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trying to be brave here, Gran. You aren’t helping.”
    â€œThere’s bravery in honesty, too. A great harm was done to you today, Savannah girl. No point in denying or sugar-coating it.”
    Savannah allowed the tears to flow. “It’s true. I was really looking forward to today. It took Dirk and me a long time to get to this day. I believed that by tonight, it’d all be done with, and we’d be starting our new lives together.”
    â€œNot exactly how you’d imagined your wedding day to be, back when you were a little tike, parading around the house with my white pillowcase on your head, holding a handful of dandelions, huh?”
    Savannah laughed through her tears at the memory. “That’s for sure.” She sniffed and wiped the drops off her cheeks before they rolled into her ears. “And that may be what I’ll wind up wearing ... and carrying.”
    â€œIt was pretty bad timing, that fire roaring over the hill just as we’d got everything delivered to the community center there.”
    â€œThank heavens the caterer hadn’t dropped off the food yet.”
    They both giggled. In the Reid clan, it always came down to the food.
    â€œDid you get any of it?” Savannah asked.
    â€œOf course I did. I might be old, but I haven’t slowed down that much.”
    â€œI think we’re gonna have Dirk’s little hot dog hors d’oeurves for breakfast.”
    â€œWith pancakes and maple syrup.”
    â€œOr maybe chocolate gravy on top.”
    Savannah shifted closer to her grandmother and laid her head on her shoulder, as she had so many times as a child. “What am I going to do now, Gran?” she asked her. “Where do we go from here?”
    Gran stroked her hair and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You get a good night’s sleep, darlin’. And when you wake tomorrow, you’ll know what to do. It’ll come to you with the mornin’ light.”
    With those words of comfort and sage advice, Savannah was able to drift off to sleep.
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    Two hours later, she woke with a start, her nightgown drenched with a cold night sweat, her breath ragged, her heart pounding.
    She sat up in bed and tried to orient herself. Where was she? What had happened?
    Slowly, reality dawned on her. She was safe in her own bedroom. She was alive. He hadn’t killed her.
    She’s just had the nightmare. Again.
    One more time, as he had many nights since the shooting, the intruder had pointed his gun at her and pulled the trigger, over and over again. In horrifying, helpless, slow motion, she had looked down and watched as the front of the white gown she was wearing exploded in red.
    But this time, it wasn’t her white nightgown, as it had been in all the previous dreams.
    This time, she was wearing her wedding gown when he killed her.
    â€œSavannah? Are you all right, sugar?” Gran asked, shaking her arm. “Honey, I think you had another bad dream.”
    â€œYes, a dream,” Savannah said, fighting down the fear that was making her nauseous, fighting the anger that poisoned her spirit.
    He’s gone, she told herself. Gone forever. He’ll never, never hurt me or anyone again .
    But he hurt her nearly every night. And no matter what she did, she couldn’t seem to stop him.
    â€œPost-traumatic stress,” the shrink had told her. “It’s to be expected after such a near-death experience. It’s perfectly normal.”
    Well, it might be normal, she had decided, but knowing that didn’t really help much at one or two in the morning when you awoke in terror ... living the horror over again and again.
    â€œI’m sorry, Gran,” she said, trying to take deep breaths. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
    â€œDon’t be silly. I been woke up plenty of times before. Your sister, Vidalia, used to wake me up every bloomin’ time there was a thunderstorm.