Moonlight in the Morning (20 page)

The women nodded but didn’t look at him.

He kissed each one on the cheek, then stepped back. The women still didn’t look happy. “If it makes you two feel any better, this morning while Jecca was asleep, I spent an hour online looking at Kim’s Web site. You think two and a half carats or three carats for a ring would be better?”

“Three,” the women said in unison, then turned to smile at him.

“Have some faith in me, will you?” he said as he took a big pickle out of the bowl on the table. Crunching, he left the room.

Tristan’s bravado stayed with him all the way to the conservatory. He needed to be around his plants. They calmed him down.

He saw that he had mealybugs on some leaves, so he got out the alcohol and swabs and began to get rid of them. It was a task he was used to and the routine of it gave him time to think.

The truth was, he knew that he was falling in love with Jecca. He also knew that he’d felt that way almost since he’d first seen her this time. It was quite possible that it all began many years ago.

She wasn’t like the other women he’d dated. Jecca didn’t seem to expect things to be given to her. She wanted to be a man’s partner, his equal. She didn’t assume that since he what while as a doctor that they’d live in a mansion and . . . And become a stereotype.

No, she wasn’t like other women. She was
different,
he thought, and he liked that very much.

He was pleased that she fit in with his family. When he was in Miami, Jecca and Nell had spent a lot of time on the phone together. At first Tris had felt guilty that he’d so neglected the playhouse. He hadn’t realized what bad shape it was in.

But when he saw Nell curled up in a chair, his cell phone to her ear, and talking with Jecca in a secretive way, he was glad he’d neglected the playhouse. When Nell started quoting things Jecca had said, Tris wished he’d let the roof fall in. Or maybe run a truck through it. The more work the playhouse needed, the longer Jecca would stay.

Addy had liked Jecca too. “She’s as dreamy as you two are,” she said the evening after she’d talked to Jecca on the phone.

“Too dreamy to be entrusted with the remodeling work?” Tris asked. He was curious about what his sister thought.

“I have no idea about that part. That’s why I called Bill Welsch. He doesn’t need anyone to oversee him. I meant that from what I’ve heard, I believe your Jecca will probably like being with you and Nell. I think she’ll enjoy being at Roan’s cabin. None of the other girls you’ve dated would like it up there. You know, Tristan,” she said, “this time I think you may have found an actual
woman
.”

He knew that was high praise from his sister, and it was Addy who got him to run to the airport.

Miss Livie called Tris early Saturday morning to tell him about some old dress she was lending Jecca to wear to the party for Reede that evening. “It fits Jecca better than it ever did me,” Miss Livie said. “And I’ve never seen a young woman more beautiful than she is in it. She’ll look even better after Lucy and I do her hair and nails.”

Tristan was smiling. “Jecca is very pretty, I agree.”

“And your cousin Reede is a very handsome young man.”

“You think she’s going to ditch me for Reede?” His tone was amused. He and Jecca were past that possibility.

“A handsome face is very attractive to a young woman.”

“I think I can hold my own,” Tristan said, still smiling.

“If only she’d
seen
you,” Mrs. Wingate said emphatically. When Tristan was silent, she said she had to go and hung up.

Tristan went to the kitchen where Addy was putting out cereal for breakfast.

“What’s happened?” she asked when she saw his expression. “Please tell me no one in Edilean has died.”

“No,” he said as he sat down. “That was Miss Livie, and she was telling me about a dress of hers that Jecca is wearing to the party for Reede.”

“One of those heavenly creations she keeps in that old armoire in the back bedroom?”

idt widt220;That’s the second room I don’t know about,” Tris said in wonder.

“Is the first one Miss Livie’s workout room in the basement?”

“Why do you know about that and I don’t?”

“Because you’re
male
!” Addy said. She put her hands on the island and leaned toward him. “Tristan, if you let this woman you like so much and who Nell adores go alone—while wearing one of Miss Livie’s couture dresses—to a party given for a gorgeous hunk like Reede, you
deserve
to lose her!”

