Evvie at Sixteen
The Sebastian Sisters, Book One
Susan Beth Pfeffer
For Beverly Horowitz
Editor and Friend
CHAPTER ONE
“What a dump.”
“Claire! That’s no way to wish Evvie a happy birthday. Even Sybil knows better than that, don’t you, Sybil.”
“Sure, Thea. First you say happy birthday. Then you say what a dump.”
“Sybil!”
Evvie Sebastian looked out from her bed at her three younger sisters and laughed. “Start with happy birthday,” she said. “I know what a dump it is already.”
“It sure is,” Claire said, plopping down on Evvie’s bed. “The whole house is. You at least get your own room. I’d kill for my own room, even this one.”
“I’d kill to get you out of ours,” Thea declared. “Evvie, she’s awful. She keeps threatening to paint the room red.”
“I like red rooms,” Claire said. “They’re sexy.”
“See what I mean,” Thea said. “She’s only twelve and all she talks about is sex. I have to cover Sybil’s ears so she won’t get corrupted.”
“I wouldn’t mind getting corrupted,” Sybil declared. “Aren’t we supposed to give Evvie her birthday presents now?”
“Sounds good to me,” Evvie said, and stretched her arm out for her gifts.
“It must be wonderful to be sixteen,” Thea said. “I can’t wait until I’m sixteen.”
“You have two years,” Sybil pointed out. “And Claire has four, and I have six. And then by the time I’m sixteen, Evvie’ll be twenty-two. That’s not fair somehow. Happy birthday.”
“Thank you,” Evvie said, taking the box from her youngest sister. She opened it. “Stationery,” she said. “Thank you, Sybil.”
“It’s practical,” Sybil declared. “If you ever go away, you can write us letters with it.”
“My present’s practical, too,” Claire said. “Here, Evvie. Happy birthday. I’m sorry your bedroom is a dump.”
“No sorrier than I am,” Evvie replied. “Maybe after I’ve been here for a while, I can make it something decent.”
“This whole house is a lost cause,” Claire said. “Nicky sure found us a dump this time.”
“It wasn’t his fault,” Thea declared. “We had to move in a hurry. Besides, Megs will make it beautiful. She always does.”
“Let’s see what Claire got me,” Evvie said. She opened the box and found two handkerchiefs. “Thanks, Claire. They’re beautiful.”
“They’re for when you start crying,” Claire said. “Which you’ll probably do all the time when you think about this horrible house and having to go to a whole new school in September and the way Nicky blew all the money we finally had this spring.”
“I wish you’d stop blaming Nicky for everything,” Thea said. “Evvie, open my present. It’s beautiful and practical and I paid my own money for it.”
Evvie laughed and took the box from Thea. She opened it, and found a blouse. “It is beautiful,” she said. “Thank you, Thea.”
“What do you think Nicky and Megs will give you?” Claire asked. “It isn’t like they have any money right now for something nice.”
“They’ll give her something nice anyway,” Thea said. “My birthday was three weeks ago when things were just awful and they gave me this ring.” She twirled it around her finger to show it off better.
“Besides, Megs’s trust fund check came in yesterday,” Sybil said. “Nicky and Megs always act rich when the check comes in.”
Evvie could hear the phone ring. Either Nicky or Megs answered it. She stretched out on her bed and enjoyed the luxury of having her own bedroom again. It wasn’t much of a room, hardly bigger than a closet, but it was hers alone. Thea, Claire, and Sybil had to share a barn of a room. Their last home, Evvie and Thea had shared one room, while Claire and Sybil had had the other. The home before that, they’d also shared, but the rooms had been larger. Before that, they’d all had rooms of their own. That had been a real change for them, since the place before that had been a three and a half room apartment, with the girls sharing the one bedroom, and Nicky and Megs sleeping on a sofa bed in the living room. That had been the worst place they’d ever lived in. It made their current home look like a palace.
“Things will get better,” Thea declared, as though she’d been reading Evvie’s mind. “They always do.”
“That’s not true,” Claire said. “Lots of times they get worse. You can never tell with Nicky.”
