“Me too.” She kissed his palm. She still wasn’t used to seeing him. His voice was familiar and she’d know his hands anywhere, but his face held mystery for her. “Chanel.”
“The perfume? I’m fresh out.”
“You know when you walk into a big department store and there are all those different cosmetics counters?”
“Not from personal experience, but I’ve seen them.”
She put her hand on his bare chest. “Each company has its own look, and you’re like the guys in the posters at the Chanel counters.”
It took Tristan a moment to get her meaning. “You’re saying I look like a model?”
“Well . . .” she said. R. Sbo8221;20;Older, but yes.”
“So now I’m an old model?” He was leaning toward her.
“Very old,” she said.
He put his face against her neck. “I’ll have you know that I am a doctor, not a model, and right now I think you need examining.”
Jecca’s answer was a giggle as she slid down into the bed.
By the time they’d made love again, showered—where they had a quickie—then showered again, it was one o’clock.
“I need food,” Jecca said as she dried off. “And I need something to wear besides silk.”
“Looks like you did all right at the Chanel counter,” Tris said and took a step toward her.
“Don’t even think about it,” she said. “I would have thought Nell would be here by now.”
“She was, but I sent her back to Miss Livie’s.”
“Please tell me they aren’t all over there now, waiting for me to get out of bed,” Jecca said.
“Sorry, but they are.”
“And I’m going to show up wearing the dress I had on last night.” She groaned. “Very embarrassing.”
“Miss Livie wouldn’t let that happen.” He left the room for a moment, then returned with a paper grocery bag and handed it to her.
Inside was a pair of Jecca’s jeans, sandals, a pink linen shirt, and underwear.
“Nell brought it over at about nine this morning and I gave her Miss Livie’s dress. We’re invited for lunch.”
Jecca dressed in minutes. There was even a bag of cosmetics in the bottom, and the kind thoughtfulness of the women made her smile. Is this what it was like to have a mother? she wondered.
Tristan seemed to know what she was feeling. “Nice ladies,” he said.
“Very nice.”
As they started out the door, he caught her arm. “Jecca, about going to Roan’s cabin . . . We don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”
Turning, she smiled at him. “I’m looking forward to it.”
“Are you sure? His place is rustic, and besides, both Nell and Roan will be there. Maybe you’d rather go somewhere else.”
“To a place that’s more luxurious? Where I can have a morning at a spa?”
“Yes,” he said, his face serious. “With you living in New York and all, I’m sure your tastes are more sophisticated than ours here. Maybe you’d like something more cultured.”
“You’re forgetting how I grew up. If Roan owns a chainsaw, I’ll show you guys how to properly use it.”
Laughing, Tristan kissed her. “I’m envision217217;ll sing you in Miss Livie’s dress with a chainsaw.” He sighed. “We better go. Nell said Miss Livie and Lucy have been cooking all morning. I’m to take as much food up to Roan as my old car will hold.”
“So they know Roan?”
“Are you kidding? He teases them until even I’m blushing. He says that flirting keeps him attached to his Southern roots, since he’s not allowed to so much as look at his students in California.”
“Glad to hear that,” Jecca said. They were walking along the trail to Mrs. Wingate’s house, arm in arm. To their left was the path to the playhouse. At the diner, Jecca had told Tris and Nell about Mrs. Wingate’s garden ideas. “Think there’s enough sun in there for plants to grow?”
“There’s a dying elm that needs to be taken out,” Tris said. “Once it’s gone, there’ll be plenty of light. Maybe you can use a chainsaw on the tree.”
“Me?” she said, looking aghast as she moved away from him. “But I’m a girl!”
“Are you?” Tris asked, his voice low. “That was something I hadn’t noticed about you. Better let me check to make sure.”
When he reached out to touch her, she stepped back, but then halted when she realized she was going down the path to the playhouse.
“Good idea,” he said. “I think we need to look at that place together. I’ll show you how we can lock the door.”
