Southern Storm

by Natasha Madison

  “There they are.” We hear Jacob from the porch. “The newlyweds.”

  I shake my head, and we walk up the steps. Ethan runs up first. “Can I watch a movie before bed?” he asks Jacob, who just nods at him. “Am I sleeping here or at your house?”

  “Wherever you want,” I say, the only thing Jacob and I fully agreed on was allowing Ethan to decide where he wanted to stay and when. Sure, we had a routine of fifty-fifty, but if Ethan wanted to sleep over at his house on my day, I wouldn’t stop him and vice versa.

  “Okay,” he says, running in the house. “Kallie, my mom said I could stay if I want.”

  “Okay, honey.” I hear Kallie say from the kitchen. We walk down the hallway into the kitchen, and Kallie is cleaning up the dinner plates. “Hey, you guys.” She wipes her hands on the towel that is hanging on the stove handle.

  I look at the counter and see a file that is open with the pictures of my bar. I walk over and look at the pictures of before and then after. “It’s all rubble,” I say, the sting of tears coming up as I go through all the pictures. “There is nothing left.”

  “I know,” Jacob says, going to stand next to Kallie, and they share a look. “We just got the report back from Blake.”

  “Really?” I say to them, excited that it is one less thing standing in front of me rebuilding. “That’s good news.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Jacob says, and this time, he shares a look with Beau.

  “What aren’t you saying?” Beau asks for both of us.

  “Do you guys want something to drink or eat?” Kallie asks, but my stomach is in knots while I wait, so I just shake my head.

  “They are reevaluating as we speak so it could change,” Jacob says. “They are taking everything into account.”

  “Jesus,” I say, rubbing my hands over my face. “Would you just cut to the chase and tell me what Blake said?”

  “You might as well be honest with her,” Kallie says. “Besides, Beau is going to get the report tomorrow anyway.”

  “Fine,” he says. “But before I say it, I don’t want you to freak out.”

  “Jacob,” I say his name with my teeth clenched.

  “Blake says that it was arson,” Jacob says, and my legs give out.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Beau

  I hear the words, and I see her going down, but I’m able to grab her before she hits the floor. “Oh my God,” Kallie says, rushing around the counter. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” Savannah says in a whisper. “I just …”

  “She’s in shock,” Jacob says and then looks at me. “Bring her to the couch.” I carry her over to the couch. Setting her down, I sit next to her.

  “Here is some water,” Kallie says, handing me a water bottle for her. She tries to take it, but her hands shake. “I’m going to keep Ethan busy so you guys can talk.” She turns and walks away to the family room.

  “Tell me everything,” Savannah says, and I move to sit on the edge of the seat, waiting to hear what he has to say. Today started as the second best day of my life. Well, maybe the third since the best day of my life was when we got married, followed by the day she told me she loved me. Going to the diner was a stupid move, but I didn’t even think. Her guard went up as soon as we stepped into the diner, and everyone looked at her, some with disgust. It made my stomach burn, but I wasn’t about to show them that their opinion matters, so I ignored it and sat down. Then Liam happened, and if she hadn’t put her hand on my chest, I would have throttled him from across the table.

  “The fire started in your office,” he says, and I see the tears in her eyes. I lean back next to her and take her in my arms, kissing her head. “There was gasoline all over the bar.” She closes her eyes. “Blake thinks that someone spread the gasoline and let it sit before lighting it. We found ten gas canisters in your office.”

  “Who would do this?” she asks. “Did you find any evidence?”

  “Nothing.” He shakes his head. “I don’t think we will either.”

  “Fuck,” Savannah says. “My insurance is going to be all over this. Already they didn’t want to cover the vandalism. I don’t even know if I have the money to rebuild the way I want.”

  “We are going to figure it out,” I say, and she just shakes her head. “Tomorrow, we can call the insurance agent and talk to them.” She doesn’t say a word, and when we leave, she kisses Ethan goodbye and just leans her head on the window in the truck. When we pull up to the house, she gets out while I grab the bags and walk up the steps.

