Their massages at the spa at the Wentworth Mansion were sheer heaven. They had their nails done, and padded back to their suite in rubber flip-flops with cotton between their toes. Alexa had made a reservation at Circa 1886 for dinner. It was in the former carriage house of their hotel and Alexa had never been there. But for most of the day, they had stopped at her old favorite places. And just as she had thought, it was bittersweet being there. She had lived there as a young wife and new mother, and since then her life had changed completely. They saw no familiar faces other than Julianne and Shelly, but Alexa was startled and touched when Travis called her. He apologized for being out of touch for so long. He said he’d love to see her the next time, but was in a tennis tournament at the club that weekend. He made a point of saying that Savannah was a fantastic girl, and he was happy to talk to Alexa. He was every bit as polite as his father, she just hoped he was more sincere. He mentioned that he was getting married in June and wanted Savannah to be there.

Savannah had told her that she really liked Scarlette, and Travis had been really nice to her. She hadn’t met Henry yet, but he was supposedly coming home for a weekend soon. He was living in New Orleans, and working for an art dealer there, but that was all she knew.

Their dinner that night was even better than they’d been promised. And they both wore dresses they’d bought that afternoon. By the time they got back to their hotel room, they were happy and exhausted. The only bad part of the evening was knowing that Alexa was leaving the next day. Neither of them wanted to think about it yet.

They decided to go to church the next morning before going to brunch at Baker’s Café.

They went to St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, where Alexa told Savannah she’d been christened, and slipped into a pew. It was a serious, traditional service, with beautiful organ music, and on the way out, Alexa and Savannah were holding hands and feeling good. They had just shaken hands with the minister outside the church, when suddenly someone ran up to Savannah, threw their arms around her waist, and nearly knocked her over. She tried to regain her balance and composure, and turned to see who it was and found herself looking down into Daisy’s face, who looked immensely pleased.

“What are you doing here?” Savannah asked, still startled, and then introduced Daisy to her mother, who looked equally surprised but smiled at Daisy warmly. She was a very cute kid, and obviously crazy about Savannah. Alexa didn’t have time to absorb what this child had meant in her own life and how she had been used. She was just a little girl in pigtails with a huge grin.

“My mom and I come here every Sunday, almost,” Daisy explained to Savannah and then turned to her mother with interest. “Savannah says you’re going to put a very, very bad man in prison.”

“I’m trying,” Alexa said, smiling at her, and then added, “That’s why Savannah’s here, so he can’t hurt her.”

“I know,” Daisy said, looking important. “She told me all about it, and about you.” She smiled broadly at Alexa again.

“She told me about you too,” Alexa said warmly, completely ignoring who she was and who she belonged to. Daisy had a sweetness of her own that obscured all else. She was impossible to resist. Her face lit up at what Alexa had just said to her. She looked immensely pleased.

“She did?” Daisy asked happily. “I really, really love her,” she said, putting her arm around her sister’s waist again, as a voice behind them flew between them like a spear.

“Daisy! Take your hands off Savannah immediately!” the voice said sharply. Savannah knew who it was before she turned around to look, and Alexa could guess. “That’s no way to behave at church.” It was Luisa, glaring at the three of them with a venomous look, which was no way to behave at church either, Alexa thought to herself.

“Church is over, Mama. This is the part where everyone is friendly,” Daisy insisted, with good reason. Apparently, Luisa had not come to church for that part, and surely not with these two women. She looked right through Savannah and Alexa, as though they didn’t exist, as she scolded her child. Savannah decided to try and take the heat off Daisy.

“Luisa, I’d like to introduce you to my mother, Alexa Hamilton,” Savannah said politely, nearly drawling herself, but not quite. Luisa looked at her in outrage, as though Savannah had just taken her clothes off in front of church, or grabbed her stepmother by her elaborately coiffed hair.

“We met, many years ago,” she said through clenched teeth as her own daughter watched her with a look of resignation, wondering why her mother was always so mean. She was not a happy person, and angry most of the time. As Luisa said the words, she looked sourly at Alexa.

“It’s nice to see you again, Luisa,” Alexa said, lying through her teeth. She would have liked to add “bless your heart” but didn’t dare. Neither she nor Savannah could have kept a straight face, or maybe even Daisy. “Thank you for having Savannah stay with you. I really appreciate it, and I know she does too.”

