"But I need more than knowledge. I need money."
"That's just your fear talking. Tomorrow I think we need to get Todd registered for school. And then you need to visit Miz Ruby. Once she's done with you, you'll start seeing things straight."
"Miz Ruby? Is she, like, the local banker or something?"
"No, of course not. She's Rocky's momma. You know, the beautician who owns the Cut 'n Curl. I go there every Friday for a manicure, but you need more than that, sugar. Rocky called me this morning, and we both agreed. Ruby will fix you right up. And believe me, when she's done, you'll have a spring in your step. And I'm sure you'll figure something out for The Kismet."
Savannah stifled a laugh. If only it were that easy. "I don't need a makeover."
"Don't you? You're sitting in this kitchen pining away because you don't have a crowd to cook for like your granny did. Sugar, the only way to get a crowd for dinner every night is to find a new husband and have more babies. And believe me, you aren't going to catch that hero you've been searching for if you don't take care of yourself first."
"What hero? What are you talking about?"
Savannah turned away from the pots on the stove and sat down facing her aunt, suddenly concerned. Miriam had a gleam in her eye that hadn't been there before. Savannah took Miriam's knobby hand in hers. The thin, cold feel of Miriam's skin was a little alarming. She was getting up there in years. Was she going senile now that Harry had passed?
"I'm fine. And I'm not senile," Miriam said as if reading Savannah's mind. "All I'm saying is that you need to be looking for a man with an appetite. Just like your grandmother did."
"But I've sworn off men altogether. Greg was a huge mistake. And my recent past is littered with men who were commitment-phobic workaholics, and not very interested in kids."
"Well, I'm sure none of those men was your soulmate. So don't give them any more thought than they deserve."
"Soulmate? Really?"
"Now, sugar, you listen. You want a man like your granddaddy was."
Savannah stroked Miriam's hand. "Men like Granddaddy are hard to find. I thought Greg was like him, but I was wrong." She let go of a frustrated breath. What she really wanted was a man like George Bailey, the protagonist in It's a Wonderful Life. And she knew that was impossible, because George Bailey wasn't a real person. Real people were not like the ones in those old black-and-white movies that Granddaddy had taught her to appreciate.
"Savannah, I know you've been hurt. But I also know that you're going to find the kind of man you've been searching for. I know it in my bones. It's just not going to be easy to find him. You're going to have to delve beneath the surface."
Savannah stood up and crossed back to the stove to check on the gravy. Miriam was too old to understand. Her great-aunt had been married to one man for more than forty years. Marriages like that were rare. Savannah's marriage had failed in its third year. And Savannah's mother had been unable to keep three different husbands. All in all, it seemed wiser to figure out a way to be independent.
Her cell phone rang. Savannah checked the caller ID. It was Mom. She had been expecting this call for at least a day. She had told everyone in Baltimore that she'd be home by now. So of course, Mom was checking in.
Savannah pushed the talk button and put the phone to her ear.
"Savannah Elizabeth Reynolds, are you insane?"
Uh-oh. When Mom used her full maiden name, it was always a tip-off that one of Mom's rants was headed Savannah's way.
"Hi, Mom, how are you?" Savannah said carefully.
"I'm not good. What's this nonsense about you staying in Last Chance and trying to renovate The Kismet?"
"Who told you this?"
"Todd called me earlier. He apparently borrowed your cell phone when you were in the shower. Savannah, what about Greg? He has a right to see his son, you know."
Great. Her son had tattled on her. It wouldn't be the first time.
She took a deep, calming breath. "Mom, you know and I know that Greg couldn't care less about visitation. It's been months since he's paid any attention to Todd. And then it was just to give him that infernal PSP that he plays all the time. Maybe coming to South Carolina will wake Greg up. I would be happy if that happened. Of course, we both know that Greg is sort of like Dad, and that is probably not going to happen."
"Okay," Mom said on a long sigh. "I'll concede that point. But you don't want to live in Last Chance, and you sure don't want to subject your son to that. I know, I grew up there, and aside from church and football games there wasn't much to do."
"There was the movie theater."
"Right, like that's the height of culture." Mom's voice rose in pitch. "I knew I should have put my foot down when Daddy started filling your head with all those silly ideas about reopening that place. That was his dream, not yours. How are you going to pay for a thing like that? And have you any idea about the quality of the schools in that little town? This is a huge mistake you're making. Don't be an idiot."
Savannah looked through the kitchen window at the Spanish-moss-laden oak in the side yard. She remembered the tree house Granddaddy had built for her. It was gone now, but the memory remained steadfast and true. Why couldn't Todd have a father like that? Why couldn't she have had a father like that? Or a mother who encouraged her to follow her dreams instead of pointing out how hollow they were.
