Moonlight in the Morning Read online

  He filled a plate with cold roast beef and cold salads, opened a bottle of wine, and sat down on a stool at the counter.

  Jecca had made it clear that she wasn’t interested in a life in Edilean, that she was leaving to go back to New York at the end of the summer.

  He knew that by all rights he should respect her wishes. What he should do was look around for a woman he could spend his life with. He was already thirty-four. Before he knew it, he’d be forty and that was old to start a family.

  But maybe if he did what his sister suggested and made a little effort he could persuade Jecca to stay a while longer in Edilean. On the other hand, maybe once they got to know each other better they would find out they were destined only for friendship.

  Maybe the blazing hot lust he’d felt tonight would just go away all by itself.

  Laughing at that absurdity, Tristan got his laptop and logged on. “Wonder what books there are on Cupid and Psyche?” he said. “And where can I get one?”

  He might fail, but this time he was going to try his best to win the fair maiden.

  Four

  Jecca awoke smiling—but then, that seemed to be her normal state whenever she was in Edilean. She had a feeling that her life was going to start today—which was, of course, absurd. A person’s life didn’t begin at twenty-six years old.

  Maybe her life wasn’t actually to begin, but she had a sense that something was about to happen.

  She put her hands behind her head and rested on the stack of down pillows. It was indeed a beautiful room. The bed had one of those pillow-top mattresses that was so extremely comfortable. It was a bed to wallow in, to snuggle down and dream in. Or to make love in.

  That thought made her smile broader as she remembered last night. Laughing in the darkness with a man she couldn’t see. Hearing his voice, feeling his breath on her cheek. She didn’t think she’d ever experienced anything so romantic. Too bad moonlight couldn’t arrive in the morning so she could keep the mood, she thought, then laughed at the idea. Daylight brought reality. And work.

  Today Kim was to pick her up to take her into Edilean. What would happen if she saw Dr. Tristan Aldredge? Would they shake hands at the introduction? Be polite?

  The worst thing, she thought, would be if he apologized for things he’d said last night. She hoped he’d not regret telling her that he’d almost fallen in love with some woman who was now married to another man.

  Of course she couldn’t meet with him tonight. Since he’d point-blank told her that he was out wife hunting, seeing him again was out of the question. Jecca was fresh blood in town, so it made sense that he’d try with her. But ultimately the result of their flirtations would hurt him. When she left to go back to New York, he would be crushed. No, she couldn’t meet with him.

  She got out of bed and dressed to go downstairs. Kim would be here in an hour, and she needed to be ready. As soon as Jecca opened the door to her apartment, she smelled bacon and some kind of bakery goods. Banana muffins?

  She was a little nervous about meeting Mrs. Wingate and wondered if the elusive Lucy would run and hide when Jecca appeared. But the first thing she heard when she got to the kitchen door was laughter.

  Two women were in the big, white room, both of them trim, and both quite good-looking. The shorter one was at the stove, the taller one setting the table. Right away, Jecca knew who was whom. The taller one had an elegance about her in the way she stood, with her back rigid, that would cause people to call her “Mrs. Wingate.” Jecca hadn’t been told, but she knew that only Tristan and his sister called her “Miss Livie.” The shorter woman was smiling, friendly-looking. She would be Lucy. It flashed through Jecca’s mind that her father would love being here with these pretty women.

  “There you are,” said the taller one. “Come and join us for breakfast. I’m Olivia Wingate and this is Lucy Cooper.”

  “Hello,” Jecca said, looking at Lucy at the range, a skillet in her hands. She didn’t look like someone who hid from the world.

  “We have bacon, scramb Kbacthisled eggs, and banana muffins,” Lucy said. Her voice was pleasant, with a lilt to it that seemed to say she was glad to be alive. “Any? All?”

  “Everything,” Jecca said. “I missed dinner last night.”

  “You did come in late,” Mrs. Wingate said, then both women looked at Jecca as though waiting for an explanation.

  Small towns! she thought. No one in her apartment building in New York noticed what time she came and went. “I fell asleep on the chaise lounge,” she said.

  “I saw that it and the chair had been moved,” Lucy said as she took the muffins out of the oven.

  Jecca cursed that she’d forgotten to put the furniture back where she found it. But then it had been too dark to see.

  “It’s all right,” Mrs. Wingate said. “Tris put them back this morning. That boy still wanders around in the dark. It’s a wonder he didn’t trip over you last night.”

  Jecca avoided Mrs. Wingate’s eyes as she sat down at the table. There was a big bowl of blackberries in the middle and she ate one. “I keep hearing about this man Tristan. Is he here at this house often?”

  “You just missed him,” Mrs. Wingate said. “He brought the berries. He has a patch at his house.”

  “And of course he misted his plants, and looked after them,” Lucy said.

  “Kim talks about him often. What’s he like?” Jecca asked, trying to sound as though she was just making conversation.

  “He’s a quiet, hardworking boy,” Mrs. Wingate said.

  “He’s a wonderful young man, and he’ll do anything for you. He’s helped me in so many ways,” Lucy said.

  “You mean he’s helped you medically?”

  “Oh no! When I got the 380, Tristan was the one who figured out how to use the semi-automatic threader.”

  “Are you talking about a sewing machine?” Jecca asked.

  “Yes, of course,” Lucy said.

  “You’ll have to see Lucy’s workroom and all the machines she has,” Mrs. Wingate said.

  “I just bought a Sashiko,” Lucy said proudly but didn’t explain what that was. “The truth is, I can thread my own machines now, but Tristan and I have such nice chats that I pretend that the serger is beyond me.”

  “Tristan has always been good company,” Mrs. Wingate said as she put a basket full of hot muffins on the table. “Haven’t you met him?” she asked Jecca.

  “I haven’t seen him, no.” She looked at Mrs. Wingate. “Didn’t Kim say you’ve known him since he was a child?”

  “Yes.” She smiled. “He started coming over here when he was still in diapers. I’d feed him, then walk him home, and each time I’d tell him that he couldn’t come again unless hi Kainhen he ws mother called first. I enjoyed his visits, but I was afraid she’d worry when she couldn’t find him.” She gave a sigh. “He didn’t do what I asked. I learned to phone his mother as soon as I saw him here.”

  Lucy handed Jecca a plate full of bacon and scrambled eggs. “Tristan does what he wants to.”

  “Yes, he does,” Mrs. Wingate said, and there was admiration in her voice.

  “Is he married?” Jecca asked. She knew the answer but hoped they’d keep talking.

  “Oh no,” Lucy said. “He’s quite unattached. He doesn’t even have a girlfriend at the moment.”

  “If this guy is such a paragon of virtue, why hasn’t some woman snatched him up?” Jecca asked. When the women said nothing, she said, “Did I say something wrong?”

  “No,” Lucy said. “It’s just that most of the women in town have tried but haven’t succeeded with Dr. Tris.”

  “Both unmarried and married, if you know what I mean,” Mrs. Wingate said.

  “So he dumps them?” Jecca asked. “Gets them to fall for him, then leaves them?”

  “Oh no!” both Lucy and Mrs. Wingate said.

  “It’s more that the women go after him,” Mrs. Wingate said. “Even when he was a child, women liked him.”