Southern Lights: A Novel

“We’ve been waiting for you to get up. We didn’t want to wake you,” the older of the two said. “Mr. Beaumont said he’d be back at eleven to pick you up. He had to do some things at the office. And Mrs. Beaumont is at the hairdresser and has a luncheon in town after that.” That meant her father would be back in half an hour for the sightseeing he’d promised. The two women introduced themselves as Tallulah and Jane. Tallulah was Jed’s wife, and Jane was from Memphis, and had an accent but a different one. Savannah was fascinated by how they spoke.

They asked her what she’d like for breakfast, and she said cereal would be fine and she could help herself, but they insisted on serving her on flowered china, which they set on a delicately embroidered linen mat. Everything was fancy here. Nothing was simple or plain or practical, like at home. She felt totally out of her depth. She and her mother lived nicely, but nothing even remotely like this. This was another world. She realized now too what a shock it must have been for her mother to come back from all this after being banished. She must have felt like Cinderella after the ball, when the coach turned into a pumpkin, and the white horses into mice, and in her case Prince Charming into a rat. Savannah felt sorry for her.

She was just finishing her cereal when her father returned and strode into the kitchen looking handsome as ever in an immaculately tailored tweed jacket and gray slacks.

“Hi, Savannah,” he said breezily. “How did you sleep?”

“Like a baby.”

“Ready for the grand tour?” She nodded, thanked the two ladies in their white uniforms with starched lace aprons, and followed him into the front hall. She went to get a jacket and her bag, since it was cool but not cold and there was a breeze off the ocean, as there often was in Charleston, which translated to crushing humidity in summer. And five minutes later they were in his car, a Jaguar, and heading toward the heart of town.

They chatted easily about the city, and the first place he took her was Fort Sumter for a lesson in local history. It was where the first shot had been fired in the War Between the States. Savannah found it fascinating when they took the tour, particularly the totally southern slant they had on everything. It was all about the Confederacy, and never the North, which for them didn’t seem to exist, except as the enemy they had loathed a hundred fifty years before, and in some cases still did.

From there he took her to the French Quarter to look around, and then to lunch at a quaint restaurant with a back garden. The food was spicy local fare, with crab soup and crab cakes, shrimp and rice, all in delicate sauces with aromatic spices. It was delicious, and they laughed together at lunch, and afterward he took her on a horse-drawn carriage ride down cobblestone streets, where they saw more historic sights, and he pointed out several popular coffeehouses to her, where young people hung out.

Afterward he drove her past several shops he said she might like to check out later, and past the spectacular beaches of Sullivan Island on the way home.

They got back to the house at four-thirty after a wonderful day together. And her father had told her over lunch that she was starting school the next day. It was all arranged. She would be a senior, of course, and she was welcome to attend their graduation and walk with the other students, although her official diploma would come from her school in New York. He had had her transcript faxed by her school, and the one in Charleston was impressed by her grades. He was going to drive her there in the morning himself, and pick her up on her first day, and after that he said she could drive herself. He had had the car detailed for her that day. He had left nothing out, and had taken care of everything, and she was touched.

They were both smiling and chatting easily as they walked into the house, and both of them were startled to find themselves face-to-face with Luisa, who had just come in too, from her lunch. And when she saw them, it was too late for her to avoid them or hide. The dreaded meeting between Savannah and her stepmother could no longer be put off.

“Hello,” Savannah said shyly. She was the first to speak, as Luisa glared at her without a word. She was wearing a royal blue suit with satin lapels, and sapphires on her ears. Her hairdo looked like a helmet, and there was not a hair out of place. Her manicure was perfect, and her eyes looked into Savannah’s like knives.

“This is Savannah,” Tom said gently, to break the ice, as though Luisa didn’t know. “And Savannah, this is Luisa, your stepmother.” He knew instantly that it was a mistake, as his wife turned on him with a vicious look and ignored Savannah.

“I am not her stepmother,” she said fiercely. “She may be your daughter, but she’s not mine, in any way or form. And don’t forget who your real daughter is in this house.”