spent her summers in this little house, with its porch overlooking the flowing waters of the Edisto River.
The house sat in a long line of small bungalows owned by other local citizens. Altogether there were about twenty homes here, and the homeowners made up the board of the Edisto Country Club.
It was an unusual country club because there wasn’t a tennis court or golf course to be found. Just a big party pavilion where Allenberg hosted the annual Watermelon Festival barbecue. And the river, of course.
It was the last day of April—time to get the house ready for the summer. In past years, Violet would come out here and do the work. But this year, Hettie had come herself. And she’d almost enjoyed the sweeping and the dusting and the mopping. She was tired when she finally sat on the porch with a glass of sweet tea.
Now that Jimmy was gone, she was thinking about closing up the big house in June, July, and August and spending her summer here. She was thinking about letting Violet take a paid vacation. She was thinking about cooking and cleaning for herself.
She sat on the old porch glider and rocked back and forth, thinking about the mistakes she’d made in her life.
Her reverie was broken a few moments later when a big red Cadillac Eldorado came up the drive. She tensed, expecting Dash to pull into her driveway. He was about the last person on earth she wanted to talk to. He was one of the mistakes she’d made.
But instead of stopping to visit, he drove right past and pulled his big car into the driveway of Miriam’s house. He seemed to have a little spring in his step as he walked from the car to the porch. He entered the bungalow, and a moment later the air conditioner kicked in.
Five minutes later, Savannah’s little Honda came rolling up the drive. She pulled her car in behind Dash’s and headed toward the porch steps.
Dash and Savannah were probably just getting the place ready for the summer. Hettie put it out of her mind until about an hour later, when they both emerged. Before they headed to their respective automobiles, they stopped and embraced.
Hettie felt like a voyeur, but she couldn’t tear her gaze away. That kiss was not exactly what a couple of cousins usually shared. It was practically scorching. And you’d have to be a total idiot not to realize that they didn’t really want to leave each other.
Hettie checked her watch. It was almost three-thirty. The middle school let out in about ten minutes, and Savannah probably had to go pick up Todd.
Hettie’s first inclination was to pick up the phone and call Rocky. This was hot stuff. But her second inclination was something altogether different.
The loneliness that she’d been valiantly battling for years settled over her like a heavy blanket. It was one thing to be lonely when you knew a man like Dash was just waiting there in the wings. And even if she didn’t love Dash and had never intended to be with him, seeing him with someone else made her envious.
And not because she wanted him. She just wanted what Dash and Savannah seemed to have found. She wanted to kiss someone like Savannah kissed Dash. Like she wanted to devour him.
Hettie squeezed her eyes shut and told herself that she was being silly. She reminded herself that her independence was more important than hot, sultry kisses.
But wait. Savannah was one of the most independent women Hettie had ever met. And there she was kissing on Dash Randall like he hung the moon. And, of course, Dash had given her a ton of money for the theater, but she didn’t even know it. Dash was doing everything he could to support that independence.
Damn.
She had misjudged him. Badly. He’d changed. He’d grown up. He was a better man than Jimmy ever could have been.
Of course, she didn’t love him. She never would. But mixed in with her own self-pity was a little glimmer of happiness. For Dash. Because Savannah was a wonderful woman.
And now, of course, it all made sense. No wonder Savannah had refused Bill’s proposal.
Hettie smiled. Maybe Rocky wasn’t the first person she needed to tell about this new, interesting development. Maybe Bill needed to know. She had a feeling that Bill might be relieved to find out that it wasn’t him Savannah had rejected. It was just a matter of chemistry.