“But you do it,” Evvie said. “You play your parts.”
“I don’t have many options,” Sam replied. “You know, I’ve told you more about me than I’ve ever told anybody else before. Why is that?”
“You told Aunt Grace we were going to be married,” Evvie said. “I have a right to know all about you.”
“I had to tell her something,” Sam said. “I didn’t hear you accept my proposal.”
“I’m not about to,” Evvie said. “My parents fell in love the minute they laid eyes on each other, and by that night, they knew they were going to be married. Megs was sixteen then, just like me.”
“I didn’t realize I’d stumbled into a family tradition,” Sam said.
“It’s theirs, not mine,” Evvie replied. “I may get married someday, but if I do, it won’t be because of love at first sight. Romance is all well and good, but not for me, thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Sam said. “Now you have ice cream on your chin.”
Evvie wiped it off.
“Good,” Sam said. He bent over and kissed her.
“Does this mean we’re engaged?” Evvie asked.
“Let’s not rush into anything,” Sam said.” Besides, we should be getting back before Miss Winslow sends the bloodhounds after us.”
“You’re right,” Evvie said with a sigh. She got up, brushed herself off and, standing on tiptoe, kissed Sam.
“Evvie,” he said. “This is probably a major mistake.”
“I’m just trying to see how my mother did it,” Evvie declared. “Love at first sight, I mean.”
“I don’t love easily,” Sam said. “In my entire life, I’ve only loved my grandparents and my dog, Lucky. And Mrs. Weinstein. She was my first-grade teacher.”
“Did they all love you back?” Evvie asked, as she began walking toward Sam’s car.
“Lucky sure did,” Sam said. “Evvie, I want to keep seeing you, but your aunt isn’t going to like it.”
“That’s none of your concern,” Evvie said. “If I want to see you, then I’ll see you. Just promise me you’ll hold off on the proposals for a while. At least in front of Aunt Grace.”
“I don’t want to get you in trouble,” Sam said.
“Oh, Sam,” Evvie said, and then she smiled at him. “This whole summer is trouble. So we might as well relax, and enjoy it.”
CHAPTER SIX
I’m going to Clark’s now, Aunt Grace,” Evvie said. “Is there anything you want before I leave?”
“Yes, hand me my reading glasses,” Aunt Grace replied.
Evvie stifled a sigh. The glasses were ten inches away from Grace. There was no need for Evvie to have to enter the room, walk over to the nightstand, and hand the glasses over. But she did. “Here,” she said. “Don’t read any more in our mystery before I get back. It’s not fair if you have a head start.”
“I’ll read whatever I want to read,” Aunt Grace said.
“All right,” Evvie replied. “That’s your privilege.”
“How long will you be at Clark’s?” Aunt Grace asked.
“Just for lunch,” Evvie said. “He invited me so I can meet his cousins. The ones who are spending the summer at his place.”
“Bradford’s boys,” Aunt Grace said. “Bradford Hughes was a wild one. There was a drunk-driving incident. He married out.”
“What do you mean?” Evvie asked.
“His wife comes from Syracuse or Wilmington or some such place,” Aunt Grace replied. “She isn’t a Bostonian.”
“Fresh blood,” Evvie said. “Too much inbreeding can be dangerous.”
“So can too much back-talking,” Grace said as she wiggled into a sitting position. “I suppose you approve of people from Syracuse.”
Evvie laughed. “It’s an accident of birth, Aunt Grace,” she said. “I’m sure Mrs. Hughes would prefer to have been born a Bostonian.”
“All proper-thinking people would,” Aunt Grace declared. “Not enough room, though. City couldn’t hold all of them.”
“So it’s a good thing Syracuse and Wilmington exist,” Evvie said. “To hold the surplus proper-thinking people.”
“Make your foolish jokes,” Aunt Grace said with a wave of her hand. “What do you know? You never lived in Boston a day in your life.”
It was hard to argue with that. Nicky claimed often that his vision of hell was Beacon Hill with every house occupied by an Aunt Grace clone. “I’m off,” Evvie said. “I’ll give your regards to Mr. Hughes.”
