Savannah, baby, what’s wrong with you?” Mother asked as she looked up from her Southern Living. The woman couldn’t get away from her roots. Either of them, the Southern kind or the ones on her head.Truth be told, her roots could be the real reason she was wearing a hat. Since she had gone back to her “natural” dark brown, she was having a little trouble—dare I say it—hiding the gray.
“Nothing’s wrong. Why in the world would you think something’s wrong? My stars, can’t a girl go to the ladies’ room? I can’t swim for thirty minutes, so I wasted them before I went in the—”
Paige got up to rescue me. “Ooh, Savannah, let’s get in the water. I’m simply sweltering.”
Her use of the phrase “simply sweltering” was an obvious clue she was trying to save me from myself.
“Let’s go.”
“There’s something seriously wrong with that child,” my mother said to the snoring princess on one side of her and the bespectacled bookworm on the other. I looked back to see Dad lower his glasses and raise his right eyebrow at me. I turned away immediately. That man could hone in on things quicker than Paige could hone in on the smell of nacho cheese.
We waded through the water, speaking from the sides of our mouths, trying not to talk above a whisper. Waves were incapable of completely concealing sheer exhilaration. I shifted my straps to make sure I didn’t get marks.
“What gives?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You leave to pee and you come back humming ‘The Way He Makes Me Feel’ from Yentl.And we are probably the only two people in the world who think Yentl was Barbra Streisand’s best piece of work.”
“It’s my favorite movie,” I said, splashing water across my chest.“What are you doing spying on me anyway?”
“I don’t have to spy on you, Savannah. I can read you like a book.”
I laughed.“Oh, well, that’s not saying much. This from a girl who hasn’t read a book since junior high.”
“Maybe so, but you’ve tortured me with every song on that sound track since junior high, missy, and you’ve never hummed that song. Plus, your lovely MAC lip gloss in the shade of Entice is now efficiently smudged all around your mouth. And unless you’ve spent the last thirty minutes licking your lips free of your mama’s chicken salad, I’d say sister’s been swapping spit with someone. And since you are so obsessed with where Joshua North is at any given moment, I would say that you just laid one on him. How is that for how well I know you?”
My jaw came unhinged. I started to scream at her knowledge. But a wave nearly swept us back to shore, and we both came up sputtering. I didn’t answer until we safely made our way through two more onslaughts and were able to ride the perfect little swells that come before the waves.
“Just so you’ll know you don’t know everything, he kissed me.”
“Oh, excuse me.” She laid her hand mockingly across her chest.“I knew it!” she screamed loud enough for them to hear in Tampa. Vicky’s head perked behind her magazine, and Dad smiled a sly little smile.
“Shut up, you crazy woman! Do you want Victoria Phillips to know that I just kissed the man who referred to her as ‘Vicky’ in the first article he wrote for the paper? She has disdained him ever since. And do you want Amber to know that her only remaining hope for the throne has been dashed by the friend who just stole Mr. Husband United States of America?”
“What about the woman you saw him kissing just this morning? It was his sister, wasn’t it? It’s always their sister.When they write stuff like this in novels. They always make it the sister.”
“An old girlfriend.”
“Ooh. Don’t you wish this had been a novel?”
“An old girlfriend who’s marrying one of his best friends this weekend.”
“So it wasn’t as elaborate a kiss as you remember, huh?”
“It looked like it. It looked like two people intensely in love. Enraptured with each other’s presence. As if they were the only two who existed this side of creation.”
“Okay, enough drama.”
“Okay, you want the truth. I felt like I was going to puke.”
“Thank you.”
“It was perfect,” I said, shifting my straps again to avoid prolonged exposure in one place.
“Puking?”
“No, loo-loo, the kiss. Focus. It was soft and yet strong.”
Paige’s eyes glazed over. “All that?”
“All that.”
“Not like Grant?”
I thought of that for a moment. I had fought so hard to keep Grant. Even gave it one last-lamentable-ditch effort. But I failed. And even though Joshua had known all along that I was only after Grant so I wouldn’t lose him to someone else, I wouldn’t admit the truth to myself.“No, not like Grant. Grant’s kisses were always kind of mushy and pure. This held things in it I’ve never felt before.”
“Yeah, right.”
“No, really! I felt things I’ve never felt before . . .Well, I take that back. I’m not sure what I felt. It was just weird.”
She wrapped her arm around my shoulder while we bobbed like two bobble heads in the surf.“I know.”
