“Well, don’t expect me to do anything for her,” Luisa said in a fury.

“I expect you to be civil to her, and make her as comfortable as we can.”

“Is her mother coming to see her?” Luisa sounded suspicious.

“Probably. I haven’t talked to her about it yet. I’ve only known about this for half an hour. She got another threatening letter about Savannah last night.”

“Just keep her away from me, Tom. And I mean it. Keep her out of my sight.” He loathed everything Luisa was and stood for. His punishment for what he had done to Alexa was living with Luisa now. It had been a long, hard ten years. But he didn’t have the energy, or the guts, to get divorced again. So he had made his peace with it. At a very, very high price.

He and Savannah left the hotel in Vermont a few minutes later, and Savannah was silent and looked sadly out the window for most of the drive down. He tried to tell her how much she would like Charleston and how happy he was that she’d be there with him, but Savannah clearly wasn’t in the mood to talk, and after a while he stopped talking and left her to her own thoughts. She was already homesick for New York, her mother, and her friends.

Alexa spent most of the day packing. She packed all the clothes Savannah liked best, everything she’d need for school and on the weekends. She gave her all the things Savannah coveted from her own wardrobe. She packed her schoolbooks, her favorite music, and two teddy bears she hadn’t even looked at since she was a child, but Alexa thought they might comfort her now. And if she could have, Alexa would have packed herself in the suitcase. She hated to see her leave, but they had no other choice.

Alexa called her mother and told her what had happened, and that Tom had been decent about it. Whatever she thought of him, she had to give him credit for that.

She barely had time to dress and leave for the airport. She had three good-sized valises with her and got there at four o’clock. Half an hour later Tom called her on her cell phone. He was ten minutes away, and as soon as he drove up, Savannah jumped out of the car and flew into her mother’s arms. She was sobbing, and it took her most of the time they had together to calm down. Alexa gently smoothed her hair that looked so much like her own, she held her and comforted her, and promised her she’d come to Charleston in no time, and before Savannah knew it she’d be home. Alexa barely had time to talk to Tom. He watched them unhappily, and walked away discreetly, so they could be alone. And then it was time to go. He had bought Savannah’s ticket, and Alexa insisted on paying for the excess baggage, and they both cried when Alexa had to leave. Alexa couldn’t walk them to the gate since she didn’t have a ticket herself.

“I love you,” she said over and over, and Savannah clung to her like a child. Tom finally put an arm around his daughter, and gently led her away from her mother as both women cried.

“Take care of yourself,” he said over Savannah’s head to Alexa. “I’ll take good care of her, I promise. Just see that you stay safe.” Alexa nodded and thanked him, and then they were gone, through security and heading for the gate, and Alexa couldn’t see them anymore.

She was still crying when she hailed a cab to take her back to the city, and she was exhausted when she walked into the apartment and called her mother. The plainclothesman Jack had promised was posted outside her door.

“How did it go?” Muriel asked her. She sounded worried and had thought about them all afternoon.

“It was awful. But Tom was very nice. I’m going to try and go down there next week,” Alexa said sadly. She couldn’t even imagine her life without Savannah for the next few months. And in the fall she was leaving for college. Life as they had known it was about to end, or just had.

“I’ll call her tonight,” Muriel said somberly. She hated what was happening to them, and what the trial had done to their lives. “Do you want to come over for dinner?” her mother asked her kindly, but Alexa wasn’t up to it. Seeing Savannah cry at the airport had been too hard.

“No. I just want to crawl into my bed and cry.”

“I feel terrible about this. Maybe I was wrong to tell you to send her to Charleston. But I think it’s better to be safe. Come over and have dinner anytime you want.” She knew how lonely Alexa was going to be without her daughter.

“Thanks, Mom,” Alexa said miserably. And after they hung up, she did just what she had said she would. She climbed into her bed, pulled up the covers, and cried.

The flight to Charleston took just over two hours. Savannah sat quietly in her seat, looking out the window, with tears rolling down her cheeks, and dozed off in the last few minutes. The shock of leaving home so suddenly had worn her out, and the emotions of leaving her mother had been overwhelming. Neither of them had expected this as a consequence of Alexa handling the trial. Tom watched her as she slept, and gently covered her with a blanket. He was well aware that his minimal presence in her life, and defection a decade before, had strengthened the bond with her mother to an unusual degree. Alexa was all Savannah had, and now suddenly she was being catapulted into a new world, without her. Worse yet, it was a world and life where she was not welcome, and was viewed as a threat. He was worried about Luisa, and with good reason. She wasn’t known for her kindness, warmth, and compassion, and he knew that bringing Savannah home with him was going to start a raging battle. It already had. Luisa had declared war on him that morning, and she meant it. And knowing her, the worst was yet to come.

They landed in Charleston with a sharp bump on the runway, which woke Savannah up, and she looked at her father in surprise. For a moment, she had forgotten who she was with and where she was going. It came back to her in a rush when she saw his face.

“We’re here, baby. I’m glad you slept for a little while. You needed it.” She nodded, turned her phone back on, and saw a text message from her mother that said only, “I love you. See you soon.” And Tom suddenly sounded even more southern than he had before. He was home. And Savannah was far, far from hers, and felt like a lost soul.

She followed her father off the plane, and they got their luggage, her three big bags, and her father’s small one and his skis. Her mother had taken her skis home. A porter followed them outside with their bags on a trolley, and her father hailed a cab. She settled in beside him, and looked around as they drove home. She had heard her father give his address in Mt. Pleasant, the part of Charleston where he lived.

“Do you remember anything about Charleston from when you lived here?” Tom asked her gently, and Savannah shook her head, her eyes wide. She looked beautiful as she sat there, still wearing ski pants and a heavy sweater, and carrying her parka. Her hair hung down her back like spun gold, and her eyes were the color of cornflowers, a rich, vibrant blue. She looked exactly like her mother when he had met her, and he knew Luisa would see it too. Savannah was only four years younger than Alexa had been when he fell in love with her, after Luisa had abandoned him and the boys for someone else. He had been devastated then, and had found happiness he’d never dared to dream of with Alexa. And seven years later, he had been a total fool when Luisa returned and spun her web. When he thought of it now, as he did often, he knew he had gotten everything he deserved after that. But when he’d seen Alexa again, he realized she was still paying the price too. He felt desperately guilty for that-he had hoped she was long over it by then. Instead, he could still see the pain in her eyes. He hoped that now he could help her in some way, by taking care of their child, and doing all he could for her. He wasn’t going to let Luisa stop him this time, as she had so many times before, and he had let her. He was planning to do all he could for Savannah. She was his child too.