Southern Lights: A Novel

“I think so,” she said softly. “I think I’m falling in love with you too.” It frightened her to say it, but it felt good too, and was true. She was crazy about him, in a way she hadn’t been in twenty years. He felt just right to her. And she trusted him completely.

“That could be a very good thing for us both,” he said, as he put his arms around her and pulled her close. Everything had fallen into place. Her new life in Washington gave them all the time they needed.

“Would you like to stay here tonight?” she asked him, surprising them both again. Her life was getting crazier by the minute. It felt scary but great at the same time. It was very exciting and so was he.

“I’d love that.” He smiled at her and held her in his arms. A little while later, she took a shower and got into bed, between the clean sheets, and he did the same and came to bed a few minutes later. And a whole new world began for them that night. A world neither of them had thought they’d find again, or even wanted to. It felt like a miracle to both of them.

Alexa spent the rest of the week organizing the house, and Edward came over when he had time. He stayed there with her every night. They didn’t tell anyone what was going on. They decided to keep it to themselves until they figured it out. Maybe it wouldn’t last, but it was wonderful for now. Alexa didn’t need or want more than that.

She started her new job and loved it. It was everything she had hoped it would be and more. She loved the excitement and prestige of working for the FBI. And the following week, Edward took her to the White House dinner he had invited her to. They were photographed by news cameras going in, and they made a very handsome couple. The dinner was in honor of the president of France. And the next day, the news ran a clip of the senator going into the White House dinner with a very pretty woman on his arm.

Tom and Luisa happened to be watching the news together when it came on, and because he was the senator from South Carolina, they ran the clip several times in Charleston. Luisa bolted out of her seat like a shot when she saw it, and stood in the study, looking irate.

“That bitch! Did you see that?” She glared at Tom.

Tom hadn’t seen it. He had looked away for a minute and missed it. “Who are we talking about? The First Lady or the wife of the president of France?”

“Of course not! Alexa! Did you see Edward Baldwin going into that dinner at the White House? That was Alexa with him!”

“Alexa? Our Alexa?” Tom looked stunned.

“Your ex-Alexa, thank you! She was his date! She must have picked him up at the wedding.” Luisa was incensed.

“She didn’t pick him up. I introduced them.” He looked as crestfallen as Luisa looked livid.

“Why would you do a thing like that?” Luisa berated him.

“Because we bumped into him while we were dancing, so I introduced them.” And now he regretted it bitterly. He had lost her, but he hadn’t meant to introduce her to the next man in her life. He liked knowing that she was alone.

“She’s a whore,” Luisa said, and turned the TV off.

“No, actually,” Tom said tersely, “she’s not. You were, and I was. She wasn’t. And she wouldn’t do what we did. She wanted nothing to do with me now because I’m married, or even if I weren’t. We’re the whores, Luisa. She isn’t. You slept with another woman’s husband, and I cheated on my wife. Not too pretty, is it?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She looked indignant.

“Yes, you do, and so do I. So maybe she deserves the good senator after all.” Luisa said not a word and left the room. It enraged her even more to know that Edward Baldwin had taken Alexa to the White House. She didn’t deserve anything of the sort.

And after Luisa left the room, Tom sat staring at the blank screen, knowing just how much Alexa deserved it. She deserved anything good that happened to her now, to make up for what he’d done to her. And as he thought about her with Edward Baldwin, two silent tears rolled down his cheeks.

“What are we doing about Thanksgiving?” Edward asked Alexa the weekend after they’d been to the White House. Thanksgiving was two weeks away, and she looked blank.

“I hadn’t even thought about it, I was so busy getting organized here. We usually do it at my place, just Savannah and me, my mother, and her friend Stanley. But I don’t know if they’d want to come down here. I’d better call her, and Savannah. Why? What did you have in mind?” She leaned over and kissed him. They were in bed with the Sunday paper all over the bed and the floor and a cup of coffee on the night table on either side of the bed. She loved their life together, and so did he. It was comfortable and easy, and cozy and happy. He was a warm, loving person, and as kind as she had hoped he would be. And he thought Alexa was every bit as perfect as his ex-wife said she was.

“I usually go to Sybil’s. My kids fly in, and we all spend it together. I’d love to have you with us, and I want you to meet my kids.”