Danielle Steel - Southern Lights

“I’ll feel better when Savannah leaves,” she said quietly. “We can start then.”

“Whatever you want,” he said with obvious disappointment, and a few minutes later, he left, without seeing her again. She stayed upstairs in her room. They had both been shaken by the conversation. Luisa never reached out to him, or even tried to be kind. It was just who she was. And their marriage was a disaster as a result, for both of them. And probably always would be, he realized now. And Luisa would do nothing different when Savannah left. His punishment fit the crime.

The dinner at FIG for Savannah was lively and fun. Travis had a little too much to drink and was very funny, telling stories from his college days at UVA, which was something of a party school. Scarlette was adorable to Savannah, and they talked about the wedding. Daisy was all excited and loved Savannah’s mother and grandmother, who were younger and much more fun than her own. And Turner looked adoringly at Savannah throughout dinner and sat next to her holding her hand under the table. And at one moment Tom and Alexa’s eyes met across the table and the years faded away. Whatever had happened between them, they were both proud of their daughter, and this was a very special day. It was a lovely evening for all of them. They were the last to leave the restaurant, and it had been a perfect celebration for Savannah. Her dreams had come true, she was surrounded by people who loved her, and this was just the beginning. And for the entire evening, no one had even thought about Luisa, not even Tom. She was at home, alone, hating them all.

Alexa sat next to her mother on the flight home. The whole weekend had been festive and fun, and Muriel was glad she had gone with her, particularly for the opening of the envelopes when Savannah found out she’d gotten into Princeton. It was an unforgettable moment for them all.

But Muriel also noticed something different now about Alexa. She wasn’t as angry, or bitter, and seemed more at peace. Her mother suspected that having to go back to Charleston had done her good. She had faced all the demons of her past. Tom, his mother, Luisa. They seemed to have shrunk over time. She knew that Alexa’s marriage was still a huge loss to her. But when you saw who Tom really was, how weak and self-serving, maybe she hadn’t lost so much after all. She hoped Alexa knew that, and had seen it better now. He was a very selfish man, and the only reason he wanted Alexa back was because it hadn’t worked out with Luisa. If it had, he’d have had no regrets at all. Muriel thought he had gotten what he deserved, a woman who respected him as little as he respected himself. As Alexa had been recently, she was reminded of Ashley in Gone with the Wind. What her daughter needed now was Rhett Butler. She just hoped she’d find him one day. She had a right to some happiness after all these hard, lonely years. And she had done a great job with her daughter. That job was over now too. Savannah was all grown up and running. Her life had begun.

And best of all was Savannah, glowing with all that lay ahead. Muriel thought her boyfriend in Charleston was a very nice boy. She wondered if the romance would last when Savannah went to Princeton and he went to Duke. Those things were always hard to predict. Some early romances lasted. Some didn’t. Time would tell.

Muriel looked over at her daughter as they flew toward New York, and Alexa was sound asleep. It had been an emotional weekend for them all.

Savannah still had two big events ahead in the months to come. She would be attending graduation with her class in Charleston, and would then come back for the one at her school in New York. She was going to catch up with her friends again, just in time to say goodbye. And Turner had promised to come up. That was going to be fun for Savannah too. Her father still wasn’t coming, since he would be at her Charleston graduation, and he felt New York was her mother’s turf and he didn’t want to intrude. Savannah was fine with that. But first, her mother had to get through the trial. And then Savannah could come home. She was ready. Charleston had been great. She had gotten a father, sister, two brothers, and fallen in love. But New York and her mom were still home to her.

Alexa didn’t think she would be able to go back to Charleston again until after the trial. There was too much going on now, but Savannah understood. The final crunch was on.

The morning after their Charleston weekend, Alexa was in her office at seven. She had gotten up at five to read some material she needed to prepare for the trial, and motions that the public defender had submitted to the judge.

