Today I challenge you to reject loss and disappointment as your companions. Let’s resolve to face our crippling moments with the courage of Katherine Owens and Victoria Phillips. We will face lies and deceit, unfairness and cruelty, bad economies and sickness. What we do in the face of such circumstances is what will set our course. It is what will lead us to a corner bookstore or to the Chamber of Commerce. What will you do in the face of your life losses? Whatever you do, rest assured you will never be the same for having met them and faced them well. Nor will the life of our city.
Until Wednesday,
Savannah from Savannah
Someone sat down beside me and started petting Duke. When Grant’s face registered, paper, park bench, and me all about went flying. So much for avoidance.
“Have mercy! you about scared me to death,” I said, crumpling the paper to my chest so I could grab my heart.
“Well, you were so focused I didn’t want to bother you. So what did you think?”
“What did I think about what?”
“About your article.”
“Oh,” I said, embarrassed that I had been caught reading my own work.“Well, I just wanted to see if it had to be edited much.”
“Savannah Phillips, I know you. You would read me everything you wrote. You would call me at three in the morning just to read me something, whether I was cognizant or not,” he said, laughing.
I couldn’t believe he would bring all of that up. They weren’t things I wanted to remember just then.“Well, that was a long time ago,” I said. I stood as if to go.
“I’m sorry. Just wanted you to know you made the right decision. Well, I’m sure I’ll see you soon. And I would really love for you to meet Elisabeth.”
“Well, I’m sure we’ll meet eventually. I really need to hurry. I hope you have a good day. It was nice to see you,” I said as I walked past him.
“It was nice to see you too. Nice tan,” he said as he headed in the opposite direction. I turned to watch him jog away and knew I must choose how this loss would define me. There was the convent option, which might afford me a teaching position at Saint Vincent’s Academy. That wasn’t appealing. There was the “I’ll never love again” recluse option. Paige would never allow it. Or there was the option to live my life, write well, and perhaps one day meet a man who would rock my world like Jake did Victoria’s, or Jim did Katherine’s, and experience that cataclysmic risk of marriage. Or maybe not.
I stared into my closet. Each color represented some-thing to me. Khakis reflected my nature of somewhat predictability. All the black represented my desire to fit in while standing out. And my flip-flops represented my need to feel free. Today, I wanted to reflect something different. Something less safe. Something, dare I say, more Savannah. Today required a dress, a blue denim sleeveless wrap dress. So I put it on and slid my feet into my cute leather-between-the-toes Kate Spade sandals with matching bag.
Vicky was pulling out of the garage as I came out the side door. She backed up to position herself beside my car, stopped, and rolled down her window. “Savannah Phillips, you look absolutely breathtaking. Have you met a man?” she asked, staring at me.
“No, it’s Friday and I feel like wearing a dress. I do that sometimes, you know,” I said, opening my own car door and sitting down where I could see her eye to eye.“I was hoping I’d see you before I left. Would you have time to go to lunch today? I have somebody I’d like you to meet.”
“You must be ill! Do you have a fever? We need to get you checked. Maybe you have Lyme disease. You know, Duke is probably loaded with ticks and you might have gotten one on you. Get out of the car, go upstairs, and let me take your temperature. That thing could be sucking the blood out of your brain as we speak,” she said, turning off her car.
“Mother, please. I am fine,” I said, starting my own.“And Duke doesn’t get out enough for a tick to even find him. Seriously, I want you to have lunch with me. Today is a special day.”
Well, that stopped her ranting. “Then yes, Savannah, I would love to have lunch with you, and it is a special day. Your article was one of the nicest things I’ve ever read. I am supremely proud of you, supremely proud. But promise me, if you ask to go shopping with me too, we will head straight to the emergency room.”
“Would that really be so shocking?”
“As shocking as if you said you had always had a secret desire to enter a beauty pageant yourself.”
