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“Well, don’t expect me to do anything for her,” Luisa said in a fury.
“I expect you to be civil to her, and make her as comfortable as we can.”
“Is her mother coming to see her?” Luisa sounded suspicious.
“Probably. I haven’t talked to her about it yet. I’ve only known about this for half an hour. She got another threatening letter about Sava
“Just keep her away from me, Tom. And I mean it. Keep her out of my sight.” He loathed everything Luisa was and stood for. His punishment for what he had done to Alexa was living with Luisa now. It had been a long, hard ten years. But he didn’t have the energy, or the guts, to get divorced again. So he had made his peace with it. At a very, very high price.
He and Sava
Alexa spent most of the day packing. She packed all the clothes Sava
Alexa called her mother and told her what had happened, and that Tom had been decent about it. Whatever she thought of him, she had to give him credit for that.
She barely had time to dress and leave for the airport. She had three good-sized valises with her and got there at four o’clock. Half an hour later Tom called her on her cell phone. He was ten minutes away, and as soon as he drove up, Sava
“I love you,” she said over and over, and Sava
“Take care of yourself,” he said over Sava
She was still crying when she hailed a cab to take her back to the city, and she was exhausted when she walked into the apartment and called her mother. The plainclothesman Jack had promised was posted outside her door.
“How did it go?” Muriel asked her. She sounded worried and had thought about them all afternoon.
“It was awful. But Tom was very nice. I’m going to try and go down there next week,” Alexa said sadly. She couldn’t even imagine her life without Sava
“I’ll call her tonight,” Muriel said somberly. She hated what was happening to them, and what the trial had done to their lives. “Do you want to come over for di
“No. I just want to crawl into my bed and cry.”
“I feel terrible about this. Maybe I was wrong to tell you to send her to Charleston. But I think it’s better to be safe. Come over and have di
“Thanks, Mom,” Alexa said miserably. And after they hung up, she did just what she had said she would. She climbed into her bed, pulled up the covers, and cried.
Chapter 7
The flight to Charleston took just over two hours. Sava
They landed in Charleston with a sharp bump on the runway, which woke Sava
“We’re here, baby. I’m glad you slept for a little while. You needed it.” She nodded, turned her phone back on, and saw a text message from her mother that said only, “I love you. See you soon.” And Tom suddenly sounded even more southern than he had before. He was home. And Sava
She followed her father off the plane, and they got their luggage, her three big bags, and her father’s small one and his skis. Her mother had taken her skis home. A porter followed them outside with their bags on a trolley, and her father hailed a cab. She settled in beside him, and looked around as they drove home. She had heard her father give his address in Mt. Pleasant, the part of Charleston where he lived.
“Do you remember anything about Charleston from when you lived here?” Tom asked her gently, and Sava