“Not at all,” Luisa said, and grabbed Daisy by the back of the neck in a firm grip, and propelled her toward their car without another word. Daisy looked back with a pained grin and waved, and both women felt sorry for her. In many ways, she was the victim in all this, as Savannah had been years before, and neither of them deserved it.

“What a bitch,” Alexa muttered, watching Luisa snap at Daisy as she slammed the door to the car, and then drove her away. “Bless her heart,” she added, and Savannah laughed out loud.

“Yeah, she is,” Savannah confirmed. “But I’m glad you met Daisy. She’s such a sweet kid.”

“Your father sure got what he deserved with that one,” Alexa commented about Luisa as they walked away from the church.

“He looks pretty miserable most of the time,” Savannah confirmed, “or maybe that’s just because she’s so mad that I’m there. They’ve hardly said two words to each other since I got here, except when they’re fighting.”

“Sounds like a fun life.” Alexa had been startled by the meeting, and rendered almost speechless by the look of venom in Luisa’s eyes. She was a piece of work, and even worse than Alexa had imagined. Much, much worse.

They had a lovely brunch at Baker’s Café, which was one of Alexa’s old favorites. She said that they had gone there a lot when she was pregnant with Savannah. It was one of the old traditional restaurants of Charleston, with a pretty garden, and it was a lovely sunny day. Then they drove out to the beach, across several picturesque bridges, and eventually wound up back at the hotel in the late afternoon. They both hated to admit it, but their magical weekend was drawing to a close, and it made both of them very sad.

“How soon do you think you can come back, Mom?” Savannah asked, looking worried.

“I don’t know, another week…or two…but I had a great time with you, sweetheart. I could even fall in love with Charleston again, here with you. Just don’t you do it,” she warned her. “I want you home soon!”

“Don’t worry, Mom. I won’t stay here. It’s fun to visit, but I’m coming back to New York as soon as I can. I’d come home now if you let me,” but they both knew that would have been a bad idea.

“Don’t let Cruella De Vil get to you,” Alexa said as Savannah laughed at the description. “Bless her heart, of course.”

Alexa packed her bag, minus all the items she had brought for Savannah or that her daughter had taken a shine to. She had to leave for the airport at six-thirty for an eight o’clock flight. Savannah offered to come to the airport with her, but her mother didn’t want her to. It was better for Savannah if they said goodbye at the hotel and she went home with Tom, instead of standing at the airport alone when her mother left.

Savannah called her father just before they left the room and went downstairs to pay the bill. She was relieved that her mother would be coming back soon. She knew that once the trial started in May that wouldn’t be possible, but at least for March and April, Alexa was going to try and come down every couple of weeks, or more often if she could. She had promised, and she always kept her word.

By the time Alexa finished paying the bill, Tom walked into the lobby. He had come from the club and was wearing tennis shorts, and Alexa averted her eyes. She didn’t want to see how handsome he was, or how good his legs were. It was no longer her problem, but she already knew that something about him would always stir feelings inside her. But it was nothing more than that.

“I’ll bet you two had a great weekend,” he said, smiling broadly at them, and then his face clouded just a little. “I hear you ran into Luisa and Daisy at church.” His wife had nearly taken off his head about that, as though he had planned it. Luisa had told him that he should have warned Savannah not to go anywhere near their church. He had commented acidly on her warm Christian spirit, and could only imagine how unpleasant she must have been to Alexa. Instead of being remorseful, or feeling sorry for her, Luisa seemed to have a need to punish her further and grind her into dust. He looked at Alexa now as though to apologize for his wife.

“It was fine,” Alexa said brusquely, and then turned her attention to Savannah to say goodbye. They were both fighting back tears when Alexa got into the cab for the ride to the airport. Savannah stood on the sidewalk and waved until her mother disappeared, and then she got in her father’s car and they drove to Mt. Pleasant. It felt weird to her sometimes-she had a father suddenly, and she wasn’t used to it at all. She told him about the weekend and all the things they’d done.

She unpacked her bag when they got home, and the new things her mother had bought her. Daisy bounced into the room and chatted with her. Julianne and two other girls called her, and Travis and Scarlette came to dinner. Scarlette brought Savannah some magazines, and Travis a funny old photograph he had of her when she was three. By the time Alexa got off the plane in New York, Savannah had settled back into her new routine, and in an odd way, it almost felt like home.