“If I ever say that, I’ll need more than an emergency room, I’ll need to be admitted for psychiatric evaluation. I’ll see you at noon. Let’s meet at The Lady & Sons.”
“I’ll see you at noon. Get checked, honey. Really, get checked,” and she drove off in her Mercedes coupe convertible that she bought purposefully so Duke could never ride in it. Dad bought the SUV so Duke could ride in it whenever he wants.
I placed another call on the way to Dad’s shop. Another invitation to lunch. It was accepted. Then I called Claire. I told her that I should have enough money to move into the new place in about a week or so. I asked her to see if that would be OK with the landlord. She assured me it would. But I told her to check anyway.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
As I pulled into a parking place a couple of stores up from Jake’s, I saw the back of a man leaning over and petting Duke. Duke’s tail was wagging feverishly. As I approached the gentleman from behind, he stood up. It was Joshua.
“Oh, hey, Ms. Phillips,” he said, startled.
I tried not to act as surprised as he.“I see you’ve met the master around here.”Duke got up to greet me and I patted him on the head.
“Yeah. Thanks to you I’ve become more addicted to your father’s java than I was St—at that other place. I think that’s what you call it.” He started swirling his cup around as if he didn’t know what to say next.“Do you smell something burning?”
Apparently Tan Beautiful’s promise of a lasting tan wasn’t the only thing that lasted.
“That would be Duke. He lost his ball in the fireplace and was bound and determined not to let it escape.”
I turned to look inside the store, and when I did, every head whipped around. Surely they had far more interesting things to do today at work than glue themselves to the window.
“You must have been pretty busy yesterday. I didn’t see hide nor hair of you,” I said, walking to the door as two of the ladies who work at the courthouse came out with their coffee in hand. They said hi to us both, and after they passed Joshua, they turned around to check him out.
“Yeah. I had to contend with two board meetings and a local petition about satellites brought up by the Chamber of Commerce.”
“I heard about the petition. That must have made for an interesting afternoon.”
“Actually it made for an interesting evening as well.” He reached down to pet Duke again,who was persistently nuzzling Joshua’s hand.
I decided to take the opportunity to ask what I felt was a rather pressing question, since he had brought up the satellite issue. “Joshua, do you know Mr. Hicks’s secretary very well?”
“Why, have you met her?” he asked with a slight smirk.
“I wouldn’t say we have actually met,” I said, thankful that she hadn’t witnessed my encounter with ceramic in the ladies’ room,“I hear she doesn’t care for me much.”
“Ms. Phillips, I told you earlier, not everyone is thrilled that you’re here. I know it’s hard for you to believe, but not all the world is going to celebrate you.”
“I don’t need celebrating. It was just a question.”
“Well, you worry too much. She’s just a silly girl with a stressful job. She probably wanted yours. But don’t worry. You’ll win her over in time. Might be a long time, if I know her, but eventually you’ll become friends, I’m sure. And if you don’t, you’ll still have the likes of me to run around with.” He gave me an obnoxious wink. “Well, the tourism department calls.” He said as he gave Duke one last pat on the head and began to walk pas
t me.
“You cover the tourism department?” I gave him a slight smirk of my own.
“Yes, I have had it for the last year. Can’t say I enjoy it though. The new director has a crush on me.” He wrapped his satchel crossways around his rather defined chest.
“Well, that’s flattering,” I said, trying to stifle my growing smile. Joshua and Miss Amber Topaz? The mere thought of the two of them together made me laugh out loud.
“Laugh if you want, Ms. Phillips. But I have job to do, a professional job. And I can’t have a giddy director of tourism winking at me when she needs to be directing meetings. Not to mention it makes all the other journalists there slightly jealous.” He turned back around to continue his walk to his bike that was parked up the street.
“Well, flatter her. I bet she’s a fine young lady.”
“Aren’t they all, Ms. Phillips, aren’t they all?” His voice trailed off down the street. I didn’t know what it was about these newspaper people always repeating themselves. “Good article, by the way,” he called out, turning around with an incredible smile. I refused to act like I even heard him.
