Last Chance Book Club(9)
Author: Hope Ramsay

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.”

Hettie slipped the reins back over Wing’s head and started taking off his bridle. “She didn’t come across as high and mighty to me. What else do you know about her?”

He rested his hand on Wing’s neck, his gaze zeroing in on Hettie. The horse nickered. “She’s my cousin, sort of, but that doesn’t mean I know all that much about her.”

“Sort of?”

“She’s related to Miriam. I’m related to Harry. Savannah and I aren’t related at all. Except we seem to have family in common.”

“Is she as smart as she seems?” Hettie stared at Dash over Wing’s back. She slipped the horse’s halter over his ears and snapped the left crosstie onto it.

“I don’t know. I guess. Her momma, Aunt Kate, is a snob and a college professor. I don’t like either of them. We were not close cousins.”

“In addition to not really being cousins at all?”

“I guess.”

“Is she well financed?”

He snorted as he snapped the right-hand crosstie to Wing’s halter. “She has no money. She has no real idea. I mean, it would be crazy to try to reopen a theater here in the middle of nowhere.”

Hettie stared at him, and Dash got that perennial sinking feeling right in the middle of his chest. Damn it, he’d disappointed her again. “What?” he asked.

They stood staring over the horse’s back. And, boy howdy, did Dash get lost in those violet eyes of hers.

“Don’t you look at me like that, Dash Randall.”

“Like what?”

“Like a lovesick puppy. I’m not interested.”

Dash decided it was time to be brave. “Hettie, is it just me you’re not interested in, or is it men in general? I’d like to know so I can devise my plan of attack.”

“Your plan of attack?”

“Yes, ma’am. I have decided to make a play for you.”

She looked away. “Dash, please. I’ve always liked you. But I don’t want to be tying myself down again to any man. For the first time in my life, I’m living the way I want to. And I’m thinking I could do some good things for this town. And that includes doing something about that old theater. So can you just focus on that? I need to know as much as I can about this sort-of cousin of yours.”

And so Dash found himself once again talking about his least favorite subject—Cousin Savannah.

“There isn’t anything to say about Savannah,” he said. “She was a spoiled kid. Her granddaddy left her the theater. And up until yesterday, she believed she could revive it. I set her straight.”

“You what?”

“I set her straight. We went over there. The roof is falling down, there are bats in the rafters, and the projection system is both antiquated and rat-chewed. It would take more money than Savannah could raise to bring it up to code. And even then, she couldn’t make a living at it. There’s no way a theater like that competes with the new multiplex up in Orangeburg. She’s just pipe dreaming, Hettie. And folks like you and Rocky shouldn’t be talking all over town about how this is going to happen. People miss The Kismet’s lights, but the theater is dead.”

Hettie started unbuckling the left-hand girth of Wing’s saddle. “So,” she said after a long moment, “you don’t have any pipe dreams?”

Of course he did. Returning to the major leagues was one of them. Having Hettie Johnson Marshall fall head-over-heels for him was another. But he wasn’t going to talk about his dreams. That would expose too many raw nerves. “What do my dreams have to do with The Kismet?” he asked instead.

“Nothing. I was just thinking that, after what you did for Lord Woolham, maybe you could help with this Kismet thing, too.”

“Hettie, investing in Hugh’s business was a good idea. He had a revolutionary, patented improvement to the industrial weaving process that was practically guaranteed to give me a return on the investment. But The Kismet is…” His voice faded out.

“What is it, Dash?”

He sighed. “Well, it’s sort of like the Painted Corner Stables. It’s a nice idea but it’s never going to make anyone rich.”

“You don’t need to become rich. You’re already richer than anyone else in town.”

“That’s not the point.”

“Isn’t it?”

Dash didn’t respond. He focused on unbuckling the right side of the saddle. He lifted it off Wing’s back, then turned and lowered the saddle and pad to a rack sitting outside Wing’s stall.

“Dash, if you really want to change the way folks around here see you, you’ll think about this. Last Chance is in the middle of a mini revival. We’ve got more jobs here than we’ve ever had before. We’ve got new people moving in. Those people need a business district that they can be proud of. Not some ghost of ages past. You could do something for this town, too.”

He stared at Hettie for a very long moment. If he did this for her, would she change her mind? And if he put himself out there, would she hurt him again?

“Savannah doesn’t strike me as the kind of person who has the first idea of how to write a business plan,” he said. He knew it was a lame excuse even as the words left his lips.