"You know, Mom," she said in a shaky voice, "it would be nice if just once you would support me in the things I want to do."
"I certainly would support you if you were opening a business you knew something about, in a city where you might get customers. My goodness, Savannah, you can't be successful in a place like Last Chance."
"When was the last time you came down here?"
"I don't know. Decades. I avoid the place. I don't want you bringing up Todd in that one-horse town."
Before Savannah could counter, Mom rolled on. "And Todd said Dash was there. He told me Dash destroyed his PSP. Really, I can't believe you're letting Todd have anything to do with that man. My God, Savannah, don't you remember the way he treated you as a girl? He's fully capable of abusing Todd. Or worse."
Mom was silent for a moment, obviously letting her arguments take their toll, before she continued, "And I don't think Greg will be wild about the situation after I explain it to him. And you should know that Claire is fit to be tied. How could you turn down her offer to pay Todd's tuition to the Gilman School?"
Something deep inside Savannah snapped. "I turned her down because she wants to turn Todd into a big snob, just like you've become. Just like Greg is. I'm sorry, Mom, but I'm going to stay in Last Chance. Miriam needs a cook. Todd needs the fresh air. And Dash is not a child molester. I may not have approved of his methods, but he did me a huge favor by breaking that idiotic game. Besides, this is my life, not yours or Claire's or Greg's. It's mine, and if I want to come live here with Aunt Miriam and Cousin Dash, well then, that's what I'm going to do."
She pulled the phone from her ear and pressed the disconnect button.
"Bravo."
She looked up to find Dash leaning in the kitchen doorway clapping his hands. His fitted cowboy shirt accentuated his broad shoulders and narrow hips. He looked tanned and healthy and incredibly male. The puppy Todd found stood beside him looking up with total adoration on his face.
"I take it that was Aunt Katie Lynne on the phone telling you how to run your life?"
Savannah nodded, suddenly unable to get a word out. How much had he heard of her rant?
"Thanks for telling her off on my account. I've been wanting to do that since I was thirteen, when she called me a bad seed."
Savannah's eyes began to itch. She'd heard her mother's opinion about Dash. In fact, she'd repeated her mother's opinion. Everywhere. To everyone. And now that she thought about it, repeating her mother's ugly words had set off the infamous snake incident.
Guilt slammed into her. She hadn't really understood when she was ten. But now, suddenly, it all came back in a rush. She'd been cruel and mean-spirited.
Sort of like Mom.
Savannah took a deep breath and turned back toward her gravy. She needed to get dinner on the table and not think about what had happened in the past or what might happen in the future. Either way it was bad.
She squeezed her eyes shut and prayed for courage-and maybe an investor with a really, really deep pocket.
"Princess, I've changed my mind about The Kismet," Dash said.
She looked over her shoulder. "What?"
"Last Chance needs a movie theater. So I reckon I'm going into business with you."
Dash took one look at the frown on Savannah's face and decided he didn't want to hang around long enough for her to refuse his help. He hadn't considered the complexity of what he'd promised Hettie. It was irksome, to say the least, that Cousin Savannah could stand in the way of his plan to win Hettie back.
He turned and stalked down the hall and out to the front porch, where he found the kid sitting on the front step looking pitiful. His annoyance at Savannah disappeared, replaced by deep empathy for the boy.
"Bad move, calling your grandmother and having her call your mother."
The kid looked up over his shoulder. "Who asked for your opinion?"
"No one. Just sayin'. Your momma got all riled up and told your granny that there was no way in hell she's going back to Baltimore. And I think Aunt Miriam plans to get you registered down at the school tomorrow. So it looks like you're here for a while."
"My father's going to come and get me, just as soon as he has a free weekend where he's not playing in a pool tournament."
Dash felt for the kid. How many times had Dash told himself the same thing? Dash's daddy had been a rodeo rider always promising to come home after the next rodeo on the circuit. It sounded like Todd's daddy loved pool more than his boy. Dash prayed the man wasn't some kind of hustler or gambler.
The puppy crawled into Todd's lap and started washing his face with a darting pink tongue. The kid's lips quivered. "I can't even keep him," he said, stroking the dog's floppy ears.
"Well now, that can be arranged," Dash said as he sat on the porch railing. "Aunt Mim has no objections to the puppy. I have no objections either. And your momma is a guest in this house until she can fix up the apartment above the theater. So she doesn't have much to say about it. I reckon the dog can stay. Which means we need to find him a name. I've been calling him Boulder Head. What do you think of that?"