I wanted to stop there for a moment and take in what had happened to me with his smile. But had I stopped for any length of time I would have invited a set of twins, an aged African American, and an anonymous landlord to hit me with a thousand questions, none of which I had either time or desire to answer. So instead of stopping to think about anything, I walked straight in and straight to the back and only acknowledged the stares with a casual hello.
I poured myself a Coke and was putting the lid on it when the only one brave enough to come back and ask questions entered the room.“He seems like a nice guy. Do you see much of each other at work?” Dad asked.
“Inquisitive, aren’t we? But that’s not why I’m here. I found an apartment.”
“Yeah? Well, tell me you can afford it!” he said, coming around the counter to sit down.
“Don’t you want to know where it is?” I asked.
“Of course.”
I grabbed his hand and said,“Well, come out here and I’ll show you.” I dragged him out the front door, and even Duke jumped from his slumber when he saw us headed to his location on the sidewalk. I turned Dad around to face the front of his store and said,“Look up!”
He turned his gaze upward and said,“What am I looking at?”
“The Culpeppers’ place. It’s going to be mine,” I told him, punching his arm and jumping up and down like a teenager.
“Savannah, are you sure you can afford that?” he asked, still looking up.
“I know! I didn’t think I could either. But apparently the man who bought it just wanted to have a responsible kind of person living there. That would be me.” I pointed to myself as if I were a two-year-old.“Do you know who bought it?”
“No, uh . . . I heard he likes to keep to himself though.” He returned to the shop.
“Well, don’t you love it?” I asked, following him back inside.
“Yes, I think it’s perfect. If you can afford it, I think it’s perfect. But I really think you just wanted to be a hop, skip, and a jump from your father.”
“Don’t kid yourself; I wanted to be a hop, skip, and a jump from free Coca-Colas and Duke.”
“So how soon are you moving?”
“Well, my, my, don’t we seem quite anxious?”
“Well, it’s not like I’m getting rid of you,” he said, looking up.
“I should have my money together after I get my first paycheck. Hopefully I’ll get paid by next week, so I should be moving out in a couple of weeks, maybe sooner. Won’t you be a happy man?”
“Oh yes, now I will have one Phillips woman to dictate my days and another my nights. Won’t I be the lucky one?”
“Yes, because now you really can sleep at the store if you need to. I’ll have an extra bedroom anytime you need a break.”
“So back to this Joshua kid.”
“There’s nothing to him. He’s annoying and arrogant and we have to sit right next to each other.” I would not allow this conversation to become interesting.
“Well, anyway, I didn’t get to see you before I left the house. Your article was wonderful, Savannah. I can’t tell you how proud I am of you. You did exactly what you needed to do,” he said, leaning back against the counter on the other side of the Coke machine.
“All I did was write down my own questions,” I said, turning to look at him.“I figure if I’m asking them, surely someone else is asking them or has asked them. I just hope that with all the questions there are some answers in there as well. Life hasn’t given me many experiences. I mean you and . . . Mother have sheltered Thomas and me from a lot of things.”
“I think it came across loud and clear. I’ve got to get back up front. I’ll see you for dinner. You’re welcome to invite your friend sometime,” he said with a wink as he headed out the door.
“Paige would love to come by. She was just talking about you the other day,” I yelled loud enough that he could hear me even though he tried to act as if he couldn’t.
As I passed Dad’s “Thought for the Journey” on my way to the car, the words resounded with my new discoveries: “In his heart a man plans his course, but God determines his steps.” Nothing clearer needed to be said. Nothing truer either.
Marla was already busy answering phones. She gave me a thumbs-up sign as I walked through the door. I headed back to my desk and sat down to open up my laptop and rack my brain for a new story. I might as well resign myself to a life of sleepless nights.
