Part 8 (2/2)

”Daisy! Take your hands off Savannah immediately!” the voice said sharply. Savannah knew who it was before she turned around to look, and Alexa could guess. ”That's no way to behave at church.” It was Luisa, glaring at the three of them with a venomous look, which was no way to behave at church either, Alexa thought to herself.

”Church is over, Mama. This is the part where everyone is friendly,” Daisy insisted, with good reason. Apparently, Luisa had not come to church for that part, and surely not with these two women. She looked right through Savannah and Alexa, as though they didn't exist, as she scolded her child. Savannah decided to try and take the heat off Daisy.

”Luisa, I'd like to introduce you to my mother, Alexa Hamilton,” Savannah said politely, nearly drawling herself, but not quite. Luisa looked at her in outrage, as though Savannah had just taken her clothes off in front of church, or grabbed her stepmother by her elaborately coiffed hair.

”We met, many years ago,” she said through clenched teeth as her own daughter watched her with a look of resignation, wondering why her mother was always so mean. She was not a happy person, and angry most of the time. As Luisa said the words, she looked sourly at Alexa.

”It's nice to see you again, Luisa,” Alexa said, lying through her teeth. She would have liked to add ”bless your heart” but didn't dare. Neither she nor Savannah could have kept a straight face, or maybe even Daisy. ”Thank you for having Savannah stay with you. I really appreciate it, and I know she does too.”

”Not at all,” Luisa said, and grabbed Daisy by the back of the neck in a firm grip, and propelled her toward their car without another word. Daisy looked back with a pained grin and waved, and both women felt sorry for her. In many ways, she was the victim in all this, as Savannah had been years before, and neither of them deserved it.

”What a b.i.t.c.h,” b.i.t.c.h,” Alexa muttered, watching Luisa snap at Daisy as she slammed the door to the car, and then drove her away. ”Bless her heart,” she added, and Savannah laughed out loud. Alexa muttered, watching Luisa snap at Daisy as she slammed the door to the car, and then drove her away. ”Bless her heart,” she added, and Savannah laughed out loud.

”Yeah, she is,” Savannah confirmed. ”But I'm glad you met Daisy. She's such a sweet kid.”

”Your father sure got what he deserved with that one,” Alexa commented about Luisa as they walked away from the church.

”He looks pretty miserable most of the time,” Savannah confirmed, ”or maybe that's just because she's so mad that I'm there. They've hardly said two words to each other since I got here, except when they're fighting.”

”Sounds like a fun life.” Alexa had been startled by the meeting, and rendered almost speechless by the look of venom in Luisa's eyes. She was a piece of work, and even worse than Alexa had imagined. Much, much worse.

They had a lovely brunch at Baker's Cafe, which was one of Alexa's old favorites. She said that they had gone there a lot when she was pregnant with Savannah. It was one of the old traditional restaurants of Charleston, with a pretty garden, and it was a lovely sunny day. Then they drove out to the beach, across several picturesque bridges, and eventually wound up back at the hotel in the late afternoon. They both hated to admit it, but their magical weekend was drawing to a close, and it made both of them very sad.

”How soon do you think you can come back, Mom?” Savannah asked, looking worried.

”I don't know, another week...or two...but I had a great time with you, sweetheart. I could even fall in love with Charleston again, here with you. Just don't you do it,” she warned her. ”I want you home soon!”

”Don't worry, Mom. I won't stay here. It's fun to visit, but I'm coming back to New York as soon as I can. I'd come home now if you let me,” but they both knew that would have been a bad idea.

”Don't let Cruella De Vil get to you,” Alexa said as Savannah laughed at the description. ”Bless her heart, of course.”

Alexa packed her bag, minus all the items she had brought for Savannah or that her daughter had taken a s.h.i.+ne to. She had to leave for the airport at six-thirty for an eight o'clock flight. Savannah offered to come to the airport with her, but her mother didn't want her to. It was better for Savannah if they said goodbye at the hotel and she went home with Tom, instead of standing at the airport alone when her mother left.

Savannah called her father just before they left the room and went downstairs to pay the bill. She was relieved that her mother would be coming back soon. She knew that once the trial started in May that wouldn't be possible, but at least for March and April, Alexa was going to try and come down every couple of weeks, or more often if she could. She had promised, and she always kept her word.

By the time Alexa finished paying the bill, Tom walked into the lobby. He had come from the club and was wearing tennis shorts, and Alexa averted her eyes. She didn't want to see how handsome he was, or how good his legs were. It was no longer her problem, but she already knew that something about him would always stir feelings inside her. But it was nothing more than that.

”I'll bet you two had a great weekend,” he said, smiling broadly at them, and then his face clouded just a little. ”I hear you ran into Luisa and Daisy at church.” His wife had nearly taken off his head about that, as though he had planned it. Luisa had told him that he should have warned Savannah not to go anywhere near their church. He had commented acidly on her warm Christian spirit, and could only imagine how unpleasant she must have been to Alexa. Instead of being remorseful, or feeling sorry for her, Luisa seemed to have a need to punish her further and grind her into dust. He looked at Alexa now as though to apologize for his wife.