Hettie bent over, pulled up Wing’s front left hoof, and attacked it with her hoof pick. “Well then, you can teach her.”

“But—”

“No buts. If we let her leave town without giving her a helping hand, we might never be able to do anything about that eyesore right in the middle of town. This is our chance, Dash, and like it or not you, me, Rocky, and Tulane Rhodes are the people who have to step up and become the town’s economic boosters. Rocky is all for this thing. She’s been introducing Savannah around town, and people like her. You should have seen the way she turned things around at the book club last night.”

“Of course everyone likes her. That’s how she lures people in before she strikes.”

Hettie put the horse’s leg down and straightened up. She gave Dash a smile that could still melt his heart. “Dash, you need to get over whatever happened between you and that woman when you were children. And besides, it would make me happy if you did this. So, won’t you please do it? For me?”

God in Heaven, she looked like the debutante he’d fallen in love with when he was seventeen.

He should walk away. She had hurt him so many times before. Like everyone else he had loved. But Dottie Cox had been right on Monday night. If he didn’t do something to make a change, then he would be alone for the rest of his life. And besides, he would do anything for Hettie. He loved her that much.

So he squared his shoulders and looked her right in the eye. “Okay, Hettie. I’ll do it for you.”

Chapter 5

Savannah pulled the biscuits out of the oven and began transferring them to a basket lined with a red-and-white-checked napkin. She loved cooking in this kitchen where she had learned at the elbow of her grandmother. It almost felt as if Granny were standing right beside her telling her how to roll the dough and cut each biscuit.

“Good gracious, that smells good,” Miriam said as she shuffled into the room. She was leaning heavily on her cane today.

“Did you have a good nap?”

“I rested.” Miriam sat down at the small kitchen table. “I declare, when I opened my eyes I thought, for just one minute, that Sally was still alive.”

Savannah looked over her shoulder. “I was just thinking about how close I feel to Granny when I’m cooking in this kitchen. I wish I had a kitchen this big in Baltimore. Of course, a big kitchen would be wasted, since it’s just me and Todd most nights. But still.”

“Sugar, I thought we’d decided you were staying and reviving The Kismet.”

“Bringing The Kismet back to life is more than I know how to do. It’s a mess, and I have no money. I don’t know what I was thinking. I guess I was just dreaming.”

“And when you came here as a child making gravy and biscuits was more than you knew how to do. But you learned. My nose is saying that Sally taught you everything she knew about cooking and, she sure knew more than any other cook in Allenberg County.”

“Learning how to cook and reviving The Kismet are different things. The Kismet is beyond my abilities and my means. Dash helped me to see that quite clearly.”

“You call that help? So you’re just going to give up?”

“What other choice do I have?”

“You could learn what you need to learn. You take it from me, when you stop learning stuff, that’s when you get old.”

“But I need more than knowledge. I need money.”

“That’s just your fear talking. Tomorrow I think we need to get Todd registered for school. And then you need to visit Miz Ruby. Once she’s done with you, you’ll start seeing things straight.”

“Miz Ruby? Is she, like, the local banker or something?”

“No, of course not. She’s Rocky’s momma. You know, the beautician who owns the Cut ’n Curl. I go there every Friday for a manicure, but you need more than that, sugar. Rocky called me this morning, and we both agreed. Ruby will fix you right up. And believe me, when she’s done, you’ll have a spring in your step. And I’m sure you’ll figure something out for The Kismet.”

Savannah stifled a laugh. If only it were that easy. “I don’t need a makeover.”

“Don’t you? You’re sitting in this kitchen pining away because you don’t have a crowd to cook for like your granny did. Sugar, the only way to get a crowd for dinner every night is to find a new husband and have more babies. And believe me, you aren’t going to catch that hero you’ve been searching for if you don’t take care of yourself first.”

“What hero? What are you talking about?”

Savannah turned away from the pots on the stove and sat down facing her aunt, suddenly concerned. Miriam had a gleam in her eye that hadn’t been there before. Savannah took Miriam’s knobby hand in hers. The thin, cold feel of Miriam’s skin was a little alarming. She was getting up there in years. Was she going senile now that Harry had passed?

“I’m fine. And I’m not senile,” Miriam said as if reading Savannah’s mind. “All I’m saying is that you need to be looking for a man with an appetite. Just like your grandmother did.”