Page 87 of The Belle and the Biker

I left behind the Visa card Aunt Hepzibah gave me and pawned my pearl necklaces and earrings. That was it. My last good jewelry. When that money runs out, I’m back to poverty. Also, Axl is moving in with Tawny, and they’re going to have the bedroom. I could crash on the sofa, but I’d feel like a third wheel. And I’d have to listen to them having sex every night.

When I reach Main Street, I turn right toward the diner. As I walk, I see familiar faces and people smiling, waving at me.

“Hey, Savannah!” Tyrell Abernathy, Daisy’s uncle—owner of the Bitter End Bulletin—yells at me from across the street.

I wave at him.

Being stalked by a psycho has earned me sympathy and given me a new narrative. “Savannah, the stuck-up rich bitch” and “Savannah, the man-stealer” have been replaced by “Savannah, the crime victim” and “Savannah, the survivor.” I’m happy to be back in people’s good graces and am determined not to blow it. Savannah 2.0 is here to stay.

“Savannah?” a familiar voice shouts, and my stomach clenches. I’m almost at the diner. My father is yelling and waving at me from down the block. “Savannah, I need to tell you something!”

He’s all bundled up in a wool coat, scarf, and knit cap. When it falls below forty degrees in Swampy Bottom County, it’s like the end times, and everyone freaks out.

He hurries over to me, but I don’t stop for him. I walk faster, not even looking at him. Rhett picks up on my mood and lets out a low, rumbling growl. He’s very sensitive that way.

My father breaks into a jog to keep up with me. “Thank God you’re all right. I asked Aunt Hepzibah for your number when I learned about that crazy person threatening you, but that old woman is mean as a snake. Listen, I—”

I hold my hand up to stop him.

“Dad. Zip it.” He looks as if I’ve slapped him. I’m not the sweet, eager-to-please little girl he remembers. “First of all, you don’t get to insult her. She may be mean as a snake, but she’s my snake.” That didn’t come out exactly right. I forge ahead. “She was the only person in the family who stood by me. And secondly, whatever you want to tell me is too little, too late. You let my mother throw me out on the streets for months. There were days when I didn’t know where my next meal was coming from, Dad. You let that happen.”

He sucks in a breath, looking deeply wounded. “But that’s just it. I—”

“Nope.” I turn and walk away.

He tries to follow me. “Savannah, wait!”

I head into Bitter Bites, and he follows at my heels. Everyone sits by the window, and Daisy, Chase, Mae, Callie, and Naomi have their menus and coffee.

I turn my back on my father and sit down. My father walks over next to me.

“Looks like she doesn’t want to talk to you. I’d back off if you knew what was good for you.” Mae stands up and jabs her cane at him.

My father gives her the look of contempt that’s been bred into him by generations of Sugar Hill Harkwells. “Since when do any of you even speak to my daughter?”

Callie’s lip curls in disgust. “You know, I’m not crazy about Savannah, but I like you even less. What kind of parent tries to force his daughter to stay with a cheating pig?”

“Exactly how many diseases did you want her to catch?” Mae adds.

My father’s face puckers up in disgust. “None! You’re revolting! Listen, Savannah, if you’d just let me—”

Rhett pulls on his leash and growls. My father takes a step backward, looking alarmed.

“That thing looks dangerous. Savannah, honey, you should just take him to the pound.”

Rhett’s lips wrinkle back from his teeth, and I pull the leash back tighter.

“Did you guys order yet?” I ask Daisy. She shakes her head. I pick up my menu and make a big point of studying it while still holding tight to Rhett’s leash. My father heaves a sigh, turns, and leaves. He pauses at the door, then shakes his head and shuts the door behind him.

My shoulders slump. “That was hard,” I say. “Necessary but hard.”

“You have nothing to feel bad about,” Daisy tells me. “Eat a Mayor Mike; it cures all ills.” Mayor Mike’s are hamburgers named after our previous mayor, who had a reputation for hamming it up.

Callie shrugs her jacket off. Her car keys were sitting on the table, and she puts them in her purse. She still has that Heat Lightning doodad on her keychain, which she said she’d get rid of, and as she tucks her keys away, I see her stroke the keychain with her thumb again. She doesn’t even seem to notice that she’s doing it.

Interesting. Does she still have the hots for that singer Sebastian whatsisface? I always thought it was weird how much she liked that band. She’s prissy Miss School-Marm, correcting grammar and shooting disapproving looks whenever people’s laughter exceeds a specific decibel range. The lead singer of Heat Lightning is a long-haired, tatted-up sex god known for his hard-partying ways.

Then again, Crash wasn’t my type, either.

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