Southern Lights

“My mom wouldn’t let me go there.” Sava

“Princeton will be fine, thank you,” Alexa interjected. “I don’t want you three thousand miles away. Four months in Charleston was bad enough. I miss you too much,” she said, and both the senator and her daughter smiled at her. She was honest about it. “You’re the only kid I have.”

They talked about art and theater then, and what Sava

“I like him,” Sava

“I do too,” Alexa admitted. “Just as a friend.”

“Why just as a friend?” Sava

“Stop trying to get rid of me,” Alexa complained. “I’m fine like this.”

“No, you’re not. You’re going to wind up an old maid,” Sava

She called Edward Baldwin the next day to thank him for di

Alexa and Sava

And it was hard getting back to New York and real life. Alexa hated to start work again, and two days after they returned, Sava

And in New York, Alexa was shocked by how lonely she was in the apartment without Sava

She had di

“You’d better figure something out quick,” he warned her. “She’s leaving for college in a couple of weeks, and then it’s forever.”

“Thanks,” Alexa said glumly. They had just gotten a robbery case to work on together that day, and it didn’t interest either of them a lot. She was in the doldrums at home and at work.

Things got better and livelier again when Sava

They had di

As Alexa lay in bed that night, it was hard to believe that it was all over. All those years of living together, and taking care of her, and being alone with her, and now she was going. Alexa felt devastated, and knew it would never be the same again. Sava

Alexa had rented a van to take her things to Princeton the next day. Sava

Sava

“Don’t you want me to hang your clothes up?” Alexa asked, looking disappointed. She had just made the bed. They had brought some snacks too, and she thought they should buy more groceries. But Sava

“No, Mom, I’ll be fine,” she said as the other girl did the same with her parents. “Honest. You can go.” It was a polite way of telling her to leave. Alexa hugged her close for a minute, and forced back tears.

“Take care of yourself…call me…”

“I will, I promise,” Sava