Lavender Morning (40 page)

“But how did he survive? What does he do with himself? How’d he get through school?”

“My brother is a brilliant young man. In school he’d get someone to tell him what a book was about, and

five minutes later he could discuss it. Debate it. He loves to sit and talk.” Edi wrung out a piece of cloth. “And

gossip. He knows everyone in town, and they all tell him their secrets.”

“I guess he didn’t go to war.”

“Four-F. Flat feet.” When Edi gently pushed at another piece of cloth, David gave a little groan of pain.

“Want to hear more?”

“Yes,” he said through clenched teeth. “Got any about Austin? Something mean and juicy?”

“No, just Bertrand stories. Want to hear why he didn’t go to his own wedding?”

David opened his eyes wide and looked at her. “Tell me.”

“My mother arranged everything. Bertrand saw the girl, said she was suitable, and that was enough for both

my mother and the girl.”

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“Marrying money and an old name, right?”

“I already told you there was no money. But, yes, there was the name,” Edi said. “My mother was thrilled

and spent months planning the most elaborate wedding the town had ever seen. My father had to mortgage our

old house. The evening before the wedding, my father went into his son’s room to have a talk with him about the

wedding night.”

“The wedding night,” David whispered. “I like this story the best of any you’ve told. Maybe of any I’ve

ever heard in my whole life.”

“No one knows exactly what was said by my father, but everyone heard Bertrand shout for the one and

only time in his life. He yelled, ‘I have to do
what
?’”

David started laughing. “Now you have me. That
is
the worst story I’ve ever heard. What happened?”

“Bertrand stayed home the next day and nothing anyone said or did could get him to move.”

“And his bride?”

“She showed up for the wedding that never happened. Poor dear. Her family was so humiliated, six months

later they moved to Atlanta.”

“What did your brother say to explain?”

“Nothing. To my knowledge he’s never mentioned that day. The work other people do has never

concerned him.”

“And your mother?”

“After that, she stopped trying to manage her son’s life, and my father said that that was almost worth the

expense of the wedding.”

David was really laughing now, and Edi had finished with the bandages. She could tell by his eyes that he

was at last comfortable enough to sleep. She pulled a quilt over him, then went to her own bed.

When he whispered, “Good night,” she smiled and went back to sleep.

20

J
OCELYN WAS LAUGHING when Luke finished reading. “I’ve heard so much about Bertrand that I wish

I’d met him.”

“He would have loved you.”

“Really?” she asked, feeling flattered.

“You leave your door open and people walk in and out all day. You feed anybody who stops by, and you

always have time to listen to anyone. Yeah, I think you and Bertrand would have made great housemates.”

“I’m not like that,” Jocelyn said. “I’m…”

“You’re what? More like Miss Edi? Like the way that nurse described her, as cold and heartless?”

“I ought to send that woman a copy of this story and see if she still thinks Edi is without a heart.” For a

moment Joce was quiet as she sat up and looked at the water, hugging her knees to her chest. “To think that

Miss Edi lost him. There she was in the war, surrounded by men who were making fools of themselves over her,

but she saved herself for True Love, but when she found it…”

“He was killed,” Luke said softly. “And later Miss Edi was injured severely. I wonder if that accident is

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why she didn’t marry and have children.”

“You mean you think she
couldn’t
have children?”

“I don’t know. How bad were her burns?”

“Toward the end, I helped her dress, and the scars were from her knees down. I don’t think the fire went

higher. She told me it was very cold that day, so everyone was bundled up, and two soldiers threw themselves

on her with their heavy coats on. If they hadn’t done that, the fire would have spread, because she had gasoline

all over her.”

“Threw themselves on her,” Luke said, shaking his head. “And David was dead by then.”

“Yes. She said that she called out for him in the hospital. They kept moving her from one hospital to another

while they waited for her to die.”

“They didn’t expect her to live?”

“No,” Joce said. “The gasoline and the fire and even the wool of the men’s burned coats all caused her to

develop a serious infection. She ran a high fever for weeks. I think General Austin stepped in and had her sent

back to the States, even though she wasn’t working for him then.”

“Did she quit him? Do you think she told him she couldn’t take his bad temper anymore?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t ask because she never even hinted that he was a difficult man. She just said that

when she was burned she was still in England, but she was no longer working for General Austin. I don’t know

what she was doing. I assume she was still in the military or she would have gone home to Edilean.”

“Would she?” Luke asked.

“Why do you say that?”

“Why would she go home to Edilean? What was waiting for her? An old house that costs a lot to keep in

repair and a brother who set standards for laziness?”

“And your very happy grandfather,” Joce said.

“Yes, my happy grandfather, who had broken up with Edi the day after Pearl Harbor was hit.”

“Did your grandfather ever tell you why they broke off their engagement?”

“Yes. When we went to Richmond he told me that it was because they realized that there was nothing to

find out about each other,” Luke said. “Gramps said that when he and Edi saw that they were excited to go off to

war, they knew that their perfect lives weren’t so perfect after all. Miss Edi told Gramps that they should have

been devastated that the future they’d always looked forward to was going to be changed, but they weren’t.

Gramps said she gave back his ring, they shook hands, and laughed together, both of them quite happy for the

engagement to be over.”

“But they never told anyone.”

“The whole town would have been sad. War was enough, but it was far away. Edi and David had been

together all their lives.”

Joce turned to look at him, stretched out on the blanket they’d brought, his head on his hands. “I’m glad I

haven’t known you all my life.”

He moved as though he were going to take her hand in his, but he didn’t. “Jocelyn, I think…,” he began,

but cut himself off, then lay back on the blanket. “You still think I’m like your father?”