“You know it was weird?”
“No, I know you’re weird.” She nodded toward the beauties on the beach. “Can you disguise your glee for the rest of the afternoon?”
“There is no glee to disguise.”
“Well, you better do better than you did a few minutes ago.”
I furrowed my brow.“How’s that?”
“Perfectly, Savannah.”
I punched her. She punched back. Then the wave punched us both right upside the head.
The water pounded me in the face as I hummed. I loved the feeling of a shower after swimming in the ocean.The cleansing of the water as the salt runs down from the top of your head to your feet. And the way you can feel the sand fall away from your hair and slide between your fingers is purifying.
Afterward, I looked in the mirror to gauge if I had any strap marks. All seemed okay, so I exited my bathroom wrapped in a towel and a smile.
Thomas was waiting outside the bedroom when I came out.
“Ahh!” I screamed.
My brother screamed back.
I slapped him on the arm.“Why are you screaming? You are the one standing outside my door.”
“Because your scream scared me.Why are you humming anyway?”
“I was not humming. And when did you get here?”
“Whatever.” He plopped down on the bed. “So, you didn’t say anything, did you?”
“I told them absolutely nothing. It’s not my story to tell.” I eyed him meaningfully and returned to the bathroom to put on my robe and makeup. “But it is yours. And you need to tell them. The truth too. Not just little tidbits to keep them off of your back.”
“I just need a week to rest. I’ll tell them when we get back home and I can get back to school.”
“You’re a chicken.”
“But I’m a cute chicken.” He smirked.He was right about that.
“Well, cute or not, there is nothing cute about lying,Thomas, and you know that. So you need to decide when you’re going to tell Mother and Dad what’s going on. I think tonight would be the perfect opportunity. It will just be you and Vicky and Dad.”
“Where are you and Paige going?”
“I don’t know.” I hesitated.“We’re just going to grab a bite to eat and relax some.”
“No! Head up! Up! Up! Up!” I heard Mother’s voice from down the hall.
“Who is she talking to?”Thomas asked.
Maggy barked.
“Her latest protégé.”
“What happened to Amber?”
“She’s already got the ‘head up’ part!”
He laughed.“Well, anyway. We’re not telling Mom and Dad our little secret tonight,” he said as he gave me a peck on the cheek.
“Hey,Thomas.” Paige entered as he departed.
“Hey, Paige. Want to come catch a movie with me tonight?”
Paige eyed me. I eyed her harder.“I told you Paige was going to hang out with me tonight,” I said.
“I’d love to,Thomas. Besides, Savannah has been invited out for the evening, and I think she needs to go.”
“What is this?”Thomas walked back in the room.“Savannah has a date?”
“Savannah has no such thing,” I said. “You know, you were right. You two need to go to a movie together. Have a wonderful time. But you do know you’ll have to take Amber.”
Their heads jerked in tandem. I mocked them.“We have to do what?” Only Thomas’s mouth moved. Paige’s was still agape.
I closed it for her. “Yes. Encouraging her was going to be mine and Paige’s responsibility tonight, but since you and Paige are so bent on me going out while you two catch a movie, then you will have to take Amber.”
Paige ran to the window, jerked it open, and hoisted her leg through.“What are you doing?” I screamed.
“Killing myself. There are deaths far worse, I assure you.”
Thomas couldn’t help but laugh from his comfortable position against the door. I grabbed Paige’s arm and pulled her back inside. “Better yet,” she said, “how about I throw you out? Then no one will ever know you told us to take her.”
I jerked my arm free.“She’s not that bad.”
“Your mother would much rather have her company,” Paige said.
Thomas agreed.“And she would much rather have Mother’s, I’m sure. Plus, I’m not sitting around here for a whole four-course dinner to be interrogated about where Mary Francis is. It would be brutal and so nonproductive.”
“Either you will take her, or I will tell everyone that your upcoming nuptials are off.” I dared him to make me prove it.
“I was never getting married.”
“Tell that to your mother.”
“You’re evil.”
“You’re eviler. Now, get.” I pushed them both out the door and closed it in front of them.
I swung the door open after the knock.“What?!”
Amber peeked her head in.
“Oh, sorry,Amber.”
“Are you having dinner with us tonight?”
I tried to keep my eyes from bugging out.“You got a lot of sun,” I said. “How’d you get all of that with the hat and the umbrella and the sunscreen?”
