Page 27 of All I Need (Hearts of the South)
Amy twisted sideways in her seat. “Why didn’t you just tell him who Rob was?”
“You called me.”
Amy’s mouth firmed. “The real reason, Savannah.”
Whydid Amy always do that? Savannah hated it. She flexed her hands on the wheel again and set her jaw, lips closed. She couldn’t very well say that having him angry meant an excuse to keep him at a distance.
“Do you care about him?” Trust Grandmother to cut right to the point.
Savannah glanced in the rearview mirror, meeting eyes identical to her own. Those eyes were lined with experience, and she could trust that experience, trust the love warming that brown gaze. “As a friend? Maybe.”
“If he’s only a friend,” her mother said, “you wouldn’t be this upset. You care what he thinks.”
And why exactly had she thought talking to them was a good idea?
“Maybe it’s time to move forward.” Amy covered Savannah’s hand on the gearshift.
“Move forward?” Savannah moved her hand back to the wheel and shot a glare at her sister. Was there an anger deeper than fury? “You mean, forget Gates? Replace him?”
“No. Nobody can do that, and we both know it.” Amy twisted her wedding rings around her finger. “I mean, allow yourself to be loved again, the way you deserve.”
Savannah sketched a sharp gesture between them. “There is no love in this equation.”
“Because you won’t allow it, if the possibility is there.”
“Can we drop this, please?” She almost missed the Jasper exit and cut two lanes of traffic to make it.
“No.” Her mother brooked no argument. “You need to hear these things, and you have never shied away from anything difficult. Moving forward is the hardest thing you’ll ever do because it requires you to take the last steps to heal. I am so sorry you lost Gates, darling. I know you loved him, but you cannot bury yourself with him, as badly as you want to.”
“Mom, please.” Her voice cracked on the word. “I cannot do this. I cannot do this and walk into that shower and pretend to be perfect and whole and okay.”
“Darling, no one expects you to be perfect and whole and okay. We all know a part of your heart is gone. We simply want to see you heal and live again.”
Thankfully, silence settled on the remainder of the drive. She was near tears as it was, and anything further was going to push her back into those big ugly sobs from the night before.
Their Aunt Mary’s yard overflowed with vehicles and blue balloons festooned the stately mailbox. Savannah parked along the curb and drew a steadying breath before joining her family on the walkway to the front door. Her mother wrapped an arm around her and rubbed a comforting hand between her shoulder blades. Savannah leaned into her.
Inside, garlands of sky blue and pale brown announced the forthcoming arrival of Charles Adam, their cousin Jen’s first child. Savannah darted a glance at Amy, but if she felt anything other than happiness and enthusiasm for Jen’s impending motherhood, it didn’t show on her lovely face. And since Amy was usually an open book, maybe Rob was right and they’d be okay if the parenthood thing never panned out.
Savannah avoided the array of goodies on the dining room table. Tension gripped her stomach and chest, and the idea of eating made her fear vomiting. She sipped at a cup of Tiffany blue punch with a pineapple bite to it and listened to the women chatting around her. The mundane conversations about family and hobbies soothed some of the stress.
“Savannah, Amy! It’s good to see you!” Jen’s sister Cathy slipped into the chair across from them. Under the table, Amy gripped Savannah’s thigh in a brace-yourself-and-behave message.
“Cathy.” Savannah flashed her best pageant smile and noted with amusement that Amy bore a similar expression. The other woman was family, but that didn’t negate the fact she was a shallow little witch. She and Savannah had done pageants together once upon a time, and Cathy still held grudges over losses that were more than a decade old. At least when Savannah nursed a grudge, it involved something that mattered.
Like the guy she’d considered sleeping with implying she was the type of woman who’d screw a married man.
“How are you?” Cathy popped a grape in her mouth.
“Well, thank you.” Savannah lifted her cup in a salute. “You?”
“Wonderful, thanks for asking.” Cathy clasped her hands and propped them under her chin, the better for them to see the new, improved, and much larger diamond paired with her wedding band. “Jeff got a promotion to VP of quality control, and the kids are so wonderful. Laurel is taking jazz and tap this year, and Grace is still doing gymnastics and swimming. I’m so busy I don’t know how I do it most days. How about you? Amy, did Rob ever find a new job?”
At the clear jibe, Savannah tightened her fingers around her cup. Wonder how long it would take their mother to forgive them if Savannah stabbed her with Amy’s dessert fork?
“He did.” Amy pleated her napkin with steady fingers. “He’s been with the Chandler Sheriff’s Department for a little over a year.”
“That’s wonderful. What about the baby front? Mama said y’all were having some fertility issues. What’s going on with that? The issue’s with Rob, right?” At Cathy’s words, Amy’s strangled intake of breath rang in Savannah’s ears. Cathy turned her wide smile on Savannah. “And I want to hear all about you too, Savannah. Are you dating again yet? You know, you can’t hide from life forever.”
