A Down-Home Savannah Christmas

by Nancy Robards Thompson

  His gut knotted. She was still talking about leaving. When it seemed like they were making progress, she wanted to go. But something told him to listen, not to interject.

  “I can understand where both of them are coming from. You never had the pleasure of meeting my father, Fred.

  “He and my mother divorced when my sisters and I were little. Not too long after that, Fred took my mom to court and tried to claim half the Forsyth as a marital asset.”

  “I’ll bet Gigi didn’t think much of that,” Daniel said.

  “No, she didn’t. Neither did my mom. Fred ended up losing the case because the Forsyth was in Gigi’s name. It cost my mom a whole lot of money and even more heartache. He really kind of wrecked her life. Ever since then, Mom has been pretty subdued. Sometimes it even seems like she’s doubted her own judgment. Because of that she’s been cautious. Suddenly, she’s waking up and feeling like life has passed her by and she wants to make up for lost time. She says she’s afraid running the inn will keep her from the life she wants to lead. She says the thought of being tied to the inn feels like a prison sentence. But, at the same time, she acknowledges that Gigi should be able to retire.”

  “You know, everything could be solved and everyone would be happy if you would move back and take over the Forsyth,” he said.

  Elle’s eyes clouded. “Everyone but me. I wouldn’t mind being back in Savannah, but I’m not sure I want to be tied down to the inn. It’s a huge commitment.”

  He wondered if she was talking about relationships, too. Was she still closing herself off after what happened with Roger? A brush with something like that would make a person skittish, but it was almost masochistic to play it so safe that future relationships were cut off before they could even begin. He’d gone through something similar after losing his wife. When you love deeply, you open yourself up to potentially big hurt.

  They walked in silence to the fountain in Lafayette Square. They could see the grand spires of the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist glowing through the live oaks like twin apparitions. Elle stopped and pointed to them. “That’s so beautiful.” She shook her head. A resigned smile turned up the corners of her lips.

  “I’m so sorry I was going on and on about my family like that, Daniel. I’ll stop now. I am not going to ruin this fabulous night you set up by complaining about the most recent war my mother and Gigi have waged.” She gestured, as if indicating a door. “This is the portion of the tour where Mom and Gigi exit and we continue.”

  She smiled up at him and he wanted to photograph her with his mind to remember exactly how she looked at that moment.

  “I never knew you were so easy to talk to,” she added.

  He answered her with a kiss.

  “You’re absolutely right,” she said. “When you look deeper, you see qualities you’ve never seen before.”

  They continued across the square and stood in front of the Andrew Low House, home of the father-in-law of Girl Scouts founder Juliette Gordon Low.

  “The architecture of this place combines Grecian details with elements of the Italian villa style and has one of Savannah’s most stunning ironwork balconies. Back in the day, you could tell how wealthy a man was by how much ironwork he had outside his house. It was expensive and a great way to flaunt deep pockets.”

  As they walked, Daniel pointed out several more of his favorite spots, including the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low and Flannery O’Connor, more for the history than the architecture.

  “I’ve been to a lot of those places when I was a kid on school field trips,” she said. “But it’s kind of sad that you can live right in the midst of so much history and stop seeing it.”

  “I’m happy to reacquaint you,” he said, taking her hand.

  “As long as there won’t be a pop quiz.”

  “Never. You know how I was when it came to school.”

  “That’s only because they didn’t tap into what moves you.”

  You move me.

  “It doesn’t matter that you didn’t go to college. It isn’t for everyone. You’re more successful than many who did. Daniel, you’re so smart and good at what you do.”

  “You know I was never really into school. My grades and attendance record were bad and I had a couple of brushes with the law. None of that did me any favors. After my grandmother’s house burned, I left Savannah. I never graduated from Savannah Country Day. I ended up getting a GED.”

  “You always were more interested in working than in textbooks, weren’t you?” she asked.

  He nodded. “I used to skip school a lot so I could work. After my parents died and Aidan and I came to live with our grandmother, times were tight. Most of the contractors would pay me cash for day labor. They didn’t care how old I was if I showed up on time and was willing and able to work. At the time, money won out over algebra and English lit.”

  “You were getting an education of a different type. Is that where you learned how to build houses?”

  He nodded. “I learned the construction business and it ended up serving me pretty well.”

  “It sure did,” she said as they stopped in front of the looming terracotta-colored Sorrel-Weed house.

  She grimaced. “Tell me something good about this one.”

  “Why? What’s wrong?”

  “You know Sorrel-Weed is supposed to be one of the most haunted places in the country, if not the world, right? It was featured on a show about the most terrifying places in the Unites States.”

  “Yeah, want to take the ghost tour?” He gestured to the people queuing up to have the daylights scared out of them.

  “No. Absolutely not. I don’t do scary.”

  “You were born in Savannah and you don’t do scary? You do know that the entire city is built over a graveyard, don’t you?”

  She put her hands over her ears. “Lalalalalalala! I can’t hear you. I have never seen a ghost. I don’t want to see a ghost. I believe in happy.”

  She shivered and crossed her arms in front of her.

