was ever the one to get details that were best left alone. “What’s been going on at school?”
She heard Savannah sit down. “She told you everyone is talking about you two?”
“Yeah?” Cally didn’t get how he could make such a simple word into such a significant question, but he managed it.
“She’s the center of most conversations. There are bets on when she’s due and if she’s not making the whole thing up and why anyone would get married so young.” Savannah made it sound like that was it, but you could hear the “there’s more to it” in her voice.
Jay’s the one that added, “There’s a few that think she’s saying she’s married to make her ex jealous.”
Dakota started rubbing her back. “And what’s she saying?”
Savannah pounced with the open invitation. “She’s told a few people that she fell in love and got married and that she’s not pregnant. But no one believes her, and she’s not really defending herself, so it’s getting worse by the day.”
Jay asked, “What’s she told you?”
“Nothing. She said there was talk, but that was it. But I’m starting to understand the room a little more.”
Savannah sounded puzzled. “I don’t get it.”
“She doesn’t care what other people think, but she’s constantly thinking of me, and it helps to keep her sane.” He paused for a few seconds. “But we’ll be together soon, so it’s not going to be forever. I just don’t understand why you won’t defend yourself.”
Cally rolled her head to look at him. “Because it’s none of their business. I don’t kiss and tell and I’m not going to start now.”
“It’s not the same,” Savannah argued.
She looked at her sister. “I go to school, go to work, and come home. I have to deal with this for what, six months? I’ll deal with it, whatever.”
“Why would you put up with it?” her bossy sister started to argue.
She cut her off. “I don’t care.”
“But there’s a reason.” Savannah knew her far too well.
“He’s left me alone because of it.” she said in the quietest deadly tone.
Her sister’s face said it all. “You’re doing all this because of Seth?”
She just rested her chin on her knees and stared at her sister.
“He’s still bothering you?” Dakota asked.
“Nope.”
“Because he thinks you’re lying and insane,” Savannah answered.
“Yep.”
“Why don’t you just tell people the truth?” Dakota asked.
“I did, and I’m done with it. I’m married and happy, and nothing else matters.”
“At least she knows her mind,” Jay added, trying to defend her.
“Is this what he was talking about?” Dakota asked, knowing she knew he meant what Mr. Damarion had said over the summer.
She sat back and looked him in the eye. “Yes. He knew this would be blown up by Seth and his friends, and I had prepared myself for it.”
“Why?”
“This is what happens when you deal with him. He makes everything worse and twists it to make you the worst person on earth if you don’t do things his way.”
“So you’re saying that he told you to breakup with me, and you agreed because you knew he would do something like this?” Dakota asked, shock and anger filling every word.
“I knew this would happen, and I still married you. I married you because I love you, and there’s not enough fear in the world that could have convinced me not to. I accept my decision, and I’m willing to live with it. Are you?” she challenged with a confidence she didn’t know she had.
He wrapped his arms around her, and it was the best thing in the world. Being in his arms made the whole world feel like it disappeared, and right now, she needed that more than anything. She loved him, and there was no questioning that. She loved him more than anything anyone could say or do, and no matter what happened, she would love him, and that’s all that mattered.
“I love you too. I just wish there was something I could do,” he said, trying to comfort her.
She couldn’t let him take this on himself. “I can deal with this, don’t worry. In time, it will die down, and I’ll just disappear into a distant memory.”
Savannah being Savannah asked, “Are you pregnant?”
“No.”
“Then there’s nothing to worry about,” she replied with some underlying meaning.
But her sister was wrong. The next week, Seth started more rumors and speculation. She just ignored it, and when it started to hurt, she would look at the pictures she put in the cover of her binder to help her get through the day. She needed Dakota the most at school, and just having a picture of him there was enough to keep her going through the days. Dakota was her whole world and she just needed to keep going some way.
By the third week, things started leaning toward the belief that she wasn’t married at all. She had made it into the lunchroom early and took her seat and started her homework. A few people came and sat around her, but what caught her off guard were the three guys behind her, joking at her expense.
One said, “Yeah, I bet she doesn’t even have a name for this imaginary husband.”
The other said, “No way he’s real. Who would marry her?”
Cally had her breaking point, and that was it. She stood up, knocking her chair over, and turned on them. “My husband’s name is Dakota Rowan Hunter. He’s twenty-one and works on the base. So no, you won’t be seeing him around school. I don’t give a damn if you believe he’s real or not. Dakota is my husband and the only people in this world that our marriage involves is him and me, so go to the devil! And I will live my life the way I want, and I chose him over any of you immature jackbutts, and that’s the only reason you can’t let this go. Just because I’m more mature than y’all don’t mean you need to keep bringing it up every five seconds. Grow up and get a life of your own, and stay out of mine!”
She hadn’t realized how quiet the large crowded room had gotten until Mr. Damarion asked from behind her, “Is there a problem here?” Yeah, he knew there was, but he didn’t want to deal with it, and she could see that clearly.
She turned on him. “No, sir. I was just explaining something. I’m sorry I got loud.”
His shock was enough to tell her he would let this go, but just this once. “Okay then,” and he started to walk away, and she turned and sat down.
She had been working on homework before that, but now it seemed everyone was talking about her yet again. Hannah’s face told her that Hannah was going to run home and call Dakota, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. The first of many new questions started, and she just groaned. She wasn’t making this any easier on herself. She should have just kept her mouth shut, but no, she had to stand up for herself and defend her marriage.
By Friday, her little rampage had gone viral. Hannah had told Dakota who was proud of her for standing up for herself. The whole school knew her husband’s name, and now she was getting all kinds of mixed reactions, most of them bad.
But it was at lunch on Monday where the true inferno started. Cally had gone to the bathroom and was walking out when a few of the rednecks stood up and confronted her. She had seen them around school and at a few parties, but she didn’t really know any of them personally.
The