all about her life. It wasn’t until she got home that night that she realized that he hadn’t shared much about himself at all.

  To her surprise, he continued to call and after a few weeks they were hanging out on campus and off. Seanna loved the way he
grabbed people’s attention when he walked into a room. Suddenly she felt like she was being noticed. Not that she ever minded being in the background. She was comfortable with who she was, but the extra attention wasn’t bad either. The way Kevin seemed to want to keep her to himself also flattered her ego. She was starting to think she might be falling for the guy.

  And now here she was panicking because he hadn’t called. Maybe I’m just not cut out to be girlfriend material. Finally she decided to head to the library to finish up her paper. She was so looking forward to spring break. Her class load seemed to be more of an issue now that she’d been spending so much time with Kevin. Apparently he didn’t have to work so hard for his grades. As soon as she had her stuff scattered all over a secluded table in the library, her cell rang. Grabbing as quick as she could, she gave her nearest neighbors an apologetic grimace as she tried to quietly answer the phone.

  “Hi beautiful,” Kevin drawled.

  “Kevin, where are you?” she asked relieved to finally hear from him. “I waited for you at lunch.”

  “I know, I’m sorry. Some of the guys kidnapped me for a game of basketball and the time just got away from me.”

  “Why didn’t you just text or call? I’ve been worried,” she said.

  “You were worried about me, aw that’s cute,” he chuckled.

  “It’s not funny, Kevin,” she said wearily.

  “Let me make it up to you. How about I pick you up and let’s go paint the town.”

  “I just sat down at the library, I have to finish this paper. That’s why we were meeting for lunch, remember?” she replied.

  “That’s right…so you’re gonna be busy all night, huh?” he said sounding disappointed.

  “Sorry, I’ve got to get an ‘A’ on this paper. My grades have been slipping lately. Somebody had been keeping me busy,” she chuckled.

  “Well, don’t let me interfere with your GPA. How about we grab lunch tomorrow, I promise if anyone tries to kidnap me I’ll fight them tooth and nail,” he joked.