“You know what I hate most about all these moves,” Sybil said, curling up on Evvie’s bed. “Having to explain everything again and again to people. Telling people that Nicky’s my father and Megs is my mother and we call them by their first names, but they really are my parents. And then it gets even worse if you bring someone over, and Nicky calls Megs Daisy and I have to explain all over again that her name really is Megs but he calls her Daisy. It doesn’t help when she calls him Nicholas.”
“It doesn’t help either when some grownup comes in and calls them Nick and Meg,” Thea said. “Because then you have to explain that only family calls them Nicky and Megs and everybody else calls them Nick and Meg.”
“I could live with that,” Claire said. “It’s the rest of the explaining that gets to me. Why we have to move so often, because when Nicky gets a good deal going, he makes lots of money real fast, but if the deal falls through, then all of a sudden we’re poor again. And half the time the law decides to chase Nicky around and we have to leave town fast. Like we just did.”
“The law had nothing to do with it,” Thea said. “Nicky just realized we’d be better off away from there.”
“Sure,” Claire said. “That’s why we had to sneak off in the middle of the night. After Nicky had sold practically everything we own to raise enough money to pay the rent on this place for a month.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” Evvie said. “It never is with Nicky. It just feels that way sometimes.”
“You’re all too nice to Nicky,” Claire said. “Sometimes I think I’m the only one who really understands him.”
Evvie looked at her three sisters. Claire was certainly the only one who looked like Nicky. She, Thea, and Sybil all had Megs’s blond hair and blue eyes. They were pretty girls, Thea the prettiest of the three. But Claire was Nicky’s daughter, with his black hair and blazing green eyes. Nicky was the handsomest man Evvie had ever seen, and even at twelve, Claire was startlingly beautiful.
“This is going to be a perfect birthday,” Evvie declared. “I can feel it.”
“All I feel is hungry,” Sybil said. “I’m going downstairs to see if Megs has made breakfast.”
“I’ll go with you,” Claire said. “Coming, Thea?”
“In a minute,” Thea said. She waited until Claire and Sybil were out of the room, and then she turned to Evvie. “Can you believe them?” she asked. “Giving you the handkerchiefs and stationery Aunt Grace gave them for Christmas.”
Evvie laughed. “Claire never has any money,” she pointed out. “And Sybil hoards hers. I never expect anything from them.”
“They’re so cheap, it’s disgusting,” Thea said. “I saved up my money to buy you that blouse. You do like it, don’t you, Evvie?”
“I love it,” Evvie said. “I’ll wear it tonight when Nicky and Megs take me out for dinner.”
“Birthday dinner the day after the trust fund check arrives,” Thea said. “You’re so lucky, Evvie.”
“I am,” Evvie agreed. “Now scat, Thea, so I can start hunting for my clothes.”
“Meet you downstairs,” Thea said. “This room is pretty awful, but after Megs works on it this summer, it’ll be nice.”
“I sure hope so,”
Evvie said. Thea left the room, and Evvie treated herself to another minute in bed, before getting out and searching through boxes for something to wear. The problem with having a room no bigger than a closet was it didn’t have a closet. Evvie knew things really would get better, but she hated the house she woke up in on her sixteenth birthday.
“Evvie? May I come in?”
“Sure, Megs,” Evvie said, zipping up her jeans.
“Happy birthday, honey,” her mother said, walking over and giving Evvie a hug and a kiss. Evvie returned the hug, and felt secure and happy, as she always did in her mother’s arms.
“I hate to do this to you on your birthday,” Meg said. “But Nicky has to talk to you about something important, and we’d both feel better if we got it over with first thing. Do you mind? I’ll have a big breakfast waiting for you when you’re done.”
“What’s the matter?” Evvie asked. With her parents, the possibilities for disaster were endless.
“It’s Aunt Grace,” Meg replied. “She’s hurt herself. Clark just called to tell us about it. But I’ll let Nicky explain it all to you. He’s in the study.”
