Last Chance Book Club

by Hope Ramsay

  The meeting was called to order by Nita Wills, the librarian. “So, what did y’all think about our book this time?” she asked.

  The silence was so deep that Savannah could hear the clicking of knitting needles. Nita didn’t look pleased. “Did any of y’all read it?”

  “I did,” Jenny whispered, a blush rising to her face.

  “And?”

  “Well, I thought it was sad.”

  “All the books we read are sad,” Cathy grumbled.

  “But what about—”

  “Cathy and Jenny are right, you know,” Molly interrupted. “Every book you choose is a complete bummer. I read most of this one, and to be honest, I hated the hero. He was pathetic. I mean, how many times is he going to talk himself out of doing something about his situation? He could have had love and freedom and a good life. All he had to do was quit his job. The fact that he ultimately dies at the end is only what he deserved for being such a wimp.”

  “I never got all the way through it,” Arlene said. “I kept falling asleep when the hero would start talking to himself.”

  “Didn’t any of you get the theme?” Nita asked.

  “You mean that losers always lose?” Molly asked.

  Nita glowered. “No. The book is a statement on how big corporations grind the average man into a fine pulp.”

  Arlene cleared her throat. “Right, and that message is so uplifting.”

  “It’s not supposed to uplift. It’s supposed to be a warning. Just look at what corporations are doing to our culture. Have you watched any reality TV lately?” Nita said.

  Arlene met Nita’s stare without a blink. “Nita, honey, you need to get a life. Have you even watched Real Housewives? It’s entertaining.”

  “No, I haven’t watched that show,” Nita said. “You realize it’s not really reality. And this book we’ve just read is a social commentary on that.”

  “Right,” Cathy said, “but could we, for once, read a book without any social commentary in it? Could we maybe read a romance. I’m a particular fan of June Moring.”

  “Oh, my God, yes,” Arlene said. “Did you read Destiny? I swear that pirate made my heart sing. I just love her heroes.”

  “Ladies, this is a literary book club. We don’t read romance here.” Nita glared at the women around the table.

  “But couldn’t we just once?” Cathy asked in a small voice.

  A muscle ticked along Nita’s jaw, and Savannah worried that she might be about to stroke out. In fact, aside from the color of her skin, Nita looked exactly like Savannah’s ex-mother-in-law when Claire was about to blow a fuse. And when Claire blew, you didn’t want to be in the same room.

  So Savannah stepped right into the breach. The way she always did when Claire looked like she was ready to explode. “Uh, I know I’m a guest here, but couldn’t you read a literary romance? You know, like Pride and Prejudice or something?”

  Everyone turned to look at her. And then they turned to look at Nita. It was sort of like being at a tennis match, only with knitting needles and no rackets or balls. Savannah’s palms began to sweat, the same way they always did when she found the gumption to stand up to Claire. Only this wasn’t Claire. Nita was the local librarian, and while she was clearly the leader of the book club, she seemed like a pretty reasonable person. Way more reasonable than Claire had ever been.

  Nita smiled. “Thanks for that suggestion, Savannah, but I’m sure everyone has already read that book.”

  “I haven’t,” Savannah blurted. “Of course, I have seen every version of the movie. I think the BBC television series is the best one.”

  “Oh, I completely agree with you there,” Rocky said. “Colin Firth is the best Darcy, bar none.”

  “You’re only saying that because your husband looks and sounds like Colin Firth,” Cathy commented.

  “Am not. Hugh is nothing like Colin Firth.”

  “Much,” Arlene said, batting her mascara-laden eyelashes.

  Nita looked down her nose at Savannah. “You really haven’t read Pride and Prejudice?”

  “Well, don’t get up on your high horse, Nita,” Molly said, “I haven’t read it either.”

  “Neither have I,” Hettie said.

  Everyone looked down the table at Hettie.

  She smiled. “Don’t y’all look at me that way. I haven’t read it. And I haven’t even seen the movie. Let’s have a show of hands. How many of y’all have read the book?”

