Moonlight in the Morning Read online

  “That is such an enticing statement that I’m tempted to stay here just to hear the story.” Again someone called her name. “Damn! My secretary and my assistant are going to tie me up and drag me away. I’ll call you tonight and you can tell me everything.”

  “No,” Jecca said. “This is a story that has to be told in person. I’ll see you at Reede’s party, won’t I?”

  “Of course. I wish—” Her voice lowered. “They’re getting angry now. I’ll call you the second I get back. Bye.”

  Jecca said good-bye and hung up. After the call, she spent some time thinking about what Kim had told her about Tristan. She hadn’t said anything bad. Actually, she’d said the opposite. It seemed that Tristan was a truly nice guy. It was just that no one could tell what his true feelings were.

  She reminded herself that deep emotion wasn’t what was between them. They were only going to have a good time, and that was it.

  Jecca got out her drawings of the playhouse and was thinking about where she should get them copied. Asking Lucy to use her copier was the easiest. She could make up a lie about having seen the playhouse in the woods and being intrigued by it, but Jecca had never been a person to prevaricate.

  It was a bother to drive somewhere to find a copy machine, but that was what she was going to have to do. She was about to leave her bedroom when her cell rang. It was Tristan.

  Jecca sat down to answer the call. “I saw your house,” she said as a greeting.

  “Like it?”

  She decided to tell the truth. “It’s a contractor’s dream.”

  Tris laughed. “Why do you think my parents sold it to me and moved to a beach house in Florida? My mom thought the place should be bulldozed.”

  “Only the interior,” Jecca said. “The outside and that lake . . . sheer heaven.”

  “That’s the way I feel too,” Tris said. “What color bikini do you want? I saw some pretty ones today.”

  “On or off the girls?”

  “I always look at them on a girl’s body,” he said solemnly.

  Jecca laughed. “I meant off the girls but on a hanger in a store.”

  “Did you?” he said, teasing. “I must have misunderstood. Did you happen to see the playhouse?”

  Jecca groaned. “If my dad were here he’d report you to some historic house association.”

  “Yeah, I know it’s bad. I’ve been meaning to have it fixed, but I’ve been busy.”

  “Saving lives?”

  “I like to think so,” Tris said. “Nell wants to talk to you.”

  “When you get back I’ll—”

  “No. Now. She’s right here, and she’s giving me a look just like her mother does. Okay?”

  “Sure,” Jecca said, but she had no idea what to say to an eight-year-old child. Should she talk of candy? Use a baby voice?

  “Did you see my playhouse?” the young voice of Nell asked in a very direct way. She didn’t sound childish at all.

  “Yes, I did,” Jecca said. “It’s very nice.”

  “It needs a carpenter.”

  “That’s just what I thought!” Jecca said.

  “I told Uncle Tris that the roof is going to fall in on me.”

  “And what did he say?”

  “That he’d get to it when he has time, but he never does.”

  “It needs to be done now,” Jecca said. “You’re right that the place isn’t safe. Who can help me find a good contractor?”

  “I’ll ask Mom.”

  “Good idea. She can—” Jecca heard the phone drop. It seemed that Nell wasn’t going to waste time but was going to ask right now. Jecca smiled. She’d always liked people who made decisions quickly and acted on them immediately. She heard the phone being picked up.

  “Nell says you’re going to oversee the renovation of the playhouse.” It was an adult female voice.

  “Are you Tristan’s sister?” Jecca asked.

  “Sorry,” she said. “Yes, I’m Addy. It’s so hectic here I’ve forgotten my manners.”

  “I understand,” Jecca said.

  “About the playhouse . . .”

  “Oh,” Jecca said. “I saw it and it’s in pretty bad shape.”

  “Very bad. I’ve spent a lot of time nagging Tris to get someone to fix it, but he’s always too busy.”

  “I guess he is,” Jecca said. “As the town doctor—”

  &1em">“That’s the eternal Aldredge excuse. Been used for generations. Would you like the job?” Addy asked. “I don’t mean that you have to do the actual work, but Tris says you know a lot about construction and design, so maybe you can oversee everything.”

  Jecca was pleased that Tristan had said so many good things about her to his family, but she wasn’t so sure about acting as a contractor.

  “Would you like to do it or not?” Addy asked before Jecca could answer. She seemed as though she urgently wanted to get off the phone.

  “I guess I could,” Jecca said, “but I need a good builder. I can oversee things but I need—”

  “I’ll have Bill Welsch call you. His grandfather built the playhouse back in the ’20s so Bill will help. Jecca?”

  “Yes?”

  “I don’t know you at all, but please don’t let Tristan and my daughter talk you into adding a stable for a pony.”

  “What about chickens?” Jecca asked, meaning it as a joke. When Addy was silent, she thought maybe she’d offended her. “I didn’t mean—”

  “You and Nell and Tristan are going to do well together,” Addy said. “Sorry to run, but I have movers here and I need to make sure they only pack what they’re supposed to.”

  “Sure,” Jecca said. “I guess I’ll meet you when you get back.”

  “You can be sure of that,” Addy said, then left.

  It was Tris’s voice on the line next. “Did my sister scare you?” he asked.

  “A bit,” Jecca said honestly.

  “Don’t worry about it. In person, she’s tougher than she sounds.”

  Jecca laughed. “So you and Nell plan to use me to get a pony?”

  “Not really. Nell believes in starting big with her mother and working her way down to what she really wants.”

  “That sounds smart. So what does Nell really want?”

  “To fix up the playhouse.”

  “Why haven’t you hired someone to do it?”

  Tristan groaned. “Not you too! I am betrayed. Uh oh. Addy is calling me, so talk to Nell.”

  There were sounds of the phone being exchanged, then Nell’s young voice said, “Easter.”

  “What does that mean?” Jecca asked.

  “Uncle Tris said you’d ask me what colors I want the playhouse painted, and I want it like Easter eggs in a basket.”

  Color images ran through Jecca’s head as she spoke. “Blues, peaches, pale pinks, yellows, trims of golden brown like the straw of the basket. And light green for the grass. We’ll have to add a bit of cinnamon for the eyes of those little yellow marshmallow birds. Does that sound ses eally w good?”

  Nell drew in her breath. “Perfect.”

  “I’ll color a couple of drawings for you and I’ll show them to you when you get back. We can go over them and you can decide which you like best. Okay?”

  “Okay,” Nell said in a voice that was little more than a whisper.

  “And Nell? This is just my opinion, but I think we should do the inside at the same time so everything works together. Lucy can help you and me make curtains and slipcovers for the furniture, and we’ll make a quilt for the bed. What do you think?”

  “It’s . . . it’s . . . I love it!” she said, then there was the sound of the phone being dropped.

  “Hello?” Jecca said.

  “It’s me,” Tris said. “What did you do to Nell?” Jecca went over what she’d said, and Tris laughed. “Nell just saw heaven on earth. I’m not sure how the trait got into her, but she has an artistic nature. Addy is very practical, and Jake mostly likes cars.”

  “What about y