Barbecue and Bad News (25 page)

A stab of guilt buried itself in her chest. All the joy and excitement she and Daphne had just shared was drowned by one dreadful comment.

The room went from a quiet, uplifting hum to a frenzy. Every single person, except Savannah, had an opinion about it, and they weren’t holding back.

“No,” Daphne shouted about the talk. She waved a wooden spoon over her head like a machete. “No. No.
No
.” Each word got a little louder and a lot firmer. “We will not dignify that online mess with any amount of gossip or energy. We know what’s true and real.” Daphne tossed the long-handled spoon down into a glass bowl with a clang. “You can’t believe everything you see on the Internet. I’m not even on the Internet and I know that. I’m his mother, and if I can see that it’s not worth reacting to, then I’d sure bet you can too.” Daphne pinched her finger and thumb together and closed a make-believe zipper across her lips. “Zip it.”

She didn’t say another word. Instead she just made eye contact with each woman in that room, and suddenly Savannah had a feeling she knew exactly how Scott was raised to be such a good and kind man. This woman had some power.

Savannah fell into bed exhausted on Friday night.

Those ladies at the church were twice her age, but they’d run circles around her. Why Daphne had thought she was too old to run a tearoom was beyond her. After seeing her hustle and choreograph all the goings-on that night, there was no doubt in Savannah’s mind that Timeless Tea would be humming on all cylinders in no time.

She’d been so relieved when Daphne took control of that gossip about the article and shut it straight down. She’d sure made a mess of things with that story. How many other pots had she stirred without even knowing it over the last two years?

Momma had certainly sent her a message and a fix in the form of Daphne. Maybe she should have asked for Momma’s help a long time ago. Or God’s. She’d all but given up on him when he took her parents. It had been so unfair. They’d been such good people. Bringing his word to others. Living a good, caring life. They’d deserved to live on. She’d vowed she’d never put herself in the position to feel that kind of loss again. It had worked, but then she was also shortchanging herself, missing out on that big love that Momma and Daddy had shared. No one she’d ever known had been as in love as her parents.

She fell asleep wrapped in the memories of her parents, and she woke up with her heart aching to feel that level of love. To have someone look at her like Dad used to look at Momma would be incredible. She’d fallen asleep without closing the blinds, and this morning those marigolds in the window box were peeking into her window like they had a job to do.

She raised herself up on one elbow and enjoyed their beauty. “I could be happy with him, Momma. I wish you were here. You’d love him. I know you would.” She dropped her head onto her arm and smiled. “I can’t keep this secret from him, but I’m so afraid he’ll be upset. Help me make this right, Momma.”

Her cell phone rang and she swept it off the night table. She answered, half expecting it might be her mom.

“Hi, Savannah. It’s Scott.”

Gosh, you work fast, Momma.
“Hi there.”

“I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“Oh, goodness, no. I can’t sleep in. My body clock won’t allow it.”

“Good. I’m so sorry our morning got interrupted yesterday with all that mess with Connor.”

“No. It was fine. No worries.” She sat up and nodded a thank-you to the marigolds for making her morning cheerful. Hearing Scott’s voice was the cherry on top.

“Well, we got busy down here. I meant to catch up with you later in the day and it just didn’t happen. I’m looking forward to tonight.”

“Me too.”

“The dance starts at seven thirty. I thought I’d pick you up around five thirty so we’d have plenty of time to cook dinner and eat. Does that still work for you?”

“Absolutely. Why don’t you let me drive to your place? It’s not that far.” Plus, if he was mad when she told him what she’d done, she could leave. This was not going to be easy.

“You know the answer to that. I’ll pick you up.”

“Of course you will.”

“We’re going to have a wonderful night. I’ll see you in a little while,” he said, and he hung up.

Of course we will
, she thought. She didn’t get the chance to ask what he’d be driving. She was sure it would be a surprise, and that just added to the excitement.

Savannah felt her cheeks tugging from the smile that extended way farther than normal . . . probably all the way to her heart.

“Thank you, Momma.” She wasn’t about to let Momma down now.

Savannah wandered into the office and cleaned up the desk. She’d let some stacks of things accumulate, and there were still those letters to attend to.

She sat in the chair and pulled the trash can closer to her feet.

Scraps of paper and sticky notes were scattered everywhere. One note read, “Everyone has the same haircut. Cookie Cutter Salon.” She crumpled it up and sent it sailing across the room into the trash can.

Another read, “Mailman reading the mail.”

Another read, “Dogs groomed at the hair salon?”

Another read, “Grams of fat on the menu.”

Another read, “Time warp.”

She crumpled each one, then tossed them in the trash too. Those articles would never get written. There was no way she could write them now.

The last one read, “The mural?” She stuck that one right to the top of her laptop.

She went to the kitchen and looked under the sink. There was a brand-new box of great big lawn-and-garden trash bags. She snapped two off the roll and went back to the office to get rid of all the Advice from Van letters that were stacked in the corner of the room.

The two bags were nearly too heavy to carry, so she got a couple more of them and split up the loads into four lighter bags that would be easier to manage down the steep stairs.

It was Saturday and Carolanne and Connor were gone for the weekend.

Savannah went to the window and looked out back. Mike’s truck was gone too.

She quickly slipped into a pair of yoga pants and a T-shirt, then wrangled the plastic bags out of her apartment one by one, like a bad guy hauling off dead bodies. She dragged one bag down the stairs, and even though she was in pretty good shape, she was out of breath. Poor George had hulked them all the way up. Bless his heart. She trudged back up and tied the remaining bags extra tight, then, one by one, sent them tumbling down the stairs with one good soccer kick each.

