A Second Glance

20

Hallie and Lola ran in the sun for almost the entire day, while the adults dealt with the grape vines. Pablo showed Raven the progress on the land, and talked about some business matters, causing Savannah to grow bored.

"Lory, let's take a walk that way," she pointed, uninterested in the conversation that the two men were having.

"Sure," Lorelei wasn't too interested in the talk either. Breathing in slowly, she followed the young redhead towards the patches of longer grass.

"You like it here?" Savannah questioned, trying to stir up conversation. Lorelei nodded, looking up at the sky, and wondering about the gorgeous woman next to her.

"Yeah, it's nice."

"My grandpa left me this place before he died. That was seven years ago," Lorelei looked at Savannah, as they neared the fence.

"I thought this was Raven's—-"

"I can see why you'd think that," Savannah turned and leaned backward against the fence. Inhaling a breath, she tilted her head to the side, as she watched Lorelei position herself closeby.

"That's nice though."

"Yeah. For every bottle, sixty-five percent of the profits are mine."

"That's impressive," Lorelei took a glance at the vast land in front of her. That's a lot of grapes.

"No one knows this, but my family and Raven, and now you."

"Why not?" The blonde propped her elbows onto the fence.

"I don't know. I just don't share my business with anyone. By the end of the year, I'm going to move up here."

Savannah knew that she couldn't continue to live with her parents. They wanted to marry her off to the next man who offered their hand to her, and she couldn't bare that. She didn't want to marry yet, especially not to a man...

"It's amazing here," Lorelei commented, as Savannah stared off into space, thinking about her future.

"Yeah," the redhead mumbled, her body tensing.

"Savannah?" Lorelei moved her long hair onto one side of her shoulders. Savannah's name rolling off of Lorelei's tongue caused her to snap out of her thoughts immediately. Her face became flushed, and her eyes landed on those luscious lips.

"Yes, Lorelei?" There was silence for a few seconds, where their eyes were locked, and hearts thumped inside of their chests.

"Do you write poems for everyone?" Savannah's eyes softened, and she looked away, trying to find words to say. She'd never let anyone read her writing, not even Raven. But she just couldn't help herself when it came to gifting Lorelei that poem—she'd even consider it a love letter.

"No, actually. Just for you."

That had Lorelei's heart quickening in pace. Did girls write things like that for other girls?

"Why?" Lorelei wasn't sure if she wanted the answer to that question, but her heart needed to know. The thumping inside of her chest wouldn't go away, neither would the excruciating longing that she had to be closer to the redhead as much as possible.

"Because I really love your hair. The next poem I'm going to write will be about your lips. I love your lips too."

Lorelei placed her hand over her mouth and looked down. She felt a weird sensation surround her heart, and it was something that she'd never felt before, but it was good—really good.

Savannah realized that she might have been making Lorelei uncomfortable. Maybe she just doesn't feel the things I do.

"Okay," Lorelei dropped her hands from her face, but didn't look up.

"I'm sorry, I—" Savannah's chest tightened with fear. She held her head high and walked away, in some random direction, just to free herself from embarrassment.

Heading into a shed, she sat down on a bench and looked at the palms of her hands. They were unblemished, unlike Lorelei's. Savannah didn't have a hard life. Other than controlling parents, she was privileged more than most girls in town, and many towns over.

"Why do I like her?" She whispered, intending for only herself to hear.

"Who?" Savannah's head snapped up, and panic invaded her eyes. Raven just looked at her with confusion written across his face.

"I thought you were with Pablo," Raven walked closer, and sat down next to her. He was trying to make sense of what he'd just heard. Who could Savannah possibly like?

"Yeah, but I thought I'd check up on you two. Where's Lorelei?" Savannah shrugged. Her eyes were sad and her lips were curved into a frown. Raven cleared his throat, noticing his friend's distress. He'd never seen her so rattled up for anyone before. Savannah always managed to at least crack a joke when she was feeling down, but not then, which meant something was really bothering her, "who do you like?"

Savannah gritted her teeth nervously. If Raven finds out, he'll flip.

"No one," she muttered and got up. She could feel all the limbs in her body become weak, and her heart ached inside of her chest.

"You know you can tell me anything," Raven assured, his curiosity making him impatient, but he wouldn't push it.

"Not this."