Sour Grapes

gave her a cautionary squeeze. “Sh-h-h... keep your voice down. Let’s go into your room to discuss this.”
    Atlanta shook her hand away. “There’s nothing to discuss. We aren’t speaking, remember?”
    “So, I guess I should have just let you go on talking to that sleazebag. He was going to hit on you, do you know that?”
    Atlanta’s face lit up. “Really? Really, do you think he likes me that much?”
    Savannah resisted the urge to strangle her. “No-o-o, I’m quite sure he doesn’t like you. He doesn’t even know you. He’s only interested in banging you, and he doesn’t have to like you for that.”
    Atlanta’s nostrils flared, and for half a second Savannah expected flames to shoot out of her nose. “What’s the matter, sissy?” she said bitterly. “Do you want him for yourself? You’ve got a thing for him? Is that it?”
    “Don’t be ridiculous. I—”
    “I think that’s exactly what it is. I think my big sister is sexually frustrated and—”
    “Atlanta, that’s enough.” Savannah gave the teenager the same look that Gran had given the Reid children about three seconds before her righteous wrath exacted its toll on their backsides. ‘Tor your information, young lady, the only frustration I’m feeling at this minute is the overwhelming desire to bend you over my knee and paddle your hind end.”
    “This conversation is over,” Atlanta said in a tone that was less self-assured than her words.
    “Yes, it is. We’ve already said way too much for a couple of sisters who aren’t speaking to each other.”
    Savannah felt a flood of sadness sweep over her as she watched her sibling walk away. Did all families have these problems, she wondered, or were the Reids specially blessed in that regard?
    She didn’t have to think that one over for very long. Having been a police officer for years, she knew all too well the kinds of problems that some families had— problems that sometimes ended in tragedy.
    This little disagreement was nothing. Really.
    So, why did it hurt so much?
    Savannah felt someone’s presence behind her, and when she turned around she saw Mrs. Lippincott standing there, watching. She had left Ryan and the staff members and walked over to Savannah’s side of the gallery. Savannah wondered how much she had overheard.
    “Is everything all right, Savannah?” she asked.
    Savannah considered brushing her off with a flip answer, then at the last second decided to be honest. “Not exactly. I’ve certainly lived more peaceful lifetimes... but I’m fairly certain I lived them as an only child.”
    Mrs. Lippincott smiled. “I understand. I have three younger sisters of my own.”
    Several of the contestants walked through the gallery, snickering, giggling, excited and as happy as only a group of carefree teenagers could be. As they passed Savannah and Mrs. Lippincott, the older woman watched them with a look akin to resentment on her face.
    “What a waste,” she said. “All that beauty, health, and energy squandered on the young. They have no idea how fleeting all of those gifts are. If they did, they would enjoy this period of their lives so much more.” Savannah nodded. “How true.”
    “Don’t you envy them... their youth?”
    Savannah thought for a moment “Not really. Along with the beauty and energy goes a lot of inexperience and naïveté. I wouldn’t be that young and stupid again for anything in the world. Those life lessons were too hard-earned to be given away.”
    Marion Lippincott quirked one eyebrow. Savannah got the distinct impression that she wasn’t accustomed to being contradicted. “Oh? May I ask how old you are, Savannah?”
    “I’m in my early forties.”
    “Ah... that explains it. Check back with me in around twenty years, and we’ll see how you feel about the subject then.”
    Savannah chuckled. “You may be right By the way, Mrs. Lippincott, I was going to ask you about one of your girls... a Barbara or Barbie—”
    A horrible, terrified scream cut through the room. Savannah swallowed her words and nearly her heart The sound had come from the direction of the guesthouse, the same direction that Atlanta had walked just moments ago. And somewhere in the recesses of her mind, Savannah knew—with sickening conviction— that it was her little sister who had screamed.
    “Oh, my God____,” she whispered. But she was already running, with Ryan at her side, her gun in her hand... and Mrs. Lippincott trailing somewhere