Southern Lights (14 page)

His father sounded tense and exasperated when he called and invited him and Scarlette to dinner. “Things are a little rocky around here,” he said honestly. “Your mother is upset about Savannah.
Very
upset. You know how she is.” Travis knew her raging temper tantrums only too well. She had them about everything, although he could imagine that the current one was a lulu. The only thing worse, in her mind, would have been to bring Alexa back instead of her daughter. But having Savannah there was bad enough, to her. Travis could easily imagine how unpleasant the atmosphere was at the house right now, and felt sorry for his father. “I thought if you and Scarlette came to dinner, it might distract her a bit, and ease things up.”

“Sure, Dad. I’ll see what Scarlette’s doing. She just got off work an hour ago. I’ll call you back.” He did, and said they would be there at seven-thirty, in time to sit down to dinner, and Tom called the cook to tell her, after he thanked his son profusely. He announced it to Savannah and Daisy when he cruised past Savannah’s room a little while later, and found both girls there, still talking. Daisy was excited to see Travis and her future sister-in-law.

“You’ll like her,” Daisy assured Savannah. “She’s really nice. And Travis is great.” Savannah barely remembered him after almost eleven years. She was six the last time she saw him.

The two girls trooped down to dinner together at precisely seven-thirty, just as Travis and Scarlette walked in. She was a pretty girl with features like a cameo, and long straight black hair, and he was the image of his father, but younger and even better looking. The young couple were both wearing jeans and nice sweaters, which apparently was allowed. Savannah had worn a skirt, sweater, and high heels, and looked very proper. Her long blond hair shone after she brushed it. And Daisy was wearing her school uniform with slippers. Tom had taken off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, so apparently dinner at the Beaumonts’ was not as formal as Savannah had feared.

Tom introduced Travis to Savannah, and the two stood smiling at each other, shyly. Travis said she had just been a little squirt the last time he saw her, and he didn’t say it, but seeing her reminded him totally of her mother, just as it did everyone else. She was the image of Alexa. She and Scarlette chatted easily while they waited to be called in to dinner, and Scarlette talked about how busy her mother was with the wedding, which was going to be huge. She said they were inviting eight hundred people, which sounded like most of Charleston.

As they were talking, Luisa came down the stairs and walked into the living room, stunned to see her oldest son and his fiancée.

“What is this?” she asked coldly, fearing that Tom had organized some kind of dinner party to celebrate Savannah, and hadn’t told her.

“Travis called and said he wanted to come to dinner,” Tom said quickly, and Luisa wasn’t sure she believed him. “I didn’t think you’d object. It was half an hour ago, and you were resting.” They both knew she hadn’t been resting, but they hadn’t been on speaking terms either, and still weren’t, except in public. Privately, they were still furious with each other.

“Of course I’m happy to see Travis, and Scarlette,” Luisa said, gushing as she rushed toward them. Her eyes were still smoldering, but she smiled broadly as she embraced them both, and made idle chitchat with them, while she totally ignored Savannah, which was a relief to her. She had no desire to talk to Luisa.

They went in to dinner, and Luisa sat between her husband and son. She put Scarlette next to Travis, and Daisy next to her father, lest he needed to be reminded who his “real” daughter was, and she seated Savannah between Scarlette and Daisy, by simply pointing to the seat and saying nothing. Savannah was well aware that if Luisa could have seated her in the garage, or someone else’s home, she would have. But Savannah had a nice time at dinner talking to Scarlette and Daisy. She liked Scarlette a lot, as Daisy had promised. She was warm, kind, well brought up, compassionate, and unpretentious. She was an oncology nurse and worked with people with cancer, and said she loved what she did. Travis was very proud of her and looked very happy. And they talked about the wedding a lot during the meal. Luisa was obviously very excited about it. They were giving a rehearsal dinner for three hundred at their club, and Daisy was going to be Scarlette’s flower girl. Scarlette had already ordered a dress from Badgley Mischka, and the bridesmaids’ gowns were being done by Vera Wang. Her own mother was planning to wear a very elegant brown satin coat and gown by Oscar de la Renta. And Luisa hadn’t told anyone what she was planning to wear yet, but Daisy knew because she had seen it in her closet and overheard. Her mother was planning to wear red.

