Daytona searched out a newspaper in the town next over. She had to know if folks were talking about her ill-fated bid for nomination to run for office.
They say no news is good news. She should've remembered that.


(Of course it all boils down to the way I've interpreted the story but so much did happen in their respective weeks that I felt compelled to break up the season and criss-cross the Beeches and Harts posts, for the sake of continuity and a bit of dramatic license. The other families do contribute their fair shares to the drama but they were able to keep it contained, more or less, to their own rotations.)




Virginia wasn't sure what it was all about but there was
definite tension in her house and she wanted out.

Not much of a selection today
but Virgie didn't really swing by the Lands' for a plate.

The stranger was also not impressed, except with Virginia.

He was a health inspector from Bigg City* passing through but he couldn't resist whipping out his
pad n' pen against this too quaint for comfort kitchen business where hair was sometimes done in the
same vicinity as food was prepared for sale. He just didn't understand how stuff was done 'round here.
A taste test soon convinced him Beulah's was the Best of the Best, bar none, for that down home touch.



Of course, Virginia really went to see Scot.
He'd been busy with his chores so she went outside, away from that staring guy, to wait for him
to finish raking up. While she waited, Virgie found it was rather soothing to pet the livestock.



"Sorry about that. Around here we've all got to do our part, you know."

(Scot's right, of course. There's Dixie, busy in the background undoing all his hard work!)

"That's okay," Virgie said, "I didn't mind waiting."

"You want to, maybe, take a walk?"



They ended up walking all the way across town.
This place wasn't half so pretty at night as it is in the daytime.
It's kinda scary actually except when the stars and
the moonlight shine through the canopy.



Hmm, what would've happened if she had been here that night with Scot instead of Woody?


Scot was so perfect for Virgie. He was super smart and
so cute and they shared the same kinda background and...

He kissed her!
He kissed her! And it was perfect, too!



She was worried that it wasn't as perfect for him,
maybe she didn't do it right, when he stopped
and started staring at somebody else.

That was Junior Mann back there and it looked
like he was with Candy Hart, yes, he was
with Candy. Scot made a mental note.

Virgie wasn't particularly shy so she
asked him outright. It was important.



This answered her question.



Woody walked by and saw them kissing. What'd he come over for?

Scot didn't understand but Virgie was so embarrassed.
She didn't want to hurt Woody's feelings, he's her friend.
But that's all.


She could tell he was angry. Or hurt maybe. Anyway he left.

But Scot quickly took her mind off Woody with what he had to say.

And just that fast, Virgie had her first boyfriend.



"Oh, hey Dad."

Scot didn't mean to take off like that, he wasn't
scared or anything, he didn't even see her father coming.
He just had a curfew and a lot farther to go than she did.

Virgie wonders how much her father saw.


~




The one thing Sandy knew as soon as she realised she was pregnant
was that she didn't love Rhett and that she did love her husband.




But being together in such close quarters and with the damage already done
that didn't stop her from going a little, well, frantic whenever there was a lull at work.


And her baby bump didn't stop him from expecting her to, even though he had no clue it was actually
his handiwork. He laughed when he first saw her pregnant and made a joke about 'old Hamilton'.
She honestly could not stand him! But she couldn't resist. The risk of getting caught was so real!
It was real! Being a bad wife, being with a man who knew she was a bad wife made her feel alive.
Call him what she would, Rhett never put her on a pedestal.



But Sandy quickly pulled away.
She had made up her mind. She was playing with too many lives,
lives that she cared about. Hamilton's and this baby's and even Rhett's.
She had to tell him.



Rhett wasn't having it.
He thought a woman like her was above playing those female mind games.
But here she was trying to pin this on him like he's stupid.
He made his one mistake. He was not taking the fall for this one, no freakin' way.


~




Virgie wondered what Dixie will think of her being her brother's girlfriend.
She had heard about, well, read about, like, 'girl code' and stuff and she
hoped she wasn't violating. Not that she was about to give up Scot!




She settled in with a good book.
Dinner had been weird, again. Actually, from the time Mom got in the air changed.
They must be stressed about the baby. Whatever it was, she wasn't going back downstairs.



Hamilton wasn't sure what was going on himself.
Sandy asked him to come upstairs and then she came out here.



Sandy had wanted some privacy so they went up.
Then she needed some air because their bedroom was too suffocating.
Rhett denied...them, so it was still possible to back-pedal and keep to the plan.

If only she could keep to the plan!
But night after night Hamilton's blind faith was crushing her.
She wanted him to see her, finally. Needy, flawed, and all. And still love her. Even
though she wasn't perfect. So she took a deep breath and told him what she'd done.

What she'd forgotten was that Virginia's room was
on the other side of those other glass doors.

Her own daughter was listening when she told
Hamilton the truth about her and about this baby.