“Mr. Hughes was the boy’s father,” Aunt Grace said. “No, his grandfather. His father was Tom Hughes. We went out a few times, but there was no magic.”
Evvie stared at her great-aunt. It was close to impossible to picture her on a date, and even harder to think of her in a magical relationship. Moved by the thought, she bent down, gave Grace a kiss good-bye, and started to leave the room.
“You kiss too easily,” Grace called out after her. “It’ll get you in trouble one fine day.”
Evvie grinned and skipped down the hallway. For once Aunt Grace had a point, but Evvie didn’t care. She enjoyed the memory of kissing Sam.
Not that she’d heard from him since their lunch, two days before. When he’d driven her back to Grace’s they’d been five minutes late, and neither one of them had cared to linger over farewells. Evvie knew Grace scared Sam, but she didn’t think Sam would be scared off forever. So it was just a question of time before she saw him again. And she could wait. The summer promised to be endless, so time would be no problem.
“I’m going now, Mrs. Baker,” Evvie called through the kitchen door. “See you later.”
“Have a good time, Evvie,” Mrs. Baker replied. “And don’t worry about your aunt. I’ll take good care of her.”
“I know you will,” Evvie said, trying not to laugh. Somehow Mrs. Baker had gotten the idea that Evvie was now taking care of Aunt Grace, which, of course, was nonsense. At best she was keeping her company most of the day. At worst, she was aggravating the old woman in between spurts of pillow fluffing and mystery reading. But Mrs. Baker was still doing the caretaking.
Even so, the thought of a lunch away was intoxicating. Evvie didn’t care how young or bratty Clark’s cousins might prove to be, or how provincial their mother, fresh from Syracuse or Wilmington, might seem. They weren’t old. And after a mere two and a half days with Aunt Grace, anyone who wasn’t old was a pleasure.
Evvie jogged the half mile to Clark’s house, eager to put distance between her and Grace. Besides, she had yet to see Clark’s Eastgate home. It had figured in a few of Megs’s reminiscences, and Evvie was curious to see what it was like.
As soon as she rang the doorbell, she knew what it would be like, and as soon as the maid opened the door, she saw she was right. Clark’s house was almost identical to Grace’s, same breathtaking views of the ocean, same thrown-together country feeling. Evvie smiled. She’d have to tell Sam that once you’d seen one summer person’s home, you’d seen them all. That should cut down on his feelings of being outside looking in.
“Evvie, do come in,” Clark said, and he gave her hand a squeeze hello. “Brad, Vivienne, please say hello to Evvie Sebastian. Evvie is Meg Winslow’s daughter, Brad. You remember Meg.”
“The most beautiful girl in Eastgate,” Brad replied. “Much too young for me, Vivienne my dear. Evvie, how is your mother?”
“Fine,” Evvie said, since that, she assumed, was what he wanted to hear.
“Sebastian,” Brad said. “That name sounds familiar.”
“It’s Father’s name, dear,” Vivienne said.
“I know that,” Brad said. “No, as a last name. What’s your father’s first name, Evvie?”
“Nick,” Evvie said. “Nicholas.” It occurred to her that Brad might have been involved in one of Nicky’s less successful schemes, and she grew almost faint from the thought.
“Nick Sebastian,” Brad said. “I know. He was up here one summer, made quite a stir.”
Evvie smiled wi
th relief. “That was the summer he met my mother,” she said. “The summer they fell in love.”
“That’s it,” Brad said. “It was all very romantic, very scandalous. Families disapproved. Romeo and Juliet. They’re still married?”
“Yes, they are,” Evvie said.
“There’s something to be said for romance, then,” Brad declared.
“We had a romance,” Vivienne said. “Although my husband seems to have forgotten it.”
“But this was in the old school of romance,” Brad said. “Secret meetings, broken hearts. Clark’s among them, isn’t that true?”
“I was young,” Clark said. “It mended. Meanwhile, Nick and Meg had four daughters. Evvie is the oldest. She’s spending the summer at Grace Winslow’s.”
“Grace,” Brad said, and snapped his fingers. “That’s right. The rigid, Puritanical, old maid aunt, fighting to keep the young lovers separated. How is she these days?”