Everyone seemed to relax during dinner, and Tom’s plan to have Travis there had been a good idea. Luisa seemed to have unbent a little by the end of dinner, and looked less angry. She said nothing to Tom after Travis and Scarlette left, but at least she made no vicious comments. She went back up to her room, and this time closed the door and didn’t slam it. Tom said goodnight to his girls and went to his study, where he had moved his things. Daisy went to her room to finish her homework, but promised in a whisper to sleep in Savannah’s room again that night so she wouldn’t be scared. And Savannah went to her own quarters and collapsed on the bed with a groan. Being here was a lot of work. And she was starting school tomorrow.

She called her mother and told her she had met Travis and Scarlette, and they were really nice to her. Savannah and Alexa chatted for a while. Alexa was really busy. And as promised, Daisy showed up in her room at ten o’clock and sneaked into Savannah’s bed. Her mother had already said goodnight to her, so the coast was clear.

The two girls held hands again after chatting for a few minutes, and this time, even faster than the night before, they fell asleep. For Savannah, it had been one hell of a first day.

Chapter 9

Savannah was nervous when her father drove her to Bishop England High School the next day. Daisy had already left on her school bus when Tom and Savannah drove away. Luisa was still in her room, and as she always did, Savannah had gobbled a quick bowl of cereal, and had been ready for her father promptly at eight a.m.

She said little on the drive north on Mark Clark Expressway. And she was obviously worried about it, as he tried to reassure her. Once they reached Daniel Island and the sprawling fifty-acre campus on Seven Farms Drive, he put his Jaguar in a space in the parking lot and walked her into the principal’s office, where they congratulated her on her good grades in New York and welcomed her to the school. The assistant principal handed her a schedule, which looked reasonable to Savannah, and offered to take her to her classroom for her first class, and Savannah quickly kissed her father goodbye.

The school was much larger than the one she’d gone to in New York, and looked like the schools she’d seen in movies, with miles of lockers lining every hall. There were students congregating in little clusters, with books in their arms, laughing, and then hurrying to class. A few of the boys glanced at her with her lithe figure and long blond hair. She had worn jeans because they said it was allowed, Converse sneakers, and a plaid blouse that hung out of her jeans, with a sweatshirt from her volleyball team in New York. She knew it was too late to join the team here, but she was hoping to play intramural sports if she had the chance.

The first class on her schedule was French. She took AP French classes in New York and had gotten good grades for her boards. The teacher was reading a paragraph from a book as Savannah slipped into her seat. She glanced up, looking slightly annoyed by the distraction, nodded, and went on. There were thirty students in the class, and most of them looked bored. The class lasted for fifty-two minutes, and when the bell rang, after the teacher had given them their assignment, everyone bolted for the door. The teacher smiled at her as she left, and Savannah wandered down the hall. She had been given a map, but everything was confusing and she had no idea where she was. She was turning the map around and around, with her books still in her arms, when a girl with bright red hair in a pony-tail and freckles came over to her with a smile.

“Looks like you’re lost. Can I help?” Like everyone else except Savannah, she had a heavy South Carolina drawl.

“I think I have history next. Thanks,” she said as she handed the pretty redhead the map.

“You’re on the wrong floor,” the girl explained. “The class is straight up, right over our heads where we’re standing, and Mr. Armstrong sucks. He gives too much homework and has bad breath. Where’re you from?” She was still smiling and Savannah was grateful for the help. No one else had asked, although several boys were staring at her from their lockers across the hall, and Savannah thought they were cute. She hadn’t had a boyfriend since the end of junior year. She just hung out with friends. And she knew that if she’d had to leave a boyfriend in New York to come here, it would have been worse.

“I was from here originally. I was born here. But I’ve been living in New York for ten years.”

