Moonlight in the Morning (24 page)

“He laughs a lot around you,” Nell said while Tris was gathering more wood.

“Does he?”

“Mom says Uncle Tris worries too much about work. Grandpa won’t let him even see the files at the office. He says that it’s too hard to be just one doctor in Edilean and that Uncle Tris needs a partner.”

Jecca started to say that maybe Tris should work somewhere else, like in a New York office, but she didn’t. All she had to do was look at Nell and she knew he couldn’t possibly leave.

“What’s that grim expression for?” Tris asked Jecca as he piled the wood by the fire.

“Just thinking,” she said. “Those fish look like they’re done.”

“So they are.”

Nell kept up a steady stream of chatter through lunch. “We need to 20;m" help Uncle Roan,” she said. “He’s not happy.”

“We can’t very well write his book for him,” Tris said.

“I think,” Nell said as she took a bite of fish, “that he’s not very good at writing.”

Both Jecca and Tris tried to cover their laughter but weren’t very successful.

“Nell,” Tris said, “only
you
could get away with telling him that.”

“I don’t think I will,” she said seriously. “It might make him cry.”

Tris and Jecca looked at each other and smiled at Nell’s wisdom and compassion. No one liked to be told he lacked the talent to pursue his dream.

After lunch, Tris kissed both his “girls” good-bye and went a full twenty yards away to fish some more. Jecca thought he was a beautiful sight in his tall waders, his fishing line flashing in the sun.

Nell was anxious to go back to painting. “How about butterflies?”

“Good idea,” Jecca said. “But what if you draw butterflies and I draw you? Maybe you could help Kim sell her jewelry.”

“I’d like that,” Nell said.

They didn’t go far from Tris. Nell tried to make a painting of a little blue butterfly, and Jecca tried to capture the way Nell’s eyelashes—“like feathers” as Tris had said—brushed against the curve of her cheek.

They’d been working about an hour when Nell said, “In two weeks I’m going to a birthday party.”

“That’s great,” Jecca said.

“I don’t want to go.”

“Why not?” Jecca asked.

“It’s at my cousin Rebecca’s house. She’s the same age as me, and it’s for two days. Every year she only invites six girls to spend the night, and I am
always
one of them.”

“You don’t like Rebecca?”

“She’s okay. She’s only medium smart, but she doesn’t have to be because she’s a McDowell.”

“I don’t know what that means,” Jecca said.

Nell glanced across the woodland toward the stream and lowered her voice. “Uncle Tris says it makes no difference, but she’s rich.”

Jecca couldn’t help frowning. “Nell, I don’t mean to be a spoilsport, but you don’t exactly come from poverty. Your uncle buys you anything you want.”

“I know,” Nell said softly, then was silent and looked like she didn’t intend to say another word.

Jecca knew she’d broken a cardinal rule in dealing with kids: listen, don’t criticize. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll stop being an obnoxious adult. Tell me what the problem is.”

Nell took a moment before speaking. “Rebecca feels sorry for me.”

“Yeow!” Jecca said. “That’s awful. Why in the world would she feel sorry for
you
?”

“My dad fixes cars and her dad is a lawyer. We live in a little house and she lives in a mansion. And her mother
makes
her invite me.”

Jecca had to work to keep from spouting out her true opinion of the little snob. She had an idea that Nell’s extreme prettiness, her intelligence, and her overall likeability played a big role in this. It was highly probable that Rebecca McDowell was jealous of Nell.

But Jecca knew it was no use saying that and making Nell feel worse. “No hope of getting out of going?”

“Rebecca would tell her mother, then everyone at church would hear about it.”

“And you’d look bad,” Jecca said. “All right, if this is a must-do thing, then we need to figure out a way to make it better.” She thought for a moment. “What if you showed up with a fabulous gift that was better than anyone else’s? Something unique?”

“Last year her dad gave her a pony.”

