Moonlight in the Morning (15 page)

She sat down on the bed, cross-legged, and picked up the scrap of paper. The writing on it was so small she could barely read it.

J, I miss you too. T

Jecca couldn’t help smiling. It was embarrassing that he’d known she would snoop through his house, even into his bedroom, but at the same time it made her laugh. She stuck the paper inside her bra and decided to have a look inside Tristan̵ s Tr hei7;s closet.

He had a sparse wardrobe, all of it good quality. He seemed to have only one good suit—and a tuxedo. She was impressed with that. If she ever got her own one-woman-show in New York, maybe Tristan could wear the tux.

But then she reminded herself that it would be well in the future and by then Tris would probably be married to some hometown girl and have a couple of kids.

The thought made her frown.

She looked around the room until she found some index cards and tore one of them into six pieces. On each one she wrote some little ditty, nothing important, just meant to make Tristan smile.

T and J sittin’ in a tree . . .

T
J
T

When all six had something on them, she slipped them into the pockets of his clean and pressed jeans. She saved the one with the hearts on it for the inside pocket of his tux.

Smiling, she went downstairs to look for his orchids. She hadn’t seen them on the first time around.

There was an old-fashioned conservatory off the living room. Whereas the room at Mrs. Wingate’s house was beautiful, it was also very orderly, meant to be enjoyed. There were pretty chairs so people could sit surrounded by Tris’s beautiful plants.

But his home greenhouse was more natural—and the orchids looked as though they’d come straight from a jungle. Some of the flowers had long stems trailing off the bottom, and some looked more like insects than plants. And the colors varied from pristine white to purples that were almost creepy.

As Jecca turned around, trying to look at all of them, she thought she could almost hear jungle drums. And her fingers itched to try to reproduce those colors in paint. Tris had been right when he’d said that she’d find what she needed for Kim’s ads among the orchids in his house. What did he call them? Species orchids. Not hybrids but straight out of the jungle.

By lunchtime, Jecca had come up with so much work to do that she didn’t know where to begin. But at the head of her list was to call Kim. It was time to tell her about Tristan.

“Jecca!” Kim said as soon as she picked up. “I was just going to call you. I have to go to Texas. Please ask me why.”

“I’ll bite. Why?”

“Neiman Marcus wants to talk to me about showing some of my jewelry in their stores.”

“That’s great!” Jecca said. “I’m truly impressed. When do you leave?”

“As soon as I can get on a plane. The meeting is tomorrow afternoon. My secretary is going with me, and we’re packing up now.”

“Then go!” Jecca said.

“I will but . . .” Kim hesitated. “I know I’m the one who put you in the country, but now I worry about you out there with just two older women for company. No one’s so oknow seen you in town, so you must be bored out of your mind. Or are you working constantly?”

“I’m not bored by any means,” Jecca said. “Kim, when you get back, you and I need to talk.”

“About Tristan?”

Jecca drew in her breath. Sometimes Kim was almost psychic. “Yes, about Tris.”

Kim took her time answering. “Jecca, I don’t want to see either of you two hurt. I love both of you, but I need to warn you about him.”

The hairs on Jecca’s neck stood up. “Warn me?”

“Yes. Tristan is the nicest person in the world. His wonderful bedside manner is the real him.”

“So where’s the bad in that?”

“The bad is that he’s so sweet to people, especially pretty women, that they think he’s in love with them.”

Jecca had felt exactly what Kim was describing. “But he’s not in love?”

“No,” Kim said. “I guess he could be, but I’m not sure he’s ever been even close.”

Jecca thought of what Tris had told her about the married woman he’d almost fallen for. Was Jecca the consolation prize? He couldn’t have her, so he took the next new-girl-in-town? She tried to clear that thought out of her mind. “Kim,” Jecca said, “Tris knows I’m leaving at the end of the summer. We’re just . . . friends.” She didn’t add that they were “kissing friends.”

“Okay,” Kim said. “I know you’re smart enough to do what’s right, but Tristan is
very
seductive.”

Jecca hesitated. “I guess what you’re saying means he always invites people to go with him and his niece to Rowan’s cabin.”

“Rowan?” Kim asked. “You mean our cousin Roan?”

“Right. That’s the name.”

“You’re going with Nell?”

“Yes. Kim, you’re making me nervous. Is there something wrong with this invitation? Should I turn it down?”

“No,” Kim said. “It’s just that I’ve never heard of Tristan letting any woman near his precious niece. He keeps his dating life separate from his family.”

“That’s because his family—” Jecca broke off. “Do you think it’s good or bad for me to go?” She valued her friend’s opinion very much.

“I don’t know,” Kim said. “Tris has been different since his arm was broken. Sometimes I think he changed when Gemma came to town.”

“Gemma?” Jecca asked.

“She came to Edilean to do some research, and she ended up marrying Colin Frazier, but she spent a lot of time with Tris. Poor Colin was so jealous everybody in town thought he and Tris were going to fight—whic sht&em">“h wouldn’t have been good, since Colin is about a hundred pounds heavier than Tris.”

Jecca was afraid to say anything for fear she’d give away what Tris had told her in confidence. She heard someone yell Kim’s name.

“I have to go or I’ll miss my plane. Jecca, whatever you decide to do, I’m with you. You know that, don’t you?”

“Always,” Jecca said. “And I also know that we’ve been through too much together not to give our opinions.”

“You haven’t been taken in by the look of Tristan, have you?” Kim asked.

Jecca couldn’t help the laugh she gave. “I haven’t seen him. I’ve kissed him and we’ve held hands so much that I could draw his, but I’ve never seen his face.”