Tristan stopped with the box of cereal poised midair as images went through his mind. Reede on a cable going down into the sea to rescue a frightened child. Reede naked and wandering around in front of Jecca up at Florida Point. Jecca in some figure-hugging dress. “Why didn’t you say this yesterday when I still had time to drive back to Edilean?”

“Last I heard, airplanes had been invented. In fact, they fly out of Miami rather often.”

He made his decision in an instant. “I’ll leave the car at the airport and—”

“I’m going with you,” Nell said from behind them. She was holding up her passport, the ID she’d need for the plane.

Tris looked at Addy.

“Go! The both of you! We’ll be there tomorrow. If you don’t take the time to pack you’ll have to buy Nell some clothes and—” She broke off because the door had shut and they were gone.

If Nell hadn’t been in the car with him, Tristan would have driven a lot faster. As it was, he exceeded every speed limit on his way to the Miami airport, but only slightly. He left the keys with valet parking, grabbed Nell’s hand, and ran. He went to the plainest-faced clerk, smiled sweetly at her, and asked her to get them seats on any plane to Richmond. There was one boarding in twenty minutes.

Tris kissed the young woman’s hand in thanks, then he and Nell started running. They got to the plane just as the doors were about to close. When they reached Richmond, he rented a car and started the drive home. It wasn’t until they were on the highway that he realized they hadn’t eaten.

“I forgot to feed you,” Tris said in horror.

“That’s okay,” Nell said. “This is the most exciting thing I’ve ever done in my whole life.”

“Yeah?” he asked as he got off at the exit. They went to a drive-through window and got burgers and Cokes. “If your mother asks . . .”

“I know,” Nell said. “You fed me three leafy green vegetables.”

“Right.”

“How come Jecca’s never seen you?”

Tristan nearly choked. “You have to stop listening to other people’s conversations.”

Nell didn’t reply, just kept looking at him.

He gave in under the pressure. “When I met Jecca itI mren was by accident and it was pitch-dark,” he began. The whole story was innocent enough that he could tell a child. All he and Jecca had done was talk. He told Nell of the evenings he and Jecca had spent together, including the picnic by the lake.

Nell ran her straw about in her drink as she considered what he’d said. “Did you do any kissing?”

“That, young lady, is none of your business.”

Nell waited in silence.

“A little bit,” he said. “Not much.”

“So she’s never seen your face?”

“No, she hasn’t,” Tris said. “But I’m going to show up at Reede’s party and then she’ll see me.”

“I hope she likes your face. If she doesn’t, I’ll never get the playhouse painted.”

Tristan laughed. “Nell, you really know how to put me in my place. I hadn’t thought that she might not find me . . . appealing. Your mother thinks Reede is very pretty. Do you think Jecca might run off with him?” He was teasing.

Nell didn’t smile. “All the girls at school like Scotty because he’s so nice to look at, but he’s mean.”

Tris quit smiling. It seemed that his niece had something serious to say. “But you don’t like him?”

“No. I like Davey, who’s very nice, but he’s ugly.”

“I see. So what does all this mean?”

“I think it’s better if the outside and the inside match. I wish Davey could look like Scotty.”

Tris tried to figure out what she was saying, but then he got it. “You don’t think I should just go to the party in jeans and an old shirt like I’d usually wear to a barbecue, do you?”

“No.”

“Since Jecca has on a fancy dress, how about if we go to my house and I put on my tuxedo?”

“What do I wear?” Nell asked.

Tris took his cell out of his pocket and handed it to her. “Call Miss Lucy. We have a couple of hours before the party. She could probably make you a ball gown in that time.”

Not long after that, he and Nell were at Reede’s party and Tris was in a tuxedo. He’d enjoyed dancing with Jecca, but there was something more important. When she’d first seen him, it was as though she’d looked past what Miss Livie called his “exterior self.” For a moment, just a flash, it was as though Jecca was looking at his soul. He’d stood there and waited while she seemed to make up her mind about something—and Tristan had never felt so naked.

All his life women had come to him easily. At most, all he’d had to do was look at a woman with lowered lashes and she was by his side. This . . . ability of his had caused him problems in his practice, and he’d talked to his father about it.