“I was thinking that maybe I could come over and draw a portrait of each girl.”

“They’d laugh at me,” Nell said. “They’d say I was afraid to be alone with them.”

Mean girls personified, Jecca thought but didn’t say. “How much of this does Tris know?”

Nell looked alarmed. “Nothing! If you tell him he’d . . . he’d . . .”

“Right. Go in with guns blazing and you’d be thirty-six years old before you got over the embarrassment. Too bad they can’t all have heart attacks and Tris could come in and save them.”

Nell giggled. “Or Rebecca’s dad could get sick.”

“Even better,” Jecca said. “Tris would save him, then on the way to the hospital the ambulance would break down, and your dad would fix it and save him a second time.”

Nell stood up, her face showing her excitement. “Then Rebecca’s mom would be so grateful she’d take my mom shopping with her at the Dorfy store in New York.”

“Dorfy store?”

“That’s where Rebecca’s mom takes her twice a year. And the bag store.”

Jecca stopped smiling as she tried to translate what Nell was saying. Then it hit her. “Are you saying that Rebecca’s mother shops for her in New York at Bergdorf’s and Saks?”

“That’s it!” Nell said, laughing. “Dorfy and Bags.”

“Hey!” Tris called. “Are you two having a party? Without
me
?!”

“Yes!” Nell yelled back. “A wonderful party.”

Jecca watched Teccment. ris and Nell run to each other. If anyone saw them they’d think they hadn’t seen each other in a year. He swung her around and her laughter echoed through the woods. Then Nell snuggled against him, her head on his shoulder, and they walked back to Jecca.

As soon as Tris saw Jecca’s face he lifted his brows to ask what was wrong. She mouthed “later,” and he nodded.

As Jecca watched Tristan admiring their paintings, she thought that there must be a way to solve Nell’s problem of the dreaded birthday party. Maybe Jecca felt so strongly about it because it was familiar to her. When she was eight she’d shown up at a birthday party wearing a dress her father had chosen for her: below her knees, ruffles everywhere, a sash tied in a big bow at the back. Jecca knew she’d go to her grave hearing the laughter of the other girls.

Of course Nell wouldn’t go dressed as an escapee from a religious sect, but she’d be competing with “Dorfy and Bags.” From a female point of view it was the same difference.

“What would you like to look like?” Jecca asked.

Tris asked, “What are you talking about?” but Nell understood instantly.

“French,” she said.

“I see,” Jecca said, smiling. “A French exchange student, visiting the U.S., looking at the peasant Americans.”

“Oh yes!” Nell breathed.

“What are you two up to?” Tris asked.

“Secrets!” Jecca said. “Girl secrets. Anybody hungry?”

“Me,” Tristan said, and Jecca and Nell laughed together.

Sixteen

Roan returned that evening with a carload of supplies—mostly unneeded—and the bad mood he’d been in seemed to have left him. He escorted Jecca out of the kitchen and began encasing the fish Tris had caught in a thick layer of salt.

“He’s a good cook when he wants to be,” Tris said.

Their evening meal was pleasant, with Roan making them laugh at things he’d seen in Edilean that day.

After that night they fell into a companionable routine. Jecca and Nell were in charge of breakfast, while Tris did lunch. “If you call getting stuff out of the refrigerator making a meal,” Roan said.

Dinner was Roan’s job, and he took the opportunity to show off his skills. There was an old chest freezer in the back and it was full of meat and vegetables.

“You missed your calling,” Jecca said as she ate a chicken leg that had been marinating in some secret sauce. “You should have been a chef.”

“And hide away in the kitchen all night?” Tris said. “You don’t know my cousin very well. He wants to be in the middle of the action, entertaining people with his verboseccme

Jecca looked at Roan, wondering how he’d take that remark, but he laughed. “Why would I miss the chance to share my great wisdom? The world needs me.”

They all laughed together.