Paige’s, Jake’s, college-student-turns-human-interest-writer were the best story possibilities that occurred to me in the hours I sat typing out asinine concepts. I looked at my watch to discover it was almost lunch time, but I wanted to speak to Mr. Hicks before going. As my feet exited the elevator, I saw his secretary’s petite frame actually sitting where I imagined it was supposed to. I stopped at her desk and introduced myself, extending my hand.
“Hello, I’m Savannah Phillips. I don’t believe we’ve met.”
She looked up at me said, “I know who you are,” and turned around to put a file in the cabinet behind her. This one would definitely take some effort. I proceeded to ask if I could see Mr. Hicks. “Mr. Hicks is busy at the moment. You should have called before you climbed all those stairs with your delicate legs.”
I was looking forward to a good day, and getting into it with this little girl wasn’t on my agenda. So I simply said, “Actually, I took the elevator.”
The back of her head replied,“Whatever.”
“I’ll just come back later.”
All would have gone off without a hitch if she just hadn’t added under her breath,“Oh yea! She’s coming back later.”
I was halfway down the hall when I heard it. I promptly stalked back to the desk of that bleached-blond, overdone Prissalina. “Do you have a problem with me?”
She turned around, and gave me a rather menacing glare for such a little one.“Yes, I do have a problem with you,” she said.“You prance yourself in here, demanding a job you don’t deserve. You walk around here like you are the queen of the world and think everyone is supposed to jump when you say jump. Well, I won’t be jumping. You’ll respect the rules around here like everyone else. There are no exceptions, and no one gets to that man in there unless they come through me. I only wish I would have been here on your first visit, because I would have made sure that meeting never happened. So you can act like you’re some cherished prize around here, like your mama does, but you ain’t all that, sister, and neither is she.”
Why can’t some people just leave well enough alone? Attack me, talk about my clothes, make cracks about my flip-flops, I don’t care; but for heaven’s sake, when they talk about my mother, they leave me no options.
“Number one, I don’t prance. Number two, the only thing I’ve ever been queen of was the okra seed–spitting contest. Number three, my dog doesn’t even jump when I tell him t
o, let alone any human I know. Number four, I’ve always respected every rule, every law—well, except an occasional breaking and entering—but that’s none of your business. And lastly, sister,my mother is all that.”
She shook her head and tsked at me! “Don’t suck your teeth at me. Victoria Phillips is everything she thinks she is and more. And I want you to know something. I got this job because Mr. Hicks gave me an opportunity, just as I’m sure you have yours for the same reason. I don’t want your job. I don’t want your attention. But I do expect your respect.”
“Dream on . . . dream on.”
“If I need to speak with Mr. Hicks,you’d better make sure he gets the message. And if I turn in an article to you, you’d better make sure he gets it exactly the way I left it. And if you ever, and I do mean ever, talk about my mother to me or anyone else,well, let’s just say there is not a set of stairs high enough that I won’t find you and deal with you. So let’s make a truce here. You don’t have to like me. You don’t even have to talk to me if you don’t want to. But you will respect me.
And I will respect you. I’ll call for appointments, and I’ll turn my stories in on time. We can get along. But that choice is yours.”
She looked puzzled, but I knew she was just trying to sidetrack me.“You are a weird child.”
“Well, you’re whacked.”
“What did you say?”
“I said, you are in lack. In people skills, that is. So, if you can, would you tell Mr. Hicks I need to see him. I’ll be downstairs.”
While I was still standing over her desk, I heard the click of Mr.
Hicks’s door.
“What’s going on out here?”
Miss Thing put on the most phony smile I had seen since the Hinesville Pageant. “Oh, nothing, sir. Ms. Phillips just came up without an appointment, and I was trying to explain to her,” she said, rolling her eyes at me,“that she needs to have an appointment.”
Mr. Hicks chuckled and said,“Thank you for guarding me, but I don’t mind if someone needs to talk to me.” He reached over and patted her hand, which had a death grip on the edge of her desk. Then he turned to me. “Savannah, I have a few minutes now, would you like to come in?”
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