‘Where is she?’ I asked Lydia as she applied another slick of mango balm to my lips. ‘Did she leave?’
‘What are you talking about?’ she replied, pointing to a table only a few feet away. ‘She’s right there.’
I couldn’t believe I’d missed her. More than seventeen years had passed since the photo inside my locket was taken but Alex Powell had hardly aged a day. Her brown hair was shorter, cropped into an elegant bob rather than pulled up in a ponytail, but I would’ve recognized her anywhere in the world. When her warm brown eyes fell on me, the rush of emotions that overtook me were almost too much. The sunshine overhead seemed to swell as my magic rose up to hold me down, and when Alex stood and opened her arms to me, I fell into them without a second thought.
Home. She felt like home.
‘Em,’ she exhaled into my hair, her arms clamped around my body as though she were afraid I might float away. ‘Oh my goodness, here you are at last.’
She smelled expensive but inviting, some medley of shampoo and perfume and lotion that all came together in a warm, floral bundle. When she let me go and I pulled back to take in her blue jeans and pink button-down, accessorized with delicate jewellery. Clean lines and clear colours, everything about Alex Powell seemed intentional, especially compared to her chaoticgood daughter.
‘Look at us, blubbing like a couple of babies,’ she said, reaching to wipe away a tear I hadn’t felt fall with a clean handkerchief. ‘I do not know where to start.’
‘You could thank her for saving my life,’ Lydia suggested, clearing her throat when I let out an audible squeak. ‘By moving to Savannah and saving me from boredom.’
‘Thank you for your service to the community,’ Alex replied drily, still standing with her hands on my shoulders while Lydiaflopped into a chair and ran a finger down the menu until she found what she was looking for. ‘My daughter hasn’t stopped talking about you since you arrived.’
‘How would you know? You’ve been busy withJeremyinCharleston.’
Alex was still staring at me as though I was some sort of long-lost jewel, and I blushed under her close inspection.
‘She acts like he’s a monster but her stepfather loves her very much. He would just love to have Lydia and Jackson living with us, but we couldn’t get them enrolled in the school we wanted.’
‘Also we’d rather die,’ Lydia declared. ‘It’s bad enough thatyoulive there.’
Jackson and Lydia didn’t know their father, from what they’d told me. A touring musician who had given Alex a fake name and a burner phone number that went out of service as soon as he left Savannah and his pregnant girlfriend behind, but I could see more than a little of this petite southern woman in both of her children. The same warm brown eyes, Lydia’s pointed chin, Jackson’s high cheekbones, and all three of them shared the irritated expression she currently wore all over her face.
‘Charleston is a beautiful city,’ she assured me. ‘Jeremy and I would love to have you out to visit. With or without my ungrateful children.’
‘That sounds amazing,’ I said, a scratch in my throat as I tamped down my magic, a nascent patch of camellias threatening to force their way into existence in the big concrete planter at the side of us. Alex’s eyes followed my gaze and I thought I saw the slightest hint of a frown trouble her face, but it resolved itself immediately when a tattooed server appeared with a handheld device to take our order.
‘What can I get you?’ they asked, eyes squarely on Lydia.
‘We’ll have three Aussie iced lattes, the French toast, chicken and waffles and a side of bacon,’ my best friend replied before giving me a look when I opened my mouth to make my own selection. ‘Trust me.’
‘Three of my favourites,’ the server enthused. ‘You’ve got great taste.’
‘My daughter always makes good decisions.’
The tone was unmistakable. There was no confusing the warning edge to her words and no mistaking the fact this woman wasn’t just Lydia’s mom. She was also Virginia Powell’s daughter. The server’s head bobbed up and down like a puppet on a string as they walked quickly away.
‘Thanks, Mom,’ Lydia said, tilting her head to check the server out as they went. ‘They were cute.’
‘Cute and too old for you.’ Alex rummaged around in her fancy black leather purse, not interested in debating the topic. ‘Well, I’ll be. Lydia, honey, I seem to have forgotten my wallet. Would you be a doll and run back and grab it for me?’
‘No. You can pay with your phone.’
‘I don’t have the right card set up to do that.’
‘You really want me to go all the way back home for your wallet?’
‘I have my wallet, I can pay,’ I offered when the two Powell women locked into an acrimonious stare-down.
‘That is very sweet of you, Emily, but I couldn’t possibly allow it,’ Alex replied before turning directly to her daughter with a meaningful look. ‘The house is two minutes away. I would very much appreciate it if you would go get my wallet. Thank you.’
‘If it’s so close, why don’t you go?’
‘Lydia.’