“Welcome back.” The girl smiled broadly. “I have to go upstairs anyway. I’ll walk you up. I have chemistry. I always flunk. I can’t wait to get out of school. I’m taking a year off.” Savannah nodded as they hurried up the stairs. The girl was wearing a sweatshirt and jeans, and so were most of the boys. It was no different than New York, although she felt out of place here somehow, as though there were a sign over her head, “I’m new.” “Why’d you come back?” the girl asked her.

“I came to stay with my dad till the end of school. I live with my mom in New York.” She didn’t want to say that she was there because her life was at risk. That was too heavy to share with other kids, particularly one she didn’t know.

“If you’ve been fighting with your mama, I know alllllll about that,” the girl said with a grin. “My mama and I fight like cats and dogs, but I love her to pieces anyway, bless her heart. I can get around my daddy, but my mama is a bitch,” the girl said, and Savannah couldn’t help but laugh. “Yours too?”

“No, mine is pretty good. Great actually. We just thought it was a good idea if I visited my dad for a while.” It sounded suspicious even to her, but she didn’t know what else to say.

“What’s your name, by the way?” She was curious about the girl from New York. She had style even in her sweatshirt and jeans, and a spark in her eye.

“Savannah Beaumont. What’s yours?”

“Julianne Pettigrew. My great-grandfather was a general or something like that. Sounds pretty boring to me. I get so tired of all that crap. My grandmother’s in the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and goes to tea parties all the time.” She was tired of it but had mentioned it anyway. It made Savannah think of her father’s mother.

Julianne had gotten Savannah to her classroom by then, and promised to catch up with her later. She said she’d be in the cafeteria for second seating at twelve-thirty and invited Savannah to join her. Savannah glanced at her schedule and saw that she was free then too and said she’d try to find it.

“Thanks for the help. See you later,” Savannah said, and disappeared into her classroom. There were twice as many students in history as in French, and she got the last seat in the back row, behind a wall of boys who passed notes to each other and ignored the teacher completely, who did exactly what Julianne had said he would, and gave them too much homework.

She had two more classes after that, English Comp and a social studies class, and a break. And then it was lunchtime, and she found her way to the cafeteria, but didn’t see her new friend. Two boys asked her to sit with them, but she felt awkward since she didn’t know them. She was helping herself to a yogurt and fruit salad and a bottle of orange juice, when Julianne found her.

“You were right,” Savannah said, happy to see her. Finding someone in the cafeteria was like looking for a lost sock at the airport. There were hundreds of kids milling around and sitting at large and small tables, and the noise level was tremendous. “Armstrong gives too much homework.”

“I told you. I just got a D in chemistry again. My mama’s gonna kill me. She’s got this thing about good grades, but she never went to college herself. She just goes to lunch and plays bridge with her friends. You don’t need to go to college for that.” Savannah nodded. She didn’t volunteer that her mother was a lawyer, it would have sounded too stuck up. “My daddy’s a doctor. A pediatrician.” Savannah nodded again.

They found a table and sat down, and a flock of girls and boys joined them. Apparently, Julianne was popular and seemed to know everyone in the school. Halfway through lunch she admitted to Savannah that she had a boyfriend. He was the captain of the football team, which was a big deal.

Everyone at the table was making plans for the weekend, talking about the basketball game on Friday night, asking about friends, exchanging phone numbers and trading gossip. It was a lively group, and Savannah felt a little out of it, so she listened. She had been totally confident in New York, but she felt overwhelmed here, with so many new names and faces, and such a big school.

She was feeling somewhat dazed by the time her father picked her up at three o’clock. Julianne and two other girls had given her their phone numbers, which was a good beginning, but she felt too shy to call them.

“How was it?” her father asked as she got in. He thought she looked tired and ill at ease.

“Kind of overwhelming, but okay. I met some nice people. There are just a lot of them, and it’s hard having all new classes and new teachers. Most of the material is familiar, and not much different from what I’ve been doing in New York, except for the civics class, which talks only about the south and southern history. The Confederacy is definitely still alive and well in Charleston. I guess it wasn’t bad for a first day,” she said fairly, and he nodded, as they headed home.

“A lot of homework?” he asked with interest. He was being very attentive to her, far more than she had expected, and it touched her.