  “As in fairy tales and happily-ever-after?”

  His stomach hitched, because for the first time in his life, he might let himself believe a happy ending was possible. Because he could totally see being happy ever after with her. Their gazes caught and something shifted between them.

  “Tell me why you picked this one as one of your favorites.”

  He took a deep breath, reluctant to break the spell by talking about architecture. “This house is mostly done in the Greek Revival style, but it has English Regency influences and lots and lots of ghosts.”

  “Stop!” She made a face at him and pretended to swat him. When her hand brushed his arm, he pulled her in for a kiss. They stood there on the sidewalk lost in each other’s embrace, and the rest of the world—the haunted house, the tourists who had to walk around them and all the fears and ghosts that had haunted him and made him so uncertain—faded away.

  He had no idea how much time had passed when they finally broke apart, but he put his arm around her and they continued up Bull Street.

  “Elle Clark?” a woman called to them from a street-side table at The Public on Bull Street. “Is that you?”

  Daniel recognized Daisy Carter. They’d gone to high school with her at Savannah Country Day. He kept his arm around Elle, prepared for her to pull away, but she didn’t.

  They stopped and Daisy got up from her table. As she approached, she glanced at Daniel and her eyes flashed as if she’d uncovered the scoop of the century.

  “Well, look at that,” Daisy said. “It is you and look who you’re with—Daniel Quindlin. Of all people. This is a surprise. It’s like old home week. I haven’t seen either of you since—”

  The wedding. She didn’t say it, but she didn’t have to. He read it in the way her smile faltered then turned smug.

  A wave of heat rush
ed through his body.

  “Hi, Daisy.” Elle said.

  Daisy stepped forward to hug Elle.

  “Are you back in Savannah now?” Daisy asked Elle as she eyed Daniel.

  “I’m a teacher in Atlanta and I’m home for a visit during the holidays. What are you up to these days?”

  “I married Lance Drayton three years ago. Do y’all remember him? He graduated three years ahead of us. We have two kids—a little girl named Annabelle and a boy. Our Chase is the oldest. I am absolutely loving life as a stay-at-home mom. Lance and I are having dinner with another couple.” She gestured toward the table. “Would you like to join us? We can see if we can pull up two more chairs.”

  The table for four was cozy with the way the surrounding diners were packed in. It would’ve been tricky to wedge in two more chairs. Plus, it was clear that they were nearing the end of their meal. Daniel wondered if Daisy was simply unaware or if it was an empty offer because she hadn’t liked him in high school. He and Aidan were scholarship kids at a school with mostly rich kids. He was pretty sure her feelings hadn’t changed. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen her around town. It was, however, the first time she’d spoken to him. The rebel in him wanted to call her bluff and agree to join them, but why would he want to do that when he and Elle were having a great time on their own?

  They politely declined and made the appropriate noises when Daisy said that the four of them should get together for dinner. It would never happen, despite Daisy’s promise to give Elle a call soon so they could set up something.

  “We obviously have a lot of catching up to do,” Daisy said.

  As they walked away, Daniel was relieved when Elle slid her hand into his, as if silently saying, “Let’s give them something to talk about.” After they were a safe distance away, he said, “I suppose it was bound to happen sometime.”

  “What?” Elle asked, sounding unfazed.

  “That we would run into someone we knew.” Someone from high school. Someone who had been at the wedding and witnessed him nudging Roger and Roger bolting, leaving Elle alone and mortified.

  “Sure you don’t want to go back and spend the rest of the night with Daisy and company?” he asked.

  She made a face at him. “Thanks, but I’ll pass. Ironic that we should run into her next to the granddaddy of all haunted houses.”

  “You said it, not me,” he said.

  “But you were thinking it.”

  He shrugged. “Yes, I was, and I’ll try to be a better person and think nicer thoughts.”

  “You’re such a good influence on me,” she said.

  He laughed. “My, how times have changed.”

  They walked for about ten minutes, up Bull Street to Wright Square and across York Street to Oglethorpe Square to the Owens-Thomas House.

  “This is a cool place. Have you ever been inside?” he asked.

  “Ages ago,” she said. “It’s been so long, I really don’t remember it.”

  “We’ll have to come back in the daytime and do the tour,” he said. “This place has a lot of history. It’s part of the Telfair now. So, it has a lot of authentic furnishings from the early nineteenth century. It’s a perfect example of English Regency architecture.

  “See the cast iron around the sides? The house is famous for being one of the first to have a cast iron side veranda and it’s where the Revolutionary War hero, the Marquis de Lafayette, stayed. He stood right there on that veranda when he addressed the citizens of Savannah.”

  It was getting late. Daniel knew that there was a fine line between sharing his passion for Savannah architecture and making her eyes glaze over. So, they headed back to the inn. It was a pretty twenty-minute walk, made festive by the Christmas decorations. Time flew. It wasn’t long enough.

  That was when Daniel knew he was in trouble. When was the last time he’d spent the whole evening with a woman and didn’t want the night to end—or he hadn’t been planning his strategy to get her back to her place for a little fun and afterward he could leave on his terms?