“Professional!” his dad said. “ sa his practYou have to be professional both in and out of the office. Stay away from your patients. Find a girl that you’ve never held a stethoscope to.”

Tris had always followed that advice, even though at times it had been difficult. There’d been a patient, a young woman, divorced, with a three-year-old daughter who’d almost made him forget himself. When she’d moved away from Edilean he didn’t know whether to be glad or despondent. If she’d left a forwarding address he might have pursued her.

But now that he’d met Jecca he was glad he hadn’t. Neither that woman nor any other had looked at him the way Jecca did yesterday. For the first time in his life, Tristan had felt that his looks counted for nothing. He thought Jecca wouldn’t have minded if he’d been covered in burn scars. She was looking at his inner self, not the exterior.

That he’d passed her scrutiny—her judgment—was the most fulfilling thing in his life. He had passed through medical school based on what he’d learned. But Jecca’s test was based on what he
was
.

When he’d first seen her through the crowd, she’d been halfway out the door. It looked like the people of Edilean—mostly his relatives—had been ignoring her and she was leaving. He should have been angry about that, but instead, it made him feel more like she belonged to him.

If he’d had his way, he would have made love to her then and there. The smile she gave him, letting him know that he’d passed her test, made him feel like a caveman. He wanted to say “You’re mine” and throw her over his shoulder and take her away. He didn’t want other men looking at her in a dress that showed off her every curve. It hadn’t been easy for him to hold back from her.

The best he could do in a modern society was dance with her. He’d loved holding her in his arms, loved the way she so easily followed him around the floor.

When the people crowded around them after the dance, it was easy for him to lead Jecca and Nell out of there. If Nell hadn’t been with them he would have taken Jecca straight home. But he didn’t want to rush her. He wanted to make sure that what happened between them was what she too wanted.

At Al’s Diner Tris knew he’d acted like a high school kid. He couldn’t keep his hands off of her! He’d never felt such desire before. Just to touch her, feel her leaning against him, was all he could think about.

They’d spent the best night of sex together that he’d ever had. He awoke once to her curled up against him, and he’d felt such tenderness for her that he never wanted her to leave.

And therein was the problem. There was nothing he could do to stop Jecca from leaving in just a few months. He was anchored in Edilean as firmly as the big oak in the middle of town. His roots went down as far as the tree’s. Even the last hurricane hadn’t dislodged that tree, and nothing was going to make Tristan leave his hometown either.

Tris checked more plants for mealybugs and red spider, then made sure the mister was working. It was all in order, and he left the conservatory. He knew he should probably help the women load the Rover but instead he went to find Jecca and Nell.

He hadn’t been upstairs since Jecca had moved in. Her doord ie Rover b was open and he looked inside, but they weren’t there. Just as she’d done to his house, he wanted to see the way she lived. He wanted to learn more about her.

He went into the bedroom first. On the bed was a green canvas suitcase, the kind that opened at the top, a Gladstone bag. It was half full of Jecca’s clothes. He could see jeans, T-shirts, and a sweater to the side. Everything was neat and tidy. He knew the room well, as it was where he stayed when he was a child and his parents went out. He knew which pictures had been changed. Jecca must have gone around the house and selected the ones she liked best, then rehung them in her apartment. He’d always liked the scene of the river in Scotland better than the portrait of old man Wingate that used to hang over the bed.

Smiling, he went into the living room. What most interested him was the art area that she’d set up by the big windows. There was a drafting table, custom made, and beautiful, and on top was her big sketchbook. As Tris opened it, he couldn’t help glancing over his shoulder to see if he was going to be caught. No one had to tell him that looking in an artist’s sketchbook was as invasive as reading a person’s diary.

But he couldn’t resist. The first pages were sketches of flowers from Miss Livie’s garden. She’d colored some of them with pencils; some were just outlines. He could tell she’d drawn them quickly, but she’d managed to capture the shape of the flowers.

There were several pages of his orchids and that made him smile. It looked like she’d liked the paphiopedilums the best—and he did too. Their exotic shapes, both seductive and forbidding at the same time, had always fascinated him.

She’d experimented with color on them. There were a few drawings that were close to reality, but a couple had colors as fanciful as a 3-D movie.