  Only Rocky and Nita raised their hands, and Rocky punctuated the point by saying, “I’ve read it, but I wouldn’t mind reading it again. It’s a particular favorite of mine.”

  “Well then, that settles it, girls,” Hettie said. “We’re going to read Pride and Prejudice next.”

  “Now, Hettie, I’m sure that we can—”

  Hettie cut Nita off. “Nita, honey, I know you love the idea of having a literary book club. But that doesn’t mean light comedy or happy love stories can’t ever get onto our reading list. To be honest, I’m tired of having my mind improved. I just want to read something fun. With a happy ending. And besides, I think reading Pride and Prejudice would be a wonderful way of welcoming Savannah to our group. That was a very good book suggestion, Savannah. I’m so glad you’re here. I’m sure we’re going to be great friends.”

  Savannah stared at Hettie. There was an avid look on Hettie’s face that made a shiver of warning skip up Savannah’s spine. Hettie wanted something from her.

  CHAPTER 4

  Dash sat in the rocking chair, trying not to worry about Aunt Mim. And the more he tried to push his worry aside, the more annoyed he got at the kid. Todd was sitting on the porch swing with his video game and his earphones.

  The kid was not his problem. Miriam was. But every time he glanced Todd’s way, something jolted through him. He recognized that kid. He knew him inside and out. And having to sit here and watch him was driving Dash right up a wall. He wanted to escape to Dottie’s place, but she’d made it clear that he was no longer welcome there.

  He ground his teeth together and glanced at the kid again. Jeez, he looked pasty white. He needed to get out in the sun. Too bad it wasn’t quite warm enough to take him down to the river for a swim.

  Maybe he could put the kid to work mucking out stalls. He smiled at the thought. Then he checked himself. What the hell did he know about kids anyway?

  Dash closed his eyes, leaned his head back on the rocker, and listened to the crickets. If Uncle Earnest were still alive, he would put the kid to work at the theater. Dash’s heart thumped against his ribs. Yeah, and Uncle Harry would have picked a fight. Harry and Dash had fought with each other from day one. The old man was still being feisty the day before he died. Dash and Harry were way too much alike. It was the Randall blood in their veins.

  But Uncle Earnest never raised his voice. He just showed up with a pair of baseball gloves and a ball.

  Of course. Why hadn’t Dash thought of that before?

  Dash stood up and headed into the house. He took the steps as quickly as his bum knee would let him. His gloves were tucked into a wooden trunk at the foot of his bed. He pulled out his gamer and a slightly smaller mitt that he still kept oiled, with a baseball tucked into the pocket so it wouldn’t lose its shape. It was old now, but it had the patina of a glove well used. He remembered the day Uncle Earnest had brought it home.

  He picked it up and headed downstairs. “Hey, kid,” he said when he reached the porch again.

  He didn’t get much of a reaction. The kid was tuned out most of the time.

  He leaned over and plucked the PSP from Todd’s hands. The earbuds came out of the kid’s ears.

  “Hey, gimme that back.”

  Dash turned and hurled the game into the pine trees along the front of the yard. Hopefully the pine needles would provide a soft landing for the gadget; otherwise Dash was going to be out a few hundred to replace the thing.

  Todd stood up, the expression on his face telegraphing pure belligerence. “Mom’
s right, you’re crazy.”

  “Well, even a stopped clock is right twice a day,” Dash said.

  The kid frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean? Move, I gotta go find my PSP.”

  “Nope. You’re going to play catch with me.”

  Todd glared at the baseball gloves in Dash’s hand. “I don’t want to play catch. Baseball sucks.”

  “Watch your mouth, young man,” Miriam said from her rocker, proving that the old woman was not dozing like Dash had thought.

  “Are you afraid?” Dash asked.

  “You’re kidding, right? What would I be afraid of?” The kid’s face got just a tiny bit pink, proving that he was scared.

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Dash said, “dropping the ball, throwing like a girl, getting hit in the eye.”

  “No.” Todd’s reply was pure bravado.

  “Well, you should know something about baseball. It’s the only game where you fail two-thirds of the time. Dropping a ball is as common as the rain.”