The public defender had filed a motion to dismiss the case, which was so ridiculous it was laughable. No judge was going to grant it, but she filed it anyway, pro forma. She owed it to her client to try. And she had filed a Sandoval motion as well, to prevent Alexa from cross-examining Quentin on his prior convictions. She had a shot at winning that, but Alexa didn’t really care. The evidence against him in this case was so damning, and the crimes so heinous, that the earlier fraud and robbery charges he’d been convicted for were almost irrelevant, and certainly not pertinent to this case, although the fact that he had prior convictions would certainly tell a jury what kind of man he was.

Both motions were being decided on that morning in chambers. Alexa objected to them, and the judge dismissed them both. The public defender walked back into court looking glum.

“So much for that,” Jack muttered under his breath as he and Sam followed Alexa out of court with a member of the FBI elite Serial Crime Unit, which had helped them investigate and prepare the case. The motions had been routine, and the judge looked impatient that the public defender had filed them. There was no sympathy for Luke Quentin in court, and there would be even less from a jury. Alexa had all their evidence and expert witnesses lined up. The prosecution was airtight.

Alexa went to see Judy Dunning that afternoon.

“Sorry about the motions,” Alexa said pleasantly, trying to sound sympathetic, although she wasn’t.

“I think the judge was being unreasonable about the Sandoval,” Judy complained. “The jury doesn’t need to know he was convicted of fraud and robbery to try this case.” Alexa didn’t comment but just nodded. She had come to see her to try to convince her again to get her client to plead guilty and avoid a trial.

“I can’t offer him a deal in a case like this,” Alexa said honestly, “but he may get better treatment in prison if he’s reasonable now. A trial is just going to be a circus, and a jury will convict. You have to know that. There’s so much evidence against him, I must have twenty boxes of it in my office. Judy, talk to him. No one needs the grief.” The public defender had even tried to challenge the warrant the DA had gotten to allow Jack and Charlie to search his hotel room initially, but that had held up too, so the incriminating evidence they had gotten was admissible in court.

“He has a right to a trial,” the public defender said through pursed lips. It was like talking to a wall, and Alexa went back to her office more than anything annoyed. The trial was going to be a media circus, and he was going down for a hundred years. So be it. She had work to do. She had meetings with the FBI all week, forensic witnesses to line up from nine states, testimony to organize, her opening statement to finish. She had a thousand ducks to get in order, and only a few weeks left to do it. There were so many investigators on the case now that she didn’t know all of them by name, and the FBI was sitting in on every meeting, to make sure that all proper procedure was maintained. No one wanted a mistrial and to do it all again. A change of venue had been discussed but rejected since Quentin was known now in every state. The case had made national news. And the judge they had been given was notorious for being tough on the press, so that was good. For the next several weeks before it started, and as long as it took after, Alexa was going to be eating, sleeping, and dreaming the trial.

She called Savannah from the office every day, but never had time to talk long, and by the time she got home at night, it was too late to call her. Savannah understood and was busy with her life in Charleston, with school, friends, and her boyfriend.

It was two weeks before the trial, as Tom was watching the news in his den one night, when he saw a news conference come on and realized it was Alexa. He shouted to Savannah to come in and watch it, and Daisy came in too. They stood in front of the television and watched Alexa speak eloquently about the upcoming murder trial involving eighteen victims. There were swarms of police and FBI around her, but the microphones were all pointing to Alexa as she gave careful, coherent, intelligent answers to the questions they asked her. She looked calm, cool, and competent. Not knowing what the fuss was about, Luisa came in too, and stood there, watching her for a moment, and then walked away with pursed lips set in a hard line.

When the press conference was over, Tom looked at his oldest daughter and complimented her mother.

“She was very good. That’s going to be one mess of a trial for her to handle, and the media’s already going crazy. I thought she was very impressive, didn’t you?” Savannah agreed with him and was very proud of her, and Daisy was excited too. She’d never seen anyone she knew on TV before, and she smiled up at her sister.

“She looked like a movie star,” she said as Savannah smiled, and Luisa came back in and told them it was time to go down to dinner. She made no comment about the broadcast, and it had obviously irritated her. She seemed to be absolutely incapable of being gracious about Alexa. She didn’t want to hear about her, see anything of her, or have anything to do with her daughter, and she was constantly aware that Tom had forced her to have Savannah there. All she wanted was for her to go away.