“Why has that statement bothered you so much?”

“Who wants to be like his girl’s father?”

The old-fashioned term “his girl” made a little shiver run through her body. “The more I hear of Miss Edi’s

story, the more I think she and I are alike. And like my mother. We seem to like only men who…” She didn’t

know what else to say.

“Who aren’t lawyers?” Luke said. “Your mother fell for a handyman and Miss Edi loved a car mechanic,

and now you like the gardener.”

She could feel the anger under his voice. “Luke, I didn’t mean it like that.”

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“You ready to leave?” he said as he got up.

She stood up. “Are you angry at me?”

“For telling me that you…what? That you like me in spite of who and what I am? What if I’d become a

doctor like my grandfather? Would you like me better then?”

“No, but I could afford some furniture for that big house,” she said, smiling.

Luke didn’t smile. “So this is about money? As soon as Rams gets back in town are you planning to run to

him because he’s rich?”

“I was just making a joke,” Joce said. “I would
never
marry a man just for money.”

“Are you sure? Maybe you want my cousin for the life you think he can give you. Vacations to the Orient,

nannies for the kids, silver for the table. Is that what’s important to you?”

When he started to move away, she put her hand on his arm. “None of that is important to me,” she said.

“If it were up to me I’d live in a two-bedroom ranch and write while the kids take naps. But Miss Edi left me that

house, so I—”

“Miss Edi!” Luke said. “Is she all you think about? Her life, not yours?”

“Of course not! I think about my own life, but Miss Edi said Ramsey was perfect for me.” As soon as she

said it, Jocelyn put her hand over her mouth.

“She said what?”

Joce picked up her pack and began to put things inside it.

Luke caught her arm and turned her to face him. “I want to know what you’re talking about. When did she

tell you about Ramsey?”

“In the letter she left me with her will. You didn’t know her, but she was great at judging couples who’d

stay together or not, and she said that there was a man in Edilean who was perfect for me.”

Luke dropped her arm and stepped back. “And that was my cousin Ramsey?”

“Yes,” she said. “But she didn’t know
you.
She—”

“She sure as hell didn’t know Ramsey either,” Luke nearly shouted. “All she knew about him is his money

and his ancestry. Did you ever think that
you
were part of the bargain between Alexander McDowell and Miss

Edi? Maybe she tried to thank Uncle Alex by giving his descendant the old manor that he’d coveted all his life.”

“That’s a ridiculous idea.”

“You’ve lived here a while now. Do you really think it’s not possible?”

“I don’t know.” Joce put her hands over her ears. “I don’t want to hear any more of this.” When he said

nothing else, she took her hands down and looked at him. He seemed to be waiting for her to say something, but

she could think of nothing to reply to his accusations.

“Are you going to live your entire life for Miss Edi?” Luke asked. “You live in her house, and you’ve given

your life over to writing about her, reading about her. She seems to be all you think about. Are you going to

marry some man you don’t love because she told you that you should?”

“No,” Joce said. “You’re twisting this all around. Besides, no one has asked me to marry him.”

“But he’s going to,” Luke said, “and you know it. You ready to leave?”

“Yes,” she said, but she didn’t want to go. She wanted to stay and argue this thing out with Luke. It had

been such a wonderful day, with more of the love story revealed, but it had all ended in a fight, and she wasn’t

even sure how it had begun.

She started to say that she didn’t want to leave, but there was a flash of lightning and a crack of thunder

and the next second they were hit with a downpour of rain. Instinctively, Jocelyn looked for shelter, but Luke

grabbed their packs and pulled out their plastic ponchos. He helped Joce into hers with one hand while pulling his

over his own head.

“We need to get out of here,” he said over the rain. “Can you walk?”

“Sure.”

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“Stay close to me.”

His long legs set a pace that was difficult for her to keep up with, but she managed it. When they reached

the truck, he threw open the door, and she got in, then he quickly raced around to the other side.

“Will you listen to me?” she asked as he started the engine. “I’m not marrying anyone. I’m sorry I talk

about Miss Edi so much and I wish I hadn’t told you what she wrote to me.”

He didn’t look at her, but he gave a quick nod, then drove out of the parking lot, and minutes later he

pulled into the driveway at Edilean Manor.

“How long are you going to stay angry at me?” she asked, feeling close to tears.

Suddenly, Luke reached across the seat, put his hand behind her head, and kissed her hard and long, and

with more passion than Jocelyn had ever felt before.

When he released her, her head fell back against the window and her eyes stayed shut.

“Forget about Ramsey,” Luke said. “He’s too much like you and you’d come to hate each other.”

When she felt him reach across her, she opened her eyes, ready to kiss him again, but he opened the truck

door. “Go inside and take a hot bath. I have to go out of town for a few days, but when I get back we’ll get the

next part of the story from Gramps.”

“Okay,” she said as she got out of the truck. She closed the door behind her, then went into the house.

21

T
HE NEXT MORNING was Friday, and Jocelyn was sitting in her kitchen finishing off a pot of tea when

Tess walked in and let out an exclamation.

“You scared me,” Tess said as she went to the refrigerator. “What are you doing here?”

“Last I heard, I live here.”

“Oh, my, we are surly this morning. You and Luke have a fight?”

“No, of course not,” Joce said, but her head was aching from a sleepless night. Luke’s words, his anger,

even his unexplained trip out of town were all bothering her.

“Ramsey gets back today,” Tess said. “His plane lands in Richmond at ten this morning, so I figure he’ll

show up here for lunch. Last night he called me and asked all about you and Luke.”