  Unlocking the door, I throw down the bags and sweep her off her feet, and she gasps out in shock. “Got to carry you over the threshold.”

  “You had to do this the night of the wedding,” she says, wrapping her arms around my neck. “I don’t think it matters now.”

  “Our home,” I say, walking in. “We make our own rules.” She puts her head on my shoulder while I kick the door closed. “You hungry?”

  “Not really,” she answers softly, and I know that the whole arson thing has thrown her for a loop. It’s thrown us all for a loop.

  I carry her upstairs, and she doesn’t say anything for most of the night. The only time she comes alive is when I make love to her, and then she gives me everything she has. I wake up the next morning, and the spot next to me is empty. I sit up, and I have this sudden panic that she is gone until I smell coffee and bacon. I get up, grabbing my boxers to slip on, and then make my way downstairs to find her sitting at the island with papers in front of her. “Morning,” I say, kissing the back of her neck. “What time is it?”

  “A little after seven,” she says, and I see her wearing one of my white robes. “I made breakfast, and it’s in the oven.”

  “What time did you get up?” I ask, pouring a cup of coffee.

  “I couldn’t sleep, so I’ve been up most of the night.” She shrugs. “I tried, but I finally gave up at around three a.m.”

  “What is all that?” I point at the papers.

  “This is me trying to figure out how I’m going to rebuild the bar.” She puts all the papers together. “It was worth some equity, but that is with the bar on it. Now it’s just land.” She blinks, and I see the tears in her eyes. “I’m going to go into the bank today and see what they say.”

  “We can figure it out,” I say. “I have money. You know that.”

  She looks over at me. “I’m not taking your money, Beau.” She shakes her head. “Not now, not tomorrow, and not next week.”

  “Why not?” I ask. “I’m your husband.”

  She avoids the question altogether. “What time do you have to go in today?”

  “I should be in at around eight.” I let her avoid the question. “I have to attend an event tonight. Do you want to come with me? It’ll be at the mayor’s house with some of my donors.”

  “Yeah,” she says and gets up. “I’m going to head into the shower.” She looks over at me and walks away, and I just watch her. “Are you not coming with me?” she asks over her shoulder, and she doesn’t have to ask me twice. I walk out of the house after eight thirty, leaving her with a kiss and splayed out like a starfish in the bed.

  I jog up the front steps of the mayor’s house and look at the empty desk in the reception area. “Fuck, I forgot I fired Bonnie.” I shake my head and walk into my office, stopping when I see my father sitting behind the desk. “What the hell are you doing?” I ask, slamming the door, kicking myself for not having the locks changed yet.

  “I’m just making sure that you have everything under control.” He leans back in the chair. “I heard some interesting news.”

  I shake my head. “I don’t have time for this. I have a meeting with the accountant in a couple of minutes.”

  “I heard that also.” He just eyes me.

  “Is there anything that you haven’t heard?” I put my hands on my hips. “Since you seem to know everything.”

  “Is she pregnant with your child?” he asks, and I glare
at him.

  “Watch it, old man,” I hiss. “I’m not Liam. I’m not going to let you talk about my wife with anything but respect.”

  “Respect?” he shouts. “That whore has blackmailed me for eight years. Blackmailed us.”

  “She wouldn’t have to blackmail anyone if your son would have taken responsibility as a man!” I shout back at him. “But being the spineless prick that he is, he made Daddy fight his battles.”

  “You will not choose her over this family.” He slams his hand on the desk.

  “She is my family.” I shake my head. A knock on the door sounds, and I walk over and open the door, seeing the accountant Thomas.

  “Good morning.” I motion for him to come in. “Thank you for coming on such short notice.”

  He nods at me and then spots my father. Something comes over him, and I can’t quite put my finger on it. “I didn’t know you would be attending.”