“She sends her rigid Puritanical regards to you,” Evvie said. She might not like Aunt Grace, but Mr. Hughes had no right to be nasty. “She specifically remembered a drunk-driving incident.”
“A lot of fuss over very little,” Brad said, but Evvie was pleased to see he was disconcerted. “I hit a cow. Damn thing had no business being on the road. Did more damage to my car than to the cow. Father paid off the farmer. It was nothing really.”
“I’d forgotten all about that,” Clark said. “Grace has a wonderful memory for things we’d all prefer to forget.”
“I never knew about it,” Vivienne said. “What other youthful indiscretions have you been keeping from me, Brad dear?”
“Whatever they’ve been, I’m sure you’ll find out all about them while we’re in Egypt,” Brad said. “Evvie, is your mother still beautiful?”
Evvie nodded.
“And your father still handsome?”
She nodded again.
Brad shook his head. “Good looks, charm, and a happy marriage,” he said. “Money, too, I suppose.”
“We have enough,” Evvie said, as she’d been taught to, years before.
“Extraordinary,” Brad said. “Well, I suppose you’ve been invited here to meet my boys.”
“Our boys,” Vivienne said. “Clark said you’d been gracious enough to agree to spend some time with them over the summer, Evvie.”
“If they want to,” Evvie said. “I don’t know what their plans are.”
“They have no plans,” Brad said.
“They plan to relax, swim at the beach, maybe fall in love,” Vivienne said, smiling at Evvie. “I assume those are pretty much the same plans you have for this summer.”
“I’m here to visit my Aunt Grace,” Evvie said. “Her foot is broken. So I won’t have much time to fall in love.”
“It doesn’t take much time,” Vivienne said. “Clark dear, why don’t you find the boys, and tell them to come down. I’m sure they’ve settled in sufficiently.”
“Whatever you say, Vivienne,” Clark replied, and left the room. Evvie wasn’t thrilled to be alone with the Hugheses, but she didn’t see any alternatives. So she walked over to the window, drew the curtain aside, and stared out at the ocean.
“How old are you, Evvie?” Vivienne asked.
“Sixteen,” Evvie replied. “I’ll be a junior in September.”
“Schyler’s entering his senior year,” Vivienne said. “And Scotty’s going to be a sophomore. They both attend Mayfield Academy. Do you know it?”
“I know of it,” Evvie said.
“And where do you go to school?” Vivienne asked.
Evvie realized she didn’t know the name of the school she’d be going to. She was about to admit it, until she realized it didn’t matter. She could lie. “Wilson High School,” she said.
“A public high school?” Vivienne asked.
Evvie nodded. “We went to private schools when we were younger,” she said, which was only partly untrue. “But my parents thought a public high school would be better. We’d get to meet a wider variety of people that way. My parents are opposed to us knowing only our own kind.” She was proud of herself for getting that speech out. As far as she knew, the Sebastians were the only people of their kind.
“We have to send our boys to a prep school,” Vivienne said. “Bradford travels so much on business, and I like to go with him when I can.”
“Mayfield was good enough for me, it’s good enough for my sons,” Brad declared. “Good enough for my father, too, for that matter. His father before him. The Hugheses always go to Mayfield. Mayfield, then Dartmouth. Nothing wrong with that.”
“It sounds good to me,” Evvie said. She wondered where the cow had gone to school, but knew better than to ask. Sam would ask, she thought, and realized how much she wished he was there with her.
She felt that way until Schyler and Scotty entered the living room, and then she was very glad Sam was wherever he was. Schyler Hughes turned out to be the best-looking boy she had ever seen. He had dark hair, pure blue eyes, and a genuine cleft in his chin.
Scotty, she noticed quickly, was also good-looking, and Evvie automatically felt a twinge that Thea wasn’t there to fall in love with him. But Schyler was a stunner. The only person Evvie knew who was so immediately breathtaking was Claire.
“Evvie, I’d like you to meet my two young cousins,” Clark said. “Schyler and Scotty Hughes. Boys, this is Evvie Sebastian. She’s staying down the road from us this summer.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Evvie,” Schyler said, and he smiled at her. Evvie thought her knees would buckle, and when he made eye contact, she was sure of it. But her parents had taught her how to handle any emotional situation, so she knew to smile and say hello and give nothing away.