“There you are!” said an unmistakable voice. It was Nell, and she was at the head of the trail, still on Wingate property. She was glaring at the two of them. “We’ve been waiting forever,” Nell said. “We’re all starving, and Uncle Roan doesn’t know where we are.” Nell sounded like a mother lecturing her children, and Jecca felt guilty that she’d slept so long.
But Tristan just laughed as he ran at his niece, picked her up, and kept going.
As Jecca hurried after them, she tried to think of some excuse—a lie really—to explain why she was so late. But when she entered the house she knew she didn’t have to worry. The women were too busy to ask questions.
The kitchen was cheerful chaos, and every surface was covered with utensils or prepared food. Lucy and Mrs. Wingate looked like they’d been standing over steaming pots for hours. Or rather, Lucy did. Her hair was in wispy curls about her face, and her apron was covered with fruit stains.
Jecca thought she looked great and couldn’t help using her cell phone to snap a photo of her. While Tris was being given samples of everything they’d made, Jecca sent Lucy’s photo to her father. SUNDAY AT THE WINGATE HOUSE she wrote. She thought about sending a photo of Tristan but decided not to. That would send her dad into one of his interrogations about the man’s intentions.
Stepping back, Jecca watched Tristan with the two women and saw how familiar they were with one another—and how the women adored him. Royal princes had never been treated so well. The women held out spoons and forks full of food for him to taste, bum t width=ttered pieces of bread, sliced-off cheese. Lucy got a plate and started filling it for him.
“He’s their favorite toy,” Nell said, making Jecca laugh. “Could I see your drawings of the playhouse? Whenever you’re ready,” she added. It looked like she’d been told to be polite.
“Sure,” Jecca said, but she looked with longing at the food that was everywhere. Most of it had been put into containers and the lids sealed. No one had mentioned when they were going to sit down to eat.
Jecca started to the door, but Tris caught her arm.
“You don’t want your plate?” He held out the food she thought had been assembled for him.
“Why don’t you take it upstairs?” Lucy said. “Poor Nell has been waiting for hours. She’s dying to see the pictures you made. Don’t forget to take her into my sewing room and talk to her about curtains.”
“And slipcovers,” Jecca said as she took the plate, smiling because she hadn’t been forgotten.
Mrs. Wingate handed Nell two glasses of iced tea. “Let us know when you’ve packed your clothes and we’ll fill the cooler.”
Smiling, Jecca gave a wave to Tristan—he was standing by the stove and eating—then she ran up the stairs, Nell right behind her.
As soon as Jecca was out of the kitchen, the two women turned to look at Tristan, but he just kept eating.
“So?” Mrs. Wingate said.
“It’s good,” Tris said. “Not quite as spicy as last year’s batch but good. Maybe you should add a few more peppercorns.”
“She’s not asking about the damned pickles,” Lucy said, “and you know it! We want to know about Jecca!”
“My, my,” Tristan said as he used tongs to lift another piece of chicken out of the skillet. “You two are certainly feisty this morning. Well, let me see, three times Jecca and I—”
“Tristan!”
Mrs. Wingate said in the voice of an adult to a child.
Smiling, he sat down at the kitchen table with his plate. “I like her,” he said. When the women continued to stare at him, he said, “I like her a lot. She’s easy to be with. She fits in wherever we go. Al called her Jersey Lil.”
Mrs. Wingate nodded as she sat down across from him. “After Lillie Langtry,” she said. “Albert always did love PBS, and he’s right. Jecca’s beauty and sophistication cover her blue-collar background. Just like Mrs. Langtry.”
Lucy and Tristan were staring at her in astonishment.
“I didn’t know you knew Al,” Tris said. “He—”
“Livie knows everyone,” Lucy said in dismissal as she took a seat. “We want to know about you and Jecca.”
“Jecca is going back to New York at the end of the summer,” Tris said. “She tells me that about evethadiv hry ten minutes.”