  “He’s not going to be attending anything.” I look at him. “We can do this in the conference room,” I say and watch him nod and walk out. I grab the files I need and look over at my father. “All my life, I looked up to you,” I say, and I swear he rolls his eyes. I grab the door handle in my hand. “Now, I pray I don’t end up like you.”

  I close the door and walk down the hallway when I’m stopped by someone who is planning the party. “I’m sorry to interrupt you, Mayor, but Bonnie isn’t here.”

  “Yeah, I fired her,” I say, and she looks at me in shock. “What can I help you with?”

  “Don’t worry about it,” she says. “I’ll handle everything. It’s tonight at six thirty.”

  I nod and walk to the conference room, seeing that Thomas is sitting down and setting up his own papers. “Do you want anything to drink?” I ask. “I’m in the middle of hiring another assistant.”

  “Did Bonnie quit?” he asks, and I shake my head.

  “Let’s just say we didn’t see eye-to-eye,” I say, and he looks down.

  “If you want, my daughter is looking for a job. I have her helping out at my office, but it’s a pity job, to be honest. She’s thirty and happily married with two kids who are now both in school.”

  “That would be great,” I say. “Can she start today?” I’m kidding with him when he pulls out his phone and types something.

  “She’ll be right over,” he tells me. At least I can cross that off my list. “Now let’s talk about why you asked for this meeting.”

  I sit down and open my folder. “I was going over the budget for the past ten years,” I say, taking out the papers, “and I know we balanced every single year.” I turn the papers toward him. “But there is something in the budget I’m not understanding. There is a miscellaneous charge every single year, and the amount gets bigger and bigger.” I see him swallow and then look down. “I’m wondering if you can explain that to me.”

  “Well,” he says, tapping his hand on the desk. “It could mean a bunch of stuff, meals that were paid for or hotel rooms. Sometimes there have been some fundraising stuff that has to be expenses.”

  I lean back in the chair. “Hotel rooms?”

  “When you have to travel,” he says, “you expense it.”

  “Travel?” I shake my head. “Am I missing something here?”

  “Beau,” he says my name in almost a warning. “Why don’t you just leave it alone and run the mayor’s office like you want to run it? The budget has been posted and passed in the last meeting.”

  “It was passed because let’s be honest, five people actually attended the meeting,” I say. “I’m going to be very frank with you, Thomas.” I put my hands on the desk. “I’m not liking this, not one bit, and I want to see all the receipts for this.” He looks down, avoiding my eyes. “And just to be clear, I have no problem moving to another firm. Your loyalty has to be to the town and its people, not who runs the mayor’s house.”

  “I understand, Beau,” he says. “It’s just not as black and white as you think it is.”

  “But it should be,” I say. “And going forward, it’s going to be black and white. I’m in this office for the people, to better the town, not take from them.”

  “That is good to hear,” he says, and a knock on the door makes me get up, and I meet Thomas’s daughter, Cassandra, who I hire on the spot. The day flies by as Cassandra and I go through the list of things that needs to be done.

  When I finally have two minutes to myself, it’s after four, and I call Savannah who answers after five rings. “Hello.”

  “Hey,” I say, smiling when I hear her voice. “What are you doing?”

  “I was trying on dresses for tonight.” She sounds defeated. “I think I have one, but I’m not sure.”

  “Whatever you have, I’m sure you will look beautiful in,” I say, and she laughs. “What did you do today?”

  “I went to the bank,” she says, her voice going soft. “But I don’t want to talk about it now because I have to do my makeup and get ready.” I want her to talk to me about it, but I won’t push her until tonight when it’s just the two of us. “Is there usually food at these things, or should I make us something to eat?”

  “There will be a five-course meal,” I say. “It’s all suits and money.”

  “Great,” she says. “What time will you be here?”