Virginia had never heard her parents raise their voices to each other.
Her father's yelling is what startled her to her feet but he was just standing
in shock now, making her mom repeat the unthinkable. How could she?



"Who's the father, then?" Hamilton demanded. "Whose is it—who is the father, damn it!"



There was so much hurt in his anger, it pierced right through
Virginia. She didn't know how her mom could stand it.

"I'll be damned before I raise another man's child. Not in my house, you hear me. I can't believe you—"

Virginia couldn't stand by.
She had to stop this, she had to do something to make it not happen like this.



"Are you saying you want a divorce? Are you serious?"



"Virgie, go back inside."

"But, Dad—"

"Your father said go, Virginia. Now."


"That's not what I said but since you brought it up, why the hell not?"

"I'll tell you why. Because I am your wife, Hamilton. Your wife! This never
would've happened if you'd remembered that. And it's not worth throwing
our family away because I made a mistake. Hammy. It was all a mistake."

Hamilton didn't say anything. He wanted to believe her, find a way to fix it and
forgive her but he just couldn't look at Sandy right now. They had been getting
so close again lately and it was all a fuckin' lie, to trick him into believing he was
the father of his own wife's baby. Imagine that. He had to get outta there.

Sandy trailed behind him. She knew she needed to give him some space but
she couldn't bear to have him walk away from her and not say anything.



Virginia was so confused, she didn't know how to feel or what
to do. She heard the word divorce and she just...she just...
Grandma was the only one for her to turn to.



Rhett was on the other side of that door that Hamilton was storming through.



Big mistake.

"Uh, Sandy?"


"Sandy? That's My WIFE!"


Sandy couldn't believe what she was seeing.
Hamilton was not like this.


She had to talk some sense into him. At least get him to come back inside before this got worse!

Rhett was still in a daze. He'd been blind-sided, man.
Assaulted. When all he'd wanted was to fix things with
Sandy now that he'd thought stuff over. Do the right thing,
and this is what he got for his trouble?



"Dude! What the hell?"



Daytona came out to see what all the ruckus was about.
Didn't take her long to size up the scene. She hovered for
a minute, leering threats, at him and him and her, at all of 'em.
But this was for Hamilton to handle. (Long as he handled it right.)
He was off to a good start so she let him do what he had to do.



"That's it. I can't deal with this. First you tell me that and then you have
the nerve to flaunt your boyfriend in my face, on my own doorstep!!
I don't even know who the hell you are."



"Go on with him then. That's the man you chose, then go!"



Sandy tried to explain, to apologise.
Hamilton would hear none of it.



He was through.
Her boyfriend could keep her.
Hamilton was done being her fool.



Virginia overheard everything.
And she was INFURIATED!



No one knew that Rocky had overheard it, too.
He wept for Mommy and Daddy, all alone.



Virginia couldn't bring herself to cry.
She wanted scream and kick and make it all like it never happened.
But she was too drained to feel anymore. She didn't understand
how her mom could be such a —



Sleep. There was nothing to do but sleep and maybe when she
woke up it would all be just a bad dream.

No such luck. But Hamilton was relieved to see her resting when he
went to check on her. He wasn't sure what to say to his baby girl.



Virgie woke up in the middle of the night, around 3:30am, unable to sleep.
Her mother had not even said goodbye to them but she knew she was gone.
And she was glad.
What she overheard...what her mother did! She's glad Daddy didn't forgive her.
She obviously didn't care about them or she wouldn't have ruined their family.



She went downstairs but Virgie didn't want to read about any happy-ever-afters,
there was no such thing as perfect, no matter how hard you believed.
She ended up plunging headlong into the murky waters of a grisly criminal bio.
What? It was on the shelf. Made domestic strife pale in comparison, for sure.
Besides, some insight into the criminal mind might come in handy. You never know.



The kids had been through quite an ordeal (Hamilton is one of the kids, too, to Daytona) so they
deserved a good breakfast. She didn't cook much lately but that's not because she can't.
Pancakes coming up!



Rocky was up early, too, to be bathed and dressed already and he was watching Grandma
cook but Hamilton wanted to talk to his son to see what he knew about what was going on.
He's too young to understand...much, but that might be better in the long run
since his sister didn't have a clue what to do with all her feelings about what happened.



Virgie didn't want to talk. At all.



She came to breakfast because they called for her.
She wanted to be alone but she wanted to be with them, too.
Comfort food wasn't going to cut it, though. Just so you know.


But venting some of her rage like THIS was worth any trouble she got into.



Oh yeah!



*I remember reading something about a planned downtown to accompany Widespot that was called Bigg City. Beyond that I have no idea if it's in progress or already up for download; it will be a long time before the Widespot folks earn their connection to a downtown, I think. But even if only as the idea of a place, it works for me.