Southern Lights: A Novel

He went back to his study and called their older son, and invited him and his fiancée, Scarlette, to dinner that night. He had told Travis that morning at the bank that Savannah was there. Travis was surprised, as his father explained it to him. And he could easily guess how unhappy his mother was about it. He hadn’t been allowed to mention Alexa or Savannah in ten years, and had always felt guilty about not keeping up contact with them. He had tried to for a while, and then just let it slide, and he knew his brother had too. Travis was fifteen when Alexa left, and still young, although he had loved her and she had been good to him, which made him feel even worse. His mother had made it clear that any contact with her would be considered treason and a betrayal of his “real” mother, and he’d been young enough to buy into it. He was twenty-five now, worked at his father’s bank in town, and was planning to be married in June, to a girl from a very social Charleston family, whose ancestors were even more steeped in the Confederacy than his. She had more generals in her family than they had oak trees on their property. She was a wonderful girl, and he was deeply in love with her. She was a nurse, and a very kind person. He liked the fact that she worked, and was unpretentious, no matter how illustrious or wealthy her family was. She wanted to keep nursing until they had babies, which his mother said was ridiculous. She didn’t think it looked right for the wife of a Beaumont to be a nurse. Travis was entirely happy with it, and supported Scarlette’s decision.

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.