“That is such an enticing statement that I’m tempted to stay here just to hear the story.” Again someone called her name. “Damn! My secretary and my assistant are going to tie me up and drag me away. I’ll call you tonight and you can tell me everything.”

“No,” Jecca said. “This is a story that has to be told in person. I’ll see you at Reede’s party, won’t I?”

“Of course. I wish—” Her voice lowered. “They’re getting angry now. I’ll call you the second I get back. Bye.”

Jecca said good-bye and hung up. After the call, she spent some time thinking about what Kim had told her about Tristan. She hadn’t said anything bad. Actually, she’d said the opposite. It seemed that Tristan was a truly nice guy. It was just that no one could tell what his true feelings were.

She reminded herself that deep emotion wasn’t what was between them. They were only going to have a good time, and that was it.

Jecca got out her drawings of the playhouse and was thinking about where she should get them copied. Asking Lucy to use her copier was the easiest. She could make up a lie about having seen the playhouse in the woods and being intrigued by it, but Jecca had never been a person to prevaricate.

It was a bother to drive somewhere to find a copy machine, but that was what she was going to have to do. She was about to leave her bedroom when her cell rang. It was Tristan.

Jecca sat down to answer the call. “I saw your house,” she said as a greeting.

“Like it?”

She decided to tell the truth. “It’s a contractor’s dream.”

Tris laughed. “Why do you think my parents sold it to me and moved to a beach house in Florida? My mom thought the place should be bulldozed.”

“Only the interior,” Jecca said. “The outside and that lake . . . sheer heaven.”

“That’s the way I feel too,” Tris said. “What color bikini do you want? I saw some pretty ones today.”

“On or off the girls?”

“I always look at them
on
a girl’s body,” he said solemnly.

Jecca laughed. “I meant off the girls but on a hanger in a store.”

“Did you?” he said, teasing. “I must have misunderstood. Did you happen to see the playhouse?”

Jecca groaned. “If my dad were here he’d report you to some historic house association.”

“Yeah, I know it’s bad. I’ve been meaning to have it fixed, but I’ve been busy.”

“Saving lives?”

“I like to think so,” Tris said. “Nell wants to talk to you.”

“When you get back I’ll—”

“No. Now. She’s right here, and she’s giving me a look just like her mother does. Okay?”

“Sure,” Jecca said, but she had no idea what to say to an eight-year-old child. Should she talk of candy? Use a baby voice?

“Did you see my playhouse?” the young voice of Nell asked in a very direct way. She didn’t sound childish at all.

“Yes, I did,” Jecca said. “It’s very nice.”

“It needs a carpenter.”

“That’s just what I thought!” Jecca said.

“I told Uncle Tris that the roof is going to fall in on me.”

“And what did he say?”

“That he’d get to it when he has time, but he never does.”

“It needs to be done now,” Jecca said. “You’re right that the place isn’t safe. Who can help me find a good contractor?”

“I’ll ask Mom.”

“Good idea. She can—” Jecca heard the phone drop. It seemed that Nell wasn’t going to waste time but was going to ask right now. Jecca smiled. She’d always liked people who made decisions quickly and acted on them immediately. She heard the phone being picked up.

“Nell says you’re going to oversee the renovation of the playhouse.” It was an adult female voice.

“Are you Tristan’s sister?” Jecca asked.

“Sorry,” she said. “Yes, I’m Addy. It’s so hectic here I’ve forgotten my manners.”

“I understand,” Jecca said.

“About the playhouse . . .”

“Oh,” Jecca said. “I saw it and it’s in pretty bad shape.”

“Very bad. I’ve spent a lot of time nagging Tris to get someone to fix it, but he’s always too busy.”

“I guess he is,” Jecca said. “As the town doctor—”

&1em">“That’s the eternal Aldredge excuse. Been used for generations. Would you like the job?” Addy asked. “I don’t mean that you have to do the actual work, but Tris says you know a lot about construction and design, so maybe you can oversee everything.”

Jecca was pleased that Tristan had said so many good things about her to his family, but she wasn’t so sure about acting as a contractor.

“Would you like to do it or not?” Addy asked before Jecca could answer. She seemed as though she urgently wanted to get off the phone.

“I guess I could,” Jecca said, “but I need a good builder. I can oversee things but I need—”

“I’ll have Bill Welsch call you. His grandfather built the playhouse back in the ’20s so Bill will help. Jecca?”

“Yes?”

“I don’t know you at all, but please don’t let Tristan and my daughter talk you into adding a stable for a pony.”

“What about chickens?” Jecca asked, meaning it as a joke. When Addy was silent, she thought maybe she’d offended her. “I didn’t mean—”

“You and Nell and Tristan are going to do well together,” Addy said. “Sorry to run, but I have movers here and I need to make sure they only pack what they’re supposed to.”

“Sure,” Jecca said. “I guess I’ll meet you when you get back.”

“You can be sure of that,” Addy said, then left.

It was Tris’s voice on the line next. “Did my sister scare you?” he asked.

“A bit,” Jecca said honestly.

“Don’t worry about it. In person, she’s tougher than she sounds.”

Jecca laughed. “So you and Nell plan to use me to get a pony?”

“Not really. Nell believes in starting big with her mother and working her way down to what she really wants.”

“That sounds smart. So what does Nell really want?”

“To fix up the playhouse.”

“Why haven’t you hired someone to do it?”

Tristan groaned. “Not you too! I am betrayed. Uh oh. Addy is calling me, so talk to Nell.”