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Sarah flinched, and Austin knew it was time to step in.
“Savannah,” Austin said, “we understand where you’re coming from, but I hope you’ll listen to what we have to say. It’s important.”
“So, our family has sides now? All of you against Chaz and me?”
“Don’t be that way,” Austin said. “Charlotte Robinson has proven herself to be a dangerous woman who will stop at nothing to get revenge on the Fortunes. The divorce from Gerald and his upcoming wedding to Deborah have no doubt set her off and made her bitter toward our entire family. I think we haven’t heard the last from her. I believe she’s not going to stop until she makes a big statement, and what better place to do that than at her ex-husband’s wedding?”
Savannah made a dubious sound. “Well, I believe they’re going to catch her before the wedding. We’ve already talked about this, Austin. I don’t understand why you’re doing an about-face now.”
“Talked about what?” Sarah asked.
Savannah turned back to her mother. “I forgot to tell you this last night, but I mentioned it to Austin earlier today. Kate Fortune is sick of Charlotte’s shenanigans and she has made it her mission to put an end to all the craziness. She is determined to find the woman and see her arrested and locked up. I’ll bet that Charlotte will be in jail by the time the wedding rolls around. I mean with Kate on it, you know it’s bound to happen. And you know Gerald isn’t just huddled in a corner quaking with fear. Not when his wedding is on the line. You know he’s got to be doing everything he can to make sure his wedding day isn’t ruined.”
“She’s not behind bars yet,” Sarah said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she laid low until the wedding, so she could go out with a bang.”
“Okay, I’ll make a deal with you,” Savannah said. “If Charlotte is still on the loose by the time the wedding happens next month, I won’t go.”
“What are you going to do?” Beau asked. “Just not show up? That’s worse than canceling now. If you bowed out now, at least you’d give them a chance to notify the caterer and they won’t get stuck paying for your meal.”
Belle narrowed her eyes. “I think Savannah has a point. Do you really think Gerald will go through with the wedding if Charlotte is still on the loose?”
No one answered. Even though Gerald was their half uncle, they really didn’t know him very well. What they did know had come from news stories about how he had grown his garage-based computer company in to a billion-dollar empire. Though Gerald was a self-made man like their dad, Miles Fortune preferred to keep a more private profile. Another way the half brothers differed was that Gerald appeared to be a cutthroat business mogul who looked out for only himself, or, at least, that’s the way the media had painted him.
It was difficult to know whether or not the guy would look out for the greater good and postpone his wedding if Charlotte was still at large.
“Have you ever considered that Charlotte is terrorizing us right now?” Savannah countered. “She has us living scared, ready to give up something we want to do because we are frightened of her. If we don’t go, we’re playing right into her hands. She will have won.”
“Sounds like we’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t,” said Draper. “If we don’t go, she’ll win by keeping us away. If we do go and she manages to blow us all up, she’ll win and we will die.”
Sarah shoved her chair back from the table. The sound of the wood scraping the floor echoed in the dining room as she stood. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” she demanded. “It’s far too upsetting. It’s not often that I have most of my children together. I am not going to let that crazy woman rob me of this night. So, I’m going into the kitchen to get dessert. When I come back, let’s please talk about something more pleasant. While I’m gone, would someone clear the table and make room for the next course?”
After their mother left the room, Draper and Georgia stood and started moving the dinner plates to a tray on a stand positioned next to the sideboard. The other siblings sat in stunned silence amid the sound of clinking china and flatware.