During the day, Tris, Jecca, and Nell went hiking. Tris and Nell knew all the trails around the cabin, and they wanted to show them to Jecca. Sometimes Tris fished, but some days he just stretched out on a blanket and dozed.

Jecca painted everything she saw, including Nell and Tristan. Her sketchbook filled up, and between her and Nell taking photos, she filled an entire digital disk.

At night, Jecca and Tris made love. They slipped out of the cabin and into the moonlight and came together with all the pent-up desire they’d suppressed all day. There would be a first explosion, hard and fast, urgent with their desire for each other. Then they’d go more slowly, taking their time, touching and caressing.

Afterward, they’d lie in each other’s arms and talk of the day. “Do you think Roan minds that we’re taking up his time for writing?” Jecca would ask. “What were you and Nell giggling about this afternoon?” Tris would ask.

On the fourth day at the cabin, it rained hard and they stayed in. As a result, the four of them settled into a quiet domesticity. Tris had brought some medical journals, so he sat on the end of the couch and read. Jecca took the other end, her feet entwined with his, and sketched. Nell made herself a nest in one of the big chairs. She arranged her many dolls and animals into a horseshoe shape, backed into it, and curled up to read a paperback of some sci-fi adventure. Roan took the chair across from her and read an adult sci-fi adventure.

Jecca couldn’t help smiling at the peacefulness of it all. This is how it had been with her dad and brother when she was growing up. If her father was occupied, they were a very calm family. But after Sheila came into their lives, the peace was gone.

After lunch the rain came down harder. Nell went to the bedroom to, she said, give her dolls a rest. Jecca checked on her later, and Nell was asleep. Jecca went back to the couch.

“What are you drawing?” Tris asked. “Something for Kim?”

Jecca looked at him and smiled. She knew his look. If Roan hadn’t been sitting a few feet away, they wouldn’t have any clothes on right now. “Actually,” she said, “I’m designing an outfit for Nell to wear to her cousin’s birthday party.”

“That’s good,” he said, “because it’s a fashion show this year.”

Jecca lowered her sketchbook and stared at him. “A fashion show? What are you talking about?”

Tris put down his medical journal and stretched.

“He means,” Roan said as he got up to stoke the fire, “that those parties Savannah puts on for her kid are extravaganzas worthy of Versailles.”

“They’re not quite that bad,” Tris said. “But they are spectacular.” Jecca was waiting for an explanation. “Every year for Becca’s birthday, Tyler, her dad, shells out for whatever kind of tev#82party his wife can come up with. They run for two days, and lots of kids and adults are there for the events. Savannah plans them and—”

“And Tyler pays for them,” Roan added. He didn’t seem as enthralled with the parties as Tris was.

“That’s his problem,” Tris said. “I’m just happy that Nell is always invited to the sleepover part, even though I don’t think she and Rebecca are buddies at school. Becca is a good kid.”

Jecca didn’t comment on that last statement. “What does Rebecca wear?” she asked.

“I have no idea,” Tris answered, and Roan shrugged.

“Is it possible that Rebecca’s mother takes her to New York twice a year to buy clothes for her?”

Tris gave a little smile. “If you told me that Savannah flies to Paris to have Becca’s clothes made I wouldn’t be surprised. Tyler never stops complaining about how much she spends.”

“If he didn’t have family money, he’d be bankrupt by now,” Roan said.

“What kind of parties has she given?” Jecca asked as she went back to sketching.

“Last year she hired some circus people,” Tris said. “They set up a trapeze and the girls swung out over a trampoline.”

“How did Nell do with that?”

“Great,” Tris said. He was smiling in a way that said he had a secret.

“‘Great’ doesn’t describe what I heard,” Roan said.

“Well,” Tris said, and there was pride in his voice, “Rebecca did hit the edge of the trampoline. If it hadn’t been for Nell’s fast thinking, more than likely she would have gone over the side. Nell probably saved her from a broken bone or two. But thanks to Nell, Becca ended up with just a few bruises.”