“We were just talking about schools,” Vivienne told her sons. “Evvie goes to a public high school.”
“Oh, really?” Schyler said. “Where?”
For a moment, Evvie couldn’t remember where. Someplace with an H she thought. Or maybe an R.
“Harrison,” she said. “In Pennsylvania.” She felt relieved that she knew where her family was, just in case she needed them in the next twenty seconds.
“I don’t think I know it,” Vivienne said. “Is it near Philadelphia?”
Evvie shook her head. “It isn’t near anything,” she said. “It just exists on its own plane in the universe.”
“Meg and Nick create their own universe, wherever they go,” Clark said. “They’re extraordinary that way.”
“Have you lived there long?” Vivienne persisted.
About two weeks seemed like a terrible answer. “We moved there fairly recently,” Evvie said. “Where do you live, Mrs. Hughes, when you’re not traveling?”
“Boston, of course,” she replied. “Do you think Brad would let us live anywhere else?”
“It was good enough for Grandfather,” Brad said. “And for Father as well. It certainly should be good enough for you.”
“I’m from Raleigh originally,” Vivienne declared. “Which, in Brad’s eyes, means I’m fresh off the boat.”
“Mother, I really don’t think Evvie is interested in our family history,” Schyler said.
“Schyler has a point,” Clark said. “Boys, why don’t you take Evvie to the deck, and walk on the beach for a few minutes. I’ll call you when lunch is ready.”
“Thanks, Clark,” Schyler said, and before Evvie knew it, he had linked arms with her, and was escorting her out of the room. The boy was slick.
Scotty trailed behind them. Evvie would have felt sorry for him, except she wished he weren’t there. Some other time she might enjoy getting to know him, but right then, all she wanted to do was spend some time staring into Schyler’s sky-blue eyes.
“I like Clark’s house,” Schyler declared as he walked with Evvie to the deck. “It’s old-fashioned, of course, but it’s quite comfortable. And it’s right on the ocean.”
“My Aunt Grace’s house is very much like it,” Evvie said.
“I don’t know your aunt well,” Schyler replied. “Am I going to like her?”
“I doubt it,” Evvie said. “She’s an acquired taste. Like arsenic.”
Schyler laughed. He took Evvie’s hand, and walked down the steps to the beach below.
“Why are you staying with her if you don’t like her?” Scotty asked, following them.
“My parents asked me to,” Evvie said. “Aunt Grace broke her foot, and they thought she’d like some company.”
“We’re here because Mom and Dad are going away for the summer,” Scotty said. “Again. Last summer they sent us to camp, but Schyler got a girl in trouble, and he was kicked out.”
“It was nothing,” Schyler said. “She missed curfew, that’s all. To hear Scotty tell it, we had to have a shotgun wedding.”
“I’m glad you didn’t,” Evvie said.
“So am I,” Schyler said, and he smiled at her. Evvie wasn’t surprised to see he had a thousand perfectly straight glowing white teeth.
“I wouldn’t have minded going to computer camp this summer,” Scotty said. “Do you like computers, Evvie?”
“I don’t dislike them,” Evvie replied.
“I love computers,” Scotty said. “When I grow up, I’m going to start my own computer company and make billions of dollars. What are you going to do, Evvie?”
“I don’t know yet,” Evvie said. “But I don’t think I’ll make billions at it.”
Schyler laughed. “You won’t have to,” he said. “A girl as pretty as you are will have your choice of men. You can marry someone who’s already made his billions.”
“What a timesaver,” Evvie replied. “Scotty, will you marry me?”
“I’m never getting married,” he said. “I might get divorced if I got married, and then I’d have to give away half my billions. Forget it.”
“My first rejection,” Evvie said.
“Ask me,” Schyler said. “You might have better luck.”
“Do you have billions?” Evvie asked.
Schyler shook his head.
“We have trust funds,” Scotty said. “But we don’t have billions.”
“Sorry, then,” Evvie said. “Trust funds are a dime a dozen. If I’m going to get engaged today, it had better be to someone with billions.”