  “Well, I don’t want to play. And you can’t make me. I’m going to get my PSP, and it better not be broken.”

  Todd sidestepped Dash. He marched himself down the porch steps and into the pine trees where Dash had tossed the game.

  “Nice try,” Miriam said, “but throwing the video game was a little over the top.”

  “Yeah, but it was direct. I’ve been watching Savannah, and she doesn’t seem to be able to stop him by reasoning with him.”

  Miriam shrugged. “She’s doing the best she can. It’s not easy being a single mom. And you don’t remember, but it took Earnest a few weeks before you gave in and played catch with him.” She looked up at him with a smile that burned a hole in his chest. He loved Miriam with all his heart. He couldn’t remember his mother, and his memories of his grandmother were so vague. But Miriam had always been there. Miriam and her brother Earnest. Not even blood relations, but they had changed Dash’s life in countless ways. He had screwed things up, but he knew that he would probably never have made it this far were it not for Miriam and Earnest.

  “I’m mighty proud of you for trying. Don’t give up,” Miriam said. “That boy needs help.”

  Dash didn’t know whether to feel good about earning Aunt Mim’s praise or just scared that he’d sort of blundered into a role that he had no idea how to play.

  But before he could figure it out, Todd called from the shadow of the pines. “You won’t believe what I just found.”

  Dash and Miriam turned just in time to see Todd come striding from the pines holding the ugliest damn puppy Dash had ever set eyes on. Its body was a nondescript brown with a white face and a head that was way too big for its skinny body. The puppy’s hind end was wagging, and its pink tongue was giving Todd’s face a going-over.

  “Well, if that isn’t an answer to my prayers,” Miriam said. “Just look at the smile on that boy’s face.”

  Hettie snubbed the cigarette out on the pavement just as Nita came out of the library and locked the front doors.

  “You know,” Nita said, “you aren’t fooling anyone, Hettie. We all know you smoke. And I, for one, know you have read Pride and Prejudice.”

  “And how do you know that?”

  “Call it a librarian’s intuition. What are you up to?”

  “I’m trying to save the town.”

  Nita chuckled.

  “You need a ride home?” Hettie asked.

  “Is this a peace offering?”

  “I reckon. I didn’t mean to usurp your leadership, Nita. But the girls need a break, and I didn’t want you to make Savannah feel unwelcome. You have heard that she owns The Kismet.”

  “Yes, I’ve heard. And I also know that it would take a ton of money to fix up that old place. Any fool can see that. Where is a person like Savannah going to get the money to do that?”

  “She needs an angel.”

  “Oh, Lordy, are you going to start in on that now?”

  “Get in the car, Nita. I’m sorry if I cut you off during the meeting today.”

  Nita slipped into the passenger’s seat, and Hettie started the engine. Her little Audi purred.

  “Well, I’m all right with reading Pride and Prejudice. I’m sure Cathy will enjoy herself, and maybe y’all will come ready to talk about the book instead of swapping recipes and asking Molly to fix your knitting projects.”

  “Oh, Nita, life is short. We love your book club because you always let us swap recipes, and talk about knitting and babies, and whatever else happens to be on everyone’s mind at the moment. We love you, even if you are trying to improve our minds.”

  “And you could use some improvement. All of y’all.”

  “Don’t sulk, now. We need to join ranks and make sure Savannah stays and fixes up the theater. And you are part of that, whether you like it or not. Rocky’s on a mission to get Savannah all tied up in our social life. And my job is to find the angel.”

  “You might try talking to Bert Rhodes. He’s got a whole golf course filled with angels.”

  “I am not talking about that kind of angel. I’m talking about an angel investor.”

  “Oh.”

  “You know, someone who puts money into a lost cause for the love of it instead of the return it’s unlikely to give.” Hettie turned her car on to Palmetto Avenue just in time to see Zeph Gibbs shuffling down the sidewalk, heading toward his old Ford truck.

  “Poor old Zeph,” Nita said.

  “It’s just disgraceful the way he camps out in the swamp,” Hettie said. “He probably should be living in a VA hospital. Maybe we should do something about him.”