The corner of the boy's mouth lifted just a little. "That's a stupid name."
"Yeah, but it describes him. It's like someone stuck a head as big as a boxer's on a frankfurter's body. That is one weird-looking dog you got there."
The kid sniffled and stared down at the dog's face for a long time. "He's not weird looking. We should call him Champ."
"Champ?"
"Yeah. He's got a head as big as a boxer's, right?"
"Yeah, I guess. Champ it is, then." Dash paused for a long moment. "And, uh, I went up to Orangeburg this afternoon, and I got you something."
The kid raised his head.
"It's in my car." Dash nodded toward the Cadillac in the drive. "Go on and get it."
The kid hopped down from the steps and ran to the car. He opened the passenger's side door and found the PSP Dash had bought that afternoon.
"You bought me a new one?" The kid looked really confused.
"Yeah I did. See, I probably shouldn't have destroyed your property like that. But I reckon it worked out because, if I hadn't, we might not have found Champ."
"Yeah, I guess."
"And there's another thing. If you're going to be living in this house, you're going to have to do some chores. I was twelve when I came to live in this house, and I was required to mow the lawn. And Uncle Ernest-that would be your great-grandfather-insisted that I work at the movie theater and that I go to church and a bunch of things that I wasn't all that wild about. But there were some good things. I got to help out at Mr. Nelson's stables, and I like horses. And I got to play baseball."
"I hate sports. I'm not any good."
"Have you ever played football?"
He shook his head. "My dad did in college. He was an offensive lineman. He's always talking about how he almost made it to the NFL."
Dash had to stifle a snort of laughter, because the boy was built like an offensive lineman. He might only be twelve, but he was one big child. Dash couldn't wait to introduce him to Red Canaday, the Davis High football coach and one of Allenberg's Pop Warner football commissioners. Dash made a mental note to run up to Orangeburg tomorrow and buy a football.
"Well, maybe you just haven't had much chance to play anything but that video game. So here's the deal. You can play that game in the evening after you finish your homework and walk the dog. I also need your help with some repairs around the house."
He didn't mention anything about tossing a football. He would try to ease into that one slowly, like Aunt Mim had suggested.
"You're kidding, right?"
"Nope. It's all that stuff in order for you to keep the dog and the game. Deal?"
Champ stood at Todd's feet wagging his tail and looking up at the boy like he hung the moon. The dog was more eloquent than Dash could ever be. Todd left the game on the front seat of Dash's car and got down on his knee and petted the dog. Champ responded by wagging his tail and giving the kid a bunch of sloppy puppy kisses.
Dash tried not to smile, but he couldn't help it. He said a quiet prayer of thanksgiving to the angels who looked out for lost kids and abandoned dogs.
Just then a tornado hit the front porch. It came down the hall with fists clenched and blond hair bouncing. "You know I've been standing in the kitchen stirring the gravy, trying to control my temper and figure you out. I give up. What do you mean, I'll have to go into business with you?" Savannah put her fists on her cute little jean-clad hips.
She'd lost the apron she'd been wearing in the kitchen, but her cheeks looked pink, and there was a little smidgen of flour on her navy T-shirt that kind of accentuated her assets, so to speak. Oh, boy, homemade biscuits for dinner. His mouth started watering.
"Well now," he said, leaning his backside into the porch railing and folding his arms over his chest, "I think the words are self-explanatory. You're going into business with me. Actually, I think it's more accurate to say that I'm going into business with you." He smiled.
She gave him her imperious-princess look. "I am not going into business with you."
Well, that was predictable. But he wasn't going to give up. Hettie had asked him for his help, and he regarded it as a test. Besides, if Hettie had asked him to swim the English Channel in his birthday suit, he'd have done it with a smile. "Princess, I hate to disagree, but you and I are about to become partners."
"Over my dead body." She turned and stalked back into the house.
"Mom really hates you, doesn't she?" Todd said in a snarky tone.
Yes, she did. And Dash had the feeling that once Savannah made up her mind about something, she wasn't ever going to change it.
THE DISH.
Where Authors Give You the Inside Scoop.
From the desk of Lily Dalton.
Dear Reader, Some people are heroic by nature. They act to help others without thinking. Sometimes at the expense of their own safety. Sometimes without ever considering the consequences. That's just who they are. Especially when it's a friend in need.
We associate these traits with soldiers who risk their lives on a dangerous battlefield to save a fallen comrade. Not because it's their job, but because it's their brother. Or a parent who runs into a busy street to save a child who's wandered into the path of an oncoming car. Or an ocean life activist who places himself in a tiny boat between a whale and the harpoons of a whaling ship.