Southern Lights: A Novel

“I have to admit,” she confessed in return, “I’ve had thoughts in the same vein.” And as she said it, Luisa danced past them in her bright red dress with her tiara askew. When she saw who Alexa was dancing with, she looked like she was going to have a tantrum, but there was nothing she could do about it as her partner led her away on the floor. “I loved it when I lived here, but then it all kind of blew up in my face. I went back to New York, very sour about the South. I just came back to Charleston for the first time in ten years a few months ago.”

“It’s nice of you to come back. We don’t always treat northerners well.” They certainly hadn’t, but she didn’t say it. And she was amazed that he had, and was so honest.

“Was your wife from the South?” Alexa asked politely, and he laughed.

“Certainly not. She’s from Los Angeles and hates the South with a passion. That was one of the reasons why she left me. Once I got into politics, she knew I’d have to spend time here, so she bailed out. Now she and her husband live in New York. She’s a writer and he’s a producer.” They sounded like interesting people, and so was he. She hadn’t met a handsome prince that night, as her mother had hoped, for her to fall in love with. But instead she had met an interesting senator to talk to. He teased Alexa then. “If you tell anyone what I just said about the South, I’ll lose my seat and blame it on you.” She put a finger to her lips, and they both laughed, and then he took her back to her table.

Henry came and kept her company again after a while, and eventually she found Savannah and told her she was leaving. A wild rock band had just started playing, and she knew that she and Turner would want to stay for hours. Alexa was ready to go home. It had been fun, but she’d had enough. They cut the wedding cake finally a few minutes later, and then she left. She congratulated Travis and Scarlette again, kissed Henry, and caught a glimpse of Tom as she left. He was at the bar, alone, looking unhappy and very drunk. Luisa was dancing wildly to the rock band, with her tiara over one ear and a wild look on her face. Alexa hadn’t seen Tom go near her all night.

Alexa didn’t say goodbye to him when she left. She didn’t want to deal with him if he was drunk, that was more than she wanted to take on. So she got in one of the cabs waiting outside the tent and went back to the hotel. It was after midnight, which was late enough for her. And at the hotel, she took off the peach dress and put on her comfortable nightgown.

“Goodbye, pretty dress,” she said, putting it on the hanger. “See you again never.” She knew she wouldn’t be wearing a dress like that again in this lifetime. Or not for a hell of a long time, if ever. She never went to parties like this. It had been an amazing wedding and she’d had fun talking to Henry, the senator, and the priest, and even dancing, which she hadn’t done in years.

She heard Savannah come in around three-thirty, and smiled as she slipped into bed beside her.

“Have fun?” Alexa muttered with her eyes closed.

“I loved it, it was terrific. Thank you for coming,” Savannah said, and kissed her mother’s shoulder. Alexa smiled and went back to sleep.

Chapter 20

“I feel like Cinderella after the ball,” Alexa admitted to Jack the following week when he stopped by her office to give her some files.

“After the wedding in Charleston?” he asked as he sat down.

“No, after the Quentin case. I’m back to real life and human-sized cases. It’s a little tough after all that excitement.” He laughed.

“We’ll try to find you another serial killer sometime soon.” But he felt the same way. They dealt with a lot of routine cases, not just big ones. And most of the time it was tedious work.

He had just left her office when the phone rang on her desk, and she picked it up herself. Her secretary was out to lunch. There was a deep voice on the other end that she didn’t recognize.

“Counselor?”

“Yes, Alexa Hamilton here,” she said officially.

“Senator Baldwin,” he said, equally so, and then laughed.

“Are you showing off, Senator? You outrank me.” It was a bold thing to say to him since she hardly knew him, but she knew he had a sense of humor.

“Absolutely, and yes, I do. I’m in New York for two days and wondered if you’d like to have lunch.” He was as straightforward as any northerner and didn’t beat around the bush.

“That would be fun,” she said, smiling.

“Are you very busy these days?” he asked her.

“Not busy enough. I’m buried in paperwork.”

“How disappointing.” He suggested a time and place for lunch the next day, sounded rushed and hung up. She was startled by the call, but he might be a good man to know, and he was certainly interesting to talk to. She had no idea why he had called her. He hadn’t flirted with her at the party, and she liked him. He seemed like a bright, amusing person.