“I soak it up like a sponge. Got this on my trips to the bathroom, I guess.” She looked down to inspect her beautifully elegant arms herself.
“Well, ten trips to tinkle in an afternoon will do that to you.” Paige came back in and plopped on the bed.
Amber walked over to my closet. “So what are you girls doing?”
“Oh . . . nothing really.” I gave Paige that look. “Just inspecting what I brought.” It was a struggle to sound nonchalant.
She pulled out a light-green silk sleeveless blouse with cream lace trim on the top.“Ooh, this is pretty,”
“That is nice. He’d love that—” Paige clapped her hand over her mouth.
“Who’s he?” Amber asked.
I glared at Paige. She was about to die a thousand deaths, and as far as I was concerned, I’d be privileged to administer each one. She would wish she had jumped.
I tried to group my thoughts.“Just a friend I saw who’s here for the week.”
“Savannah has a boyfriend?” Amber chided.
“Well, no, not exactly. Just a friend who, well, who asked me to come by this evening. But I’m not planning to go. I’m planning to sit right here and read my book.” I said, plopping down on my bed and opening Tolstoy to page 1.
She completely ignored me. “Well, in that case, we need to pick out something fabulous for Miss Savannah.” She scanned through my clothes quickly. Then she said, “Okay, that’s nice. Now let’s go check out my closet.” She walked out of the room. I crawled over to Paige’s bed and slapped her.
“I didn’t mean to! It slipped.” She rubbed her arm.
We headed to Amber’s closet, and all three of us stood staring inside. Everything in it was fabulous. “Ooh, this would be great, she said, pulling out a beautiful chocolate silk sleeveless dress. Your mother bought that for me a couple weeks ago. She handed it to me and I held it against myself. It dragged the floor. It was beautiful. A beautiful gift from my mother.“Oh, so maybe we need to just look at top options.”That Amber was a quick study.
For the next thirty minutes, Amber laid every top she had brought across her bed. The last piece she pulled out was a beautiful taupe linen strapless number trimmed with pale pink tulle and a matching rose. It was beautiful and would have been a perfect complement to my Stuart Weitzman wedges and a pair of jeans.
“That’s gorgeous,” I responded.
She held it in her outstretched arm.“Then tonight it is yours.”
“Amber, I can’t take—”
“Savannah. You are like a sister to me. If this man is worthy of you, I’d be honored if you wore my top tonight.”
I felt like dirt. Worse. Dirt below the dirt. Even worse. The minuscule pieces of muck that make up dirt.“Thank you. I really appreciate it. But I won’t be needing it. I really have all intentions of staying home.”
“I’m sure you do.” Amber winked. Paige and I walked out the door. Paige had restrained herself from saying a word for the last thirty minutes. At least God wasn’t completely out of miracles. “Oh, what’s his name?” Amber asked, causing us both to stop dead in the doorway. I couldn’t move. Paige moaned. Well, I could face it head-on or spend the rest of my life hiding behind shrubbery.
I turned to stare at this kind woman.“His name is . . . it’s . . . actually, let’s just keep this all a surprise. I’ll introduce him to you at some point. It’s just way too premature. He’s just a friend. It really isn’t anything more than that.”
“Ooh, honey shoo . . . shoo . . . go make yourself beautiful for your man.”
I stood there wearing, I’m sure, an expression of utter confusion. “Would you mind us not telling my mother about this right now?”
She used her perfectly manicured nail to zip her lips and lock them shut. Then she muffled something like “mum’s the word” through her tightly pressed lips.
Paige took advantage of the moment. “Well, I guess you would much rather stay here than go with me and Thomas to a movie, wouldn’t you? I mean, knowing how you love to be with Miss Victoria and all.”
Apparently Amber wasn’t aware that her mouth really wasn’t zippered shut, because she continued to mumble without opening her lips.
“I knew you wouldn’t.” Paige patted her arm even though Amber’s head was shaking up and down yes as hard as it could.
I smiled at her.“You can talk, sweetie.”
“I’d love to—”
Paige went to interrupt.
I didn’t let her.“What, baby? You can say it.”
“I’d love to go, Paige. I haven’t been to a movie in weeks. Could we go see that romantic comedy with Tom Hanks and Jennifer Aniston? I hear it is such a tearjerker. It might give me some pointers on how to win Joshua’s heart . . . you know, completely.” She batted her four-inch eyelashes, and we could feel the breeze across the room.