“I’ll be right there,” Evvie said. She tucked her blouse in and followed her mother down the stairs. Aunt Grace was Megs’s aunt, the woman who had raised her after Megs’s parents had died. She was an old woman, but tough, and mean. Evvie didn’t care for the turns her birthday was taking.
“Come on in,” Nick said, and Evvie did. “Happy birthday, Evvie. I’m sorry to start your day with bad news.”
“What exactly happened?” Evvie asked. “All Megs said was Aunt Grace hurt herself.”
“Clark called this morning from Eastgate,” Nick declared. “He wishes you a happy birthday of course.”
“Of course,” Evvie said. Clark Bradford was the man everyone expected Megs to marry, only she’d met and fallen in love with Nicky instead. That hadn’t kept Clark from staying in love with Megs though, and performing like an honorary uncle to the whole family. He came from the same old money society Grace did, Boston for nine months a year, the summer colony of Eastgate the rest of the time. As far as Evvie knew, he was the only person in the world who genuinely liked Aunt Grace.
“Clark’s housekeeper ran into Grace’s,” Nick said. “It seems Grace had taken a bad fall and was bedridden. They’d kept her in the hospital for a few days, but they released her yesterday and now she’s at the cottage with her leg in a cast. She has a full time staff in attendance, but it still must be hard on her.”
“Has Megs called her?” Evvie asked.
“Only to speak to Mrs. Baker, her housekeeper,” Nick replied. “We decided she should talk to Grace after we’d spoken to you.”
“About what?” Evvie asked.
“About which one of us should go there to help out,” Nick said. “Of course what Daisy wanted to do was drop everything and take care of Grace herself. She feels she owes Grace something, even though that’s nonsense. Grace did for her only what she was obliged to do, and she’s made Daisy pay for every act of kindness a hundred times over. But Daisy can’t see it. In any event, I can’t have her go away right now. I need her here, to help me until I get some new venture going. And the house is a mess, and the girls are out of school, and it simply isn’t the right time for Daisy to go off for a long visit.”
“So you want me to go instead?” Evvie asked. “Alone? Nicky, I can’t. She terrifies me.”
“She terrifies everybody,” Nick said. “Except me, and that’s because I can see through her. Evvie, I know this is a lot to ask of you, but the family needs your help.”
Evvie looked around at the room that would someday serve as her father’s office. Right then, it was a mess of unpacked boxes, and like every other room in the house, it was dingy, dark, and unappealing. She knew her mother would transform it though, and soon it would be a room of quiet dignity, with Nicky’s degrees and awards displayed almost casually. Half those awards Nicky had bought someplace, and the other half, she suspected, were equally dubious. Nicky had an extraordinary ability to win Man Of The Year awards ten minutes before being chased out of town.
The family always needed her help, but it wasn’t Nicky who usually asked for it. He turned to Megs for just about everything, and Megs then asked Evvie for assistance with the others. Evvie figured that was what came of being the oldest, a little extra responsibility. She didn’t mind. She loved her sisters, and she genuinely enjoyed her parents. And unlike all the kids she’d met at all the different schools she’d attended, Evvie could never recall a moment when she was bored.
But Aunt Grace was a whole other matter. She was eighty-five years old and Evvie couldn’t remember ever having seen her smile. Not that they’d spent much time together. Not that Evvie had ever wanted to.
“I don’t think she likes me, Nicky,” Evvie said. “And I know I don’t like her. So there’s no point in my going there.”
“There’s every point,” Nick said. He got up from his chair and walked over to the window. The view of the lawn was as depressing as the room itself. But Meg could do miracles with a garden, even with a start as late as July. “Think of it as a long term investment.” He turned to face Evvie and he smiled. Evvie felt the power of that smile, and in spite of herself, smiled back. Everyone she knew smiled back when Nicky graced them with a smile.
“You want me to get Aunt Grace to like me?” Evvie asked. “I love you, but that’s crazy. Aunt Grace is never going to like me. She’s known me sixteen years, and she hasn’t liked me yet. What makes you think if I spend the summer there, under her roof, driving her crazy, she’s going to start liking me now?”
