“No.”
“Hmmm.” Chrissie lifted her phone to show her mom something. “How about this one.”
“That’s pretty,” Nora said, leaning over the screen. “But too short.” She gave Van a smile. “It’d make you look cheap, sweetie.” She glanced at Van from the corner of her eye. Standing completely still, Van smiled back, refusing to give her the satisfaction of seeing her pull at the hem of her dress. Yeah, it fell at mid thigh, but it was pretty.
She felt pretty, and she wasn’t going to let the Fairfaxes ruin that.
“Speaking of short skirts, I heard Doctor Tamlyn came out to see your mom yesterday.” Nora’s lips curled up, but it couldn’t be described as a smile. “I guess all that hard living has finally caught up with her.”
“It was nothing important.” Van’s hands curled into fists, her arms hanging by her side. “But I’ll be sure to pass on your kind wishes.”
Nora said nothing. Just looked at Van the way she always had.
“I’ll see you out,” Chrissie said, flipping her glossy dark hair over her shoulder. Slowly, she rose from the high stool she’d been sitting on, and walked around the oversized kitchen island. “I’ll be right back, Mom.”
“Okay, sweetie.”
When Chrissie held the kitchen door open, Van stole a glance at her face. It was beautiful, the same way it always was. At school, Chrissie had been the first to get a figure – okay, the first to grow breasts. And boy did they all know it. In gym, she and her friends would giggle in the corner at the ‘pancakes’ who hadn’t developed yet. Van had been one of them, and it had aggravated her to no end.
To be fair, Chrissie had always made Van feel small. It wasn’t the fact that she had more than Van, nor that she had two parents who were sober and loved her. It was that it wasn’t enough. She had to rub it in Van’s face, make fun of her. Her happiness depended on others’ misery.
And that made Van dislike her. The day her fist connected with Chrissie’s face had been a culmination of years of frustration. Yes, she’d said some awful things about Van’s mom that day, but Van was used to that. It had only been the excuse to do the one thing she’d always dreamed of.
To hit back at those people who thought they were better than her.
It had been worth it, too. Worth the two-week suspension, worth being lectured for hours by the principal, even worth having Tanner being disappointed with her.
“We have a plan,” he’d said when he climbed through her window that night. “You need to study and keep your grades up. That’s the only way to get into college.”
“So are you and Tanner Hartson still close?” Chrissie asked as she unlatched the front door.
Van blinked the memories away, and looked at Chrissie, who was holding the door open.
“Um. Kind of. Why?”
“I just heard he was back in town.” Chrissie shrugged. “And according to popular opinion he’s more gorgeous than ever. Is he seeing anybody, do you know?”
“I’ve no idea.” Van shrugged. “You’d have to ask him.”
Chrissie laughed. “I might just do that. Thanks, Savannah.”
“No problem.” It was an effort to smile, but she did it anyway. “Bye, Chrissie.” Then she walked down the steps and the path, not looking back once.
Even if she did feel like punching Chrissie’s face all over again.
Chapter Eleven
Van was kneeling on the front lawn doing yard work when she heard a voice call out.
“Savannah Butler, I heard you were back in town. I hope you were intending to come say hi to me at some point.”
She turned to see the smiling face of Tanner’s Aunt Gina leaning out of her car, and her own lips lifted into a grin. Growing up, Aunt Gina had been like a second mom to Van, the same way she’d been to the Hartson siblings. Feeding them, talking them through their problems, making sure they felt loved.
Her welcoming smile was such a stark contrast to Nora Fairfax’s the previous day at Regan’s sprinkle. It felt like a balm to Van’s ruffled soul.
“Of course I was going to come see you.” Van ran over to the car and hugged Aunt Gina through the open window. “How are you?”
“I’m doing fine. Even better now that some of my babies are back in town.” Aunt Gina winked. She was perfectly turned out as always, her white hair elegantly coiffed. She was wearing a pink-and-white patterned tea dress and it complemented her still-svelte figure. “And that includes you in case you’re wondering,” she told Van. “Now when are you coming over to my place so I can feed you up? There’s nothing left on those bones of yours.”
Van glanced at her body. She was wearing a pair of cut-off jeans and an old grey t-shirt she’d knotted at the waist to keep it out of the dirt as she weeded her mom’s flower beds. “I’ve been eating plenty. But I’d never turn down one of your meals.”
“That’s good. Because we’re barbecuing this evening. Bring your family with you. Your mom and your sister, Zoe, is it?”
“That’s right. And we’d love to, or at least Zoe and I would. Mom’s not feeling the best.” Van’s heart swelled just a little. Aunt Gina never left anybody out.
“I’m sorry to hear about your mom.” Aunt Gina’s voice was soft. “And about her marriage troubles. That’s never good for anybody. Is she doing okay?”
Van let out a mouthful of air. Her mom hadn’t gotten up today at all. Not even when Van and Zoe cooked pancakes and bacon, giggling in the kitchen as they danced to old eighties music. “She’s been better. But she’ll pull through.”
Gina nodded, but said nothing. She didn’t need to. Her eyes were full of understanding. She’d never pried about Van’s mom, not even when she was younger. But she always made sure Van was okay.
“Okay then. Come over any time after five. And don’t bring a thing. We already have too much food. Even with Tanner and Gray there it won’t all get eaten.”
Van’s heart clenched at the mention of Tanner. She hadn’t had time to run at all this weekend, and she missed seeing him. It was stupid, because she’d managed for all these years without him. Yet a couple of days and her heart was galloping at the thought of seeing him again.
“I can’t turn up empty handed,” Van told Gina. “What would they say at Chairs?”
“Chairs, schmairs. Just come and make an old woman happy.” Gina blew her a kiss. “Now I have to go, I have a bridge game in ten minutes. And if I get there late they’ll replace me with Della Thorsen.” She widened her eyes in horror. “That woman could cheat her own mother.”
Van laughed, making a shooing motion with her hands. “Go. And I’ll see you tonight.”
Gina put her foot on the gas, and her old brown station wagon lurched forward. The grin was still on Van’s face as she watched the car disappear around the corner, the roaring sound of the engine still audible above the sweet singing of the birds in the trees.
Five o’clock. That’s when she would see Tanner again, if she didn’t see him running first. Van was more than aware she owed him an answer about helping him with the drive-in. She’d been thinking about it for days, after all.