Moonlight in the Morning Read online

  “I know,” the woman said. “She already called me.” The woman held on to Jecca’s hand with both of hers. “I can never thank you enough for this.”

  When she was gone, Jecca ran back upstairs. They still had six more outfits to finish. With more girls, and each one wearing two outfits, their workload had greatly expanded. Mrs. Wingate had made arrangements for the local hairdresser and her sister to be at their salon at 6 A.M. on Saturday. Jecca had drawn pictures of how she wanted the girls’ hair styled, and in two cases, cut.

  All of it was to be done with as much secrecy as possible.

  “Edilean has had a lot of practice in keeping secrets,” Tris said, but he wouldn’t elaborate.

  At midnight he made Lucy and Jecca turn off the lights, and he led Jecca across the hall to her bedroom. When he started to undress her, she said, “I’m too tired to—”

  The look he gave her made her stop talking. There wasn’t sex in his eyes but tenderness and caring. She gave herself over to him.

  He led her to a hot shower and undressed her. Through it all, he talked to her in a low, soothing voice. He told her what a good job she’d done all week, how well she’d managed the projects and the people.

  She got in the shower, and his words, combined with the hot water, were beginning to revive her and she reached out to him.

  But Tris stepped back. He picked up her bottle of shampoo, and whilepoosible.

  He rinsed her hair, turned off the water, and wrapped her in a thick towel. By the time they got to the bedroom, she was yawning. He dressed her, not in one of the lacy things she usually wore around him, but in her favorite old T-shirt.

  He pulled back the covers, and just as she’d seen him do with Nell, he gently put the cover over her and kissed her forehead.

  She thought he meant to leave, so she caught his hand.

  “Don’t worry,” he whispered, “you can’t get rid of me. Let me shower and I’ll be back to hold you all night long.”

  Smiling, she fell asleep, and when he climbed in beside her, wearing only the bottoms to his pajamas, she snuggled against him, her lips on his bare, warm skin. She wasn’t sure, but she thought she heard herself say, “I love you.” She was even less sure when she thought she heard him say, “I know.”

  On Friday at lunch—the day before the show—Roan said he’d had some experience in the acting world. Since no one could see how that related to anything, there were no comments. That Roan, with his big voice and larger-than-life personality, had once been an actor seemed a given.

  “All right,” he said, “since no one seems able to take my hint, I’ll just tell you that I’m going to organize it all.”

  “You mean the fashion show? For the kids?” Jecca asked. She was hand sewing the roses Jake had made onto the neckline of a dress.

  “That’s exactly what I mean,” Roan said. “Tris, you get lunch cleanup detail. I’ve got kids’ parents to call.”

  When Jecca started to ask questions, Roan said she and Lucy weren’t allowed to see or hear about anything. They were to go back to sewing, but Addy was to help him.

  “And give up bending over that machine?” Addy muttered. “How will I manage?”

  While Lucy and Jecca went back upstairs to bury themselves in the final adjustments to the clothes for all the children, the others went in and out of the rooms downstairs as they participated in Roan’s top-secret plans.

  Lucy didn’t ask questions, but Jecca did. Tris almost gave in and revealed everything a couple of times, but Nell kept him in line. “You’ll ruin it!” she warned her uncle. “We want Jecca to be surprised.” Tris refused to say anything about whatever Roan was doing.

  Over the course of the afternoon, the children who were going to be in the show returned to Mrs. Wingate’s house with their mothers—and one divorced dad.

  Jecca heard music, what sounded like stomping, and a couple of times, cheering. She wanted to know what was going on, but she had too much work to do to try to find out.

  Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny, without a hint of a cloud in the sky.

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  “How are you doing?” Tris asked Jecca as he pulled her into his arms. They were at his house, snuggled together in his bed.

  “Fine,” Jecca said. “It’s just a little local kids’ show, that’s all. There’s no reason to be nervous.” She tossed the cover back, stepped out of the bed—and her legs collapsed.

  Tris caught her before she hit the floor.

  Jecca sat on the edge of the bed, Tris behind her, his long legs straddling hers as he pulled her back against him.

  “It’ll be all right,” he said as he kissed her cheek. “You have a lot of help, and everyone knows what they’re to do.”

  “I know,” she said. “It’s just that . . .”

  “That what?”

  “I just hope they’ll like my designs. If the audience doesn’t like them, they’ll laugh at those kids, and they’ve worked so hard and . . .”

  Tris kissed her more, his hands on her arms. “I’ve seen all the clothes, and the kids look great. You should have seen them with Roan! They’re the outsiders of the school and they’ve never done anything like this before. Jecca, baby, you don’t know what this is doing for them. And wait until you see what Roan has planned!”

  “Is it good?”

  “Fabulous! And don’t even think of trying to get me to reveal the secrets.”

  She rubbed her posterior against his manhood—which showed signs of growing. “Not even a hint?”

  “Jecca . . .” Tris began. “We need to get dressed and—” He gave a moan when she moved some more. “Those kids have hidden talents, and Roan found them. There! That’s all I’m telling you and that’s more than I should.” He got off the bed. “Come on and let me make you a good breakfast. You’re going to need your strength when Savannah finds out what you’re doing to her fashion show.”

  Jecca followed him into the kitchen. She was wearing one of his T-shirts and her undies. “You’re making a joke, right?”

  “Not in the least. Think three eggs will hold you until eleven?”

  “How much gin are you adding to the eggs?”

  Tris chuckled. “I only put rum in the eggs, and then only when I’m trying to break your defenses down. Go get dressed or I’ll never be able to concentrate.”

  She took a deep breath, and he could tell that she was deeply and truly nervous. He left the stove to put his hands on her shoulders, his forehead to hers. “Jecca, listen to me. You have nothing to worry about.” They both knew he’d said it all before, but she couldn’t hear it enough. “Your designs look great. More importantly, you are making some kids who have spent their lives in the background see themselves in a different light. You—”

  “And Nell. These kids were her idea, not mine. She deserves the credit.”cre diffe

  “The two of you,” he said, and there was such warmth in his voice that Jecca couldn’t help smiling. “Nell knew who they were, but you and your art and your generous heart have pulled them toward what no one thought they could do.”

  “I hope so,” Jecca said.

  “Okay!” Tris said. “That’s all the pep talk we have time for. Now go get dressed before the sight of your bare legs drives me insane and I have my way with you here on the kitchen floor.”

  “Maybe we should—”

  “Temptress, go!” he said and spun her around toward the bedroom.

  Reluctantly, she left the safety of his arms and got her clothes out of his closet. No matter how often she reminded herself that this wasn’t New York, wasn’t a show of her paintings, wasn’t something that was going to be ripped apart by critics, and wasn’t something that was going to forever affect her life, she was still nervous. She didn’t want to let the children down.

  How was little Kaylin going to do when walking down a runway in front of what Tris said would be at least a hundred people? The girl was so shy she’d hardly talk to Jecca. She had a vision of Kaylin