“Way easier!”

Dragging them out to the Dumpster was doable. She’d just finished stuffing the last one in when Mike drove up.

She walked over to her car and scrounged around in the front seat like she was looking for something, but she could feel him watching her.

She clutched a handful of papers in her hand and folded them in half. “How are you today?”

“Good,” he said. “You headed out somewhere?”

She shrugged. “Just grabbing some papers to take with me to the . . . library.”

“Research?”

“Yeah. You know, half of writing is research.” That was totally lame, and now she had to walk somewhere. Stupid.

He nodded. “I guess you would know.”

What was that supposed to mean? Okay, she was just being paranoid now. She pushed the car door closed and turned to walk away. “Bye,” she said with a wave over her shoulder. Between the anxiety of having to tell Scott the truth tonight, the excitement percolating inside to be spending time with him, and Mike’s nosiness, she thought she might bust.

“Later.”

Only he wasn’t going inside. He was still standing there watching her, and that made her feel vulnerable.

She didn’t even have her wallet with her, so she couldn’t go grab a cup of coffee. Maybe she could stop in and see Jenn, or better yet, she’d go over and see Jack. She’d been so worried about him and all that was going on in his family.

Happy Balance was in the middle of a session. Savannah waved through the glass as she walked by, heading for the
County
Gazette
office.

A walk would burn off some of the anxious feeling she had about going out with Scott later too. She power-walked up the block and took the long way around to the
County
Gazette
to let Jack know she was thinking about his family and their situation. Momma used to say that prayers were the best gift you could give. Savannah had all but stopped praying when Momma and Daddy died. She had a few saved up over the years. It was time to start giving them.

The metal blind slapped against the door as she walked inside. She made a mental note to buy some stick-on Velcro to quiet that darn thing for Jack. He probably didn’t even notice it anymore, but boy did it make her crazy.

“Hi, Jack.”

He looked up and smiled. “I don’t have anything new for you today.”

“I know. Daphne Calvin was telling me that Bee isn’t coming back. I wanted to check in with you.”

“That was so thoughtful of you. Thank you.”

“I’m happy to help out while I’m in town.”

“Thank you, Savannah. That means the world to me.”

“How’s your grandniece doing?”

“Anna and the baby are both doing okay. She had another little girl, ya know. I’d kind of hoped this one would be a boy.”

“Someone to carry on in your footsteps.” Men were like that.

“No. She’s been through so much.” He looked too tired to talk about it.

“Daphne told me. I’m so sorry your family went through that.”

“We’re still going through it. You don’t ever recover from something like that. That little angel with the ringlets. Christina was such a happy little girl. Do you know how hard it is to bury an empty casket?”

She swallowed. She’d thought burying her parents was the deepest pain there could be. She wasn’t the only one in the world to live through tragedy. How selfish of her to never even consider what others had gone through. “I can’t imagine.”

“Her husband made us do it. Anna didn’t want to. Anna always believed someday she’d see her little girl again. She might still. I don’t know. Now that her crumb of a husband up and left her I wish we’d not given in to him on that.”

“It’s always easier to look back and decide.”

“You’re right,” he said. “I’ve just been so worried for Anna.” The gentle smile on his face looked forced. “I got your e-mail with the article from the event and the picture
s. Thank you so much. The article is in today’s paper. Have you seen it?”

“You already ran the story?” She would normally have grabbed a paper on her way back from Mac’s, but this morning Scott had interrupted her routine. Well, as much of a routine as you could have in such a short time in town.

He passed a fresh copy of the paper her way.

GOVERNOR HONORS SHERIFF SCOTT CALVIN

Sheriff Scott Calvin, along with Michael Hartman, a licensed private investigator in the Commonwealth of Virginia, were honored last night in Arlington, Virginia.

The Gold Meritorious Safety Award is the highest public service award in the state. Calvin was recognized for stopping Frank Gotorow from reenacting his previous crimes. Gotorow was on the highest level of secure probationary review, and yet was able to infiltrate the Adams Grove community nearly ninety miles away. The Adams Grove Sheriff’s Department took actions that saved lives and put to rest an impending threat to the state. Private Investigator, Michael Hartman, was honored for his close work on the case with Sheriff Calvin.

Governor Bill Brock and Senator William Macon were both in attendance as news anchors from ABC7/WJLA-TV served as masters of ceremony for the event held at the Hilton Arlington.

The awards were presented by Senator Macon and Lt. Col. George Forehand of the Virginia State Police.

Clearly, the actions of Sheriff Calvin and Michael Hartman were extraordinary. Sheriff Calvin’s keen tactical sense and ability to lead others through an extremely stressful event set him apart from his peers and are a credit to public safety professionals throughout the Commonwealth. Sheriff Calvin’s conduct undoubtedly saved the lives of others in what could have been a replay of the Goto Hell murders, which the Commonwealth is still recovering from eight years later. Based on the foregoing, the review committee recommended Sheriff Calvin receive the award for actions of conspicuous heroism that were devoted to the protection of human life in the face of great danger, at the risk of his own life, and beyond the call of duty.

“The front page?” A feeling of pride caused an unexpected swelling of emotion. “Thank you, Jack.” He didn’t have to put this on the front page. The reason would be for Scott, not for her, but still. It was a pretty cool thing to see her name in big bold letters in the byline. “Can I keep this copy?”

“Sure. You need an extra copy or two?”

“No. Well, yeah. Thanks!”

“You might want to send a copy home to family or something. You did a real good job with that. You can be proud of it.” He handed her a stack of six papers. “Is this enough?”