about. Her family has a long history of foot-and-mouth disease … you know, insert foot into mouth.”
“Lamont Lester, that’s not true.” She paused and then added, “Okay, maybe a little true.” Waving her hand at Savannah and Zach, she said, “But don’t they look wonderful together?”
Fortunately Lamont was a born politician. “Nesta, I forgot to tell you that the caterer said they were running low on ice.”
“What?” Her eyes wide with worry, she quickly excused herself and practically ran toward the kitchen.
Lamont winked again. “That’ll keep her occupied for a while.” He leaned forward and kissed Savannah on the cheek. “You youngsters enjoy yourselves.”
After he left, Savannah took a sip of her wine and shot a glance around. So far, she had talked to Lamont and Nesta, Corwin and DeAnne Banks, Noreen Ingram, and Richard Tatum. She’d been as vague as possible with her questions surrounding the night her parents died, but her discretion would soon have to end. This subtle line of questioning wasn’t working.
Tonight she would tell Zach about her grandfather’s letters and ask for his help. Yes, she needed to see the police and coroner’s reports, but she also hated keeping secrets from him. She only had a little over a month left here in Midnight and wanted to make the most of it. They hadn’t talked about the future; Savannah refused to allow herself to think there was one. Optimistic dreams of the future no longer existed in her world. Besides, they lived hundreds of miles apart.
“You about ready to go?”
A chain reaction of sensations swept through her body. Goosebumps zipped up her spine, nipples grew tight and hard, breath increased, and her sex throbbed in anticipated arousal. They’d made love only about four hours ago and she wanted him again. Was ten years of deprivation causing this oversexed reaction? She’d like to think so but she didn’t believe that for one moment. No one had ever been able to make her react like Zach. At the mere sound of his deep, sexy voice, she went wet with arousal.
She desperately wanted to say yes. Going home and getting lost in each other sounded like heaven. But there were a few more people she wanted to chat with. “Let’s stay for a little while longer.”
Again that grim look, but he nodded and said, “I think I saw Cooper Douglas out on the patio. I need to see him about something. I’ll catch you later.”
He was decidedly upset about something. She shook off her worry and headed to the corner where Kyle Ingram was sitting by himself. Why he came to these parties she couldn’t understand. Every time she saw the poor man, he was either alone or had the saddest expression on his face. Noreen, whom she’d talked to earlier, had been her usual sour self, so maybe it made sense he came to parties. Staying at home, alone with his wife, couldn’t be fun.
“Hi, Kyle. How are you doing?”
He blinked up at her as if he’d been asleep, and then jumped to his feet. “Savannah, hi. How are you?”
Since one never went anywhere in the South without being prepared to talk about the weather, Savannah started first. “Sweltering in this heat. Must’ve been close to a hundred today.”
“That’s what I heard. Sure hope we get more rain soon. That downpour we got the other day got absorbed into the ground like a sponge.”
Remembering what she’d been doing during that particular downpour brought a new wave of heat to her body. Great. Zach didn’t even need to be near her to turn her on.
Kyle didn’t seem to notice her flushed state. The same look he had every time she talked to him came into his eyes … some sort of weird adoration. Though the look was disturbing, perhaps if he was distracted, he wouldn’t wonder too much about her questions.
“You said you went to school with my mama, didn’t you?”
A smile brightened his glum face. “Maggie Mae … I used to call her. She was one of my best friends.” His face dimmed again. “Until she went off to college.”
“You didn’t see much of her after that?”
Savannah hadn’t thought his face could get any gloomier, but he managed it when he answered, “She met your father.”
That he hadn’t been a fan of her father’s even before her parents’ deaths was obvious. Was it jealousy or something more sinister? Then why kill her mother? Why not just kill Beckett Wilde?
“You and my father weren’t friends?”
Hatred gleamed so hot