on the table and squinted in Dash’s direction. “Lord’a mercy, Dash, you look like you walked into a fan blade.” She leaned in. “Do you have stitches in your lip?”
“I’m fine, Aunt Mim.”
“Ha!” Savannah said over the sound of the cabinet doors she was slamming and banging. She’d apparently found eggs, onion, and ham.
Miriam turned her attention to the princess. “Sugar, if you slam the eggs, you’re liable to break them.”
“I’d like to break them over Cousin Dash’s head.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t do that. He looks like he’s already been hit by something. I’m dying to know what. Did you and one of those fancy horses of yours get into a fight?”
Savannah stopped slamming cabinets and kitchen utensils. Now she was beating the eggs with a whisk. Dash felt sorry for the eggs. “No, it wasn’t a horse. It was Roy Burdett.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake.” Miriam shook her head. “Was he drunk again?”
“He was.”
Savannah put the bowl down on the counter. Good thing it was made of plastic.
“I feel so sorry for Laura-Beth,” Miriam said.
“I do, too,” Dash replied. “The mention of Laura-Beth was kind of what set him off.”
“Really? Did he think you and Laura-Beth were—”
“No. I got into trouble by pointing out that Laura-Beth would be happier if Roy stayed sober. I tried to give him the number of the Allenberg chapter of AA.”
“Well, good for you.”
“Right. That didn’t go over too well. And also, he was mad because I unplugged the jukebox.”
“Well, I can see that a thing like that might set him off.”
“Yeah. I forgot that he used to be one hell of a good football player. He decided I needed to get the same treatment he used to hand out to pass rushers from Central High.”
“Oh, honey, are you in pain?”
“I’ll be okay.”
Savannah turned around. She cast her glance from Dash to Miriam and back again. “Aunt Miriam, you don’t believe this crap, do you?”
“Crap?”
“He came in drunker than a skunk last night. He smelled like a brewery. He couldn’t walk straight. He was slurring his words.”
Miriam smiled up at her. “Oh, I don’t think so. Dash goes down to Dot’s Spot to watch his baseball games on account of the fact that we have only one television, and I like to watch my programs in the evenings. He doesn’t drink anymore, sugar. But Roy Burdett—well, he is a drunken fool. And an ex-offensive-lineman.”
Savannah turned back to her cooking, looking surprisingly competent, even if she didn’t believe a word Miriam had just said. But then, what else was new? Savannah had always believed the worst about him.
Not much had changed, had it?
“Oh, my God, darlin’, it’s been years and years.” The Baroness Woolham, otherwise known as Rocky Rhodes deBracy, enveloped Savannah in a ferocious hug and a cloud of expensive-smelling perfume. Rocky Rhodes used to be tangle-haired, grubby-kneed, and barefooted. How, in the name of all that was holy, had she grown up into this sophisticated woman? She was dressed to the nines in a pencil skirt and a black-and-white floral jacket. And she’d arrived at Uncle Harry’s wake on the arm of a man who could pass for Colin Firth.
Her husband was genuinely swoon-worthy. He even sounded like Colin Firth when he introduced himself. And then, like every other guy who had arrived for the wake, he quickly excused himself to go in search of a slice of Jenny Carpenter’s pie.
Rocky stayed behind on Granddaddy’s porch and kept Savannah company as she welcomed a steady stream of post-funeral mourners. Since Rocky knew everyone in town, her help was truly appreciated.
“So how long are you staying?” Rocky asked when the stream of visitors trickled down.
“Well, I… I…” Savannah stumbled over the words, then took a flying leap of faith. “To be honest, Rocky, I was thinking about staying permanently. I thought, maybe, I might try to renovate the theater and live in the apartment above it. Todd and I are used to small spaces.”
Rocky blinked a couple of times. “Really?”
Rocky’s surprise shouldn’t have thrown Savannah for a loop, but it did. Of course Rocky thought her idea was stupid. Rocky had finished college and had worked for a senator at one time. She had gone on to marry an English baron and industrialist. Rocky probably saw right through Savannah’s pitiful half-formed ideas for salvaging The Kismet.
“Have you told Dash about your plans?”
Resentment replaced self-doubt. “Why would I punish myself by discussing this with Dash?”
Rocky cocked her head. “Punish yourself?”
“He’ll laugh at me. Dash is the last