Lucy sighed. “I haven’t liked any of the young women you’ve dated, but I do Jecca. Can you imagine that one . . . What was her name? Melody?”
“Monica,” Tris said.
“Yes, that’s it. Monica. Can you imagine Monica helping me cut bias strips for binding? Jecca did. And she used the small binding attachment to cover six armscyes. I tell you, she has a natural talent with fabric. And with my machines. Even Henry behaves with her.”
“What I like about Jecca,” Mrs. Wingate said, looking at Tristan, “is that she cares about you, not just the look of you. But then I remember your telling me that you wished to find a woman who cared for you in spite of your face. And wish is the key word here.”
She was referring to his Frazier cousin’s Heartwishes Stone. It was alleged to grant wishes if they came from a person’s heart. Tristan gave a little scoff. “That’s ridiculous. If that were true, it would mean my broken arm—”
“Which led to your having time off—” Mrs. Wingate said.
“Which caused me to be home when Jecca was here and—”
“To stumble over her in the chaise. And you got to know her in the dark, where she couldn’t see your face. Ultimately, it all led to your being given what you wished for. Wished for from your very heart, I might add,” Mrs. Wingate said.
For a moment, Tristan looked at her in silence. “I don’t believe it.”
“Have it your way,” Mrs. Wingate said. “It’s just that things do fit together rather well, don’t they?”
“Cosmic coincidence.”
Mrs. Wingate looked at him. “The first time I saw Jecca after she’d spent the evening with you, she was downright starry-eyed. I didn’t think anything about it because silly girls often react like that to your external self. But later, when Jecca kept repeating that she’d never seen you, I put it together. She is a very sensible girl, and Lucy and I have become quite fond of her.”
“Me too,” Tris said.
“Better than Colin Frazier’s wife?” Mrs. Wingate asked.
Tristan smiled at her way of phrasing that. He wasn’t in the least surprised that she’d seen his feelings for Gemma, and now she was reminding him of Gemma’s marriage to another man. “Yes, which I’m glad of, because Jecca seems to be rather fond of me too.”
“Then you must make Jecca stay in Edilean,” Lucy said. She knew all about the Heartwishes Stone and believed in it fully.
“Every time I mention her staying, Jecca . . .” Tristan lifted his hand. “Well, let’s just say that that girl has a sharp tongue on her.”
“What did you say to provoke her?” Lucy asked, her tone showing that she was on Jecca’s side.
Tristan went over his suggestions of local jobs ff l But lor Jecca and her replies.
“I see her point,” Lucy said. “A job is very important to a woman.”
“I wonder if Jecca would like to be an interior decorator,” Mrs. Wingate said. “She seems to have a talent for it.”
“She just wants to paint her watercolors and have them sell,” Tris said.
Lucy sighed. “That they don’t sell is a big problem to her.”
“She told you about that?” Tristan asked, astonished. “Kim told me, not Jecca.”
“We talk a lot in the evenings when we sew,” Mrs. Wingate said. “Jecca is very good company. She tries to pretend that she doesn’t mind about her paintings not selling, but she does. And why hasn’t she told you about this problem in her life?”
“I don’t know,” Tris said. “Maybe it’s because I don’t put her on a couch and grill her. And speaking of revealing secrets, what have you two told her about your secrets?” He looked at Mrs. Wingate. “I heard you nearly passed out at the mention of Bill Welsch’s name. What was that all about?”
“I, uh . . .” Mrs. Wingate got up and went to the stove.
Tristan looked at Lucy. “Now where was it that you grew up? Are you married? Any kids?”
Lucy went to stand next to Mrs. Wingate.
Tristan took a long drink of his tea, then stood up. Both women had their backs to him. Grinning, he put himself between them and an arm around each one. “I’m doing my best, okay? I like Jecca more than I’ve ever liked any woman before and I’m doing all that I can to get her to stay. But it takes time.”
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.”