“What did the other girls do when that happened?” Jecca asked.

“Stood there in terror, is what I was told,” Roan said.

Tris nodded. “The girls were pretty shook up, but then it happened very quickly. Nell just . . .” He trailed off, but his pride in his niece was apparent.

No wonder Rebecca hates Nell, Jecca thought. Nell was prettier, smarter, and reacted quickly in an emergency. Jecca would have loved to tell the two men the truth about young Rebecca, but she couldn’t betray a trust. She looked at Tris. “Were you called in for the accident?”

“Yes,” he said. “Why?”

“You wouldn’t by chance remember what Nell was wearing when you got there, would you?”

Tris looked blank, then his face lit up. “Actually I do. She had on a leotard with Mickey Mouse on the front. I remember because I teased her that it was two sizes too small for her. When we got home, she had me go online and order her a new one. No cartoon characters on it!”

Jecca had to bitcca hite her tongue to keep from saying anything. She was willing to bet that Rebecca “forgot” to tell Nell that she needed to bring a leotard to the party, so Nell was given an old one. How humiliating it must have been to have to wear a Mickey Mouse outfit that was too small for her.

“And this year it’s a fashion show?” Jecca asked.

“Yeah,” Tris said, “and I forgot to tell Nell about it. But we don’t have to worry about anything. Savannah told me that they’re supplying all the clothes. They’re from local stores and they’ve invited a lot of kids to be in the show. Pretty much everybody in Edilean will be there. Savannah asked me if I’d MC the thing.”

“And you’d wear your tux?” Jecca asked, trying to keep her face as straight as possible.

She didn’t fool him. “Jecca, what’s going on?”

“Nothing that we women can’t handle.”

The next morning after breakfast, Jecca took Nell into their bedroom and told her that this year Rebecca’s birthday party was going to be a fashion show. Immediately, Nell’s pretty face fell; she looked as though she was going to cry. “You think Rebecca will give you a Shrek outfit to wear?” Jecca was trying to make Nell smile, but it didn’t work.

“Yes,” Nell said. “She’ll give me the ugliest clothes she can find.”

“I have an idea,” Jecca said. “What if you show up with your own clothes? Not only clothes made just for you, but your own
line
of clothing?”

Nell looked as though Jecca had lost her mind.

Jecca sat down next to Nell on the bed and opened her sketchbook. “These are just rough designs, but I took your idea about being a French exchange student and ran with it. I came up with a few possibilities.” She flipped the pages to show Nell what she had in mind. There was a red jacket with oversize black buttons. It was pleated in the front, smooth in the back. Jecca had drawn it over a straight black skirt with black tights and shoes. A black beret went with it. Next was a simple navy dress with black piping across the bodice and sleeves. A peach party dress had a square neck and a high waist.

All the clothes were simple and very elegant. They weren’t at all like what girls usually wore, layers of seemingly mismatched clothes, one layer on top of the other.

“What do you think?” Jecca asked.

“I love them. But . . . ?” She didn’t seem to know what questions to ask. “How . . . ?”

“Lucy,” Jecca said. “We’ll get Lucy to make these for you. And I’ll help her with the cutting, and maybe Tris can . . .” She waved her hand. “He can give us moral support. And . . . drumroll please . . .” Jecca turned the page to show a rectangle that said in a distinctive cursive writing
Nell’s Closet
.

“What is it?”

“Your label. You can name it anything you want, but I saw a place online that will make the labels and send them to us. We’ll sew them into the back of the clothes. Thhe ackey’ll be yours alone. No one else on earth will have anything like them.”

Nell held the sketchbook for a moment, staring at it and obviously not understanding what Jecca was talking about, but her enthusiasm was contagious.

“Would you like me to go over it all again?” Jecca asked.

“Oh yes,” Nell said as she picked up an armload of dolls and bears and settled back to listen.