Southern Lights

“Hello, Grandmother,” Sava

“I have arthritis,” she said, which was true, but not to that extent. She always shook hands with her minister when he came to visit. And she would have preferred it if Sava

“I might be,” Sava

“Your mother wasn’t a lawyer when I knew her,” her grandmother said with an air of disapproval, and Sava

“She went to law school after the”-she started to say “divorce” and then stopped herself instinctively-“after we went back to New York. My other grandmother is a lawyer too.”

“I know.” Eugenie Beaumont nodded. “I met her. She was a very nice woman.” She was willing to concede that, but nothing about Alexa, out of loyalty to Luisa.

“Thank you,” Sava

“Do you want to be a lawyer too?” Her grandmother scowled at her. She was looking to find fault with her, Tom could see, but had found none so far. She was clearly a northern girl, and lacked the softness of the South, but she was polite and well bred, and Eugenie liked that.

“No. I think I’d like to be a journalist, but I’m not sure yet. I just applied to college, and I don’t have to declare my major for two years.” Her grandmother asked what colleges she had applied to, and was impressed by the list. They were all first-rate schools, including Duke.

“You must be a good student,” Eugenie conceded, “to apply to schools like that. In my day, young women didn’t go to college. They got married and had babies. It’s different now, though. One of my grandsons went to the University of Virginia, like his father. The other one went to Duke.” She said it as though Sava

“UVA is a very good school,” Sava

Eugenie looked at her son then and nodded. He understood the signal. She was tired. It was time for them to leave. He stood up and told Sava

“Thank you for letting me come to visit you, Grandmother,” she said politely as she stood up too.

“Are you in school here?” Eugenie was curious about her. She was a bright girl, and on closer inspection, she looked like her father too, not just Alexa. She had southern genes in her, after all.

“Yes, I am. I started this week.”

“Do you like it?”

“So far. Everyone’s been very nice. And Charleston is beautiful. Dad showed me around on Monday before I started school.”

“I hope you enjoy your stay here,” Eugenie said politely, letting her know that she would not be seeing her again. It was hello and goodbye in one meeting.

“Thank you.” Sava

Sava

Luisa was waiting for them when they got home. As usual, she ignored Sava

“I understand you just went to see your mother, and just took her with you.” She always referred to Sava

“That’s right. I did. I thought Sava

“Someone saw you turning into the driveway.” Luisa had spies everywhere, and knew everything he did. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to upset you,” he said honestly, as Sava

“It’s a slap in my face to take her there, and you know it,” she accused him.

“Sava

“She has no rights here,” Luisa reminded him. “This is my home, and these are our children. She’s not one of us, and she never will be. It’s bad enough that you brought her here. You don’t have to humiliate me further by showing her off, or taking her to your mother for tea.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way. She’s not the enemy, Luisa. She’s a child. My child. Her being here is not going to hurt you or weaken your position.” She didn’t answer him, but gave him a quelling look and left the room.

Nothing further was said about it, until he visited his mother again two days later. He decided not to mention Sava

“She said she’d prefer it if I don’t see her again,” his mother said calmly. “I’ve thought about it, and I’ve decided I’d like to anyway. She seems like a very nice young lady. And it was kind of her to come to see me.” He was floored by his mother’s decision, and assessment of Sava

“No one ever has, Mother. I have complete faith in you to stand up to anyone who would try. And I’m glad you liked Sava

“She’s intelligent and polite, and a lot like you.” He didn’t challenge it, but the truth was that she was a great deal more like her mother, and they both knew it. She was far more courageous than he was. He had sold his soul to the devil years before, and had allowed his mother and Luisa to influence him into betraying someone he loved, and even abandoning his own child. He had nothing to be proud of, and he wasn’t. “You did what you had to do, and you did the right thing,” she said, reading his mind, as she so often did. She did it better than anyone, and sometimes she used it against him, but not this time.