”It was fine,” Alexa said brusquely, and then turned her attention to Savannah to say goodbye. They were both fighting back tears when Alexa got into the cab for the ride to the airport. Savannah stood on the sidewalk and waved until her mother disappeared, and then she got in her father's car and they drove to Mt. Pleasant. It felt weird to her sometimes-she had a father suddenly, and she wasn't used to it at all. She told him about the weekend and all the things they'd done.

She unpacked her bag when they got home, and the new things her mother had bought her. Daisy bounced into the room and chatted with her. Julianne and two other girls called her, and Travis and Scarlette came to dinner. Scarlette brought Savannah some magazines, and Travis a funny old photograph he had of her when she was three. By the time Alexa got off the plane in New York, Savannah had settled back into her new routine, and in an odd way, it almost felt like home.

Daisy had commented to Savannah that night that her mom was really pretty and seemed nice, and apologized to her that her own mother was so mean.

”I think my mom is jealous of your mom,” Daisy said with the wisdom of young children.

”Maybe,” Savannah conceded, and then they both burst out laughing as they both said at the same time, ”Bless her heart.”

Chapter 12.

On her first day back after her weekend in Charleston, Alexa was busy with endless cops and investigators. Everything was coming together in the case, and she had dumped enough discovery on Judy Dunning to drown her. There was so much forensic evidence, and so many reports to go through, that the public defender was totally overwhelmed. Alexa took a break at noon, which was rare for her these days, and went to the family court to see her mother and have lunch with her in chambers. Alexa seemed like she was in a good mood.

”So how was it?” her mother asked her. They were each eating a salad from the deli across the street.

”It was better than I feared,” Alexa said to her. ”Savannah was in great shape. And we ran into Luisa coming out of church, and she was a total b.i.t.c.h. But other than that, it was great. Charleston is as pretty as ever, and Savannah and I had a wonderful time together. I ran into an old friend of mine there, who defected when Tom divorced me, and that was creepy. But on the whole it was pretty good.”

”I told you. This is interesting for her, and it's good for her to discover the other side of her family. She's a smart girl. She'll pick and choose. No one's going to pull the wool over her eyes. It sounds like Tom bought himself a one-way ticket to h.e.l.l with Luisa. Why does he stay with her?”

”Probably for the same reason he went back to her,” Alexa said curtly. ”No guts. When he left me, he did what his mother and Luisa told him to do, and now she has him by the throat.” Or worse.

”How does he look?” Muriel asked with interest, and her daughter laughed. She was in good spirits. It had done her a world of good to see Savannah.

”Handsome and weak. I guess I never noticed. He's still the best-looking man on the planet, but I know what he's about now, and who he is. I guess I'll always think he's gorgeous, but thank G.o.d I'm not in love with him anymore. That's something at least.” She sounded freer and less angry than Muriel had heard her sound in years. She wasn't as tense, despite the pressures of the Quentin case. She'd been working closely with the FBI, and now that they weren't threatening to take her case away every five minutes, she was enjoying working with them. There were no female agents on the case, and she didn't mind being the only woman in a world of men. She liked it. And the FBI agents were interesting to work with.

While her mother was back at work, Savannah was busy at school in Charleston. She had added a Chinese cla.s.s to her AP French, and was having fun trying to learn the language. She didn't need it for credit, so there was no pressure on her. And she was starting to make a lot of friends in school. She and Julianne met for lunch almost every day.

She went to all the volleyball and soccer games, and rooted for their teams. They let her join the swimming team because someone had dropped out with a serious problem with her ears.

And the weekend after her mother had been there, the captain of the soccer team asked Savannah out on a date. Julianne nearly fainted when she heard. He had just broken up with the prettiest girl in school.

”Are you going to go out with him?” Julianne asked breathlessly when Savannah confided in her.

”I might. I have nothing else to do.” She sounded very cool.

He took her to a movie on Friday night, and they stopped at a coffee shop afterward. His name was Turner Ashby, a descendant of the general of the same name, he informed her over burgers and shakes.

”It seems like everyone in town is related to a general,” Savannah commented. She was wearing her mother's pink sweater and jeans, with high heels. She looked different from the girls in Charleston when she got dressed up. She had the sophistication of New York and was wearing just enough makeup but not too much. He looked crazy about her.

”That's a big deal around here,” he explained.

”I know. My grandmother is the president general of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. She's the president general because she's related to a general too.” Savannah grinned. She wasn't making fun of them, but she did think it was funny. He was a handsome boy with dark hair and green eyes, the oldest of four boys. ”Where do you think you'll go to college?” she asked with genuine interest. She noticed that most of the people she talked to about it had applied to southern schools.

”Georgia Tech, or maybe SMU in Texas. I applied to Duke and UVA, but I don't think my scores are good enough to get in. What about you?”

”I'd really like to go to Princeton. It's close to home, which would be nice, and I liked the school. I liked Brown too. I think Harvard would be too serious, and I probably won't get in either. I liked Stanford, but my mom doesn't want me that far away.” She went down her list.

”That's some list of fancy Ivy League schools you applied to,” he said, looking impressed. She was smart but not stuck up, and the prettiest girl he'd ever seen.

He had her back at her house very respectfully at ten-thirty, and she had enjoyed him and the movie, and said she'd see him around school.

Julianne called her just after dawn the next morning to ask how it had gone.

”It was fun,” Savannah said, and giggled, sounding younger than her age, and more like Daisy.

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