  “I should be leaving the office in about an hour,” I say, looking out the window. “I’ll see you then.” I hang up, and something churns in my stomach, but I’m not sure what it is. When I walk into the house an hour later, I find her in the bathroom with her hair all curled and her makeup done, and my heart bursts with pride.

  “Hello, gorgeous wife,” I say, and she smiles so big when she turns to see me.

  “Hello, hot as fuck husband,” she says, and I walk to her. She’s wearing my robe again. “Now before you even start.” I’m already pulling the sash loose, and it shows me that she isn’t wearing anything under it. “I can’t mess up my hair and makeup,” she tries to talk, but my hands are already cupping her pussy. She closes her eyes and opens her legs a bit to give me access. My mouth finds her open mouth and our tongues circle each other. I pick her up and place her on the edge of the counter at the same time as she unties my belt. Our mouths never leave each other while she opens her legs, and I finger her, and she plays with my cock. The only time she lets my mouth go is when I slide into her. She wraps one arm around my neck and throws her head back, giving me access to her neck, which I suck on. I fuck her as slow as I can, but with her, I lose my head, and the slowness soon turns into an overwhelming need to fuck the shit out of her. She leans back, putting her feet on the counter and opening her legs wider. “Harder.” The robe slips off her shoulders, and I grab both tits in my hands, squeezing them while I fuck her until we both come.

  Chapter Thirty

  Savannah

  My hands shake as I grab my purse and climb out of the truck, standing next to Beau who is wearing a blue suit that molds to him. He grabs my hand and brings it up to his lips and kisses my fingers. “You look amazing,” he tells me again. When I got dressed, he was in his closet, putting on his pants. I slipped on the white and pink floral sleeveless dress and walked in to have him zip it up. The dress goes to my knees, and I matched it with white strappy sandals.

  “Thank you.” I smile at him shyly. I am not going to tell him what a fucked-up day I’ve had. I’m not going to put this on him when he has a function. So I hide it down and tuck it away. “This is nice.” I look around, walking up the steps toward the house. “Remember when we were younger, we used to sit over there.” I point at the tree all the way at the end of the lawn. “And watch all the people walking in.”

  “I hated it,” he says. “I always had to dress up in a stuffy suit.”

  “You were handsome even then,” I say, and we walk in. “I thought that everyone was a movie star back then. Dressed to the nines.” I look around to see that some people have gathered near the door, and the waitress and waiter are walking around with trays of f
ood and drinks. “Who would have thought I would actually attend one of them.” I grab a glass of champagne from the passing waiter.

  “You belong here,” he says. He’s about to say something else, but someone comes up to him and calls for his attention. He introduces me to the man who looks like he’s ninety with his three-piece suit and the gold chain leading to his watch in the small pocket of the vest.

  “If you would excuse us, girly,” he says and pulls Beau away, leaving me standing in the middle of the room. I look around, and I get some who smile at me and some who sneer my way.

  “This is going to be so much fun,” I say to myself, taking another sip of champagne. I walk farther into the house, and a woman comes up to me and introduces herself as Beau’s new assistant. She smiles and then runs off to speak to someone who she knows. I look around for him again as I finish off my glass and then grab another one. I try to look for Beau, and when I spot him, he looks like he is with a group of old stuffy suits.

  “Savannah.” I hear my name called and turn to see Mary Ellen coming toward me. She is dressed perfectly with a A-line dress that is tight on the top with a string of pearls around her neck. “Don’t you look lovely?” She smiles and leans in to kiss both my cheeks, which shocks me. She’s never done this before.

  “Mary Ellen,” I say her name and smile as fake as she is acting. I thought she liked me somewhat, but I guess I was wrong. I was wrong about so much. “You look lovely yourself.”

  “Thank you, dear,” she says and then sees me drinking the champagne. “I would go easy on the drinks, Savannah. We have a name to uphold.” I’m about to ask her what, when she grabs her own glass of champagne. “You don’t actually drink it,” she says. “You just hold it while you chitchat.”

  “Good to know,” I mumble.