“You underrate yourself,” Nick declared. “You have a gift for making people like you, Evvie. It’s a useful talent, and it should help you in years to come. Now make it help us. Stay there with Grace, do things for her, show her how much this family cares about her, and she’ll like you automatically.”
“Wait a minute. Then she’s supposed to leave us everything in her will?” Evvie asked. “I can’t handle that kind of responsibility. What if she hates my guts and leaves everything to the Humane Society? You’d hold it against me forever.”
“I could never hold anything against you,” Nick said. “Certainly nothing as unimportant as money. I don’t care if Grace leaves us nothing but her best wishes. I’ve never taken a penny from her, and I’d be just as happy to keep it that way forever. The money means nothing to me. It’s Daisy whose feelings are concerned.”
“Oh come on,” Evvie said. “Megs never cared about the money. She actually loves Aunt Grace. Why, I’ll never know.”
“She feels grateful to Grace,” Nick said. “For giving her a home after her parents died. And maybe she’s right to feel grateful. I know what it’s like to be without a family, on your own, when you’re hardly more than a child. When my mother died, my stepfather made it abundantly clear I was no longer welcome in his house. I was sixteen, and there was no one I could turn to. My own father had died on D-day. He was a hero, I guess. At least I told myself he was a hero. When you don’t have a father, the one you dream of almost has to be a hero.”
Evvie nodded. Her father rarely talked about his past. As far as he was concerned, his life began the day he met Megs. The way Megs talked, the same was true for her.
“It’s important to Daisy to be in the will,” Nick said. “To prove to her that Grace does indeed still love her. The money is just a symbol. It’s the acceptance that counts. Grace will never accept me. But if she disinherits Daisy, Daisy will feel Grace never truly accepted her either. I don’t know if you can understand that, Evvie. I like to think the one thing Daisy and I have given our daughters is a strong sense of how much they are cherished.”
Evvie nodded. No matter how her parents’ fortunes shifted, she and her sisters always knew they’d be protected and loved.
Nick turned away from Evvie. “Daisy was lucky, I suppose,” he said. “Her parents adored her. The three of them were like a valen
tine until their death. She tells such magical stories. You know, you’ve heard them. But sometimes I think that must have made what followed so much worse for her, going from that fairy tale existence to living with Grace. Sometimes I think I had it easier. I had no real memories of my father. My mother was always tired, always distant. My stepfather was cruel to her, brutal to me. When she died and he kicked me out, ultimately, I felt relief. No expulsion from Paradise there. In fact, things got better when Mr. Wilson, my English teacher, took me in and then paid for my education at Princeton.”
“I knew you weren’t happy,” Evvie said. “I didn’t guess how bad it was for you though.”
“No reason for you to,” Nick said, and he faced her again. “No reason for you to guess now, except we need you to go to Grace’s, and there are things you have to understand. She hated me for taking Daisy away, kept us apart every way she could until we finally eloped. I had to get her out of that house. I had to rescue her. And she rescued me as well, with her love, and with the family she gave me. I cannot imagine who I would be if I hadn’t met Daisy.”
Evvie wondered if any man would ever speak of her that way. Part of her hoped there would be, and part of her rejected the whole idea of being someone else’s universe. It was hard enough just getting through high school.
“Grace hated me for taking Daisy away,” Nick said. “For removing her from that perfect social order. But she hated me for who I was as well. A nobody. An upstart. An outsider, no family, no name. She did everything she could to break us up. She hired detectives, and showed me the report to try to frighten me off.”
“You’re kidding,” Evvie said. “Real detectives? What did they find?”
Nick laughed. “She dug up all sorts of sordid little truths about my past, my family,” he replied. “A few things I didn’t even know, and would have been just as happy not to find out. When she didn’t frighten me away, she showed the report to Daisy, hoping it would shock her back to her senses. She dreamt that Daisy would drop me, when she saw what I was, and fall in love with Clark or some other equally appropriate young man. Only Daisy was as much in love with me as I was with her. Poor Clark never stood a chance. Neither did Grace, really, although she didn’t give up trying. She’ll try with you, too, which is why I’m telling you all this. Just ignore her if she baits you.”