  It was the strangest feeling. His body craved her, but he didn’t want to move too fast and mess things up. Plus, when they finally did take things to the next level, he didn’t want to rush. He wanted to have the whole night. He wanted her face to be the last thing he saw when he closed his eyes and first thing he saw when he woke up the next morning. He wanted to bring her breakfast in bed and not have to worry about doing right by Chloe.

  When they turned into Hall Street off Whitaker, she said, “Can you stay out here a little longer or do you need to go in and get Chloe?”

  “You tell me.” He pulled her hand up to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “Chloe’s probably asleep by now, but I don’t want to take advantage of your grandmother.”

  “Then how about taking advantage of me?”

  She took him by the hand and led him to his truck. “Open the doors.”

  He loved the mischievous glint in her eyes. His body instantly responded. “Should we drive somewhere else?”

  The truck was parked across the side street and down a few yards from the Forsyth.

  “We’re fine,” she said.

  “Won’t they talk?”

  “Let them talk. I’m sure Daisy is already burning up the party line. This will give everyone else something to talk about.”

  They got in, he put Ray LaMontagne on the stereo and they made out in his truck, lips and mouths and hands exploring every inch of each other that was physically possible to explore in the cabin of a pickup truck. The back seat was too small and there was the matter of the cooler, which he strongly considered tossing out the window, but that would’ve been a mood killer.

  “I want you to make love to me, Daniel.”

  “I want that, too, but not here. Not like this.”

  He wasn’t ready to say good-night, but he knew if they kept up what they were doing, he wasn’t going to be able to control himself for much longer. He kissed her for a long, hot moment and then she slid back into the passenger seat, righting her underwear and dress as he buttoned his jeans and tried to convince his body that this was really the best way.

  Damn liar.

  Hell, he wanted her. But he wanted her naked and in his bed. He didn’t want their first time to happen in a car.

  As if reading his mind, Elle said, “I feel like we’re back in high school.”

  “Yeah, but you and I never made out in a car.”

  “We didn’t. We made out in the school library, remember?”

  “I could never forget that.”

  She shifted in the seat and he pulled her to him so that her back was against his chest. He put his arms around her.

  “We need to make up for lost time.” Her voice was raspy.

  His hand slid down to her bare arm and he traced small circles on her skin. The silky smoothness of it tempted him to finish what they’d started. Instead, he shifted, holding her in place against his chest with his left hand while he grabbed the champagne bottle with his right hand.

  “Do you want another red cup?” he asked.

  She shook her head and took the bottle from him and raised it to her lips.

  “I thought you hated me after I kissed you in the library,” he said.

  “I was scared to death of you.” She handed him the bottle. He turned his head to the side and sipped. “You made me feel things I didn’t want to feel.”

  “Do I still do that to you?” he asked.

  “You still scare me. But now I’m ready for you. Before, I wasn’t ready for you.”

  “I promise I won’t hurt you, Elle.”

  “I know you won’t. You’re a better person than...others.”

  She’d almost said Roger.

  Damn him. Somehow the specter of the jackass still managed to materialize and wedge itself between them. Even al
l these years later.

  He can try, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let him.

  “We definitely have some lost time to make up for. Chloe goes to camp next week. I’ll find a way for us to have some time together.”

  Chapter Ten

  Zelda was still downstairs sitting at the front desk with a mug of tea after Elle said good-night to Daniel and Chloe, even though the little girl had gone to bed shortly before 8:30 and they’d locked the Forsyth’s front doors at 10:00, leaving the guests to let themselves in with an access code.

  She looked up from the magazine she was thumbing through. “How was your date?”

  “It was nice. We went to the Crystal Beer Parlor and then we mapped out an architecture walking tour that might work. Maybe we can try it out sometime soon?”

  “That would be lovely.” Zelda smiled, but it seemed forced and she looked pale and drawn.

  “Do you feel like talking for a few minutes?” she asked. “I’ll go fix you a cup of tea. There’s still water in the kettle.”

  Elle knew from experience that this meant she had something on her mind. “I’m not tired. We can talk.”

  Zelda got to her feet and headed toward the kitchen and tried to make small talk. “Is that all y’all did? Walk around?”

  Elizabeth flashed her a bewildered smile. “Yes. What else would we do?”

  “Oh, Elle, don’t be such a prude. You’re twenty-eight years old. I’m sure you’re not a blushing virgin. Your lips are swollen and you have a little bit of beard burn on your cheeks.”

  Yeah, but no matter how old I am, it’s still awkward to discuss it with my mom.

  Elle’s hand flew to her lips and she cringed. “Mom, can we not? Please?”

  “That’s my clumsy way of saying I get it. Daniel is a sexy guy.”

  “Okay, I’m going to bed. Good night.”

  “No, Elizabeth,” she said, stopping at the kitchen door. “Please stay and talk to me. I promise to keep it PG. I understand you wanting to move on after what happened with Roger. That was six years ago. Just because I had a bad experience with your dad, it doesn’t mean I should project it onto you. I mean, you’re young and vibrant. You should fall in love with whoever you want to love.”