  “No. He’s fine where he is. He loves the woods. And I don’t think it was Vietnam that made him the way he is. He kind of withdrew after Luke Raintree died.”

  “You talk like you know him well.”

  Nita shrugged. “I knew him real well when I was a girl. We were in the same graduating class at Dubois High. The last one, in fact, before Dubois and Davis were integrated. He was always shy. But I do remember how he used to sing in the AME choir. He had a beautiful baritone. But he hasn’t been to church recently. I hire him sometimes to do odd jobs around the house. There are a lot of us living south of Julia who do that. He’s got a gift for carpentry.”

  “I didn’t know. I always thought he was living on disability or VA benefits, or something.”

  “I don’t think so. I think Zeph is just way off the grid.” Nita let go of a mournful sigh as they passed Zeph and The Kismet’s sagging marquee. “Hettie, where on earth are you going to find an angel like the one you’ve been talking about?”

  “I believe he may be closer than we think.”

  Dash leaned on the fence and watched Lizzy Rhodes as she put Desperado through his paces. The teenager’s riding abilities had become so impressive that she’d exceeded his skills as a teacher. Dash made a note to talk to Sheriff Rhodes about getting Lizzy a more experienced trainer. She was good enough to consider show riding.

  Dash let go of a breath and looked away, over the gently rolling hills that surrounded the Painted Corner Stables. The place was his pride and joy. Unfortunately, his program for breeding American Paints had been less than a financial success. Not that he cared about money all that much. He had more than any man could possibly want.

  The Astros had given him a forty-million-dollar, five-year contract to play for them. He’d busted up his knee during the last year of that agreement, right in the middle of a contract renegotiation that would have probably netted him more than one hundred million for an additional five years. Dash had been hitting .290 with thirty home runs when he had one too many beers and let a blond bimbo talk him into getting on a Harley.

  And even though that mistake had cost him millions of dollars, he still didn’t regret the lost money. He regretted his lost reputation far more.

  He cast his gaze over the land surrounding the stables. He owned most of it. He’d bought it up cheap, and even considering the economic downturn, he’d done okay
reselling some of it. Last Chance was booming because of deBracy Ltd.

  He caught sight of the cloud of dust in the corner of his eye. He’d been expecting it.

  Every afternoon, Hettie Marshall took her rescued Thoroughbred, A Wing and a Prayer, out for daily exercise. And every afternoon, Dash awaited her return like a faithful puppy. Of course, he pretended to be busy with stable business, but he was waiting for that moment when she’d come riding up the old clay road. He lived for the few minutes they would share together de-tacking her horse.

  Lizzy finished putting Desperado through his paces just as Hettie arrived. The girl dismounted and started walking Desperado around the corral to cool him down. Wing trumpeted a greeting as he came up. Dash hung on the fence and watched Hettie dismount and gather up Wing’s lead. She sure had a nice figure. Hettie joined the girl in the corral as they walked their horses.

  When Lizzy’s horse was cool enough, Dash took him into the stable and de-tacked him.

  He was just finishing up when Hettie and Wing came down the aisle.

  “You’re just the man I want to see,” Hettie said.

  “I’ve been waiting decades to hear you say that to me.”

  Hettie gave him a long look that didn’t bode well for his suit. He could practically feel the annoyance coming off her in waves. Hettie knew too many of Dash’s secrets.

  And he knew too many of hers.

  That balance kept them in each other’s orbit like gravity.

  “So what have I done now?” Dash said, coming up to walk on Wing’s right side.

  “Rocky called me. She told me all about Mr. Brooks’s granddaughter and her idea for reopening The Kismet. And I met Savannah last night at the book club meeting. She stood up to Nita Wills. I was pretty impressed by that.”

  “I really don’t want to talk about Savannah. She annoys me. Last night, she came home from the book club and told her son that he had to get rid of the stray dog he’d found. Honestly, she completely missed the way the kid had bonded with the dog. She reminds me of her high-and-mighty mother, and I always hated Aunt Katie Lynne.”