Page 5 of Darlin'

"Wonderful," Daddy says, looking over at me. "And you? Feeling fantastic as well?" His brows pinch together when I don't reply. "What's wrong, Savannah? You're usually much chipper than this." He looks at Momma. "What'd you do to my baby girl?"

Chipper? Gosh, Daddy's as clueless as Cher Horowitz. One of the many benefits of Momma's grooming is that I've been enrolled in singing, dancing, and acting since birth. The latter bodes the most useful when it comes to parental deceit. Too bad I'm not as good as Momma, something I'm reminded of almost every day.

Momma sighs dramatically. "I told you, John, she's in a mood."

"I'm not in amood.” I glower defiantly at my mother, tightening the grip on my fork. I can't do it. I can't simply sit here and pretend that nothing happened. I have to try something.Anything. "I'm just...processing."

Daddy's always been a little softer than Momma. The gold to her silver. More expensive but much more pliable. Let's hope he's willing to bend.

"Processing what?" Daddy asks, gaze bouncing between me and Momma, who is in a silent battle of wits with me. Her jaw tightens as she attempts to penetrate my reserve, but I've gotyearsof practice shielding myself from her fruitless attempts. "Well? Processing what?"

"John..."

"I got a call today," I say, ignoring my mother's frigid stare as I proceed with optimistic caution. Tread carefully; tread lightly. That's my John Kingsley motto. "It was from..." My heart rate quickens, but I swallow away the nerves. I got this. "From Beau."

Daddy blinks at me. "Beau?"

"Yes, Beau," I say slowly. "You know? Yourson? Mybrother?"

Daddy clears his throat, stunned as he looks at Momma. "Did you know anything about this, Caroline?"

"First I'm hearing about it." Momma wipes the corner of her mouth with a napkin, shaking her head. Two Academy Awards in one night. The next Meryl Streep. "Why didn't you tell me, Savannah? This explains a lot."

I grit my teeth. "I'm telling you now, aren't I?"

"Where..." Daddy takes a sip of whiskey. "Where is he?"

"In California," I reply coolly. "He's um...working down there."

He perks a brow. "Doing what?"

I blink. "Umm...he's in uh— he's in sales or something, I think? It was a brief conversation."

"Sales, huh?" Daddy hums. "Well, that's...that's nice. I hope he's doing well." He smiles at Momma. "Pass the salt, please?"

"Seriously?" I gawk at him. "Pass the salt?" I stand up, the chair scraping against the hardwood floor as I flap my arms. "Y'all are unbelievable."

"Sit down," Momma orders. "Where are your manners, Savannah?"

"Must be in the same place where your motherly love is," I state, crossing my arms. "I get ‌Beau hurt both of you deeply when he left, but don't you care about him at all? Don't you love him?"

"Your brother is an adult now, Savvy," Daddy says, swallowing. "He's had three years to contact us and let us know he was safe, but did he? Did he extend us that courtesy? No. He did not. So forgive us for not jumping out of our seats with joy that he finally decided to man up and pick up the phone."

"Well, I, for one,docare about him," I say, clenching my fist. "And I'm..." I suck in a sharp breath. A gang. He's in agang. But he's my brother. My baby brother. My best friend forseventeenyears. I owe him this. I'm not sure how he ended up with the likes of criminals, but I know the real him. I know my brother. And he must come home. He must. "I'm going to go to California to see him."

"No, you are not," Momma barks, slamming her hand on the table. "That is out of the question." She whips her head at Daddy. "John! Tell her that is out of the question."

"You arenotflying to California," Daddy states in a firm tone. "You will stay here with your mother until the elections are over. Is that clear?"

"Wow," I hum, letting out a disappointing scoff. "That's it, isn't it? You're worried it'll affect your polls, huh? 'Runaway Son Found Slumming it in The Golden State' doesn't fit your headline narrative? I guess you're looking for the pity votes, huh?'Grieving Parents of Troubled Runaway Teen Fight Circumstance and Win Election.'That'swhat you want, huh? That's the better story, isn't it?"

"Watch your tongue," Daddy threatens, matching Momma's energy. Great. Two against one. "And sit back down. Now!"

"No." I stand my ground. "Y'all are being completely unreasonable and, quite frankly, very cold-hearted." I harden my gaze as I say, "I want to see my brother. Iwillsee my brother."

"You are not going anywhere, Savannah," my mother seethes. "Especially not when we need to start preparations for the pageant."

"Screw the dang pageant!" My fingertips tingle as my voice rises. "It's not like we evenneedthe scholarship money anyway"—my mother tries to interrupt me, but I forge on—"I am twenty-one years old, and if I want to go to California, Iwill. And there'snothingyou can do to stop me."

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