Forget Me Never by Sable Hunter (books successful people read txt) 📗

as anyone – in fact, she’s perfect in every way that I can see.  There’s no possibility that she would ever hurt one of ood aboutchildren.  It’s true that her parents were patients in Carville where they treat people for Hansen’s disease, but that condition is not passed down to a child.  Savannah is not sick, she has never been sick, and anyone who is privileged to know her is damn lucky.”

The third woman, a pleasant looking brunette pushed her way in front of the other two.  “Look, we’re sorry.  We didn’t understand.  Someone over at the school told us that Miss Doucet was infected.  If that’s not true, we apologize.”  Her other two friends looked sheepish.  “My name is Patty Nolan,” she stepped over to Patrick and offered her hand.  “And thank you for your service to our country.  My brother is a Marine stationed in Iraq.”

“You’re welcome, Miss Nolan.  Savannah has a heart as big as all out of doors, and I don’t want her to be the victim of a bunch of lies.”

“I wouldn’t want that, either.”  Patty looked at her friends.  “None of us do.  We just thought it would be wise to ask questions when our children are involved.”

Patrick mellowed somewhat.  “I can understand that.”

“Yes, we didn’t mean to upset you.” The first woman gave him a shy smile.  “Miss Doucet has been good to our children.  She’s taught them a lot.”

“It’s okay.  I just don’t want to see Savannah hurt any more than she already has been.”

The blonde looked him over with unabashed appreciation.  “She’s lucky to have you.”

“No, I’m lucky to have her, and if I have my way, she’ll be wearing my ring very soon.”

*****

After work, Savannah went to Don’s Meat market and picked up a couple of chickens stuffed with rice and crab dressing.  She knew how good they were and it would be a fast and easy meal for her to fix for Patrick.  The day had been crazy; she had gotten a lot done, but knowing everybody knew about her past made her uneasy.  Her friends had stuck close, however and Mr. Davis had gone out of his way to be nice to her.  PROOF had called and the show they had filmed at The Grove had been so successful that they wanted to come back to Louisiana and had requested that Savannah be a part of the project.  In fact, they had asked her opinion as to what would be their next location to investigate.  Evermore Plantation was her first choice, but she needed to talk to Patrick first and get his opinion.  That thought made her smile, she had a Patrick to talk to – she was blessed beyond words.  No one else had a man as wonderful as she did.

When she arrived at Don’s, it was crowded.  And rightly so.  The locals all knew a good thing when they tasted it.  While she was there, she picked up a stuffed roast and some stuffed pork chops.  Feed Patrick was fun.  With her arms full, she headed toward the check-out counter and ran straight into Patty Nolan.  “Well hello, Darren’s mom.”  Darren Nolan was one of her favorites.

At first Patty looked embarrassed to see her.  Savannah couldn’t understand.  “Is something wrong, Patty?”

Her neighbor pulled her to one side.  “I owe you an apology.  Several of my friends heard about what happened to you and where you came from – you know the leper’s hospital.”

“You mean that my parents were in Carville when I was born.”  All of a sudden Savannah lost her appetite.

“Yes, I had no idea what Carville was until the talk began and I decided to research it on the internet.  What I found floored me.  I was raised here and I had no idea that the only in-patient hospital for the treatment of Hansen’s disease in America was just down the road.”

“I’m not surprised; most people don’t understand Hansen’s disease at all.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry anymore.  You have a champion.  That man of yours is something else.”

“What?”

“Several of us decided to pay you a visit and find out what was going on.  I’m ashamed to say that it started out as something of a hanging party, but your Patrick set us straight.  He defended you; he told us how lucky we were that you loved our children and that there was nobody any better than you.”  Patty touched her arm and leaned closer to whisper.  “He also said you would soon be wearing his ring.  Damn, you’re lucky.  He is one hot guy!  And he seems to love you very much.”

“Oh, my goodness, you talked to Patrick.”  She didn’t know whether to be thrilled or embarrassed.  She opted for thrilled.

“Yes, and like I said, he was amazing.  And I’m sorry that we jumped to conclusions, we were wrong.”

“Thank you.”  Savannah slowly continued on her way.  She had a lot to think about.

*****

The more she considered what Patrick had done, the more she smiled.  He loved her, he really loved her.  She wasn’t used to expecting good things in her life.  Dreaming about a future filled with love and happiness was foreign to her.  Now, it didn’t seem so far-fetched.  For the first time, happy-ever-after seemed to be within her reach.  She danced around the house and noted that he had straightened the living room, put a load of towels in the dryer and raked a pile of leaves outside.  It thrilled her that his clothes hung in her closet, his shoes sat beside her bed and his big ole’ black dog was sacked out on the couch.  All of a sudden her house seemed like a home.

Patrick had left her a note in his big, bold scrawl.  Beside a trip to the nursing home, he indicated that he was meeting Revel Lee for coffee.  So, she had a little time to wait.  The chicken was out of the oven, there was a banana pudding in the fridge and now she