“Oh, I’m sorry, honey, we’re going to see Die Hard, Part Sixteen. I knew you’d hate it. Maybe later in the week we’ll take you to see that.”
Amber’s eyes began to squint. They narrowed in on us in a strange way like something out of Poltergeist.“Ooh, I love Bruce Willis. And I love how he shoots them and strangles them.” She played it out in front of us like Jackie Chan. We backed up toward the door.“And then, he—”
“Alrighty then. Be back in a few.”And Paige jerked me back into our bedroom.
“I am going to hell,” I announced.
“Yes, you are. For what you just did to me, I’m sure there is a special area of torture reserved for wicked people like you.”
She was unbelievable. “I mean for the lie you made me tell.”
“Me? I didn’t make you lie. Anyway, you didn’t lie.”
“I didn’t expound.”
“It’s not the right time. There will be a right time, and this isn’t it. Now, get dressed and leave before I kill you myself.” She kissed me on the cheek.“And have an absolutely wonderful time.”
“I really have no intentions of—”
“I’ll expect to hear every detail.”
“If you utter a word, I’ll—”
She duplicated Amber’s recent lip-locking mime and then slammed the door in my face. She slammed it with the utmost respect, I’m certain.
Dad was stretched out on the back porch in an Adirondack chair, veritably floating in the aroma of steaks being grilled on the patio below. This chair had been a constant in Seaside gardens, patios, and porches for years and years. Thomas Lee designed the very first chair in 1903. He needed some comfy lawn furniture for his summer home in upstate New York. He shared the idea with a friend. The friend patented it and made a fortune. But that was in no way any relation to what I was doing to Amber. I think.
“Good book, huh?”
Dad lowered his reading glasses and looked up at me from his reclining position.“Very.”
“Where’s Mom?”
“Where do you think?”
“In the bathroom.”
“Yes, in the bathroom.”
“What’s she doing? Primping?”
“Actually, no. She’s soaking in a bath, because she’s got highly sunburned legs from the calves down.”
“Sounds attractive.”
“Let’s just say it cut her wardrobe options in half.”
“A perfect excuse for a new one.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
I sat down and tucked my robe up under me. I eyed him head-on.“So I guess you’re all staying around here tonight, huh?”
“Smells that way.” He sniffed the delightful aroma.
“You saw Thomas?”
“Yeah, he’s avoiding us though. I have a feeling it has something to do with Mary Francis.”
This man was amazing. “I think I might go walk around for a little while. Enjoy the evening. Maybe stop and see if Lucy and Manuel are out. I really need to talk to them and start my story. I’ve got to get something in by Tuesday.”
“Don’t you want a steak first?” He opened his book back up.
“Nah. Too many Cokes.” I patted my stomach.
He laid his book across his chest and slowly removed his glasses, folding them neatly and placing them on top of his book. This man knew how to torture a soul.“Have a wonderful time.”
“I will.” I gave a quick peck and tried to scurry out.
“Oh, Savannah. Did you know Joshua North was in town?”
I felt my saliva dry up immediately. I tried to be nonchalant as I turned around slowly. Wish that defibrillator was hanging around nearby.“Um, I . . . How did you know that?”
“I ran into him this morning when I went to get my paper. We chatted over a cup of coffee.”
“Oh, well, isn’t that interesting. Small world, huh?”
“Yeah, I guess it is.”A smile slowly crept across his face. “So you didn’t know he was here?”
“Actually, I saw him this afternoon. But I haven’t given it much thought since. Well, I’ll see you later this evening.”
I stared at the top of his head. He even resembled John Grisham from the back. Let’s hope the man didn’t feel the need to take up investigative law. At least not tonight.
The taupe linen top leered at me from my bed as I entered my room. Amber must have brought it in for me. I turned to my closet and pulled out a black lace top with small capped sleeves, a ribboned waistband, and small pearl buttons. I pulled out my jeans and a pair of black wedges that laced up my calves and studied myself in the mirror. I put on some makeup and pale pink lip gloss. Once I dried my hair, I let it lay neatly across my shoulders. I could hear voices on the back porch and knew that they would never hear me leave. As I went to close the door, I looked back at Amber’s beautiful top lying across the bed. It was such a kind gesture. But just in case I did see Joshua, I didn’t want Amber thinking I had worn her own clothes to see “her” man. I picked it up and walked it back into her room and stowed it safely inside her closet. I only hoped I could be as gentle with her heart.